To eBay or not to eBay - what do I do with the stuff meanwhile is the question?

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To eBay or not to eBay - what do I do with the stuff meanwhile is the question?

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Started 1 month ago by akcorcoran
Latest reply from Claycat
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akcorcoran
Member

OK, so I've got this raging internal debate about whether I should eBay some stuff that is clearly worth something - something more than I'd get at local consignment. I have designer things with a tag on them or children's electronics (always worth something!) and so on. Plus books that I could put on half.com, especially books that I used in graduate school. Perfect example, right now I have a brand new pair of riding boots that are new in the box and retail for about $100 - comparable listings I could get $60 to $80. That's real money!

BUT, what do I do with them as I: a) get organized around listing them and b) haven't yet sold them. It's sort of driving me crazy! But, if I take to consignment or the like here, I won't get nearly the same value. The nearest eBay "store" where they do it for you is about 50 miles away - ugh - and I'm sure they take a hefty cut too. What to do?

Do any of you eBay? If so, do you have a system for pre-listing storage, during listing storage, packing supply maintenance, etc. I hate going to ship things so that's another thing that is de-motivating for me.

But, if I can get $80 for something I'd get $10 here at local consignment, it could be worth my time...

Any eBayers out there? Or those who are fundamentally opposed as it is the opposite of Unclutterering?

Posted 1 month ago #
nellieb
Member

I have been listing on eBay since 2001 (rosehilllady is my seller name). I also list items of value for my clients.

The most important thing is to research the item using the Advanced Search feature to ensure it is selling.

There are two approaches to listing on eBay. One is to use the auction listing and know what the minimum amount is that you'll take for your item. You can start the listing at that price (the higher the starting price, the higher the listing fee) or start it ridiculously cheap and put a reserve on it. The reserve is again the minimum price you will take. Thus, if the bidding does not reach the reserve price, you haven't sold your item for less than you want.

Recently, I've begun to use the Buy It Now feature more using the Make an Offer option. I sold some unopened software in one day (listed Sunday, bought Monday, shipped today) for $60. I had that as my Buy It Now price knowing that was a fair price for the software based on sales during the last week.

The items I have listed on eBay are put into a storage bin with a lid. Thus, they are all in one place.

I also sold an item this week (again, one day and it is gone!) by using Craiglist.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Posted 1 month ago #
Another Deb
Member

I usually have several books out on the Amazon.com used listings. Your comment about hating to ship hits home for me. Usually the sale pops up at the least convenient time for me package, then to go stand in a line after work to ship something that will be maybe a few dollars of profit. I take books to the used bookstore (hey, support your local businesses!) or I just send them on to Goodwill and take the tax credit for charity.

Thanks for the e-bay info, nellieb. I do have a few things I wanted to list and have not used it but once or twice. Everyone says it is easy but I still think photograhing, determining shipping costs, describing, researching prices and posting intricate seller's policies are not worth it unless you do it full time.

Posted 1 month ago #
nellieb
Member

It can be worth it if you are selling higher ticket items. I think the highest item I've sold was $3,000 and it the Seller did most of the research for me. On the other hand, I've sold a lot of $6 and $7 books!

For seller's policies, keep it simple, I usually insert: Email questions prior to bidding. All bids are considered to be final. And that's it for my policies! I check off that I am not giving refunds and also add that my items that were purchased from me are from a smoke free home.

The trick is to write up a standard closing paragraph in a word doc, and then copy and paste it into eBay so you don't have to continue retyping the same stuff all the time.

I list for my clients who have nicer items, I usually get 40% and do all the legwork, shipping, etc. I also have a client that hired me to do their customer eBay listings (they are a shipping company) for which I charge a flat fee.

I'm beginning to experiment with Craigslist since it's free. So far, listed 2 items Sunday and one is already delivered!

And yes, it sometimes evolves into quite a bit of work. So I charge clients a $50/hour research fee. I learned to do this after spending days on some larger lots that did not result in much pay for my work.

Posted 1 month ago #
toberead
Member

I used to sell on eBay, Amazon and Half quite often, although I don't sell much any more. (I've run out of things to sell, plus it isn't quite as profitable as it used to be.) But I still ship out books for paperbackswap. I will second doing research before you decide to sell. The things you think are valuable may not be big sellers on eBay.

However, one thing about eBay is the more you do it, the faster and easier it becomes. The first couple of auctions feel like they take forever, but after that, it becomes much easier. You learn how to do things faster. If you are going to sell more than a couple of things, I would suggest getting a scale. (I hate to suggest buying anything, but a scale is a useful multitasker.) Once you know the weight of your package, you can print shipping labels on paypal, and then you can just drop off your package at the post office. (If they are too big for the package drop, you can usually just hand them to the clerk without waiting in line.) Or check the USPS web site to see if there is a post office near you with an automated machine, where you can weigh your packages during off hours.

As far as staying organized, I think the secret is just to keep everything in one place. I have a drawer in my office where I keep my shipping supplies, and I used to keep my ebay sale items on a shelf in a nearby closet. The most difficult thing to store are boxes. Even if you fold them flat, they take up a lot of room. My rule was that I would never list anything on eBay until I had the box on hand that I would ship it in. The post office offers free priority mail boxes - they will even ship them to your door for free, but you have to get them in bundles of a dozen. I would order what I needed, then take any extras to the post office.

Posted 1 month ago #
Nina
Member

I sell things on our local version of ebay quit a lot and one rule I have that anything under 10$ is not worth the hassle of posting it, selling it and sending it. Because if you really want to sell something good pictures of the item helps and this takes a bit of time and then you have to write the post ect. That's why I bring books I don't need anymore to the next charity.

Other then that I have a box where stuff goes to sell and then put it up every now and then. But of course is does take up space and if it's something larger (like our old computer screen) it just sat in the office untill we finally sold it. So if you're main thing is to get things out of the house fast, then ebay is probably not the best solution. And if you know what you want to sell do it soon, because it's easy to get caught up doing other things and then the things sit there for ages.

Posted 1 month ago #
Claycat
Member

I have a lot of things that need to be sold. I have some to sell myself, but most of them are things that I need to sell for my MIL. I keep putting it off. I think I am afraid! I don't understand why I'm afraid. The "what ifs" keep bothering me. What if I make mistakes? What if someone gives me a bad rating? What if I can't sell anything? I've even bought some things on ebay. How do I get around the fear and post that first thing to ebay?

Posted 1 month ago #
akcorcoran
Member

Thanks, everyone for the info - it's very useful. I'm still very mixed - but @Nina, I like the under $10 rule (even if I list for $0.99 and follow @nellieb's strategy above).

I have this big box of books that I keep saying, "Oh, I'll list those..." I bought a bunch of my text books (I have a women's / gender and US history masters) on half.com so maybe they might be the lucrative ones to sell? Would it be wise to just go through and look them all up and see what the going value us - and then only sell certain ones that seem to have a high price?

I guess I'll try with the ones that are over $10. I do have this Mac software called iSale and I'll confess it makes it super easy except any self-taken pictures of the item. In fact, if there is a product in another auction or on Google, you can automatically pull in the information to create a listing. But, it's still the self-taken picture if it's used (most often) to show condition and then the whole box/shipping thing that I dread. I can't find a shelf in my house for my own things, much less things I'm going to sell!

@toberead, do I need a special shipping scale? Or can it be a regular weight scale (have a fairly big one of those that is super accurate - paid up for a professional one but it's digital, not a doctor's scale or anything)?

I'm with you Claycat, sure with you eBay sellers lived near me! You could help me out then! :-)

Posted 1 month ago #
wintersmom
Member

@Claycat -- I had the EXACT same worries when I first started selling on eBay. I was worried about the getting the shipping prices wrong, not being able to find the perfect box to ship it in, etc. My advice: Start small. List just one thing that has selling potential and that fits easily into a priority mail box. The priority mail boxes are free at the post office and it's a flat shipping rate, so you don't have to worry about weighing your item and using the shipping wizard calculator on eBay. Good luck!

Posted 1 month ago #
wintersmom
Member

@akcorcoran -- I have a whole bunch of books on half.com right now. They're just sitting on my desk at the moment. I had started a thread on whether I should impose an expiration date on these books here:
http://unclutterer.com/discuss/topic/expiration-date-for-books-on-sale

This is what I've decided to do with individual books.

1) I start with half.com. After you list the ISBN and condition of the book, half.com will suggest a price and provide stats on the last price that title was sold at, current price ranges, etc. If my book can't fetch at least $5, I don't list it. I really like half because there are no listing fees and they reimburse you for shipping. The listings never expire, which could be a good thing for some people but not for me. I decided to give my books two months to sell.

2) Non-sellers from half get listed on Craigslist, where they have two weeks to sell (this involves reposting the ad once, but that's easy if you've created an account on Craigslist). Craigslist pros: free to list, no shipping involved. Cons: It can generate some spam in your inbox, and you have to be wary of letting strangers come to your home. A shady guy has been emailing me about my $10 vacuum, so I offered to meet him somewhere public... and he's suddenly not interested anymore. Of course.

3) Final stop: Freecycle. I recently joined my local freecycle group and I'm slightly addicted. Again, this involves letting strangers come to your home but I've found that the freecycle folks are not a shady lot.

For lots of books, I decided to follow nellieb's advice and go straight to eBay. I just sold a lot of 10 Garfield books for $31, which is pretty close to what my husband spent on them in the first place.

Going back to half.com, the first part of January was great for sales! I had several grad school textbooks listed, and a lot of students were shopping for the spring semester. I made $50 off one textbook!

Of course, decluttering is not about the money, but a little cash certainly doesn't hurt, especially when you have a toddler. I call it my milk money for the little one.

Anyway, good luck!!

Posted 1 month ago #
toberead
Member

As far as a scale, it doesn't need to be super-accurate. First class mail is measured in ounces, but most other mail is measured by the pound, so it just needs to be accurate enough for that. Mine doubles as a kitchen scale. It only goes up to 5 lbs, but I rarely sell things that are more than 5 lbs. (If I do, I either use a bathroom scale or just take it to the post office and use the machine.) The only time you would need it to be very accurate is if you're shipping something small and want to ship it first class, which is by the ounce.

Posted 1 month ago #
nws2002
Member

I've been selling books on amazon since I decided to cut them all down to what would fit on one bookcase worth. Making a little bit of money has sure helped me to let them go. I don't list any books for less than 1.99, if it looks like it won't sell at that price I donate it.

Amazon was the easiest for me to start with, they give you 3.99 for shipping, and most books are 2.57 to ship media mail, textbooks are more, the extra helps cover the cost of bubble mailers and labels. I use paypal shipping and my mailman just picks up the books with my regular mail, no trips to the post office for me. I keep a few Priority Mail Flat Rate envelopes around for those times when someone requests expedited shipping.

When I first started I just left the books on the shelf and pulled them as they sold. Now that I'm down to one bookcase I keep a box of the books that are listed in my office. When the box is full I go though and purge out the ones that haven't sold and donate them or toss them.

Posted 1 month ago #
Sky
Member

My scale is very helpful determining postage however, with the flat rate boxes, you know what the charge is to start with. Make sure what you are selling fits in the box first!
The ebay fees have gotten ridiculous lately so I try to wait until they have free listing or some deal. Maybe only list a few items at first as questions, packaging, etc. can be overwhelming. And, I agree, under $10.00 isn't worth the bother.
My ebay name is Flowertowngirl if anyone is interested.

Posted 1 month ago #
themusiclivez
Member

I am a huge fan of selling on ebay - I almost always have a huge list of items up for sale. I agree, the shipping is the worst part because it seems like the post office is never open when I need to ship!

However, to keep things organized I have what I call an "ebay box" where I store all of the items I have currently listed on ebay. If these items don't sell in a month's time I donate them to Goodwill. I keep all of my packaging supplies with these items as well.

Posted 1 month ago #
akcorcoran
Member

Gosh - all of y'all are so super motivated! I sort of debate whether decided eBay or not eBay - and if eBay, I'll put it here and then that box sits around (like the big box of books I was going to sell), then I feel guilty and then I think "Oh, I'll just give it away," but then look again and see valuable things and I'm trapped.

You are all giving me great advice and tips though - maybe I should make it a goal to CLEAR a shelf that could they be the eBay in-progress-of-sale area?

Any merits to half.com vs Amazon? And, when it says "media mail" how do you get the packages for that?

Posted 1 month ago #
wintersmom
Member

You can use any packaging for media mail. I use bubble mailers or reuse cardboard boxes I have lying around the house. Just write "Media Mail" on the package, and take it to the post office. You'll have to go to the counter because the automated postal center doesn't offer media mail as an option (boo!). OR you can print out media mail postage on PayPal and just pop the package in the parcel drop at the PO.

Half vs. Amazon...after reading nws2002's comment, I think I will definitely give Amazon a whirl. $3.99 for shipping sounds sweet. Plus I'll probably reach a wider audience on Amazon.

Posted 1 month ago #
wintersmom
Member

@nws2002 -- according to the usps site, you can't use the carrier pickup service for media mail packages only. you have to combine it with another package like a merchandise return, or priority mail. what's your secret?! is your postal carrier just really nice?

Posted 1 month ago #
nws2002
Member

You can't request carrier pickup unless you have a priority mail package. However if the items will fit in your mailbox they will pick it up when they deliver your mail. If I happen to sell more than 3 books at a time, that's the max that will fit in my mailbox, then I take it to work and set it in the outbox there or drop it by the post office. Since the postage is already on the label if you use paypal you don't have to wait in line, just drop it in the box.

I've never used Half.com, so I can't compare it with Amazon.

Posted 1 month ago #
wintersmom
Member

@nws2002 -- Oh interesting. Unfortunately I don't have a mailbox, just a slot in the door.

Posted 1 month ago #
misskittin
Member

I like half.com for selling books, it seems like when I sold on Amazon the final fees they took made it so I was only breaking even, or losing money if you count the time it takes to do everything.
Ebay is great but be careful to not undervalue your shipping costs, I lost money a few times and had to pay more to ship the item than I made on the item + shipping cost combined.
I find craigslist to be full of flaky people, but I was just going to go list a piece of exercise equipment. Wish me luck!

Posted 1 month ago #

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