Ebay Tips

Jeremy

Jeremy

JORBA:Nassau
JORBA.ORG
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Lately I've been selling a lot of stuff on eBay. I tend to be an impulse buyer, and find a lot of shit sitting around. Good stuff too, not junk. And I know eBay robs you, but there is nowhere else to sell something quick and easily.

How does one go about giving an accurate shipping rate? i just pick arbitrarily... sometimes I come out on top, sometimes I lose. I'd rather just charge what I have to pay.

Is there a better time to list things, thereby having the auction end at a particular time?


Feel free to add other tips!
 
Don't sell stuff out of season. This is hard sometimes when you want to make some quick $$$ but don't sell your lightweight jerseys in the middle of January or your Rapha softshell in trhe middle of summer. Yes, it is summer/winter somewhere, but you are much better off selling stuff just before or during the season it is for in your region.

The good thing is that there are people who do this and you can usually get some steals....
 
don't ever sell anything to anyone that is not paying for it with THEIR account. double and triple check b/c they'll send you emails that look EXACTLY like eBay emails but aren't.

that way you don't end up out $1,100, a sweet laptop and hate the entire country of Indonesia.
 
There's a couple ways to do shipping, if the stuff fits in any of the post office flat rate boxes, that is easiest. Each size ships for a certain amount and as long as it fits its that price. There are some weight restrictions with stuff that ships outside the country.

Or you could buy a postal scale and go on the postal service website and see what they charge for that weight to ship.
 
As for better time, I always aim for early Sunday evening because I assume most people are home. Except for football season. I try to end at a time that's good for east and west coast. I have no statistics to back up this theory.
 
rlb said:
As for better time, I always aim for early Sunday evening because I assume most people are home. Except for football season. I try to end at a time that's good for east and west coast. I have no statistics to back up this theory.
Click to expand...

I read on the Internet that Sunday evening is best. Based on some minor experience on watching items, I find this to be true. I almost never win anything on Sundays cause people are paying too much.
 
open a ups account. You probably have a bike scale right? If so, use that to approx, weight, package size. Get est and I would add 3% because paypal takes % from that too now. Not sure if ebay does too if so, add a culmulative 15%.

I like UPS because tracking and print all labels online and just drop it off at a box.


I end auctions sunday 10:30pm or later whatever I'm in the mood to do. Accounts for kids are in bed, dinner over, and any other time zones.

If unsure just list it with a buy it now price and if your item is desirable it will sell some time. Price it a little more than what others auction for. Researching completed listings is a good thing for pricing.

I have to say though. I find bike items to sell at higher prices on ebay. Majority people don't like to ride in the winter and buy shit they don't need and build. DH stuff sells cheaper but the nice xc stuff is stable more or less. Especially when it comes to holiday shopping season. People catch the buying binge. Ask stb about road stuff. Not sure.
 
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Bill whatever ebay reccomends for shipping.
Ship all items from work under company UPS account.
???
Profit
 
I used to sell a ton on eBay, now I pretty much just stick to craigslist to avoid fees.

I always aimed to ending auctions on Sunday evenings. Seems to maximize exposure. I would always just guess on shipping. If you over estimate it just offsets as bidders don't bid the item up as high.
 
Not that I sell a ton of stuff, but I always list the postage as "shipping and handling" that way it didn't need to be exact. I also second the Sunday night auction end.
 
Most of it is covered. Flat rate boxes for shipping, end on the weekends so people can watch/bid at the last minute, and make sure your titles include all the keywords someone may search for so your items come up.

I'll shill bid your stuff up if you cut me in the profit. 🙂
 
Someone in Mass is interested in a bike I am selling on craigslist but is looking to be protected so she is requesting I list it on ebay. I haven't sold on ebay for a while but hot damn 10%!!!

What are other alternatives to make me trustworthy because i am such a scumbag?
 
i think paypal has buyers protection - (what @pearl said)

does she want you to ship it? Meet her half way, and let her look it over?
Pay Lori Romero up at HG (pedal your gear) to inspect/ship ?
tell her the risk is built in the price?
 
it seems the buyer is protected under paypal's purchase protection but they do a confusing job explaining it and probably doesn't make the skeptical people feel comfortable

Thanks for the reminder. Just e-mailed her that I'll send her an invoice via paypal and she is protected under the purchase protection and see how that goes.

3% is helluva better than 10%
 
Sunday nights as others have said. People browse all week at work. Then, they have Sunday night to finalize bidding.

Start bidding at $1. It attracts attention.

Use 'auto-calculate shipping'. You have to measure and weigh box before starting the auction. Buyer will see shipping costs up front and is automatically added to the invoice when they win the item. I always get jipped on big items like frames, wheels, and bikes. I increase the weight when setting up the auction to make up for it.

Buy It Now (BIN) and Reserve have big pros and cons. I sell mostly stuff that means nothing to me. I'm just trying to collect 'something' for it. I add a BIN to see if someone bites and I can get the item sold more quickly. Reserve only on expensive stuff I may not let go too cheap. When setting a reserve, tell them the reserve price in the auction. It makes you look honest and you won't get 20 messages from people wanting to know what the Reserve is. The Reserve feature turns people off because it removes the possibility of an awesome deal for the bidder. So, avoid it if you can.

I've never started an auction at $1 and got significantly burned. They are so many people on eBay that someone will bump up the price. Just remove emotion about what you are selling and let it go.
 
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Why don't you sell it here on the board. I hear they pay top dollar in NJ..
 
I use a cheap food scale I picked up from Target to get exact weight. Then I add another pound to account for packaging.

If you use USPS flat rate, you can pick up boxes for free (or have them shipped to you) at your local PO. That way you'll know what fits and what doesn't before you post an auction.

Anything that sells over $250, you'll need to as signature confirmation to be eligible for seller protection. I also check the buyer's address on Google Maps to see if the area looks sketchy. If it is, I'll add signature confirmation to lessen the chance of it being snatched off somebody's porch.
 
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