First time seller
Hi community,
This is my first time listing something for my friend. It's a pretty expensive home recording equipment. I made the starting bid $999 I thought I had put a reserve price at $1100, but now it shows 1 bid at $999, does this mean there's no reserve and if no other bidder, I have to sell it for $999?
There are 3 days till bids end, there are 16â¤ï¸ 16 watchers, is that a high number of watchers, and with that number of watchers, what's the chance to have a 2nd bid with 3 days to close? A new item of this is $1500, I'm selling a barely used one for $999.
Thanks so much for answering my question ðŸ™ðŸ™‚
35 comments
jerseyboymusic
·2 years agoHas the buyer paid? Can you go to your other thread and let us know?
realtypro8885
OP2 years agoThank you so much! It's so complicated, and I just jumped in the water without knowing anything about these so complicated processes/issues. After this item, I don't think I'll sell anything on Ebay again, unless maybe some used name brand shoes like garage sale just to declutter.
Thank you ALL so much for your help 🙂
a_c_green
·2 years agoYes. It sounds as if you may have confused the Reserve price with the BuyItNow price when preparing your listing.
I would say Yes, that's a very good number of watchers, and there is a very good chance of having snipe bids in the final minutes (and especially seconds) of the auction that will drive the price higher.
Well, yes, although you're going to take a bath on the Shipping cost, which you have wildly underestimated at $6.60 for USPS Ground Advantage if you were to ship it to me here in Chicago.
For a large and delicate component such as that studio equipment, you would probably want to double-box that for extra protection, and remember that because your sale is over $750, you are required to add Signature Confirmation to your shipment in order to retain your Seller Protection against an Item Not Received dispute.
If the buyer claims that the purchase has arrived damaged, or makes some other Not As Described claim after it arrives, you will need to cover the return shipping costs if you want to have the item back before refunding. That No Returns declaration on your listing will not hold if your buyer claims shipping damage or a nonfunctional item when received.
As others have suggested, you should at minimum end your other listing for what looks to be basically the same thing (and uses the same photo). If you're feeling enterprising, you could ride out the auction that's already received one bid -- my unscientific guess is that it will eventually fetch more -- but you are taking on a big risk by selling this high-value component from a new selling account showing a Feedback count of only 2. It is also possible that eBay may request purchase receipts for this item before releasing the buyer's payment to you.
In case you end up having to eat the profits due to unexpected Shipping costs (you do not get to bill the buyer for extra charges), or (in a worst-case scenario) lose the item altogether, it would probably be a good idea to discuss the risks with your friend in advance (i.e. now), to agree on who will ultimately take the loss. Good luck.
gb58
·2 years agoI think you've gotten yourself in way too deep for a first time listing, and the fact it isn't even your item you are listing, but an item for a friend, just complicates the transaction.
I've been doing ebay over twenty years, and I refuse to list items for friends or family, and I've had many people ask, "oh do you list items for other people?". I tell them that I will gladly sit with them, help them set up an account, walk them through listing the item, but anything I help them list will be listed under their own account, and they are responsible for following through with corresponding with any bidders, packing and shipping the item etc....
I've not had one person take me up on the offer for me to teach them to do ebay.
First, I don't have time to list all the stuff I have here, let alone take on the responsibility of listing,selling, packing other peoples items. It is alot of work, and that's why people ask in the first place, because they don't want to be bothered learning to do it. They know it is a lot of work.
Looking at the auction you have running now, I can guarantee you are going to take a big hit on the shipping also. There is no way that is shipping for $6.78. You are in Los Angeles, so hopefully you won't be shipping it to the east coast. You should have estimated the weight of the unit, entered that weight and chose calculated shipping, which would have been based on the buyers zip code.
fern*wood
·2 years agoI thought ebay set strict limits on what dollar amount a new seller could offer. This whole thread makes me ill thinking of what the OP may not know.
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoIndeed, every seller has listing limits and a very common limit for new sellers has traditionally been about 10 listings and $500. This episode is an illustration of WHY it makes sense to force new sellers to start out with lower-value items. @realtypro8885 You can check your limits here:
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/selling-limits?id=4107
realtypro8885
OP2 years agoI thought that was what I did, but it turned out that's not what I did.
You're right, Ebay is so much work, I don't think I'll continue after selling his first item, I told him I'll give him back his second unit, he can sell it himself.
gb58
·2 years agoDon't give up on ebay, just don't jump into the deep end so quickly. List smaller valued items first, in the $20-$30 range perhaps. Start slow with a few listings, try both methods, fixed price and auction and see what works best.
Also, list your own items, don't even think about selling other people's stuff, that way should something go wrong, there is not a consigner involved to worry about.
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoWhen you set up auctions for two virtually identical items, you are basically competing with yourself. IMHO you should end that second listing, and wait to relist it until after the first auction ends. Then when you relist it, you can take out all of the confusing references and notes regarding one vs three items.
If the two units are identical and if you get more than one bidder on the first auction, you'll have the option to send a Second Chance Offer to the underbidder rather than relisting the second unit, but of course that decision will largely depend on what the bidding goes up to. If you leave the second auction up, you are undermining the potential highest biding for the earlier auction.
Also, it would be a good idea for you to send a message to your current bidder, clarifying that the auction is for just one unit, and offering to cancel his bid for him if he is no longer interested.
annadryl
·2 years agoIf you check your bidder it shows they have been bidding on about fifteen different high-end audio items in just the last few hours. Are they really in the market to buy and pay for all that stuff? We can't see their feedback, but you can. Anything fishy?
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoThe time shown under "Last bid" is not the time that has elapsed since the bid was placed. It's the amount of time left between the bid being placed and the end of the auction. Since it's a 30-day history, many of those auctions have ended.
In the column labeled "Number of bids," the bid numbers with no asterisk are auctions where this bidder has been outbid, and the numbers with asterisks show where this bidder has won the auction or is the lead bidder in an active auction.
a_c_green
·2 years agoI have always wondered what we're supposed to do with that knowledge (i.e. how much time remained in the auction at the time he made his bid). As we cannot tell which listings are still running vs. which ones have ended, I don't think we really have enough context anyway.
m60driver
·2 years agoYou have two items listed that, as a relatively new inexperienced seller, are well above your paygrade. That is you are a new seller listing expensive electronic items and so the odds are high you will get scammed out of any sale you make. You should cancel the auction for the item without a bid but, alas, if you cancel the item with the bid you will still pay a FVF.
pickapaper
·2 years agoI hope you charged your friend a high percentage to sell this for him. You are a new seller and there's a lot of money involved here. As others mentioned, you are a high target for a high dollar item and both you and your friend need to be aware of everything that can happen. It isn't simple.
In addition to the above mentioned eBay fees involved, if it sells you are over the $600.00 threshold so you will receive a 1099 from eBay and will have to claim the amount as income on your taxes. Since you are a new seller, eBay will probably hold your funds for 30 days before they release them to you (and hopefully you got your bank account or whatever set up with eBay's managed payments to be able to receive your money). There is also a chance of a credit card chargeback for about 90 days. Is your friend going to pay the taxes on your eBay sales income and is he going to reimburse you if someone files a chargeback with their credit card company after a couple of months?
With eBay's money back guarantee, no returns does not mean no refunds. It means that if a buyer files a return claim, you must issue a return label and pay for the return of the item. When you get the item back, you have to issue a refund to the buyer (but not before you get the item back) and hope you get your item back not trashed or not a box of rocks for which you would still have to issue a refund (so you would be out the money and the item). If you refuse a return and eBay has to step in, they will refund the buyer out of your pocket and let them keep the item.
realtypro8885
OP2 years agoDoes eBay let seller specify only accept buyers with 100% positive rating?
fern*wood
·2 years agoNo, but any ID that only buys will be at 100% anyway since buyers can't receive negatives. It really means nothing.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoDoes eBay let seller specify only accept buyers with 100% positive rating? NO.
There are some settings you can set in your account preferences that will limit your buyers ability to purchase from you but their feedback score is not one of them and it would not matter if it was. All buyers have 100% positive feedback since that his all sellers, by eBay policy, are allowed to leave them.
gb58
·2 years agoIn your photo, for both of your listings, I just noticed, it looks like you are showing two units in your photos, one stacked on top of the other. Is this correct, what I am viewing?
If so, you have created a very confusing listing, and if a buyer files a complaint of NAD, you could run into a problem with ebay if they compare that photo with what the buyer actually receives. The fact you say this is for one unit, conflicts with what you are showing in the photo that the buyer will receive.
Ebay has sided with buyers for less complicated things. I had a minnie mouse glass listed last year, low dollar item $10. I accidenally listed it as Mickey mouse. The buyer clearly seen it was Minnie and not mickey in the photo. They didn't point out my error, they bought the glass, then as soon as they got it, they emailed me and said, "this is not mickey, it is minnie". Long story short, I gave them their money back and let them keep the glass, because I knew I would lose a case if they opened one, and to pay for return shipping, plus to refund their original price plus original shipping....well, I probably would have been $30 in the hole on a $10 item, so it was simpler and less expensive to just tell them to keep the glass and refund. Even so, I was out the glass, and the original payment, and the original postage.
So that example, is just to give you an idea on a very low dollar item, the pitfalls of what can happen. Just imagine how much this transaction for a $1,000 item can cost you, if things go south. With the confusing terms, confusing photos, double listings, and a bidder who may or may not turn out to be a bit sketchy.... I hope it turns out OK for you.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoOthers have already provide some good information and replies. The other couple of things I would offer are you are a new seller selling high dollar high target items for scammers. You do not accept returns and you need to understand that not accepting returns does NOT translate to no refunds.
EBay is a viable platform for selling things but there is little to no seller protection. The seller has all the risk associated with almost any transaction. Remember the #1 rule as a seller which is never list anything you are not prepared to take the financial loss on. While most transactions go off without any issues it only takes one scam to cost you.
lacemaker3
·2 years agoNow you have two listings, which should be fine as you say you have 2 of them for sale in good condition. You would need to sell the third one in another listing, presumably for less.
However, no one is going to bid on the second one because it is so much more expensive. There is no reserve price on the cheaper one, so it will sell for less, unless you get a bidding war. As long as your friend is okay with that, it's fine.
Different topic: you said you are selling these for a friend? Do you realize that you will get a 1099-K IRS tax form, and need to report this as income on your tax return? You can deduct your expenses, of course, which includes any funds that you pass on to your friend (as the cost you paid for the items you sold), but it could get a bit complicated. You would need to issue a 1099-MISC form to your friend to document the transaction, for any amount over $600.
realtypro8885
OP2 years agoThank you so much about the tax form information.
lacemaker3
·2 years ago@realtypro8885, you're welcome.
FVF means "final value fee". The other responders were reminding you that eBay will charge you 13.25% of the buyer's total payment amount, plus $0.30 per order, as final value fees.
annadryl
·2 years agoYou are picturing two units but will only ship one. Two grainy pictures. No returns. $6.22 GA shipping. My head is spinning...
I DO sincerely hope you get a good buyer on this. The reserve thing is the last thing I'd worry about. Good luck~
nobody*s_perfect
·2 years agoWhat a confusing mess. If the seller decides to continue the newer auction, it should be revised to provide a photo of ONE item, and the description should be updated to remove all those confusing references to multiple items.
annadryl
·2 years agoBig time! @realtypro8885 Are these items in your possession? You need multiple close-up CLEAR pics in good light after you CLEAN them. Take some pics with it powered on and some off. Don't include any thing not in the listing. This is standard for all listings but especially for this expensive item. It deserves it! Really hope it works out.
stephenmorgan
·2 years agoIt does not look like you set the Reserve so the first bid means item will sell.
If you were able to set the Reserve you would have been charged a fee of about $82.50 even if the item did not sell.
Yes, it is possible you may get more bids before the auction ends. Many people will wait until the last seconds of a auction to bid.
kenneth686321
·2 years agoThere is a good chance you might get another bid above $1100 fingers crossed.
Reserve Price means that you DO NOT have to sell to the winning bidder IF the winning bid is BELOW $1100.
BTW you should be aware that you are charged a non refundable fee to have a reserve price that is charged regardless whether your item sells or not. It is $5 OR 7.5% of reserve price whichever is greater so $82 you have paid in fees already. Plus you will have to pay 13.25 FVF Fees if your item sells.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822#section5
The 16 watchers might be interested buyers waiting to bid at the last second, window shoppers with no intention of bidding or other sellers keeping an eye on the competition.
soh.maryl
·2 years agoThat 13.25 FVF that the seller will have to pay if the item sells should really have a percentage mark after it -- 13.25%.
realtypro8885
OP2 years agoSorry, can you explain what is FVF?
ckimodog
·2 years ago@realtypro8885
Final Value fee. It costs money to list on eBay. Make sure your friend reimburses you for this fee as well.
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoSorry, can you explain what is FVF?
If you are not familiar with some basic terminology like FVF, NAD, INR, MBG as well as doing cost models you may want to take a break from listing items and read some of the eBay help files. There are several but three of the most important for starting out are below. You should also read through some of the posts on this forum, or view some videos on YouTube that show some of the more common scamming tactics used on eBay.
https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy?id=4210
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/ebay-form-1099k?id=4794
slippinjimmy
·2 years ago@realtypro8885
There is no reserve on that listing, perhaps you had a Buy It Now for $1100 but that goes away if someone bids the minimum.
If you don't get any additional bidders you are obligated to sell at the current price.
3 (it's almost 4) days is a lot of time remaining, most bidding happens in the last few hours or minutes. 16 watchers is not a "high" number but it's definitely not a low number.
I'm confident you get more bidding action and get a reasonable price, they don't show up on eBay very often.
I do see one potential problem with your listing, are you really offering both units (and mention a third) as a package deal? If you are expecting to only sell one to the high bidder at the high bid amount your listing in not done the correct way. The listing currently is set up for a bundle of two units, when I researched these units I realized that you seemed to have priced it as a single unit.
On the other hand bidders with money who can use two may bid this up by a lot. Previous sales are around $1300-$1400/unit.
realtypro8885
OP2 years agoGosh, is this listing categorized as a bundle? But in the description it clearly states EACH is selling for $1300. Shoot. I might have messed up for my friend big time...
realtypro8885
OP2 years agoThank you so much for your answer! I went though the listing again and was able to find a box that says "revise." I was able to add under Additional Description: This auction is for 1 UNIT, NOT 3. I hope this clarifies?
Also, there was someone who emailed me since the first day of my listing offering to buy all 3 for $2300, after 3 days we agreed on $2550. When I found there's one bid a couple of hours ago, I emailed him to inform him someone wants to buy one unit, he then emailed me back and said he will withdraw the purchase because he wanted to buy 3, not one. I guess some might understand the listing was for one unit ( before I put in the extra description)?
ckimodog
·2 years ago@realtypro8885
The person who is emailing you may very well be a scammer. Keep the transaction on eBay. Do not let anyone pay you other than the payment method eBay provides for buyers when you sell the item. Honestly, you would have better off selling these items locally. New sellers are scam magnets. Don't be taken in by any of these types. Do not give them your Paypal account number or add anything that is not in the listing. And PS NO returns does not mean no refunds.
Please be careful.