Updated eBay selling guide - any thoughts? NOW WITH LINK!

MSE_Jenny

Hi guys,

We've updated our eBay selling guide. Is there anything you'd like us to add to the guide or that you think could be improved please? All feedback appreciated!
Thanks
Jenny

Strapped

I stopped reading when I got to, "Committed MoneySavers on this site's eBay board commonly make £200 a month upwards." Yes, the BUSINESS sellers do. But it is seriously misleading to suggest that you can make £200 per month, regularly, by selling your old stuff.

theonlywayisup

I stopped at the GHD example. GHD hunt down sellers believing every item on Ebay must be a fake, so probably the worst example you could give.

Perhaps it would have been prudent to ask for advice before it was 'put to print' so to speak.

Strapped

#31 - did you mean, send to the address specified in PayPal (?)

MSE_Jenny

Thanks guys. We haven't linked to it anywhere that gets much traffic yet, so this is our way of getting feedback first.

All thoughts are appreciated. Have edited those three things now.

Strapped

I think you should make it clear (sorry only skimmed so apologies if it is in there) what the current fees are for selling including listing fee, final value fee, and PayPal fees. People are often surprised just how much of a chunk of their selling price "disappears". I know that some categories vary and it depends on whether it's an auction or Buy It Now but a "typical" example would be useful. For example: Sell an item for £10 even on a free listing weekend, and you will pay a 10% final value fee (=£1) if it sells and if your buyer pays by PayPal, you will pay 3.4% + £0.20 PayPal fees (=54p). After you've paid £2.20 to Royal Mail to post it (even if you use some "free" recycled packaging) you will be left with £6.26 out of that £10.

(Still think you can make £200 a month?...)

soolin

Don't forget to factor in packaging costs when calculating postage
charges.

This should carry the warning 'but buyers do not expect to pay much more than stamp price- so additional costs over and above a realistic amount should be factored in to the selling price'

soolin

section 30 might need some clarification. Recorded is not a tracked service and in many areas does not show as received so will not protect against a paypal chargeback.

section 17 should have a bit added to the following statement 'Auction-style items starting at 99p or under are free.' for private sellers limited to 100 a month

I'm also worried about section 19 'If you're selling a bulky items that must be picked up in person, asked to be paid in cash.' it ought to be specified that buyers can say they accept cash on collection, but cannot even say they 'prefer' it nor can they refuse paypal if buyer pays by that method.

section 20 ditto , the statement ' "Please note I will accept cash on collection only, not Paypal". ' is likely to get your auction pulled and a seller warning issued.

Paypal on collection is a real issue and there is no guaranteed way round it that avoids both ebay seller strikes or a costly set of FVfs and a neg if you refuse to sell.

MSE_Jenny

Thanks! I've tweaked the guide to reflect those.

Anymore for anymore?

RFW

Ebay has a number of pre-filled items with stock pictures for DVDs books and CDs, seller just has to put in the barcode number or ISBN number and the description and picture will come up if it's in Ebay's catalogue. All the seller then has to do is describe the item condition.

MSE_Jenny

I also wondered if this tip had worked for you guys? As eBay press office has told me: "Any revisions to listings incur a cost, so even if a seller were to edit or remove the scheduled start time of a listing they would be charged. Further, eBay is able to detect when items have been listed via professional tools."


Loophole to bulk upload on free listing weekends

Items listed with professional tools, including Turbo Lister, are usually excluded from free listing weekends.

To get around this, upload the Turbolister listing, but schedule the start time for a week after the free listing weekend.

Then during the free listing weekend, edit it to go live immediately, not at the scheduled time in the future. Though always check that fees at the bottom of your listing are zero – eBay may fix this loophole.

Scheduling fees are only charged when the items go live, not when the listings are submitted, so you should escape the 6p scheduling fee.