Selling your stuff on EBID. advice for new sellers

Mayday

So how come I've had 10 sales today on eBid which is a pretty regular occurence for me.

I list mainly in the collectables and craft categories.

You CAN sell on eBid, but you have to do your own plugging which is where Facebook groups come in useful.

mrcol1000

Mayday wrote: »

So how come I've had 10 sales today on eBid which is a pretty regular occurence for me.

I list mainly in the collectables and craft categories.

You CAN sell on eBid, but you have to do your own plugging which is where Facebook groups come in useful.

If you have to drive people to your listings then you may as well have a e-commerce web-site. You then have total control of it and do not have to worry of say them closing the site down without warning as no-one is using it. You can also get them for lower cost or even free

winspiration

Mayday wrote: »

So how come I've had 10 sales today on eBid which is a pretty regular occurence for me.

I list mainly in the collectables and craft categories.

You CAN sell on eBid, but you have to do your own plugging which is where Facebook groups come in useful.

I know a lot of people who make their living by selling online, but I don't know anyone who has had much success selling stuff on ebid. I have sold some stuff on there in the past, and have a life membership, bought a very long time ago on an offer (it cost me about a fiver I think, if that). However, I concluded that the effort to maintain listings just wasn't worth it for the occasional sale once in a blue moon.

If I'm going to work to plug stuff myself, I'd much rather plug my own website.

I tend to agree with RFW that ebid's main business nowadays is probably selling life membership subscriptions.

forgotmyname

Mayday wrote: »

So how come I've had 10 sales today on eBid which is a pretty regular occurence for me.

I list mainly in the collectables and craft categories.

You CAN sell on eBid, but you have to do your own plugging which is where Facebook groups come in useful.

Err you can sell on ebid but you had to push people there from facebook when you could have sold it directly on facebook?

Bit like going to the local shop and they say yeah you can buy anything but you need to go onto ebay to purchase them.

soolin

forgotmyname wrote: »

Err you can sell on ebid but you had to push people there from facebook when you could have sold it directly on facebook?

Bit like going to the local shop and they say yeah you can buy anything but you need to go onto ebay to purchase them.

Thant's always struck me as odd as well, I have a free selling page on Facebook , direct sales and no fees at all apart from paypal if the item is to be sent. Come to ebid, sell via facebook but only to those with an ebid account.

However, has anyone ever seen an ebid seller on Facebook or anywhere else at all except on here? I've seen a few etsy sellers on the main facebook selling pages for cult stuff, mainly US sellers though , and have seen people ask about something and be told 'it is on etsy' and if they don't have an account they can't buy it. That strikes me as a very odd way of doing business, putting obstacles in the way of a buyer- for me it's 'hey, I'm sure we can work something out here'.

forgotmyname

I'm going to suggest this to the local supermarket. Stock the shelves for viewing only and then people can come and look then go home and buy off ebay.

Im sure its a business model they had not considered before.

Mayday

Don't worry - I sell on Facebook as well

Mayday

forgotmyname

Not donated by Ebid then? Ebid sold items donated?

I wonder if those items would have sold for more on ebay?

Contains_Mild_Peril

delkman wrote: »

The problem is I sell sports cards, mostly inexpensive ones. I have looked at a bunch of auctions on Ebid and do not see any bids on any cards and I have scoured a lot. My shipping cost is calculated (approx. 2.54 domestic), That comes in a bubble mailer with tracking. I was wondering if I should lower the cost and ship in a white envelope. The issue there is the cards do not have much protection (or tracking) as they have to be able to go through the sorting machines at the post office.

I wouldn't use a signed for service for low value small items not just because of the expense, but also the potential inconvenience for customers. If someone is not usually at home when mail arrives and they're buying something that could easily go through their letterbox, they're more likely to buy from a seller who uses standard post so that it can be delivered in their absence.
For packaging, have you considered Christmas cards? Plenty of shops still have them (at reduced prices of course), and they will easily fit through the PO Letter size slot with a card or two inside. I use them for posting things like postcards and collectable banknotes. Depending on quality, they can offer better protection than board-backed envelopes for considerably less money.