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

[FonFon]

Originally posted by C.Ann
Sooooo..how did everyone else do this past week? Were your sales up or down? Hopefully you all did well..

My sales last week were pretty weak...then again, I didn't have much up, and spent most of my time getting all of my payments from everyone that owed me. My husband also came home from doing "Navy Things" (I'm not allowed to say WHAT Navy things, but I'm sure y'all can figure it out) on Wednesday, about a month and a half before he was supposed to, so that took up a lot of my time.

And I have gotten back into substitute teaching with the school year picking up, so 3-4 days a week are spent doing that, as opposed to focusing on ebay stuff.

However, as a whole, I've still done well for only about a month and a half of light selling. Got up to over $200, which has paid for my 5-day Armed Forces Salute ticket and more than half of our spa day. (We decided to use our loose change/$1 bills for the meals, since they were adding up VERY quickly - and we cashed them in for Disney Dollars this weekend, and are letting ebay cover the bigger ticket items.)

I also (finally) downloaded Turbo Lister, and am in love with it! I put 5 things up on Sunday night, and am probably going to go for 5 more on Thursday night. (Especially with subbing going on, I can't keep up with more than that.)

 

[welovedis]

Can anyone who has used both compare the prices for me and give pros and cons

I use both USPS and FedEx for my eBay shipments. I don't use USPS online services though (although I am thinking of using them soon) but I do my fedex online and love it. Shipping an item that is more than a couple of pounds is where the big savings seems to be OR shipping across the country. I live in NY and usually save lots on shipping to CA or NV. I usually ship FED EX Ground Home Delivery, but can sometimes do regular ground delivery if the item is shipping to a business (less expensive than home delivery).

Probably the only thing I don't like is that I don't get an invoice that shows my exact shipping charges, just see the charge show up in my bank statement. I use Quicken though so I download my transactions quite often and can keep very track of it anyway.

Anothe thing I really like about FedEx is that tracking & insurance (up to a certain amount) is already included in the base price.

Any other ??? I can answer about FedEx?

I also (finally) downloaded Turbo Lister, and am in love with it!

I just downloaded TL yesterday and cannot believe I didn't do this sooner! I uploaded 30 auctions with a couple clicks of my mouse-awesome! Thanks to everyone here who recommended it.

I've been selling a lot of items with insurance being optional. No one has taken the insurance. I was worried about sending the items out without insurance so I paid for it myself. I was wondering what do other sellers do when the buyer declines insurance? If I knew in advance that the item would sell for a high price I would just include the insurance in the shipping and handling fees, but I don't always know in advance what the item will sell for. One item I started at $1.99 ended up at $87.00, way beyond my expectations!

I personally feel that insurance is the responsiblity of the buyer. I buy and sell on eBay and when I buy something I always pay for insurance if I would be upset about not receiving it. As a seller, my responsiblity ends when the item ships if the person is not insuring it. Just my .02!

BTW-I used to feel bad about it too, but then I stopped feeling bad and started looking at it from a business perspective.

 

[Robinrs]

but this person was clearly out of line and I really didn't appreciate being yelled at, insulted, and lectured.. Somehow I managed to remain calm, polite, and professional - which I think only served to anger this person further...

Wow, you'd make a GREAT moderator on these boards, C.Ann... welcome to MY WORLD....


I've had a couple of WEIRD weeks, the things I expected to sell, didn't and the things that I thought were a joke sold like MAD!

I had a set of canisters my Mom owned that I didn't want to move to my new place. They had some tarnish on them but so were lots up on eBay also so I put them up. A very nice lady bought them AND sent me a picture of them displayed in her kitchen! I thought that was SOOOO AWESOME!

I also had a newbie buy something from me without shipping and handling. This wouldn't have been such a problem if her title wasn't Exec Secretary to the President of the St.Louis Rams! I'm sure he sends LOTS of things back to her to correct!

Welcome back, C.Ann and DMRick!

 

[Madi100]

I just bought an item on ebay, and I didn't even pay attention to the payment methods. She doesn't take paypal. If I would have noticed that, I would have not bought the item. I was the one who had problems with selling because I didn't accept credit cards on ebay. I now do. Can I tell you how much easier my life has been since then???

So, here is my advice for the day (I guess for this thread since I really haven't added any yet) PLEASE accept paypal on your auctions. I think more people are apt to buy from you if you do.

The person I bought this from has a 0 rating. I know, scary, but everyone has to start somewhere. I offered a little friendly advice and told her how much easier paypal is. Hope she didn't take offense to this.

Just out of curiousity, who doesn't accept paypal and why?

 

[dg39]

I listed yesterday and everything went fine. Then last night I went to edit my pictures and my screen froze and I had to shut down. This happened all night and even til now. Does anyone know what I can do to fix this. Its a long listing and I would hate to have to cancel it and type all over. Also, does anyone use a different picture image service. I see alot of free ones mentioned on the ebay discussion pages, but I'm afraid to try and are they really free. Are they hard to use. Remember I'm computer illiterate and finally got the hang of using ebay picture services, but now I'm having troubles.

 

[Tamie]

Ok. I have set up and taken pictures of all my Thomas the Train stuff. Now I have a question?

I cant make heads for tails on the postage thing. How does everyone figure out the postage. I dont want to overcharge but I do want to get reimbursed for my boxes, wrap and tape. Can someone help? How do you figure out the zones. Also, I have seen on some auctions that they have a postage calculator. Does that just calculate actual postage or does it add in the extra stuff because looking at my charts I cant find the exact amount that it come up with?

Anyone know where to buy the most inexpensive boxes?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[cristen]

I have a question about selling some dresses. I have a ton of christmas dresses that I have bought over the years for the girls pictures. I would like to sell them on e-bay. This is the problem,
I put in girls dresses, 17,000 of them!!! I type in christmas dresses, over 500!!! How does anybody get their stuff sold when there is over 500 things to look at? Also, what is the average I can expect to get for these? Some dresses with only a couple of hours left are only getting bids for 4.00. Then some other dresses that look comparable are getting 30.00. I paid on average about 50.00-70.00 for each. I would hate to get only 4.00 for them. I would rather give them to charity. SO what should I expect or do?

Thanks! Cristen

 

[claudia]

I cant make heads for tails on the postage thing. How does everyone figure out the postage.

Hi Tami,
I'd love to help you with this....first question is, do you have a postal scale or some other accurate scale that you can weigh your items on??

 

[lalapodip]

Try a search for the name brand on the Christmas dresses. The category itself is too broad. Oh - use "boutique" - that seems to do well. The name definitely makes a difference!

 

[claudia]

I have a question about selling some dresses. I have a ton of christmas dresses that I have bought over the years for the girls pictures.

Do the dresses have any brand labels that might set them apart from the others? Also remember that when people do a search for a dress they will search for the size they need, so that will limit the amount of hits they get. Also, if you list by fabric, say velvet/velour and/or color that will also decrease the hits. You do have the option of listing with a reserve, so you would not have to sell anything for less that you wanted to get.....(you wouldn't get stuck with a $4 winning bid)
I have had such a bad week with all my clothes listings, that I am not sure as to when it would be a good time to list Christmas dresses. Possibly others will have better information on that...
but you could always try, and if they do not sell/or get the reserve met, charity is still an option.

 

[cristen]

I'm not sure about the brand. I bought them all at a store that is very popular here in Colorado called Foley's. So if I were to put the name of the dress, you would have to be familiar with Foley's. I am pretty sure they are owned by May Co. SO what would be the best way to list it? By size, brand, boutique, there are too many ways to list!!! This will be my first listing ever, can you tell? Thanks for all you help.

Cristen

 

[Tamie]

Claudia - Yes I have a scale. Here is one of the items that I want to sell....it is the Fire State with 2 trains. It weighs 6#.

Also, another questions regarding the Thomas stuff. I have seen some people putting their stuff up for $0.99. Now I know I would not sell my buildings and stuff for that cheap.....Are they doing to save on the list fee? I am guessing it is worth the risk of selling something that inexpensive. I just cant imagine doing that. Does alot of people do that?

Thank in advance for your help.

 

[nuke]

For the Thomas Trains, I had a lot of 25 trains, tracks and buildings that I put a buy it now for $50. It sold within 24 hours at the Buy it Now which made me think I should have gone for more. I was happy with the $50 but I always second guess the Buy it Now if I get a hit right away.
My lot of Brio trains went for over $100. The box weighed 17 pounds and I had the buyer choose how he wanted it shipped--- Priority or Parcel Post.

 

[CarolJ]

Tamie posted:

Also, another questions regarding the Thomas stuff. I have seen some people putting their stuff up for $0.99. Now I know I would not sell my buildings and stuff for that cheap.....Are they doing to save on the list fee? I am guessing it is worth the risk of selling something that inexpensive. I just cant imagine doing that. Does alot of people do that?

I've been starting things out at .99, but not to save on the listing fee. When I started my auctions at what I thought was a reasonable starting price I ended them with only one bid. When I started them at .99 it created bidding wars and up to 20 people bid on them. I ended up with way more than I could have ever hoped for on most of the items. On a few I ended up with less than I hoped for, but the other auctions more then made up for it. It is a risk, though, so I don't do it on items that aren't too popular. If an item only will get a few hits then I wouldn't want to be stuck selling it for .99.

 

[claudia]

Claudia - Yes I have a scale. Here is one of the items that I want to sell....it is the Fire State with 2 trains. It weighs 6#.

Great...a scale will make everything so much easier. At this kind of weight, you would probably do better using parcel post, but as Nuke pointed out, you can always offer your buyer the option of priority or parcel. Just remember to weigh you item as it would be completely packed to get your exact shipping weight, otherwise you will cheat yourself on the postage due.
Now onto the boxes....unless you have a substantial amount of boxes you need, purchasing them would be quite expensive. Is there a local supermarket, package store, dept. store that you could get boxes from?? A real pain, I know, but most packaging supply companies usually sell in lots of 25. If you think you may eventually need atleast 25 boxes (of the same size) to use for future auctions, you can go to www.fetpak.com and check out the sizes and prices. I have also purchased my tape from them, they sell it in lots of 6 rolls.
If you have items that are lighter, in the 2 lb and under category, you could ship them by priority and then the post office would supply you with the boxes for free (tape as well).

Also, another questions regarding the Thomas stuff. I have seen some people putting their stuff up for $0.99. Now I know I would not sell my buildings and stuff for that cheap.....Are they doing to save on the list fee? I am guessing it is worth the risk of selling something that inexpensive. I just cant imagine doing that. Does alot of people do that?

I think people who start a listing at .99 are very confident, or past history has indicated that the auction will reach a reasonable selling price. Possibly the listing fee comes into consideration, but the the reality is you could save the fee and loose your shirt!!! The only way I would start an auction at .99 would be if I used a reserve price....sometimes the low start does attract buyers that may not have look if the price were to start higher.....doesn't mean that they are not willing to pay a fair price, some people just like the thrill of the hunt!!

Tami, if there is anything else that I can help you with please let me know...oh yeah....the calculator. Once you begin your listing you will get to the shipping info page. If you click onto "Calculate shipping costs" you will be able to choose the method of shipping, enter the weight of the item and also enter any handling charges (to cover the costs you spoke about). The handling charges are not revealed to your buyer, the shipping calculator will give the an amount that is the total of shipping and handling costs.

 

[phorsenuf]

I was just checking it out and it looks like it would keep everything in order for me. Pros and cons??????
Thanks!


oh yeah.....I almost forgot (well, I did I had to come back and edit ) I need a good postal scale. reccomendations? I was looking at them on Ebay, so what would be a good one and what should I plan on spending? Thanks! (again)

 

[disneychrista]

Originally posted by Madi100
Just out of curiousity, who doesn't accept paypal and why?

I accept paypal but not credit cards. The reason being is the fees. I do not want to incure fees on my NONcredit card transactions. If I did accept credit cards, I would have to in turn increase my handling charge to help recover the fee.

 

[claudia]

I'm not sure about the brand. I bought them all at a store that is very popular here in Colorado called Foley's. So if I were to put the name of the dress, you would have to be familiar with Foley's. I am pretty sure they are owned by May Co. SO what would be the best way to list it? By size, brand, boutique, there are too many ways to list!!! This will be my first listing ever, can you tell? Thanks for all you help.

If you are asking about the Title of you auction, you could list something like this: Christmas Red Velvet Dress, "brand name", 4T. Whether or not someone recognizes the brand name, when you use them I believe people equate it with being "better or more expensive" and would take a look just to find out about it. I did see a few auctions that state "Foleys" in the description, or the brand name stating it was from "Foleys".
People will search for items many different ways, but if you include the size, type of dress, label and possibly the color you could cover most of the basic searches people do.

 

[cristen]

thank you Claudia. I wasn't aware you could list it in more than one way. I thought it was just the size or the brand or whatever. I will give it a try and let you guys know how it goes!

Cristen

 

[Robinrs]

Originally posted by phorsenuf
!
I need a good postal scale. reccomendations? I was looking at them on Ebay, so what would be a good one and what should I plan on spending? Thanks! (again)

Everyone has their preference when it comes to scales. It also depends on what you sell the most of and if they weigh more than 5 lbs. Some scales, like the first one I bought, go only as high as 5 lbs. Since I sell some heavy items, I purchased a 30lb postal scale off eBay from a really funny guy who specializes in postal scales. He starts his auctions at .99 but they rarely sell for less than $30. I did a BIN for a silver electronic scale with an ac adapter for $35 and have been thrilled with it. I don't know how I did without it! Let me know if you want his eBay name.

For very small items you can use a diet scale or you can weigh yourself then weigh yourself and the item for much cheaper ways to weigh.

Hope that helps!