Best way to sell a phone on ebay?

grunt76

I have got a phone to sell, was going to sell it to a shop to save hassle but they are only offering £150, the average on ebay is about £250 so i think i will have to sell it there.
I have sold a couple of phones through ebay in the past with no problems, but reading the posts on here has got me very nervy!
I have searched the forums and found a few tips on other threads, but i just wondered if anyone had any advice as to the best ways to list and post to avoid being scammed??
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

wileycat

If you're not worried about getting a specific price, do it as an auction rather than Buy It Now. Most scammers go full price in on BIN items.
If using paypal only sent goods if buyer is verified and address confirmed.
Check buyers history on bids/sales as well as feedback before sending.

Real security only accept bank transfer/cheque/postal order/cash on collection.

Hintza

The only way I would sell this would be on BIN with "Immediate Payment Required" that stops most of the scammers and state very clearly that you will only post to a confirmed address.

I think I might be asking for a landline number.

goldspanners

ive sold a few mobiles in the past,i usually only offer a uk auction,dont take any bids from outside uk,as this is where a lot of the scammers will come from,especially not nigeria or uganda!!!
never post to an unconfirmed address,and a good point someone else has made get a land line number and post it special delivery.

jarrod1

in my experience i would also have it end on a Sunday evening 7pm -10pm, i find my items sell for more when they end at this time

soolin

My last few phones went within 24 hours on a BIN with immediate payment required. I got slightly more than other phones sold legitimately (ie not the £2000 to a scammer sales). I set my buyer specifics to the most narrow settings I could and also said in the auction that I would not ship overseas and was aware of the 419 scam (just in case!) and would also require a confirmed paypal address otherwise I would return the payment.

peter_the_piper

Take photo's of everything you are selling, especially the phone. Note down ALL serial/imie numbers and only send by a Fully trackable method acceptable to paypal(if used)

ormus

P/O, bank transfer or cash on collection.
that sorts out 99.9% of the problems.

soolin

ormus wrote: »

P/O, bank transfer or cash on collection.
that sorts out 99.9% of the problems.

cash on collection is never a bad idea..I used to sell a few that way. I stopped offering COC though after a difficult buyer tried to haggle the price down after fiddling around with it and switching the brand new phone on and off (so it was no longer box mint). I think COC probably suits someone who is prepared to insist on getting the cash locked away even before showing someone the phone..I'm just too much of a wimp.

As for cheques or bank transfers it is very rare now for people to trust those payment methods, virtually everything I sell goes through paypal and looking at other auctions where it is not offered I think my prices are considerably higher. You only have to ask on here how many people would send a cheque for a phone anymore..