When to list....advice needed!

nicolula87

I have been decluttering my house and have a few things to sell on ebay. HOWEVER not being much of an ebayer and working full time means I don't want to put them all on at once. I feel like I've missed the Christmas ebaying window, as it would be difficult to get a decent length listing and get things posted off in time for Christmas.
Some of the things I have to sell:
Nintendo Wii and accessories
Wii Fit Board
Wii Games
Collectable Ornaments
Books/CDs etc

What do people think about it? Should I wait till after Christmas, should I put one or two things on now. If I wait till after Christmas when is the best time to put them up....wait till Feb??

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

eaglesrjh

depends how you want to sell them really.

if you just want rid and were going to auction them then yes a 7 day listing now does not give you much scope to get sent and delivered before xmas.

buy it now's give more flex over finishing time but means it could end anytime which might not be convenient for getting to the post office etc (which are currently very busy!)

if you want quick sales before xmas try gumtree or facebook selling pages, you need to research prices first but you get a chance to sell soon and arrange a meeting thats convenient for you. just be careful of gumtree scams. i.e dont accept paypal or postage! only cash on collection.

brokenant

There are a lot of the consoles for sale. You will probably get the same price regardless of how long the auction is listed for. Even a one day listing will be fine.

Crowqueen

Agree with Brokenant - in some crowded categories most items will not even be seen until the last couple of hours. However, where the item has a 'title', there are not always very many of the same item on sale and so perhaps a longer listing might get you more exposure. (e.g. I'm looking for Book 2 of the Game of Thrones saga A Clash Of Kings - I search on eBay for that specific title - I get a couple of pages of listings rather than the thousands that will be in e.g. the clothes or toy categories.)

At this point most people will be looking elsewhere other than online for presents. I know it's a week or so until last posting, but I have been burnt ordering even before then and not getting things until January, so I would orientate yourself towards listing over the Christmas holidays and taking advantage of people with Christmas money to spend.

Books and CDs might do better on Amazon - have a look and compare prices. You list things for free, Amazon pay you net of their cut, and sell them as and when someone requires them, and the listings don't seem to expire in the way that eBay's do. I've got more of a return from them than I have from eBay. However, you do have to be flexible as Amazon are very strict on (a) logging in every day to check your sales (b) dispatch times (two days, a day 3 reminder and they penalise you on day 4 themselves without waiting for buyer feedback) and (c) anyone can buy at any time of day or night and you need to ship.

So --- it may be better to weigh up whether you want the best price or want flexibility. I have tried and failed to sell books on auction on eBay, and I feel that 40p per buy-it-now for a lot of my stuff which will only go for 99p plus postage isn't worth it.

Goldiegirl

Having the auctions finish between Christmas and New Year could work. People will be off work and they'll have more time to browse and will have the christmas money to spend.

As Crowqueen says, books can be very slow on ebay. I've found that cookery books seem to sell ok, but fiction is very slow. Maybe more and more people have eReaders thse days

Crowqueen

eReaders don't help, but what I find on both sites is that anything for which you don't get a clear pound for, plus the 2.80 postage credit, on Amazon is generally not worth selling at all and is only worth donating. Even listing at £1 you get back only 8p after postage. If it's worth less than a pound, or people are selling with postage included, don't bother even listing it unless you could convince someone it's in new condition.

The problem is, the large sellers have access to huge discounts with RM, and although the 2.20/2.70 small packet rate is a bookseller's best friend for more valuable books (anything sci-fi, 'cult', or academic seems to work well, and TV DVDs do better than films), you will not compete with them on run-of-the-mill books. I have art books, old Penguin classic editions (1960s), autographed biographies and the Game Of Thrones book series listed too (buy it, read it, put it back on Amazon). Last year's chick-lit bestseller though?...forget it.

Also try pop-science/pop-history. Forget cheapo joke/gift books, humorous memoirs (a la Hotel Babylon), travelogues etc. You won't get what it costs to send out from those.

I put about three hundred books through the Amazon database and only ended up listing about sixty. I've sold quite a few, but it might be slower at this time of year when people want to buy new items rather than secondhand. However, the listing process is quicker and simpler, and as long as you have good access to a post office (buy packaging cheaply in bulk on eBay) then it's still a good site.

Obviously_the_best

I'd put things like the wii and the fit board up on a three day listing with a guaranteed postage service such parcel2go's 48 hour service. That way people can still receive stuff for christmas

lindseykim13

just start listing it otherwise you'll be hanging onto it for ages and it will sell for whatever it's worth. Don't spend too long thinking about why or how people bid you'll get a headache i know i do! Look at it another way loads of people will be put off listing now as they'll be thinking it's too late for xmas-means your item will get more bids as less competion there could be bidders looking for xtra pressies or those looking for something for a birthday after xmas etc
I've just cleared my loft and sat listing right now, mostly BINS to catch some last minute xmas shoppers and already sold something worth £15 within an hour of it going live so well worth it for me.