You HAVE to try this!! EBAY your way to DISNEY!!

[cindala]

Okay, I think I got the PayPal thing worked out. Since I am already a PayPal member, I can receive money thru my email address, just not money from CC since I have a personal account.

So, instead of putting the PayPal icon in my listings, I just list it separately that I accept payment from PayPal, by check. PayPal verifies that the funds are there before they are sent, correct? I hope this is right.

Now, of all the items that I listed and sold, only one bidder has not contacted me. I've already sent 2 emails and an invoice. I checked his/her feedback, and it is all positive, but he/she has A LOT of items they are currently bidding on and have bid on. All from my category of items. However, he/she has already received feedback from sellers whose auctions ended after mine. (Maybe they paid by PayPal) On top of that, this same bidder has now bid on two other of my auctions, and is currently the high bidder. If they are waiting to win and ship altogether, I still think they should contact me, don't you? How long should I wait before I relist the item if I still don't hear from them?

I have learned quite a lot from this thread, and I have been inspired by many of you. Hopefully this eBaying will continue to pay off for us, and help save for next years trip to Disney!!!

 

[mom2smjn]

I am a realitively ne Ebay seller...Since about January, and I am learning so much from this thread.

I have a few questions though...
I see people selling LOTS of things and although I do sell a few thing now and then its not steady like I would prefer.
WHY?
(ebay id momswarehouse)
I try tohave wide variety of items(is that the trouble?) And it seems things that I think are an awesome deal don't sell and things I put up for the heck of it sell like hotcakes!

I have alot of childrens clothes and wondered if that would be worth adding do they sell well?

Also, DMRick what is your ebay id? I looked through all of these pages until my eyes blurred and can't find it!
I love looking at everyones about me and ebay stores it helps me see what I am doing right and what I am doing wrong...

We had a bad time here for the last 2 months and have had NO income AT ALL and with 6 of us. what little vacation money we had saved up went fast(bad year for the dairy farm business!) So I am almost desperate to do well selling online.

 

[DMRick]

I looked through all of these pages until my eyes blurred and can't find it!

I removed in all of my posts, it after something happened after I posted it here...just a coincidence I'm sure, but I usually don't post my eBay ID on lists I'm on, and I think I'm going to stick with that. I'd appreciate it if anyone else having it, doesn't post it either on this board or privately.

For those just starting out..be sure to build up your feedback. While I may not read your feedback, I do check to see how much you have...especially if you are selling expensive items. You might want to start out with smaller items til you build it up.

Just a note of encouragement....this week my sister picked up a poplular writers book..a first edition, at the City Mission for .25..and sold it for over $125 on eBay. I wish I had her knack for picking up great stuff. Be sure to look good at those garage sales this weekend!

Thanks.

 

[ByJiminy]

Just wanted to share that I put an item up on Ebay. It was much easier than I had feared, LOL, probably thanks to all the information I had learned here.

I'll be listing more, I really did this just to see if I could And of course I'll report back if get any bids on anything!

A big THANK YOU to everyone for the advice and encouragement. I've been saying "I'm going to try" for over a year, and I probably would not have done it without all of you.

Laura B.

 

[DMRick]

MickeyMOuse70:

Here is where you can go to find fees. I believe you have to be verified (verified came long after I joined eBay, so I'm not sure) to do some of the things you are trying to do..hence the $5.00 one time fee.

http://pages.aol.ebay.com/help/sellerguide/selling-fees.html

Doris
Upstate NY

 

[dturner]

The first week I put up 17 different items totaling $125.00 and they closed at a little over $400.00, boy was I surprised and pleased to make that much money. This week I have 11 more items listed and only one has a bid and they are closing tonight, go figure!!

I did very well with old Fisher Price toys i.e. Rescue Heroes, children's books and videos. This week I have some items that I thought would sell really well (i.e. old Bradford Disney plates) and nothing so I guess you never know what's going to sell on Ebay and what's not. I start my auctions out low to entice people to bid but then your taking a chance that the bids won't go up either so I try and list what I would be happy with then if it does go up that's just a bonus. I have noticed that many people are paying via credit card with Paypal and I think that's a positive when you accept credit cards through Paypal. I also lot things together instead of listing separately, I think that's a plus also, the buyer is getting more for their money. Haven't tried childrens clothes yet but that is my next task to get all those clothes out and list in lots.

Happy selling everyone!!

Donna

 

[DMRick]

Donna..so many auctions were put up with the 1 cent gallery day, that most people on the eBay lists have reported lower sales this week..thinking it might be because so many things were listed, so I'm not surprised that this week was slower for you.
The good part is you can relist them, and if sold, you'll get your second listing fee returned from eBay. Sometimes, if you start the second listing with a lower bid, it actually ends up selling for more than the first amount listed.

Doris
Upstate NY

 

[shovelhd]

Shells9,

Regarding your memory purchase. Was it advertised as being in a retail package or was it OEM or bulk? It is perfectly normal to sell lots of computer parts in packaging that is not for retail use. Memory is especially so. If this person advertised retail memory and shipped you OEM/bulk, then you have a legitimate beef as generally OEM/bulk is cheaper than retail packaged. What might have happened is that the person sold OEM memory with a thin description, grabbed a retail picture off of the Web, and inserted it in his listing. So many ebay auctions are like this it's getting ridiculous. You really have to read the listing word for word and if all of the information is not there, or the description does not match the pciture, decide for yourself whether you are willing to take the risk.

BTW whenever I sell anything on ebay I clearly state whether the item is new or used, retail or OEM, with UPC or not, etc. It saves everyone an unnecessary hassle.

 

[C.Ann]

Okay - the old "school marm" is back.. Now where are all of my "students"???????

Went out of town for the weekend and didn't have my second computer with me so I couldn't drop by to chat.. Hopefully when I leave next weekend I'll be able to bring my computer with me and keep in touch..

Got home this morning and was FINALLY able to get some things listed on eBay!! In a few minutes I'm going to try to get a bunch of other stuff up as well before their IPIX photo hosting goes wacky again..

Didn't have a lot of sales last week because I couldn't get things up and running, but I did make "some" money - and some is better than NONE - right??

So - who is selling what this week? And how did everyone do last week?

Gotta keep the enthusiasm going here and not let this thread disappear into the unknown..

Come on - Mickey & Minnie are waiting for us!!!!!!! GET LISTING!!!!!

 

[shovelhd]

It's too late for me to get some items up before we leave on the 16th. I don't want to put in a vacation notice. I'd rather wait until we return.
I will miss some good retail resale opportunities but it's just too close for comfort.

I did manage to pick up some nice items this weekend at the tag sales. I hit about a dozen of them in three hours. The pace of early action seems to have significantly increased this year, due I'm sure to C. Ann and her class!!! Yuk yuk!!! The best of the resaleable items are gone within the first hour. I'm usually after a mix of what the masses are after as well as some specialty items. Sometimes the general stuff is walking out the door by the time I get to my third or fourth, but the specialty items are untouched. Competition is definitely getting tougher.

Best of luck to everyone!!!!

 

[C.Ann]

I have to admit it - I hit some sales myself this weekend.. But in my case it was a small country village - way up in the mountains - that was holding a village-wide garage sale and quite frankly, no one up there has ever even heard of eBay - much less do they own computers.. So - yes - I picked up some "goodies" - but not a lot - because I have 35 years worth of junk right here in my own house I'm trying to get rid of!! LOL

Took a quick look around inside our lake house too (it's been in our family since 1952) and found a few things I could part with for the right amount.. Nothing sentimental - just more "stuff" that accumulated there over the years.. Also went through my HUGE stock pile of books I keep there (I've been doing VERY well with books) and lo and behold, I found a book from 1939 - signed by the author!! Checked on the web and some of the rare book places have it going for $60 to $75, so after I learn more about it I'm going to put it up on eBay..

I'm just having sooooooooo much fun doing this!! It's very entertaining to see what people will buy - and what they will pay for it.. And my Disney fund is growing and growing - much to my delight!!

But where the heck are all of my students?????????

Come on class - it's time to turn in your assignments!!

 

[SJ1252]

Hello, All!

I have been happily lurking on these boards for a while now - and this thread most often. Beacuse of your wonderful hints and words of encouragement I have finally tried EBAY! I have successfully put up about 8 items and just sold my first three!

Now is where the help comes in - for some of my items I listed Paypal as a form of payment as well as the 'other' box. When I saw that the credit card icons appear on the auction page I stopped checking the Paypal box and just put 'other'. In the instructions I still listed that I prefer payment thru Paypal - just no credit cards.

Well, I now have a buyer who wants to pay thru Paypal and he emailed me to say the option isn't there and what should he do? (He's new too!) Oh Boy! Did I totally screw it up by not checking the PAypal box?

Can anyone help me - PLEASE!! I didn't want to go to the Ebay board because I was lurking there too - and some of those people are downright mean! Anything... Anyone...

Thanks!

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by SJ1252
Hello, All!

I have been happily lurking on these boards for a while now - and this thread most often. Beacuse of your wonderful hints and words of encouragement I have finally tried EBAY! I have successfully put up about 8 items and just sold my first three!

Now is where the help comes in - for some of my items I listed Paypal as a form of payment as well as the 'other' box. When I saw that the credit card icons appear on the auction page I stopped checking the Paypal box and just put 'other'. In the instructions I still listed that I prefer payment thru Paypal - just no credit cards.

Well, I now have a buyer who wants to pay thru Paypal and he emailed me to say the option isn't there and what should he do? (He's new too!) Oh Boy! Did I totally screw it up by not checking the PAypal box?

Can anyone help me - PLEASE!! I didn't want to go to the Ebay board because I was lurking there too - and some of those people are downright mean! Anything... Anyone...

Thanks!

---------------------------

Hi there! Welcome to "Ebaying Your Way To Disney World 101" LOL!!

Okay - now.. If you're NOT accpeting credit cards, DON'T check the box for Paypal.. If you do, the credit card logos come up, people think they can pay with a CC - and they get very cranky when they find out they can't..

Now - if you have a Paypal acct. where you can accept payments via cash transfers or echecks, then you should have a Paypal email address. Your buyer simply has to go to www.paypal.com, click that he/she wants to send money and then give your Paypal email address.. Of course this all hinges on if the BUYER has a Paypal acct. too.. Does that make any sense? i hope I explained it right.. If not, I'm sure someone with more experience here will correct me.. LOL

Congratulations on taking the plunge and making your first sales!!! Isn't it fun??????

Keep on posting and let us know how you're doing - okay?

 

[DMRick]

Checked on the web and some of the rare book places have it going for $60 to $75, so after I learn more about it I'm going to put it up on eBay..

You might want to list the book on half.com or Amazon. My sister sells her higher priced books on Amazon. Although she just sold a goodie one on eBay for over $125 she got for .25! You don't pay until you sell on Amazon. I think they have a minimum you can list (amount of books), so it might not work for you. She's involved with book clubs, etc, of eBay and Amazon sellers. If you have a lot of books, you might want to look into Yahoo for some of the book groups.

New buyers are lost without the Paypal logo to click on. You can ease their troubles, by sending them a bill from Paypal. You would go to Paypal.com and click on request money. You fill out the form,a nd they get the bill. Newbies are much happier when you do it, instead of them. I sometimes requiest money from a slowby (slow payer), and it oftens works!

CAnn
can't imagine where they haven't heard of eBay..sure they aren't pulling your leg LOL?

Shovelhd:
I'll be having eBay withdrawal symptoms soon also, as I'm going on vacation too..but at least this trip, we'll have the laptop an cell phone, so I can keep up on messages!

 

[SJ1252]

I really thought my EBAY - Disney Money - was going to go up in flames! I was so upset because I know no one personally who sells on EBAY and there is no number to call for help (that I know of). I am so glad you guys are here!!!

CAnn-
Thanks so much. I posted my question and pretty much waited for someone to answer so I could email my buyer!

DMRick-
Do you send the PAypal bill as soon as your auctions close? Like an automatic thing? Thanks, I really like that idea.

Thanks again for the push I needed to do this - and I hope to soon have the success the rest of you do.

I'll keep you posted!

Sharon

 

[DMRick]

Do you send the PAypal bill as soon as your auctions close? Like an automatic thing? Thanks, I really like that idea.

Not unless the people write and ask how to pay on Paypal..but as soon as I haven't heard from the bidder, and a few days have passed, I'll send it.

There are several places to get help for eBay (as well as this board):

http://pages.ebay.com/help/community/index.html

http://www.vendio.com/ (go to the community board, and then eBay..if you want to post, you'll have to sign up..but a lot of info there..several times a year, "fresh" eBay phone numbers are posted.)

And eBay's own community boards:
http://pages.ebay.com/community/boards/index.html

If you go to Yahoo, and do a search for eBay, several different boards will pop up.

 

[mom2smjn]

I have a possibly dumb question.....
what types of items seem to sell best? I have sold some clothes and books as well as a few other items but I wondered if people have more luck 'specializing' in 1 type (or similar types) of items....or is it better to have a wide variety???
Just curious!

 

[dturner]

Personally, I have done very well on childrens' videos (especially Blue Clues) children's books, Rescue Heroes, fisher-price toys, hummels, Bradford collectors plates have done well but things like an educational little alphabet desk or Playskool smart stick didn't sell at all. I listed some clothes and they didn't sell either. Since I started this a couple of weeks ago, my experience is that all kinds of kid's toys, videos and books do very well (I made 3X what I listed these things for).

 

[DMRick]

There is no right or wrong answer as to what sells. Certainly underpriced items always sell well, as do items put up Oct-December that could be used as Christmas gifts. It just depends on who is looking, and what they are looking for. I have sold a Disney pin for over $25..and relisted the same pin (I had several), and got $9.99. I put up a little purse with a carving on it, and it didn't sell the first time (got it from a garage sale). Resold it at $110.00. I have sold items that other people have sitting there with no bids, for way more than I thought I would..and stuff I thought for sure would go, because everyone else's was...sat there.

I suggest you look through completed items..but even that doesn't tell you the whole answer. If I knew what would sell each and every time, I would be scouring garage sales and Missions and Salvation Army stores for the item..but each time I think I have it figured out, the people who wanted those items, have moved on!

I think it pays to not get attached to your item, if you are selling housewares, and to remember how little you would get at a garage sale for the item..and then you'll be pleased (and maybe surprised) at the price.

I have to say I am often surprised, and sometimes disappointed, but it's still a great way to sell stuff.

 

[C.Ann]

Good evening, class!! And how are we all doing today?? Are we busy, busy, busy - finding and listing items? I did a "first" today - actually put one auction up (with the start time feature) before I even left the house for work.. I was wide awake and bored, so why not get another auction up - right?

I agree 100% with DMRick.. You really never know what is going to sell and what won't.. I've had things sell that I figured no one in their right mind would want - and others that I thought would go and didn't.. I think a lot of it depends on "being in the right place at the right time" - having any particular item up when a certain individual is looking for it.. I often relist and the items sell, but a few of them haven't sold recently so I'll just put them aside for another day..

I'm trying VERY hard not to "buy" stuff to sell (and if you could see my house, you would understand why - LOL) but I have noticed a "trend" for some of the items I've been selling and I've also been doing a LOT of research on eBay to see what some of the "hot" items are.. That's your best bet - do lots and lots of research.. Then if you happen to stumble across an item at a garage sale - or even in your own home - you'll know right away that it's an item that will sell..

-----------

Now - for some "not so good" news.. There's been a lot of strange stuff going on at my place of employment (too lengthy to get into here) and I have a gut feeling that I may either get "canned" tomorrow or I'll find myself in a position where it would be best for me if I resign.. I'm not thrilled about it - but I've grown to hate that job anyhow so I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it all goes down.. The good part is that thanks to DMRick and her never-ending guidance, I found my way to eBay and at least can bring some money in that way.. I think if I had more time to concentrate on just the eBay I could do much, much better than I am right now so maybe it will all work out in the end..

One way or another, I'm eBaying my way to Disney World in December and that is that!!!!!!!!!

So come on all - check in and let us know how you're doing..

And - to all you "lurkers" out there.. Yes - I mean YOU - the one who is reading this thread right now and saying, "Gee, I wish I could get up the nerve to try that.." - come on in and chat with us! We'll do all we can to help you get started..