Help: abt selling on eBay; experiences?

Subject: abt selling on e-bay; experiences?
From: BK
Date: 28 May 02 - 11:56 PM

Has anyone sold on e-bay recently & how was the experience? Did it cost much? (How does that work?) How did you get payment? - What abt the credit card system(s) so that you don't have to wait for a check to clear to send something - or did you just wait - or send it anyway? How did you ship the item?

I'd like to get rid of several guitars I don't play (to make money & room for others, of course!) & wonder if e-bay would be a good mechanism..

Thanx, BK

Subject: RE: Help: abt selling on e-bay; experiences?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 29 May 02 - 08:25 AM

I troll for banjos on e-Bay but I've never tried to sell something there. They do have a "frequently asked question" section on their website which probably has the formal answers to your questions. I've had good experiences with my three purchases but it is useful to check out the "history" of whomever you are dealing with if possible.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Help: abt selling on e-bay; experiences?
From: curmudgeon
Date: 29 May 02 - 09:21 AM

I've been selling on eBay for quite a while with no real problems. Admittedly, I usually sell smaller items along with books and paper and don't have a lot of worries about shipping.

Here are a few hints:

1 -- Go to eBay and study the guitars being offered. What are the opening bids like? What's the quality of the guitars? How many bids are they getting? When you finish lookiong at these, click on "Completed" and see how much guitars like yours are actually sold for.

2 -- Look into some of the payment plans that others are using, ie., PayPal. These services charge a small fee to the seller, but make transactions much smoother. Another method is to accept payment by money order only; again, no waiting for checks to clear.

3 -- Go to your nearest shipping center and get a rough idea about the cost of shipping a guitar; also get rates for insurance. This information will give prospective buyers an idea of how much they'll have to pay for shipping and insurance. BTW, buyer almost always pays shipping costs.

4 -- When you list a gutar, put as much information as you can fit in that one line that you start with. Include such things as make, model, year, finish, style, number of strings, etc. Many buyers won't waste the time looking at every item listed as just "guitar." Rather they may only search for Guilds or Gibsons; they may only want a twelve string. The more information you provide, the more people will see your listing.

5 -- Include pictures. Items without pictures just don't sell. If you don't have a digital camera, take photos and scan them in as JPGs. EBay allows you to upload them directly from your computer, 1st one is free.

6 -- Be completely honest in your description. If there's a crack, point it out. If the finish is rough, say so. If you're including a case, give it a full descrition also.

7 -- Your opening bid, which you set, should not be too low. If you want $200.00, don't open at $20.00. Rather open at 100. If you're not willing to take any chances, you can set a reserve. But be realistic and make this, or the opening bid, the absolute lowest price you would consider. Too high an opener will result in no bids.

If there's anything else I've forgotten, I can't remeber it.

Happy selling -- Tom

Subject: RE: Help: abt selling on e-bay; experiences?
From: Steve in Idaho
Date: 29 May 02 - 09:33 AM

Tom summed it up quite nicely! I've sold a lot there, including a couple of high priced motorcycles, and have found it to be a positive experience. International selling can be tough so I usually will only sell within the lower 48 states. Sign up for PayPal. It's the most used of the services for payment and gets your money to you within minutes of the sale closing (for the most part).

And feedback is VERY important. I never give negative - always positive. Sometimes it takes a bit more work but in the long run it is worth it. And if the item is sold "as-is" state that clearly. Ebay has an escrow feature that can be good for items like guitars. It puts the money in a trust account until the buyer is satisfied with the item. I've never used this feature but was contemplating it on a guitar I was interested in. The seller wouldn't use it so I decided against the purchase.

Any other questions don't hesitate to PM me or Tom for info. I've been selling for several years on eBay and really enjoy the extra cash and have made a couple of friends through it. My eBay name is s-bar-j if you want to check out what I have done in the past. This last weekend I made over $300. Makes it worth while for me.

Best of Luck!!

Steve

Subject: RE: Help: abt selling on e-bay; experiences?
From: curmudgeon
Date: 29 May 02 - 09:38 AM

BTW, my selling name is farquahar. All I'm selling right now are some older Sing Out! mags and a 2 vol set of Chappell -- Tom

Subject: RE: Help: abt selling on e-bay; experiences?
From: Gypsy
Date: 29 May 02 - 11:14 AM

Just sold my mustang thru ebay. definitely the way to go. I would say that you should make certain of your shipping charges.....the poor man that i got my dulcimer from advertised that shipping would be 30.00....and we live on opposite coasts! Do your homework, and you should have no problem

Subject: RE: Help: abt selling on e-bay; experiences?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 29 May 02 - 03:57 PM

Does or does not e-Bay collect a percentage or flat fee?

There's also the "instant buy" option, usually set above the reserve which may attract a particularly anxious bidder.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Help: abt selling on e-bay; experiences?
From: curmudgeon
Date: 29 May 02 - 04:31 PM

eBay does charge a flat fee for listing, .less than a dollar and a small commision based on the actual selling price; if the item doesn't sell, the commission is based on the reserve or starting bid. However, if the item doesn't sell, you can relist for free.Their fees and commissions are far less than those of a live auctioneer. But considering the volume of business that passes through their electronic portals, their income is immense enough. -- Tom

Subject: RE: Help: abt selling on e-bay; experiences?
From: curmudgeon
Date: 29 May 02 - 04:43 PM

As a follow up to my first post, I just went to eBay and did a search for "guitar" -- over 18,000 items listed. This should demonstrate the need for details in the listing line -- Tom

Subject: RE: Help: abt selling on e-bay; experiences?
From: BK
Date: 29 May 02 - 08:36 PM

Catters:

THANKS FOR THE INFO!! I'd only bought on e-bay in the past & it was a mixed ex[erience..

Cheers, BK