ebay selling questions

mkiker2089mkiker2089
in Help Wanted!
I'm quickly learning that being a careful buyer hasn't taught me how to be a sucsesful seller. I'm not going to be a power seller or anything but I get a few subscription boxes, occasionally find cheap toys, and may sell for family members. A few items a month perhaps, who knows.



Anyway it seems to me that



- free shipping isn't working out. As a buyer I looked for free shipping and factored that into by bid amount. As a seller I see people don't do that. I tested a few items with and without a 2 dollar shipping fee and both has the same final bid. What do you charge for shipping? I'm leaning on 2 or 3 dollars flat to cover supplies and hoping the costs average out. I'm hesitant to let ebay calculate it as I've seen it charge certain zip codes more even though the USPS is pretty much flat rate nation wide.



- auctions versus buy it now. I like the 7 day auction but I'm concerned some things are going to cheap because the right person hasn't seen it. Any thoughts on that? This is mostly for toys from the subscription boxes.



- postage, do you buy it on ebay? I've finally found a way to print the labels. I print the label page with CutePDF and use Irfanview to make it a 486 jpg. It seems ebay is cheaper but I'd need to get a scale for future use to weight the boxes.



Any advice? Do any of you seek out items to flip? If so what and how?

Comments

  • MrPete1985MrPete1985
    So far I have only sold SNES reproductions and a NES game. I offer free shipping because it only costs about 3.50 tops to ship them across the country. Also I tend to buy more items from sellers that offer free shipping.



    As for materials I use padded envelopes that I get from either staples or wall mart for less than a dollar each.



    I also have a food scale that I use to weigh the games with envelope before purchasing the postage.



    I normally put my items up as buy it now or best offer and if I get an offer within $10 of my asking price then I normally sell.



    I have only been selling for a few months I hope my input is helpful.
  • pujolsfanpujolsfan
    I wouldn't sell for family members if I were you. Too much of a hassle and a variety of things can go wrong.



    Invest in a scale. Buy one on ebay. I paid like $15 for mine 3 years ago. It goes up to 55 pounds and calculates to the nearest tenth of an oz. I personally just print my labels off ebay. Print them, tape them to your package, stick them in your mail box and stick the flag up. Super easy.



    Everything of mine i list with free shipping. In my thinking, any idiot is going to factor in what they are going to pay with how much shipping will cost. If you list with free shipping, that's just one more area where buyers can't knock you when giving feedback



    Oh, and as far as packing materials. You can buy bubble mailers in bulk for a few cents a piece on ebay. Of course those are really small that you would use for portable games or something else that's not very big. For larger stuff, I just use whatever kinds of boxes that I have laying around. I turn food boxes inside out all the time and that works fine. I've never paid for a box.
  • JazzmarazzJazzmarazz
    I like to have my items partially-boxed and weighed before listing them. That way I can always add the "calculate shipping" option for potential buyers. In all honesty, the customers will all see the shipping costs of larger items and bid accordingly. $2 shipping on the other hand, people don't really take note of because what's another 2 bucks? I like top think that you're paying shipping in either case; either 1. out of pocket, or 2. out of the total going price for your item.



    Also, when you pay for shipping through ebay/paypal, then you can be protected a little more as a seller. Thats why I do it.



    I don't often buy-only-to-sell. I am mostly a buyer. But when I do sell, I like the buy-it-now for items I don't "need" to sell and a 7-day auction for items I want gone. I also like to delay posting the listing until it will end at a convenient time for buyers. Don't want it to end too early, or during normal-work-times after all. I like mine ending around 6-8pm.
  • mkiker2089mkiker2089
    Good advice. One off the wall question, what size t-shirt sells best? I've been getting a ladies small because if my niece likes it she gets it. I could change it to mens small as Nerd Block ladies shirts are very fitted.



    So far I've had enough bubble mailers and small boxes to re-use. I considered offering priority mail only and using their flat rate boxes but I don't think people would pay the difference and from what i've seen free shipping isn't paying for itself. I'm still weighing the pros and cons of shipping fees though.
  • psujoeylionpsujoeylion
    If you are doing a 7 day auction, I have found that having the auction END on eitherr a Saturday or Sunday night between 7pm and 10 pm has given the best results... as those are the highest traffic times on ebay. Hope this helps!
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