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

[Padme]

candylover

Thanks for the inspiration!! I have no doubt that Ebaying your way to Disney is possible-- it's just hard to stay motivated sometimes.

I did list 10 auctions 2 weeks ago and 8 of them sold. I sell odds and ends that are around the house, so no really big ticket items but it all adds up.

This is my plan. I have estimated the costs for our trip and then broken it down - one airfare, one parkhopper, one meal, one night at the hotel, etc. My goal is to try and tackle one thing each week or two depending on the $ amount needed.

Doing it in small steps makes it more *real* and keeps me from feeling overwhelmed. You know what they say about a journey of a thousand miles....

 

[jennymouse]

I've got a strange auction going on and I'm hoping you guys can help me think it through. I've got an old Samsonite Alligator (fake) Cosmetic Train Case up for auction that I had actually bought on eBay several months ago. I decided I didn't need it.

Anyway, I put it up for auction and it's getting lots of hits like I knew it would. But I've had two different people do bid retractions on the thing and I've never had a bid retraction before at all. Now all of a sudden I've got two on this one auction.

I've looked it over and other than the fact that my font somehow changed from 14 to 12 about half way through, nothing is wrong with it. Even the shipping isn't really out of line as I used the shipping calculator and only added a dollar for handling.

This person that still has the beginning bid on it emailed me because she's from Germany telling me that she has a US address and I said that's fine. I know this is weird, but I'm wondering if she's emailing the other bidders and getting them to retract. Paranoid? I don't know. It's just so strange that I've not had a bid retraction since I started ebay and now all of a sudden I've got two on one auction.

Any thoughts?

 

[emersonsmom]

Did you read the reasons for the retractions? As sometimes ebay retracts bids of users who get suspended.
Also, its against ebays policy for anyone to contact bidders of auctions, its considered auction interference and they would suspend members for this. I think one of your bidders would prob. mention it to you if thats what happened.
Alot of times buyers just have remorse and retract their bids. I'd much rather have a bid retractor then a Non paying bidder in the end.

 

[jennymouse]

Originally posted by emersonsmom
Did you read the reasons for the retractions? As sometimes ebay retracts bids of users who get suspended.
Also, its against ebays policy for anyone to contact bidders of auctions, its considered auction interference and they would suspend members for this. I think one of your bidders would prob. mention it to you if thats what happened.
Alot of times buyers just have remorse and retract their bids. I'd much rather have a bid retractor then a Non paying bidder in the end.

Both reasons were "entered wrong bid amount" but they didn't bid again. I'd rather had a bid retraction than a NPB too, but I just think it's so strange that there were two on this one auction when I've never had one before. You gotta admit they're kind of rare...

 

[DMRick]

The two category listing has helped

Are you sure? Most people I know do the searches, just by putting in the name of what they want. I think I would save money by using only one category. I don't do bolds ever. I use Vendio, so I can put in 20 pics and only pay the one price. The only things I pay extra for are 10 day auctions and bin..and those pay for themselves.

 

[Madi100]

I thought that the only way you could retract a bid was if you re bid on the item with the correct amount. I bid $500 once for something and meant to do $5. When I retracted it told me I had to bid again. Did I read it wrong?

When I list the only extra thing I do is gallery. When I am browsing through auctions the first ones I look at are the ones with pictures. I will every once in awhile do buy it now, but I have very rarely sold anything that way.

 

[emersonsmom]

Yup, you are supposed to bid again, but the sad thing is that ebay doesn't inforce this enough. You can report the person if they retract and don't rebid, and if they have enough compliants ebay might suspend them..but I have yet to see that happen. I once had someone retract and then had 36 bid retractions in one month!

 

[sandy3550]

jennymouse, I just looked up the bid retractions on your auctions & it seems that the person who has 78 feedback makes a habit of doing it. They have 12 bid retractions in the last 6 months. I think you are probably better off that they took their bid back rather than not pay!

 

[Cindy B]

Originally posted by sylver2
I feel much better that its not just me getting high listing fees.
I definately am going to cut back.
I usually do all the fancy stuff, bolds, more than one picture, subtitles, buy it nows and the listing in 2 categories.
The two category listing has helped but that double fee is killing me.
Then I found I would be so impatient and list for only 3 days and would wind up relisting again for 3 days and again till someone bought it. That has to stop. 5 days seem the norm.

We use one listing, but word it in such a way that can be done across two categories.

Also, if you learn HTML, you can put tons of pictures in for in your description list... don't ask how I did it, my husband is a computer geek! He knows how to program it so all he does is upload the pictures into the listings within the description.

We are selling computers (laptops and desktops) right now, and we have a minimum of at least six pictures right now. Front plate, ports, serial number, screen (if appicable), inside the PC, the hard drive, the boot up screen, the memory screen, etc.. most of our auctions have 9 pictures.

He does like to do gallery, but I'm not a fan of it. I say if the description is worded well, and the pictures are wonderful you DONT need gallery.

As for the the pictures, he somehow did that into the listings as well. He also made a table of the system requirements, so it looks very professional.

 

[jennymouse]

Thanks for the replys everyone. I guess it was a fluke thing.

I tend to use gallery all the time too because when I'm looking for something, I usually only click on the ones with the picture. It sure adds the fees though.

 

[welovedis]

Hello guys-
I haven't listed on eBay for awhile, but I do know how to add lots of pics to my auctions. I upload my pics to my ISP and then add them to my item description using an HTML code.

I just insert
my picture's location in the part in between the 2 quotes and then I add the entire code to my description. I have added at 12 pics in some auctions in the past.

The code is on an eBay help page I have bookmarked:

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


HTH!

 

[bafmrf]

I listed 11 different lots of spring and summer clothes and all but one sold this week. Most went for quite a bit more than my opening bid. Start listing. People want to buy....

Martha

 

[frannn]

Another ebay/Paypal complaint question
Next week will be 30 days since I have paid for an ebay auction but not received the items. I have not filed a complaint yet, since the seller in question has 138 positive feedback comments (and two negs). I have not been able to contact the seller- no response to 5 emails and phone # disconnected. But, I did make my payment with a credit card, so I have a choice to chargeback with cc co (Disney Visa) or lodge a complaint thru Paypal. Paypal will guarantee my $ back even if they can not get the $ from the seller (61.). Only problem is they only allow 2 of these "buyer complaint guarantees" per year. I buy a decent amount on ebay, so I am leery of this limitation. I called Paypal, and they asked me not to do a chargeback because I would be chargeing Paypal, not the seller, back. It would then be up to Paypal to get the $ from the seller, I guess. I don't want to hurt Paypal, but the 2 complaint limit seems too restrictive to me. What would you do?

 

[cpl100]

Originally posted by welovedis
Hello guys-
I haven't listed on eBay for awhile, but I do know how to add lots of pics to my auctions. I upload my pics to my ISP and then add them to my item description using an HTML code.

I just insert
my picture's location in the part in between the 2 quotes and then I add the entire code to my description. I have added at 12 pics in some auctions in the past.

The code is on an eBay help page I have bookmarked:

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


HTH!

That is very helpful information. Thanks for posting it. I am going to try it the next time I need multiple pictures.

 

[DMRick]

That is very helpful information. Thanks for posting it. I am going to try it the next time I need multiple pictures.

Be sure to make your pics 72 dpi when adding them via FTP/html. Nothing worse than being away on my laptop and having pictures in the description taking forever to come up (a my per minute fee!). I just back out of the auction.

 

[emersonsmom]

Frannn
Definitly file with pp. A seller is required to ship in a certain amount of time and they must provide proof of shipping to paypal. You only have a certain amount of days. Also, immediatly file a compliant with ebay for the seller having false contact information. Thats a huge no no for ebay.

 

[sylver2]

Originally posted by DMRick
Are you sure? Most people I know do the searches, just by putting in the name of what they want. I think I would save money by using only one category. I don't do bolds ever. I use Vendio, so I can put in 20 pics and only pay the one price. The only things I pay extra for are 10 day auctions and bin..and those pay for themselves.

It seemed as if everytime I listed in 2 categories it sold for a good price. I guess maybe it would have sold anyway.
I definately have to cut these fees down somehow.
Thank you everyone for your replies.

Has anyone ever listed an item that Ebay took off because it was violating something, but yet you see dozens of others with the exact same listing, and theirs didn't get shut down?

 

[cpl100]

Originally posted by DMRick
Be sure to make your pics 72 dpi when adding them via FTP/html. Nothing worse than being away on my laptop and having pictures in the description taking forever to come up (a my per minute fee!). I just back out of the auction.

I will have to think about how to accommodate that. I guess I will photo them on the lowest resolution with my camera? I am not sure how to adjust the picture.

Am I reading your post correctly that you pay by the minute for internet usage? I didn't realize that option was available anywhere now.

 

[DMRick]

the minute for internet usage?

Some of the hotel and campgrounds phone charge by the minute, both for using their phones, and long distance charges..not my ISP. Also, not every area has a free number for your internet use. Even though AOL has a 1 800 number, they charge fot that, and then add the regular phone charge..there you go. I try to use my cell phone, but that is sooo slow with the computer, I'd rather use dial up.

In any case, even using my cable at home, if the pics are too large in dpi, I don't even wait for those pictures.

I resize mine using Paint Shop Pro...but most any graphic program will work. I use a lot of pictures sometimes, but I go through Vendio, so they automatically adjust them.

 

[DMRick]

but yet you see dozens of others with the exact same listing, and theirs didn't get shut down?

all the time. Just means your item was reported, and theirs wasn't : (