Anyone of you selling items on eBay?

[Escape08]

If someone out there is, I'd like to know what you did & procedures that are needed. I am trying to clear off some of my used shoes & clothing & sell them off eBay. How much does eBay charge for a fee if you list an item for sale? Thanks for any insight.

 

[methusaleh]

There’s a page addressing fees if you search under Seller Info.

I’ve been selling there since the site first opened roughly 25 years ago. I have zero complaints despite some folks who have had negative experiences.

You are running a business in terms of needing to spell out everything for people. Take a look at some of the high volume sellers and copy verbiage from their return policies (or lack thereof) so that you don’t end up on the losing end if someone wants to return something.

I make it extremely clear that interested customers should contact me with any questions the moment they see my listing, and not to wait until the last hour of the auction. I explain that eBay is something I do just to get rid of old stuff and it’s not my full time job, in case someone gets upset that I don’t reply to a question in two minutes.

The one time someone left me negative feedback, I called eBay and they quickly deleted it. The person had clearly not read the item description nor looked closely at the photos and didn’t understand that I was selling a sample-sized bottle of a rare bodybuilding supplement— they thought they were purchasing a full-sized bottle.

Other than that I’ve had no complaints against me in roughly 2500 sales I’ve made over the years.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Pay for signature confirmation if you think you're going to get ripped off. Some buyers can claim they didn't get a product or it wasn't inside. Take a picture of the product inside the box. Sometimes I go to the lengths of actually recording the box being packed and sealed for expensive items. Some products have a higher scam rate i.e. popular Nike shoes or bling apparel vs hand made miniature trees used for model train sets. Sad but true.

 

[ET16]

I have been selling on ebay for a while. Lately, I've been hit with large postage costs that somehow evaded ebay's calculator. Make sure you know shipping weight and shipping box size before you list.

 

[Zee09]

Shoes are most likely not a great thing to sell online due to the shipping expense. A local thrift store for clothes etc. is probably a better option.

 

[ET16]

Shoes are most likely not a great thing to sell online due to the shipping expense. A local thrift store for clothes etc. is probably a better option.

I think so, too, unless you think you can get $30 or more for them. One's time is worth something, and selling things for under $25 or $30 doesn't value your time an effort much.

 

[Owen Lucas]

I have been selling on ebay for a while. Lately, I've been hit with large postage costs that somehow evaded ebay's calculator. Make sure you know shipping weight and shipping box size before you list.

USPS flat rate works great, you get a small 5 - 10% discount as well. Print the label at home, and drop it off at USPS / have it picked up. Works only for higher dollar items though, a small flat rate box is about $8.

 

[eljefino]

If the alternative is having your stuff sit around doing nothing, then do it. Expect 80-90% of deals to go through smoothly.

eBay changed the rules a while back to be very buyer-friendly, to a point where I stopped selling there. I think it was deliberate to force the little guy out.

If you have no feedback, start small with something simple and stupid before you list the bigger stuff.

 

[Intelligent Molecule]

I was selling a ton of stuff up until about two years ago. The categories you sell in make a big difference. Clothing has some of the highest return rates, so be aware of that. I did very well with tools-described them with complete honesty and never had a problem. Take lots of good quality pictures. Point out any possible defects and price accordingly. Good luck.

 

[atikovi]

I've got over a hundred listed, https://www.ebay.com/sch/atikovi/m.html?item=154249889101&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m3561.l2562 but actually selling is another topic. Some I've had on there 10 years while some have sold in a few weeks or less of initial insertion. I'd say the first thing would be to create a form with some basic info that stays the same in every listing, like your terms and conditions for example. Then with that, all you have to do is add a few details of your item instead creating a new listing for each other item. The problem with clothes and shoes is Ebay is saturated with those listings and getting a sale is difficult unless it's something unique or valuable.

Pay for signature confirmation if you think you're going to get ripped off. Some buyers can claim they didn't get a product or it wasn't inside.

Waste of money for anything under $1,000 or whatever the current threshold Ebay requires. Ebay just wants to see it was delivered and doesn't care who at the address got it.

Take a picture of the product inside the box. Sometimes I go to the lengths of actually recording the box being packed and sealed for expensive items.

Waste of time. Proves nothing to Ebay.

 

[Intelligent Molecule]

I've got over a hundred listed, https://www.ebay.com/sch/atikovi/m.html?item=154249889101&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m3561.l2562 but actually selling is another topic. Some I've had on there 10 years while some have sold in a few weeks or less of initial insertion. I'd say the first thing would be to create a form with some basic info that stays the same in every listing, like your terms and conditions for example. Then with that, all you have to do is add a few details of your item instead creating a new listing for each other item. The problem with clothes and shoes is Ebay is saturated with those listings and getting a sale is difficult unless it's something unique or valuable.


Waste of money for anything under $1,000 or whatever the current threshold Ebay requires. Ebay just wants to see it was delivered and doesn't care who at the address got it.


Waste of time. Proves nothing to Ebay.

True. Bottom line, Ebay doesn't care about the small time seller-at all. You are going to lose on just about any contested sale. That's just the way it is, and if you don't think you can put up with the aggravation of being screwed over by the occasional dishonest buyer, it's best to leave ebay selling alone. On a positive note, the overwhelming amount of ebay people are perfectly reasonable.

 

[Owen Lucas]

I've got over a hundred listed, https://www.ebay.com/sch/atikovi/m.html?item=154249889101&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m3561.l2562 but actually selling is another topic. Some I've had on there 10 years while some have sold in a few weeks or less of initial insertion. I'd say the first thing would be to create a form with some basic info that stays the same in every listing, like your terms and conditions for example. Then with that, all you have to do is add a few details of your item instead creating a new listing for each other item. The problem with clothes and shoes is Ebay is saturated with those listings and getting a sale is difficult unless it's something unique or valuable.


Waste of money for anything under $1,000 or whatever the current threshold Ebay requires. Ebay just wants to see it was delivered and doesn't care who at the address got it.


Waste of time. Proves nothing to Ebay.

Wow, thanks for your insight! What do you do, buy wrecked cars and part them out?

 

[atikovi]

Wow, thanks for your insight! What do you do, buy wrecked cars and part them out?

More like, buy wrecked cars to rebuild other wrecked cars and part the leftovers from THOSE out.

 

[dareo]

I would have to say Ebay is much more seller friendly than amazon. If you create good detailed listings and buy shipping from ebay they more often side with the seller. They deny frivolous claims and pay some of them before taking the sellers funds. This is if your doing everything right as a seller of course. Amazon will let somebody return an empty box and take your money.