Your experience with ebay

[Perseus]

I have always wanted to sell something on ebay. How have your experiences been? Is it a hassle? Is it easy? Have you made the money you wanted? Do you pay a lot to ship items if someone gets it from cross country? Just curious!

-Perseus

[binaryDigit]

Generally yes, it's fairly easy. You sign up (you need a credit card to register to be a seller). How easy the actual transaction just depends (the buyer, the item you're selling, etc). As for the money you'll make, again that depends. Check the completed auctions for items similar to yours to see what the items generally go for. If you are a new seller, you will typically get less than average because of the higher risk factor involved in buying from a new seller without any feedback.

Shipping is almost always paid by the buyer. They provide you with their zip code, and you can go to ups.com or usps.com to calculate the shipping costs (by the weight of the item, be sure to factor in the weight of the packing material i.e. pack the item, then weigh it). Since you're a new seller, you may consider offering free shipping, but that depends on how heavy/big the item you're selling is.

Other things to consider:

- Be sure to list your item around the time you want your auction to end. Typically the auctions end exactly 3,5,7,10 days, so if you are a night owl and list your item at 4:00am, then not many people will be awake at the time the auction ends. And the number one thing to remember about ebay is that all the action takes place in the last 10minutes of the auction (often within the last minute). So be sure your auctions end at prime times. This is a lot easier now that ebay allows you to choose when the auction actually starts (but the same rule applies, start the auction at the time of day you want it to end).

- Be explicit with your auction terms. State who pays for shipping. State any warranty you might be offering. State if you'll ship internationally. Best thing to do is to look at other auctions and see what those sellers say, and use whatever is applicable to you.

- Consider getting a PayPal account. PayPal will take ~2-5% of the auction total, but it does get you the payment quicker, and most importantly in your case, it offers the buyer a certain amount of buyer protection. A new seller with zero feedback who only takes money orders is not going to get nearly as much as someone who accepts paypal.

- As a new seller you'll want to go that extra mile to make the buyer happy. Negative feedback so early on will be a killer for a new seller. So be responsive and get them their product in a timely fashion. Feedback is EVERYTHING, esp for sellers, so be mindful.

Good luck, let us know what you're selling, maybe we'll bid

[tobiko]

I had a great time on ebay. I have not bought anything, but i sold my soul for 10 bucks and i really got it!

[MDLarson]

I've been trying to buy iMacs on eBay (I have a spending limit, so I've been loosing a lot.) But one thing I've noticed is that those with pictures overwhelmingly perform better. The more descriptive, the better. Also, try to put key words in the item name (NOT terms like L@@K!, ACT NOW)

[powermac]

Great experience with Ebay, both selling and buying. Keep your eyes out, good deals.

[Azzgunther]

Binary covered it pretty well.

I'd say it's a great way to buy and sell things. My only advice to add is this:

PAY ATTENTION to people's feedback ratings, and decide if you'll deal with them accordingly. Any sale is a risk, so click on their little number and see who gave them feedback and what those people said.

Maybe I'm paranoid..but if I'm dealing with money I actually click on a few people who reviewed the person I'm dealing with to make sure they're all legit too.

My friend's dad got burned on an iPod on eBay and my mom's friend got burned on a camera. I don't think either of them were careful enough.

Make sure the person you deal with has at least a few people who can vouch for their integrity. Good luck!