I have been pondering unloading some pieces of my collection, and wonder if you have any advice, experiences or horror stories trading online. I have been hesitant, as it looks complicated and confusing.

Have you done it and how was it for you?

I luvs me some Ebay.

Its not complicated at all. Its very simple, I have used it countless times, and have never run into anyone who tried to double cross.

Ebay is a very good way go get rid of some junk and make money at the same time. Its like a yard sale for whole world.

Okay, questions?

How do you recieve payments?

Do you recieve them before or after sending off the goods?

How do you factor shipping costs into the price?

jerejerebinks who is that in your sig?

And yes, E-Bay rocks.

You ask for the money, they send it, once you get the money, you send them what they paid for.

As for the shipping, just say it's this price, plus this much for shipping. And then add both at the end for the total.

Do bids have to start at one dollar? Or can you set the starting bid price? If they are paying by credit card how does that work? I get really intimidated by all the user agreemant crap, and really really want it in plain English. Help me !!! I'm sitting on a freakin' goldmine here............

(oh and if it's not appropriate to be taliking about this here than please PM me)

Originally posted by creetwins
Okay, questions?

Okey dokey...:D

[QUOTE]Originally posted by creetwins
How do you recieve payments?

There are various ways to recieve payments. You may use a service Ebay has, called Paypal....which takes your purchasers bank or credit card and transfers the appropriate amount of money into your bank or credit card. I often feel this is to easy to be thefted so I stick to the following.

Money Order or Cashiers Check. Something thats just as good as cash, and doesnt look like it in an envelope. Its of course a little slower than Paypal, but a lot more reliable as far as theft goes.

You also can go the Personal check route....but unless you are really trusting you will have to wait on the check to clear.

I say go with Money Order/Cashiers Check.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by creetwins
Do you recieve them before or after sending off the goods?

Always, have them send your payment, and get your money before sending the goods to them. That way you insure yourself you want get cheated.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by creetwins
How do you factor shipping costs into the price?


Depending on the wait and size of the item your selling the shipping and handling price will be higher. Although, the lower you can go with your s&h price, the better chance you will have of selling it over say someone else selling a similar product.

Originally posted by Overdose
jerejerebinks who is that in your sig?



Me and my girlfriend.

Do you ship things postal or courier?

If something is very fragil should it go courier?



What have you sold or bought there?



How long is the bidding open?


Thank you for sharing. I am by no means a savvy computer lady, and don't want to get had, or risk my precious items. I am more the speed of cave-paintings and smoke-signals. :@@:


Can you set starting bids?

Originally posted by creetwins
Do you ship things postal or courier?

I usally use postal for most items, but some of the more fragile and larger box items...I use Fed Ex...UPS charges too much for delievery...and a lot of people do not want to pay that much for shipping.

However, when I am selling things I usally add an option for the winning bidder that if they want first class mail to send 5 extra dollars. That way if they need it by a certian time they get it, and you get extra cash.

Originally posted by creetwins
If something is very fragil should it go courier?


Read above.

Originally posted by creetwins What have you sold or bought there?

I have sold everything from baseball cards to tennis bags to a bar stool.

I have bought countless hard to find movies, cd's, memorbila, a lot of Christmas gifts, and a Tiffany lamp.



Originally posted by creetwins How long is the bidding open?

You can leave it open for anywhere between 1, 3, 5, 7, and I think 9 days. Obviously the longer its posted the higher the bids, but the longer you have to wait.

Originally posted by creetwins Thank you for sharing. I am by no means a savvy computer lady, and don't want to get had, or risk my precious items. I am more the speed of cave-paintings and smoke-signals. :@@:

Lol, no problem.

Originally posted by creetwins Can you set starting bids?

Yes, you do start the bidding.....there is also an option called reserve price....that means if you are sellng a beloved piece of jewlery and you do not want it to sell for less than 300.....you put a reserve price at 300....and if say someone wins it for 260 it will not tell them the reserve price wasnt met.

Regarding at what price you start the bid, I'm pretty sure that the higher the starting price for your bid, the higher the charge to place the auction.

For payment, sign up for a Paypal account. Most people on eBay use it and it's a really easy way to pay and collect money - it's much easier than waiting for someone to send you money.

Post office is probably your best bet for shipping. I think when you start talking about shipping over borders UPS and FedEx get expensive, whereas I've never had problems sending eBay stuff to Canada with the post office.

When you place your auction be sure to put in a disclaimer about how long you're willing to wait for someone to pay and how long you're willing to wait for a check. Some people will keep you waiting forever and then leave you bad feedback when you tell them to go away.

I've never had a bad experience selling or buying. Be sure to leave people feedback!

Thanks everyone for your help and advice, it took me awhile but I got it up and running, and have been getting a good response so far. I didn't do the paypal this time around, but maybe for my next piece I will.

Is it a good sign if I have 8 bids, but 13 people watching the item?

I did a 10 day sale, I hope it works out!

Thanks again!

8 bid thats pretty impressive, how long has it been up? And what are you selling?

Um, I am selling a limited edition print. I have 9 bids now and 14 people watching. this is the third day so far, I still have a week to go. It's pretty rare, so I guess that's why the good response. I still have a ways to go till I reach my reserve price, but I have already gotten several requests for any more that I may want to sell, I kinda hinted that if this one goes well there are more to come......

I'ts kinda exciting, but i was scared that i might do something wrong or break some kind of unspoken Ebay Taboo.......

As long as the winning bidder gets you youre money and you get him the print, and you leave each other feedback, everything should be fine.

If you want to have some fun, go to your bid 15 minutes before it expires and keep refreshing the page. Watch the price go up and up and up!

Are you serious!?

Do you think that will happen?

I keep getting more and more private emails from interested people asking me if I have any more but the bids have stood still for a while, and I have no idea what to expect?


Does that really happen?

Yeah. It usally comes down to two people batteling it out....it gets interesting...

I been second-guessing myself that I set the reserve too high and I can't really do anything about it, but really I am not really willing to accept lower than that come to think of it.......

This is taking forever, I wish it would just move along the suspense is killing me :confused:

It'll be worth it.

Also, if you get there and they dont quite meet your reserve price....contact the highest bidder and ask them if they would like to buy it at your reserve price....if they say no....go on to the next highest bidder....and if no one wants it at the reserve price....maybe negotiate it a little bit, or repost the item.

I have had two people email me asking what is the reserve. I still have a week to go, should I tell them? Based on the requests, there is definite interest.

SHould I hold out?!?

I am kinda viewing this sale as an experimant, and based on what happens I have learned for the next time around...

Yeah, you can defantely tell them what the reserve price is. If they agree to it, and bid it, then youll be sure to sell your item, and get it for the price you want.

cool

I did that and haven't heard anything yet

maybe they passed out in shock or something

12 bids now and 18 people watching

5 more days to go, I'm already thinking about my next item to put up..........

Cool

Im glad youre getting into the swing of things.

Be sure to let me know how it goes.

If you want to have some fun, go to your bid 15 minutes before it expires and keep refreshing the page. Watch the price go up and up and up!

Did you do that? Is that what happened? What was it?

It ends tonight, and I hope it goes! (up hehe)

Originally posted by creetwins
Did you do that? Is that what happened? What was it?

It ends tonight, and I hope it goes! (up hehe)

Yeah - the price at least doubled on most of them. I was selling a bunch of my old Mac junk.