Best Way To Sell High Value Goods

kezzy100

Hello

My partner is considering selling his Nokia N95 8GB when the upgrade comes through as we could do with the money rather than the phone as he's very happy with the one he has now.


Looking on eBay they sell for £200+ and i've been weighing up the pros and cons with him of selling it on there.

Firstly - is there any way to check what the fees would be as a rough estimate for say - £250...?

I'd say we'd send it Special Delivery and use either cheque, postal order or bank transfer as a method of payment - definatley NOT paypal, no matter how much is offered.

Is there anything else I should keep an eye out for or do? Thanks


Thank you.

StaffsSW

First off, when you list any decent phone, you will attract scammers and chancers, especially if you have a low feedback score, or are recently registered.

You need to block these from even being able to bid, let alone stand a chance of winning. http://offer.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BuyerBlockPreferences Will allow you to set requirements that potential bidders have to meet. Personally I would recommend the following options to be used.
- "Block buyers who are registered in countries to which I don't ship" and make sure the item listed only shows UK postage. This will block the Nigerian, Romanian and increasingly Italian based scammers, as well as the many hijacked accounts which mainly seem to be US registered in my experience.
- "Block buyers who have a feedback score of -1-or lower". No proven deadbeats allowed!
- "Block buyers who have received 2 Unpaid Item strikes in the last 30 days" another deadbeat filter!
- "Block buyers who do not have a credit card on file. and Only apply this block to buyers who have a feedback score of 0 or lower." This will be your best protection, as it's rare that even the most highly organised scammer will have an established account with a validated card against it.

There is an option to block non-paypal users, which I would also recommend, however, if you chose not to accept paypal, this would scrub your entire market!

BUT - listing a mobile phone means you do have to offer Paypal, and in fairness genuine buyers will want to use it as a payment option , as it is very secure for buyers in what is traditionally a high risk category.

Insertion fees will cost you about £1 or so depending on how much you start it at, and whether you use gallery/bold etc. Final Values on £200 in the phones category is £6.17 - everything above £200 is 2% of the value over, i.e Selling for £250 would then be £7.17, £300 - £8.17 etc.

Paypal will take 3.4% + 20p - so on £200 would be £6.80 + 20p, £250 would be £8.50+20p

Your only secure option for postage would be Special Delivery, fully racked, and insured for YOUR protection, not the buyers. The phone would probably come in the £5.95 category which is next day service.

Also, remember to tell the buyers that the phone will be Locked to one network, and CANNOT be easily unlocked "down the market" - N95's are complex beasts!

Cerenia

I've also had a few people trying to offer money outside of ebay for it, don't go down that route either

digerati

When selling electronics such as mobile cell phones, it pays to take a few simple precautions against scammers.

1) Record all serial numbers and other identifying features such as IMEI numbers for mobile phones. Keep copies of any warranties and original sales receipts. These can be used to trace and disable mobile phones reported as 'lost', and many network operators will give you a new phone to replace your 'stolen' or 'lost' mobile.

2) Use a UV pen to write your post code, phone number or secret identifying marks both outside and inside the item and accessories. This helps prevent the popular "Buy, Switch and Return" scam, where buyers replace your working item with their defective one and attempt a SNAD refund via PayPal (the scammer's best friend).

Make sure you take good quality photos that show the actual item you are selling (never use generic photos) and have a friend witness the item's condition as shown in the photos in writing (dated, signed). This makes it much easier to make a Police complaint should you have a PayPal refund or chargeback later, since you have a witness statement...

amcluesent

And be sure to read and follow every single rule of seller protection, esp. only sending to confirmed addresses for Paypal. I'd put the IMEI and serial # with a few xxxx on the listing and then send the full details to the winner upon despatch using Ebay's contact system.

Brooker_Dave

Cerenia wrote: »

I've also had a few people trying to offer money outside of ebay for it, don't go down that route either

Is that not the best route to go as it means no fees on an expensive item?

Smickan

There's no comeback through eBay should it go wrong though.

Brooker_Dave

Smickan wrote: »

There's no comeback through eBay should it go wrong though.

If they land and pay cash, what could go wrong?

Smickan

Cash there'd be no comeback - ditto bank transfer and postal order I believe.

Doing it by paypal is a different matter. I'm sure someone who knows more will correct me, but they'd be able to reverse it and not have the back up of eBay should it go wrong. I assume if you use special delivery and give the tracking number to paypal it may lessen it - but it's still massively frowned upon.

StaffsSW

Smickan wrote: »

Cash there'd be no comeback - ditto bank transfer and postal order I believe.

Doing it by paypal is a different matter. I'm sure someone who knows more will correct me, but they'd be able to reverse it and not have the back up of eBay should it go wrong. I assume if you use special delivery and give the tracking number to paypal it may lessen it - but it's still massively frowned upon.

Depends if you are the buyer or seller, but if I am selling a high value item, and somebody want to make the effor of coming to my house with a wodge of cash, I'll quite happily let them take the risk. There is no risk to me, the buyer can examine the good s before collection, and I save myself a Pony in fees!

It's a different matter if the transaction does not take place in person though. It's not safe for buyers to send cash, and if it went missing in transit then that would be ignored by eBay.

kezzy100

Fantastic, thanks guys