Ebay Advice on selling chdrn's clothes.

[crazymomof4]

After 2 yrs of chickening out I've finally taken the plunge and posted my first ebay auction. I really want to make some extra cash for our upcoming WDW trip! I have a 20 pc lot of little girls clothing that are in great shape. I spent an entire afternoon washing, ironing and photographing them. Then I listed!

I was quite excited bc. for 2 yrs I've heard/read so many success stories. Well, after 2 days my auction has had only 12 views and 0 bids and is now buried in hundreds (maybe thousands) of auctions. Even I have trouble finding it!

My hopes are dashed! Now I feel like I would do better taking them to a consignment shop or selling at our yard sale. HELP! I really wanted to make a go of this and I'm feeling very discouraged.

Can anyone give some advice?

When is a good time to list summer clothes? Did I list too early, too late?

I listed on Sat. evening. When is the best day of the week?

Mine are used and I feel overshadowed by the NWT boutique items being offered by the "powersellers".

What things do you do to attract bids/sell used children's clothing?

ANY advice will be appreciated!

Thanks!
Your fellow "budgeter"......crazymom

 

[MosMom]

Would you mind giving the link to the auction so I can take a peek at it. I will get a better idea of what you can do if I can see it.

 

[TupperMom7]

I guess it would depend on the clothes and how you listed them. Some key words can drive customers away, while some can draw them in. Don't give up until the end of the auction though. Some of those that have looked at the auction might come back and bid at the end.

 

[crazymomof4]

Would you mind giving the link to the auction so I can take a peek at it. I will get a better idea of what you can do if I can see it.

OK- I didn't think we were allowed to post links to our auctions. Just let it be known, I'm NOT self promoting here just looking for some constructive criticism.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4707644445&ssPageName=ADME:B:LC:US:1

 

[05ChristmasSurprise]

You might do better at Once Upon A Child or at a consignment shop.

To be honest, most people either look for Gymboree or Baby LuLu ("name brands") and the rest tends to be lumped together in a big "bargain" brand name category. Even the Ralph Lauren, Tommy Girl, and Old Navy things just don't sell like they used to.

 

[imsayin]

12 watchers is good, most people bid at the end, so don't panic. My only suggestions are to add "Girls" and "lot" in the title and offer parcel post shipping. I know clothes are heavy, but to ship this to me would be $11.00.

You can modify your auction since there are no bids.

 

[CheapMom]

Well- you still have over 5 days left so don't worry just yet. I am the wrong person to give advice because I have had bad luck selling childrens clothes. If you did your research and saw similar lots selling for over $9.99 you should be okay. If you will not accept less than $9.99 I would just leave it as it is and hope for the best.
Unfortunately you can't revise your title- but it is always a good idea to put 1 or 2 of the popular designers in your auction title.

 

[AngieWin]

I'm not much of an ebayer, but if they were boys clothes, I would bid on them! I think the pictures look great and I agree with previous posters that having that many people watching your auction is good.

I have tried consignment before and have gotten really bad deals with them. I couldv'e gotten more at a garage sale.

 

[jckdisneybound]

When I sell clothes on Ebay, I usually start my bidding really low, like 1.99, that catches peoples eye. For me, I never expect to make a ton on my auctions, but every little bit helps. It's weird if you start it low it almost always go for what I want it to.

That's my suggestion. Honestly with an minimum bid of 9.99 I wouldn't even look.

 

[~Kathie]

Unfortunately you can't revise your title- but it is always a good idea to put 1 or 2 of the popular designers in your auction title.

Item descriptions and changes including titles can be revised up to 12 hours before the auction ends providing the item does not have a bid.

The OP said she had 12 VIEWS not 12 watchers. Big difference. Actually OP has a lot more views now!!

If it were me, I would revise the title to take out Starting at 50¢ and put in some of the name brands, how many items and adding "girls" as someone else mentioned. I counted 21 items there (added the shirts and shorts separatly) if I got them all and that's a good deal for $10. JMHO

Good luck.

 

[Daisy Duck 5]

Put some of the name brand in that is what people search for.

 

[MosMom]

Change the title to this...

GREAT 2T Girls Summer 21 pc Lot Children's Place & More! (or something similar)

The pictures are fine and I think you could definitely get a bid for 9.99 on that lot. As far as timing. I am currently photographing all of our stuff from last year and getting ready to list it. I think now is a perfect time! I just thing your title needs to be a little more catchy to attract more viewers. I always find that I either get bids in the beginning or in the end and never much in the middle so don't get frustrated. You have it ending on a Saturday night too which I find to always be really successful for an ending time. Good luck! Keep us posted.

 

[swilshire]

Not directing the comments to your auction, but I can tell you why I don't buy clothes for the kids on eBay. I spend way more than I should on eBay, but it's usually for things I couldn't find locally. I buy a lot of Hot Air Balloon themed items as well as a few other favorite types of things.

With generic kids clothes, I can go to yard sales or consignment stores and get them for less than the shipping normally is on eBay. Just bought a whole box full of things for DS6 at a school sale Saturday for 25 and 50 cents each. Even bought a nice coat. Not sure whether they charged 50 cents or a dollar, but it was so nice that $4 or $5 would have been a bargain.

Your shipping may reflect what it would actually cost to mail these, but when you add it to any bid, the price goes up fast.

JMHO.

Sheila

 

[Colinsmom]

I agree to revise the title to get rid of the "start at 50c/pc" and get something in there that will trigger on searches since, like you said, your auction is currently buried in there. Florence Eisemann is a boutique brand, I believe, and Talbots is nothing to sneeze at. Also, add if your home is nonsmoking (that matters a LOT to me). And do what you can to bring down that shipping - if the box is over 2lbs, it may be cheaper to ship via FedEx Ground. You can ship FedEx with no surcharge by going to a local Kinko's store or FedEx office. Or at least offer parcel post.

I also long for close-up photos of your items as they look cute from afar, but I know that hosting them on eBay brings up your costs. Perhaps someone else can give you a quick tutorial on free photo hosting.

ETA: I know that you can't change it, but your single digit feedback rating may be hurting you too. Everyone has to start somewhere, though!

 

[crazymomof4]

If it were me, I would revise the title to take out Starting at 50¢ and put in some of the name brands, how many items and adding "girls" as someone else mentioned. I counted 21 items there (added the shirts and shorts separatly) if I got them all and that's a good deal for $10. JMHO

Good luck.

OK- I just changed my title for the 5th time (I am SUCH a newbie!)

I counted the sandals as one item, but if they can count as 2-- great! I changed it to "21 pc Lot"

As far as pricing it lower. I thought about that. I saw some completed listings where people set $.99 as the starting price and ended up getting only $2-3 for a lot the size of mine. After all the prep work I put into it, that would just blow my mind. I would rather keep them, and take my chances at a yard sale, than go to all of that trouble for 2 bucks! Thanks to those who said they would pay the $9.99--that was encouraging.

About the shipping- In my preparation to sell on ebay I read suggestions from quite a number of people who only ship Priority bc of the free confirmation. This prevents buyers from saying they never rec'd the package when in fact they did. What are your thoughts on this?

About the pictures-- I think if I re-list I will spend the extra $$ and post individual pictures of each of the outfits to show more detail. Do you think this is worth it?

Thanks for all of your suggestions.....they really did help!

 

[crazymomof4]

Also, add if your home is nonsmoking (that matters a LOT to me).

Thanks, I wanted to add Non smoking home but I guess I forgot. Gonna do that now!

 

[PooohBear]

Just to let you know, I just had about 7 auctions for lots of clothing and most of the bidders came on the last day, even down to the last hour..... I started my clothes lots at 1.99 and ended from $15-24 per lot except for one that didn't sell, so don't give up just yet ! One thing I want to add too is that your starting bid is too high, I understand you don't want to sell for too low, but sometimes a gamble pays off and sometimes it doesn't, more people watch the auction if it starts low..... I had from 6-13 watchers on each of mine because the starting bid was so low, I did get lucky in the end except for one auction that didn't even sell ... Good Luck to you !!!!

 

[ValerieK]

I haven't sold on ebay, but DH will buy clothes for DD sometimes. I know that he won't bid until the last few minutes and when I am buying stuff, I won't either.

 

[Kellydelly]

Shoes are not individual items if in a pair. Your lot has 13 items (I counted 11 outfits and one jacket, guess I missed the shoes). Your price is fine, if you lower it you could get screwed. I would pay that much for that many outfits, but if you can get the shipping down that would be good. Would all that stuff fit into a flat rate priority box ($7.70)? Also for me there is just too much to read in your description! It's like a book! Also you can add as many free pics as you want if you use html instead of the standard description feature. You would need a photo hosting site like photobucket.com or I think you can use snapfish too. I think it's pretty good for a first effort! If I hadn't just bought a ton of stuff for my little one already I'd be all over it, nice stuff!

 

[momm2four]

Don't be too concerned about not getting bids right now or being "buried" in the listings. Just think, when people type in "Girls 24 mth", there are bunches of pages. Most people will only wade through the first two or so. Therefore, when your listing gets closer to the first page you will have more people looking at your items, and I bet, they'll be bidding on them.

As another poster said, I have had bunches of items, especially clothing, not get bids until the last couple of hours, and some even got bids in the last 10 minutes. Good luck!

Lori P.