amazon vs e-bay

rabialiones

never sold any items before.
have a couple of phones to sell.
which is the simplest and easiest site to deal with/
i am a complete novice so any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.
thank you

DMDz

I find you get more for things on Amazon, but thats mainly because I sell the odd console/PC game which goes for next to nothing on eBay. Amazons fees are very high so it probably would be better selling items worth more than £30 on eBay.

Check the selling prices for your product on both sites, then factor in fees. Go for whichever you find is best. You do sell surprisingly fast on Amazon providing you are the cheapest for the item in its current condition!

beachbeth

Ive sold a couple of small items on Amazon and they went really quickly but the fees are higher than Ebay. If you sell them on Ebay be wary of scammers from Nigeria who will email you and offer a lot more money for your phone than you are selling it for! I have sold a phone recently and got an email like this, which I ignored. I know its unfair but I would be wary of buyers with no feedback (I have had trouble with these bidding and then not paying). If someone bids who has a lot of good feedback then you should do ok.

Milky_Mocha

I sell phones on ebay and they always do really well. It's all about how you advertise it. I once sold a phone expecting to get no more than £40 as it had no camera and was an old Motorola model. It sold for over £100! Mind you it was Christmas time.

1) Take photos of the actual item for sale and don't use existing web pictures
2) Offer paypal to buyers - I know their fees are silly and they kind of have a monopoly on ebay but the fact is, paypal generates more bids
3) Do not place a reserve. You're better off starting off the auction at the minimum price you are willing to accept. Buyers do not like the guessing game.
4) Avoid spelling mistakes - scammers almost always have spelling errors.
5) If you have the original box for the phone include the word "boxed" in the title. If the phone is unlocked then include this in the title also.
6) Be clear about the physical and working condition of the phone. If you don't mention it then buyers will assume its all scratched up.

These are all the tips I'm willing to share for now!

photoman_3

I would stick with eBay to sell the phones and follow what the others have said. The fees on Amazon are astronomical if selling an expensive item. I was trying to sell a Canon digital camera a few months ago for £750 and Amazon would end up with £95+ of that. Mind you, didn't manage to sell it on eBay either. Some people seem happy to buy from the Far East and be stung for customs duty.

Hintza

photoman wrote:

Some people seem happy to buy from the Far East and be stung for customs duty.

Its a matter of factoring these into the total price. However I imagine there are many that don't even pause for thought on thgis issue and pay way over the odds. A fool and his money and all that....

RenStar

I personally would sell the phone on Amazon. Yes thier fees are higher but in my experience, your items sell much quicker and there is virtually zero risk of being scammed like on Ebay. There is far too much competition on Ebay I find. Having sold things on both sites, Amazon tends to be more straightforward. I've manged to get very good returns on old phones following upgrades and other electronic items. I even once managed to sell a photo printer for virtually what I paid for it brand new a year later! (you won't know till you try, believe me!!) I think more people trust Amazon than Ebay anyway because they're seen to be more reputable. My only complaint about Amazon is that they won't allow you to sell things they don't sell or had sold in the past, except if you want to go through the thier Auctions which I can't for the life of me figure out how to put pics on, but maybe that's just me.

biblejohn

Ive looked into amazon before and i find items sell on there for more money than on ebay. Maybe because ebay has more competitive sellers.

jpwjpw

if you are selling CD's, books or DVD's go to amazon, you're bound to get much more money. Anything else go through ebay. Ebay is a bit more hassle, but fees are lower.