1st time seller. Advice on listing?

vertical_fool

Hi all.

This is my first time at selling on Ebay. First of here is my listing:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Dyson-DC21-Motorhead-Cleans-deeper-than-all-others_W0QQitemZ330185607251QQihZ014QQcategoryZ20615QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I hope it's not seen as advertising but it contains the listing which I want advice to. I'll remove it if it's advisable.

So. I've listed the item however I'm wondering whether I should open the box and show photos of the vacuum cleaner out of the box especially with the seal looking like it may be broken although I'm pretty sure it's intact and unopened. Will people think I'm just offering an empty box?

I'm also now worried that I didn't put a reserve on or a higher starting price. Does anyone have any reassurances to offer me?

I didn't mention any returns procedure. Should I?

I put £9.99 postage because someone else did. Is there a search engine for postage ie enter size and weight and get a list of couriers?

Someone also mentioned independent counter's that allow the counting to be viewed by time. Where are these available from?

Any other advice would be greatly appreciated?

Thanks

vertical

soolin

I think you are taking a risk at a 99p start with low feedback as a seller.

vertical_fool

soolin wrote: »

I think you are taking a risk at a 99p start with low feedback as a seller.

I agree that I'm taking a risk but i thought if I start it low then it'll generate more interest. I also thought that offering collection/personal delivery may help to alleviate peoples concerns?

vertical

lolarentt

99p is way way too low! Have a look at similar items on ebay and base your price on those. You don't need all those pics of boxes and seals - a picture of the asssembled cleaner and the statement that it's new will suffice (as long as it is).

vertical_fool

So a starting price of £100 and opening the box and taking a photo?

Thanks

Vertical

lolarentt

vertical_fool wrote: »

So a starting price of £100 and opening the box and taking a photo?

Thanks

Vertical

Having quickly googled it, it would appear to be worth £300+ new. If that's so, and you want to start low to generate interest, I'd have thought somewhere in the £50 >£100 range. If it was me I'd have started at say £65

vertical_fool

Of the completed listings they've all sold for over £200, one of these was from a seller with feedback of only 3 who started their's at £160. Maybe I should do £200 BIN or best offer?

Vertical

DaisyBella_2

vertical_fool wrote: »

Of the completed listings they've all sold for over £200, one of these was from a seller with feedback of only 3 who started their's at £160. Maybe I should do £200 BIN or best offer?

Vertical

That would be best HOWEVER (and I stand to be corrected as I am no ebay guru) I don't think you can change a listings selling options once it already has bids. You would have to cancel the sale and relist and I don't think that is 'legal'??????

vertical_fool

DaisyBella wrote: »

That would be best HOWEVER (and I stand to be corrected as I am no ebay guru) I don't think you can change a listings selling options once it already has bids. You would have to cancel the sale and relist and I don't think that is 'legal'??????

I thought the same when I was just about to say but I don't have any bids so I'll change. It seems I may be too late for that now.

Maybe I should add a returns policy if it's faulty and also open the box and take a photo of the vacuum cleaner and it's accessories?

Thanks

Vertical

StaffsSW

TBH it's rare that I start any auction over 99p , or £4.99 - you are right in that a low start will attract the bids, and with a high value item it should reach it's market value. High start prices only add to your cost of listing after all.

I would recommend a picture of the item itself - although the box is sealed, there are still some paranoid buyers out there! Even if it is a picture of the oen box with all the gubbins clearly visible inside, to save you unpacking it.

£9.99 is probably a courier rate for postage - have a look at parcel2go.com for an idea of pricing, but again in fairness you are not far off the mark, and using other sellers P&P as a guideline for your own is reasonably safe, and shows it's not going for the postal gouge.

Unfortunately you can not change the details now it has bids on it, so all you could do is end it early, and relist with the revisions. It's not illegal or against ebay policies as such, but you could put off some potential buyers of your relisted item.

One faux pas as I see it though is the listing title - boxed and new really should be in there as they are popular keywords, as well as vacuum cleaner. It may seem obvious as the item is listed in vacuum cleaners, but many people will simply do keyword searches rather than category seraches. http://category-keyword.ebay.co.uk/Cleaning-Laundry-Vacuuming_299-1.html are the words that people are searching for in that category...

My personal opinion - you still have 3 days of exposure left, so let it run a bit longer to see how it progresses. If you are not certain by Saturday evening, then pull it and give it a revision. Email each of the bidders and explain that it has been pulled because of an error in the description, but the relisted item is item number XXX. There is a good chance they will bid again on it.

Move the description to the top of the listing, along with one picture, then the supersized images under the description, and the stock pictures/manufacturers description to the bottom.

I'll waive the consultation fee on this one - ;-)

vertical_fool

Thanks stevew8975.

Is it too late for me to modify the title?

Vertical