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

[dg39]

On the listing page where you put all your shipping payment info. theres something that says if you want to list regionally. My state isn't there(NJ) what should I put down? Should I just keep it as do not list regionally? TIA...

 

[mom2smjn]

Originally posted by C.Ann
------------------------

The person is in your same AREA code? Then yes - I would call.. Just try not to sound defensive right at the get-go because you don't know "who" you're dealing with.. Simply make a very polite inquiry..

And please let us know how it works out - okay?

Ok call me chicken but I just could not call....I am such a wuss! I did send another email that was a bit more agressive than the last few. I can't believe the guy lives less than an hour from me and we are going on 4 weeks of waiting for a stinking book!

Sigh



Anyhow I did manage to sell 2 small($4) items and I have put up a few more auctions...scouring the house I have found loads of things to list.

Question about books...are you better off listing as a lot? By the same author or subject?

Also...here is a question I hope you guys can give a good opinion on.....our local jewelry store is sizing down and just doing repair work now so the owner(a friend of mine) offered me a huge lot of those modular italian charms and about 40 of the bracelets for a steal --about 80% OFF ($1500 in charms and bracelets for $350!!!!!!!!!) The problem is even though I know they are popular around here...do you think that big of an investment is insane(I mean I am trying to SAVE for our dec trip) However with Christmas coming?????

I would love some opinions HELP!

 

[Cinders]

I'm afraid that if I charge too much for shipping the buyers will complain and if I charge too low, it ends up costing me. Plus being I'm a newbie at this, what I'm not sending priority, I had to buy boxes, tape, bubble wrap, so as of right now, I really didn't make any $$ yet.

As long as you charge actual or just over they wont complain. As for buying all your shipping supplies: you can order Priority boxes and tape for free IF you're shipping the items Priority. If you're shipping media (books, music, games), 1st class, or parcel post then try to get boxes from little gift shops that just throw them away. Somewhere on this looooong thread I think someone mentioned Christian Bookstores or shops and they go in quite often to get boxes and packing materials for free. If you dont have any businesses close to you and you need to order supplies try this site Shipping Supply or this site Bargains Galore I think DMRick originally posted those sites.

Question about books...are you better off listing as a lot? By the same author or subject?

Depends on the kind of books. Current romances and mysteries I'd combine but for unusual books look them up on Half.com and Ebay for a comparison then decide how you want to list them.

 

[claudia]

Hi all, Just a quick question about listing... If I write up my listing now can I choose the "time" it ends. I don't mean the date, I know that it will be a 7day auction, but I'm wondering if I type it up right now, can I have it end at night instead of 2pm on the 7th day. Sorry 1 more question, how much is a listing for 10 days?, Is it the same as for 7 or more....Thanks...

I read through the posts quickly, and didn't see a response to this....it I missed it, sorry to be repeating info, but here goes.
The only way I know that you can end an auction at the time you want is to use the delayed listing option. It will cost you an additional $.10 to list this way, but it will allow you to pick the day and the time. It is will also cost $.10 additional for a 10 day auction...hope this helps

 

[Madi100]

Just an update on my 1st negative. I went ahead and left a negative for this person too. I did calm down first I just decided that it wasn't right that I was bending over backwards to accommodate this person, and they decide after one day, that they've had enough. So, I just left a neg. that said said "didn't regard instructions regarding no credit card payments. Denied C.card payment, now buyer refuses to pay." They responded "didn't refuse to pay, buyer refuses to accept payment". No, that isn't a typo, they put buyer. They person was very rude. She emailed me a few different times and said she did nothing wrong, and I couldn't blame her for nothing. (SHE used nothing, not me). I only replied to her once to let her know that the way she was typing my paypal account was wrong, and if that was the account she was sending to, then it was wrong and maybe she should email that person and let them know she sent them money. She emailed me back and said something like "I was talking about your account. Are you not paying attention". She emailed me two other times. One to ask why I was being so difficult. Another to tell me to stop emailing her. It was actually kinda funny to read Anyway, done with that.

 

[Mrs. Snowgod]

Nicole, too bad you had to experience that. I hope your next experiences are better.

DH & I spent all morning at yard sales and bought a lot! Much we will save for Christmas, and now we have a bunch of pictures to take & listings to prepare. He is really getting into the spirit of it and wants to help increase our sales volume. Fine by me!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also...here is a question I hope you guys can give a good opinion on.....our local jewelry store is sizing down and just doing repair work now so the owner(a friend of mine) offered me a huge lot of those modular italian charms and about 40 of the bracelets for a steal --about 80% OFF ($1500 in charms and bracelets for $350!!!!!!!!!) The problem is even though I know they are popular around here...do you think that big of an investment is insane(I mean I am trying to SAVE for our dec trip) However with Christmas coming?????

If I were you and could afford the investment, I'd give it a shot, but only after researching these items on eBay first. If they seem to be selling now, they will likely be more popular for Christmas. It is a risk, but do you feel pretty confident that you can make back at least the $350? Will your time investment be a hardship if they don't sell quickly?

Good luck with your decision and let us know what happens!

 

[Mrs. Snowgod]

Ok, have any of you ever heard of "illy"?

At today's yard sale I bought a mint in box set of espresso cups. They were designed by singer/artist David Byrne (ever heard of "Talking Heads"?). They wanted $7.50, and I negotiated down to $5.

So, we start researching this stuff, and come to find they are incredibly expensive! I listed the set for $34.99 with a $99.99 BIN, which I thought was a longshot. It lasted 8 minutes! I just can't belive it!

So if you ever run across illy brand espresso cups, grab them!!!

Wow, maybe I'll make some PS ressies at the California grill to celebrate this!

 

[jennymouse]

Originally posted by Mrs. Snowgod
Ok, have any of you ever heard of "illy"?

At today's yard sale I bought a mint in box set of espresso cups. They were designed by singer/artist David Byrne (ever heard of "Talking Heads"?). They wanted $7.50, and I negotiated down to $5.

So, we start researching this stuff, and come to find they are incredibly expensive! I listed the set for $34.99 with a $99.99 BIN, which I thought was a longshot. It lasted 8 minutes! I just can't belive it!

So if you ever run across illy brand espresso cups, grab them!!!

Wow, maybe I'll make some PS ressies at the California grill to celebrate this!

CHA CHING! CONGRATULATIONS!! THAT'S AWSOME!

All I found at the one yardsale I hit were a couple of books that I came home and researched...pretty much worthless!

 

[kimbac3]

Ughh!!!! I don't want to even think about a yard sale. Here's the deal... I have been planning a yard sale for about 4 weeks now. Stuff I didn't want to throw away but stuff I didn't think I could ebay. I spent hours preparing, 6 hours in 100 degree weather (no kidding ...at 100 % humiditiy..gotta love Jersey summers) for a lousy $10.35!!!!! I came in after I cleaned up and saw I sold three things on ebay ...for about 20 mins of my time.
Moral of the story ...... NO MORE YARD SALES!!!!!! Nice to visit but don't throw your own.
The worse part was that my DH was against this yard sale stuff to begin with. He kept saying "Give the stuff away or sell it on ebay" or "you don't really feel like doing a yard sale - do you?"
He was right.....darn it
Gotta go....lots of stuff to list on ebay

Kimba

PS.... Congrats Mrs. Snowgod!!! You must be thrilled!!! Post that on the ebay success stories thread!!! That's just what I needed to get my butt in gear!!!!

 

[wdwpluto]

Originally posted by Mrs. Snowgod
Ok, have any of you ever heard of "illy"?

At today's yard sale I bought a mint in box set of espresso cups. They were designed by singer/artist David Byrne (ever heard of "Talking Heads"?). They wanted $7.50, and I negotiated down to $5.

So, we start researching this stuff, and come to find they are incredibly expensive! I listed the set for $34.99 with a $99.99 BIN, which I thought was a longshot. It lasted 8 minutes! I just can't belive it!

So if you ever run across illy brand espresso cups, grab them!!!

Wow, maybe I'll make some PS ressies at the California grill to celebrate this!

CONGRATS!!

Isn't it a great feeling? You should definitely celebrate at CG!

Thanks for the tip! And I'll share one of my own - I bought a book called "She loves me...she loves me not" by Keeshan (Capt Kangaroo - I can't remeber his first name) which was illustrated by Maurice Sendak (famous for Where the Wild Things Are) for $1 at an estate sale. Sold it for $75! It's a smallish book, maybe 3x5 inches and the only reason I bought it was because I was familiar with Maurice Sendak (I worked in a children's library ages ago!) I could easily see how it might be overlooked but copies in better quality than mine are listed on abebooks and alibris for $200. So keep an eye out for it!

I've also made a deal with myself. Anything I can't sell by Dec 15 (after trying several times) is going to Goodwill before the end of the year. I figure, if it's not selling after multiple listings I'm not going to waste any more money on listing fees. And my goal when I started ebaying was to clear out some junk, er, stuff. So I'll donate, we'll get a bit of a tax break and I can start focusing my efforts on 1-2 particular areas.

I'd love to hear how everyone that has auctions ending tonight and tomorrow night does! Right now I have nothing running b/c of the holiday and it feels strange! But I'd love to know how you all make out, if you think Labor Day weekend auctions are worth it!

Lori

 

[wdwpluto]

Originally posted by dg39
On the listing page where you put all your shipping payment info. theres something that says if you want to list regionally. My state isn't there(NJ) what should I put down? Should I just keep it as do not list regionally? TIA...

I'm in NJ about 15 miles from NYC, so I put NY.

 

[Mrs. Snowgod]

Originally posted by wdwpluto

I'd love to hear how everyone that has auctions ending tonight and tomorrow night does! Right now I have nothing running b/c of the holiday and it feels strange! But I'd love to know how you all make out, if you think Labor Day weekend auctions are worth it!

Lori

The only thing I have ending tonight is the boat. Bidding seems to have stopped at 7 bids last Wed. or Thurs. Hopefully there will be some final action today.

I am going to list a bunch of stuff today, and hope next Sunday is a good ending day again.

And thanks for your congrats on the illy cups. Still can't believe that!

Loved the tip on Bob Keeshond/Maurice Sendak book - that makes perfect sense, since he passed away. I wonder if Fred Rogers did any books???? That would seem to apply as well.

 

[dg39]

Hey Mrs. Snowgod, what a great sell. You must be so excited. Congrats on your deal. What a great feeling you must have. I'm real happy for you.

Denise

 

[dg39]

I just got a notice that a buyre paid by e check. Paypal sent the notice saying not to ship the item til it clears,around 4 days. My question is that paypal also states that the buyer has an uncomfirmed address. The buyer also wants me to ship it in his daughters name. I got nervous with the fact that its not a confirmed address, so I did a google search and the sme address shows up. Should I just send it there when the check clears. He's also verified if that makes it safer to send. Also, they didn't opt for ins. I hate to get ins. on my own for them, so I think I'll just get the dc. Hope this makes sense and what do you think I should do. I read his "about me" page and he sounds like a real nice family man. So should I just send it to his uncomfirmed address w/dc and not worry about it. Its not an expensive item. 21.00, but again I screwed up on shipping. I charged 8.00 and it will cost me about 11.00 inc. dc. I'm going to send this parcel post, its cheaper then priority.

 

[kilee]

I don't worry about confirmed shipping addresses. I ship where they ask me to. I don't have a confirmed address either (when I buy).

As far as charging flat rate for shipping. I do it too. You win some you lose some. I have never lost more than a $1.25 on shipping, and I have never made more than $1.25 on shipping. I keep a monthly runiing tally of my bottom line profit (after every fee has been made). It never seems to really affect that, so personally I don't worry about it. I goofed up so bad, twice now. Once, after I shipped the item I made $0.15 for the whole item (I was really low on shipping). The other time I acutally lost money on the whole transaction. (about 50 cents). Lesson learned.

I have several auctions ending later today. So far, they all have bids. Pretty much seem to be the ones on there from the start though. However, I have found that the pattern seems to go, bids at the start and the VERY, VERY end. I know when I look around ebay. I look for "going, going, gone" then newly listed. If I'm just generally browsing that is. If I'm looking for a certain item then I go "lowest priced".

 

[MontyMontyMOnty]

I am so excited! My goal was to ebay the money for our food (or some of it!) for our upcoming trip.
I listed a variety of items, and went through my closet. I work at home now, but used to work in fashion, so I have a lot of designer laberl items (a perk of working in the industry is free or dirt cheap samples!)
Anyway, I listed a pair of shoes (by Louis Vuitton) for 4.99, hoping they woudl sell for $10, snd figuring I would take them to the Salvation army if they didn't sell.

I got 20 bids on these shoes alone, and the final was $102.50--AND the buyer paid via paypal at the conclusion of the auction!

I am spending today going through my closet for other things to list!

Thanks to all of you for your continued encouragement and great advice!!
Samantha

 

[shay425]

Wow! Way to go Samantha!!


Question:
I have a question regarding sales tax. Are we supposed to add sales tax to our auctions?

 

[claudia]

but again I screwed up on shipping. I charged 8.00 and it will cost me about 11.00 inc. dc. I'm going to send this parcel post, its cheaper then priority.

You might really want to make an investment in a shipping scale. They sell on ebay for about $30.00 or so....30 Lbs. This way when you make your listing you can enter the weight and use the shipping calculator that ebay supplies on the listing page. You can also enter a handling fee for your time, gas, supplies...and it does not show up, just increases the shipping by the amount you enter. With the fees that ebay charges and the fees to paypal it is the only way that you can at the very least cover your expenses.
I always list to ship by priority...I like the convienience of having my supplies delivered to me. But if a customer requests shipping by a different method to save on the costs I will switch to parcel post.

 

[dg39]

Oh god, its me again, are you all sick of my questions yet?.....

I have 2: 1. How do you take pictures of small WHITE figurine. I'm having such a hard time. I have the jamcam camera and even though its cheap, it normaly takes pretty decent pictures, evcept when the object is white. I've been playing around with dark backgrounds. The backgrounds come out great, but all you see is this big white blob as the item.

2. Claudia, is there a spot on the selling page that lets you use the ebay shipping calculator. I'm thinking of adding it because of all the screw ups I'm doing with a flat rate.

Does anyone else use the shipping calculator and does anyone have any problems with it.

Thanks yet again.......

Denise

 

[disneychrista]

Originally posted by dg39
is there a spot on the selling page that lets you use the ebay shipping calculator. I'm thinking of adding it because of all the screw ups I'm doing with a flat rate.

There are two "tabs" that you can choose from with the shipping charges area, flat rate or calculated, click on the calculated and it will allow you to plug in the from zip, weight, and additional handling charges. I used it for a large/heavy picture and the picture finally sold, shipping was half what i had initially put in because it sold to a Zone 1 and I calculate to zone 8.