Advice requested re selling... my...

I have a sister who makes a living selling things on ebay. She has a store and she auctions things. She recoups her ebay fees via her shipping costs which are still reasonable. I don't know ANY of the ins and outs, but if you're interested, pm me with your email and I'll ask her to drop you a line.

Having stumbled around Ebay for a while, making a fool of myself..

my number one advice-

figure out how much your shipping cost is before you even list the item.

For me, and there may be a simpler way out there .. but..

I took the item, the box it would be in , the paper wrapping and everything down to the post office.
weighed the box
Wrote that amount on the outside of the box and added 1 or 2 dollars to that for gas/time/effort ect

only after that , did i list an item.

I ate a few dollars in shipping because I under estimated , or went with the standard rates only to learn that the weight of my package was outside standard weights..


other then that, it s an easy thing to sign up for.
Easy to get started


hard to arrange your site/item's web page in a way to attract attention.
That is a touch and go lesson there..

Thanks, both of you. And, Mame, I will probably pm you, but I'll read more on eBay first.

Osso, It seems to me that squinney has posted that she has quite a bit of eBay experience.

I thought so too, Swimpy, but she's been offline... then just this morning I saw her posting. Glad they got their computer all powered up.

If she doesn't see this, I'll pm her.

I know a young lady who found about 50 empty old (circa 1905) milk bottles behind her grandmothers house when she passed away. She sold them on EBay for up to $200 EACH! Then she bought a new car.

Ah, that's music to my ears.

Wonder how she packed them..

Her husband, the "MilkMan" probably took the bottles to work.

How do people pay for an item bought on e-bay?

Osso, my son makes a reasonable amount on ebay, buying "stuff" (he doesn't want any unnecesary competition ny blabbing all his good ideas on the internet) from the USA (mainly) at a pittance from wholesalers, twiddling around with those items, and selling them back to the yanks (mainly) for three or four times the price, plus postage.

I'll PM you with his ebay shop, so you can get some ideas about layout, photos etc.

He has a paypal account, and most people pay via that facility. However, we still end up with one or two envelopes each week, stuffed with dollars.

He says the best thing he ever did, was to invest in a good camera, for close up shots. His photos are really clear and accurate, which goes a long way to making a sale.

The other thing is, if you are thinking of putting something on for auction, time it very carefully, so that it doesn't end on a weekend evening, when most buyers will be out enjoying themselves, and therefore unable to bid.

Also, make sure an auction finishes at a time when most people will still be awake in the U.S....say 10pm or so. Maximum hits are made about that time.

You description of the item needs to be as detailed as possible, to avoid numerous ebay customer query messages coming your way.

Packaging....find a wholesaler or even a manufacturer to buy from...far far cheaper than buying it from a retail shop, even much cheaper than Costco's, we've found.

Wrapping, if it is a delicate item....use bubblewrap. Other than that, loads of newspaper, etc.


Posting....if it's over what you consider to be a certain value to worry about, send it insured post, but stipulate that on your item page when selling.
"Buyer to pay x dollars postal cost, plus x dollars insured delivery."

He also sends valuable items by recorded delivery, so the customer can't turn round and say they never received it.


If I think of any more...I'll get back to you.

PM on the way.......

OOH! One other thing that springs to mind.

When you list something, put as many related words into the title somehow. You'll see what I mean when you hit the link I've just sent you.

This ensures that you draw as many potential buyers in as poss.

e.g.....

"Spatula for sale. Kitchenware utensils cooking sex aid etc etc"...that sort of thing.

That way, if someone punches in "kitchenware", your spatula would be included in the search.
If you hadn't put that in the title, your site would be overlooked, possibly.

I need a lie down now. I've come over all uneccesary.

You sweetie pie, you, thank you!

No problem, Osso.

He's been doing the ebay stuff for about three years, and seems to spend half of his spare time with a length of packing tape hanging out of his mouth.

Some of the questions from buyers are beyond belief, though.

"The Dinosaur teeth I'm buying, do they come from an endangered species?"

Seriously.