How much must something be worth before trying to sell it in the first place?

Pollycat

RedImp_2 said:

Pollycat said:

How much is your time worth?

Taking photos, listing, packaging and getting the parcel to the carrier all takes time.

As I'm retired, I'm happy to do all this to sell small value items.

I'm a private seller and refresh my wardrobe with charity shop, eBay & Vinted purchases. 
I call it my 'operating capital' and buy & sell happily without any impact on our joint finances.

I don't bother listing anything below £3.00 + postage.
It can sound better if you list a say Weird Fish dress for £7.00 with free postage instead of £3.00 plus £3.39 postage.

Although I've sold some reasonable value items (Dr Martens, silver bangles/necklaces, bric-a-brac) a lot of my sales are below £10.00.
My total for this year (3 months) is a tad over £1k.

I list for 5 or 6 weeks and then end the listing and donate to charity.

Beware doing free postage from April 15
Even doing it now you’re adding cost to the buyer as the protection fee will be higher (not by much admittedly )

But if the buyer is happy with the total price they'll pay...

As I said above, I list for a short time, reducing if it doesn't sell and then it's off to the charity shop.
It's win-win for both me and the charity shop.

RedImp_2

Pollycat said:

RedImp_2 said:

Pollycat said:

How much is your time worth?

Taking photos, listing, packaging and getting the parcel to the carrier all takes time.

As I'm retired, I'm happy to do all this to sell small value items.

I'm a private seller and refresh my wardrobe with charity shop, eBay & Vinted purchases. 
I call it my 'operating capital' and buy & sell happily without any impact on our joint finances.

I don't bother listing anything below £3.00 + postage.
It can sound better if you list a say Weird Fish dress for £7.00 with free postage instead of £3.00 plus £3.39 postage.

Although I've sold some reasonable value items (Dr Martens, silver bangles/necklaces, bric-a-brac) a lot of my sales are below £10.00.
My total for this year (3 months) is a tad over £1k.

I list for 5 or 6 weeks and then end the listing and donate to charity.

Beware doing free postage from April 15
Even doing it now you’re adding cost to the buyer as the protection fee will be higher (not by much admittedly )

But if the buyer is happy with the total price they'll pay...

As I said above, I list for a short time, reducing if it doesn't sell and then it's off to the charity shop.
It's win-win for both me and the charity shop.

Of course.  All I’m pointing out is that if you charge £10 + £3 postage, the buyer sees a lower price than if you charge £13 with free postage and therefore in theory more chance of selling.

Murphybear

Mark_d said:

I'd just chuck items less than £20 or give them away to a charity.  I don't think many people would buy sub-£20 items privately on ebay because the postage costs would, in my opinion, be disproportionate.

After losing 6 stone I bought a new wardrobe mainly from eBay.  Many items cost less than £5, the most I paid was £12.  I have found charity shops a lot more knowledgeable these days and some of their clothes are quite expensive.  I saw a lovely wool and cashmere jacket for £45.  A wool and cashmere jacket that looked hardly worn was £12 on eBay plus £3.50 for postage.  I bought the latter.  

soolin

Murphybear said:

Mark_d said:

I'd just chuck items less than £20 or give them away to a charity.  I don't think many people would buy sub-£20 items privately on ebay because the postage costs would, in my opinion, be disproportionate.

After losing 6 stone I bought a new wardrobe mainly from eBay.  Many items cost less than £5, the most I paid was £12.  I have found charity shops a lot more knowledgeable these days and some of their clothes are quite expensive.  I saw a lovely wool and cashmere jacket for £45.  A wool and cashmere jacket that looked hardly worn was £12 on eBay plus £3.50 for postage.  I bought the latter.  

I have just bought a lovely wool mix jacket branded for M&S from Vinted for £5 - cost me around £9 with buyer premium and postage - it's in excellent condition , hardly worn at all and I absolutely love it. I haven't bought a new coat or jacket new now for a few years, always Vinted or ebay or a charity shop.

Pollycat

RedImp_2 said:

Pollycat said:

RedImp_2 said:

Pollycat said:

How much is your time worth?

Taking photos, listing, packaging and getting the parcel to the carrier all takes time.

As I'm retired, I'm happy to do all this to sell small value items.

I'm a private seller and refresh my wardrobe with charity shop, eBay & Vinted purchases. 
I call it my 'operating capital' and buy & sell happily without any impact on our joint finances.

I don't bother listing anything below £3.00 + postage.
It can sound better if you list a say Weird Fish dress for £7.00 with free postage instead of £3.00 plus £3.39 postage.

Although I've sold some reasonable value items (Dr Martens, silver bangles/necklaces, bric-a-brac) a lot of my sales are below £10.00.
My total for this year (3 months) is a tad over £1k.

I list for 5 or 6 weeks and then end the listing and donate to charity.

Beware doing free postage from April 15
Even doing it now you’re adding cost to the buyer as the protection fee will be higher (not by much admittedly )

But if the buyer is happy with the total price they'll pay...

As I said above, I list for a short time, reducing if it doesn't sell and then it's off to the charity shop.
It's win-win for both me and the charity shop.

Of course.  All I’m pointing out is that if you charge £10 + £3 postage, the buyer sees a lower price than if you charge £13 with free postage and therefore in theory more chance of selling.

In my experience, free postage attracts more buyers.

I quite often start out charging postage but if it doesn't sell, instead of reducing the starting bid and charging postage, I'll jiggle the starting bid and offer free postage.
Lots of my items have then sold.

I should point out that a lot of items that I sell are unlikely to be available in the size I have.
e.g. vintage DMs in size 3

RFW

Pollycat said:

In my experience, free postage attracts more buyers.

That seems to be the market opinion too. It's shifted a tiny bit back towards added post in the last couple of years.

I've not added post on to a price in about ten years, possibly more. I expect Ebay will work out how to add the buyer protection fee onto the postage soon enough.

Some business models now offer a flat postage for everything or free over a certain spend. If someone's charging more than £4 for postage I'll probably look elsewhere unless it was something big from a private seller.

Pollycat

I think private sellers just have to do what suits them.

soolin

Pollycat said:

I think private sellers just have to do what suits them.

I think you are absolutely right. 

MSE_Jenny

swingaloo said:

Mark_d said:

I'd just chuck items less than £20 or give them away to a charity.  I don't think many people would buy sub-£20 items privately on ebay because the postage costs would, in my opinion, be disproportionate.

I would disagree, but it depends on how much you need the money and how much you consider worth having. 
I sell used ladies clothing, some mine and some my sisters, daughter-in-laws and friends have given me.  I do it to raise money which I donate to a local charity. 
I start my items around the £2.50 to £4 mark which does not seem a lot but the odd item may go for a tenner whilst some go for the starting price.  It amazing how quickly it adds up and I probably sell 10 or 15 items a week at the moment which does not seem much but I raised £77 last week and this week looks to  be heading the same way. The pain in the backside is photographing and listing as it takes time to do it properly. If you dont have patience to do good photos you may as well give your items away.

@s@swingaloo Do you mind me asking where you sell these please - is it eBay? Thanks

swingaloo

MSE_Jenny said:

swingaloo said:

Mark_d said:

I'd just chuck items less than £20 or give them away to a charity.  I don't think many people would buy sub-£20 items privately on ebay because the postage costs would, in my opinion, be disproportionate.

I would disagree, but it depends on how much you need the money and how much you consider worth having. 
I sell used ladies clothing, some mine and some my sisters, daughter-in-laws and friends have given me.  I do it to raise money which I donate to a local charity. 
I start my items around the £2.50 to £4 mark which does not seem a lot but the odd item may go for a tenner whilst some go for the starting price.  It amazing how quickly it adds up and I probably sell 10 or 15 items a week at the moment which does not seem much but I raised £77 last week and this week looks to  be heading the same way. The pain in the backside is photographing and listing as it takes time to do it properly. If you dont have patience to do good photos you may as well give your items away.

@s@swingaloo Do you mind me asking where you sell these please - is it eBay? Thanks

Yes it is Ebay.