Hello! / Epic Masterplan Fail / Silly Question.

PenniesIntoPounds

Hello everybody!

As the sign suggests, I'm a Newbie and I have a bit of a silly question.

I am trying to pay off my overdraft and think I may have got a bit too far ahead of myself!

My friends and family are always complaining that their houses are full of clutter, so I came up with the idea that if they were willing to give me their clutter for free, they would have tidy houses and I would store it in my garage and sell it on Ebay. Any profits would be split 50 - 50, with some of the funds being put towards paying my overdraft off and the rest to a local charity.

Well the idea has been a bit too successful. I now have a garage full of clutter, which has spilled into various cupboards and the downstairs toilet and is creeping into the kitchen. My generous friends and colleagues were very keen to help!

I have been on annual leave this week and have literally spent the whole week cataloging, cleaning and photographing each item with a view to putting them on Ebay.

Listed my first item today (which took me 2 hours, I am hoping to speed up a bit as I get more practice!) and was told at the end that I am only able to list another 9 items this month.

I am really panicing, as I have buckets of stuff and nowhere to put it - We are in rented accommodation and are due to move house next month! I am unable to have a car boot sale as I do not own a car.

I can understand the reasoning behind a newbie being limited to ten items a month, but could somebody please direct me to some more information about this? I am very disappointed as I have some lovely things ready to advertise. Do I have to build my feedback up before the 10 item barr is lifted? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much for reading and sorry for rambling!

Crowqueen

That's the sticking point. eBay need to know that sellers can do it one step at a time. I don't know where you can get more specific information about it, though check the notification you are given.

Also, if you acquire things to sell on, even if you are planning to donate things to charity (don't forget to budget for fees) you might have to register as a business. Better to keep it to your own personal items for now before you can get a clear answer about the tax implications of essentially acting as a trading assistant for your friends and family.

soolin

It is not clear cut on ebay but there is a sort of outline about new seller restrictions here:

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/sellinglimits.html
Probably best to put the ten easiest things up for sale this weekend and see how they go and then try listing another item in a week or so to see if the system allows you- if not wait the full month and try again.

If you are completely new to ebay and have an account with no feedback then it may well be worth buying a few bits and bobs to get some feedback as many buyers won't buy from a zero rated seller

there are also some tips for new sellers here, but don't hesitate to ask questions on this board, many of the regulars here have years and years of experience with ebay.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1623183

crawfy

Have u looked on Facebook to see if there is a local buying and selling group for your area?? There is one i use and i have sold loads of bits on there, people are willing to collect and listing is free so no outlay. You just take a pic, say where u are, the price u want etc and people comment on your pictures. There are a few timewasters but generally people are wanting to find bargains and also clear out bits from their homes. If u need any help with this let me know, as i am a pro at the moment!! x

thriftymanc

List job lots. Make sure you include some really good items in each one, and then pad them out with some of the stuff that you think might not be as popular. You can get rid of quite a lot of stuff in just 10 auctions that way! Job lots often sell well as people will buy them to re-sell at car boot sales etc. Take loads of photos covering all the items, list the details in bullet point form so it looks neat.

PenniesIntoPounds

Good morning

Just to say thank you for the replies to my thread. Will definitely have a go at bulk listing and check out the Facebook page. My friend sells on Facebook but it hadn't occured to me to do the same!

I found some more info on Ebay regarding the 10 items limit and I think once I have received some positive feedback, I will ask them to consider allowing me to sell a bit more, as apparently this is possible although sometmes it can take up to 90 days to have the barr lifted.

My total stock value over the 10 items I have listed amounts to just under £30, so fingers crossed Ebay will realise that I'm not intending to commit any large scale fraud.

Thank you again for your advice!

hermum

PenniesIntoPounds wrote: »

Good morning

Just to say thank you for the replies to my thread. Will definitely have a go at bulk listing and check out the Facebook page. My friend sells on Facebook but it hadn't occured to me to do the same!

I found some more info on Ebay regarding the 10 items limit and I think once I have received some positive feedback, I will ask them to consider allowing me to sell a bit more, as apparently this is possible although sometmes it can take up to 90 days to have the barr lifted.

My total stock value over the 10 items I have listed amounts to just under £30, so fingers crossed Ebay will realise that I'm not intending to commit any large scale fraud.

Thank you again for your advice!

You could also try selling on Gumtree, local paper, freeads, adtrader, preloved etc.
All of them are free, so even better.