I'm thinking about selling, what are the most important tips you can give.

[spiritdreams-4]

I use to sell on Ebay years ago and stopped because of the not so friendly policies toward sellers. I’ve been thinking about selling again. I thought I would test the waters by starting out with some not so expensive stuff and would like as much advice and tips from skilled sellers and even new sellers. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

[kensgiftshop]

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@spiritdreams-4 wrote:

Ouch, 50 free listings a month sure set off some red flags that Ebay is trying it’s best to bring in sellers but the policies still support the buyers with an unfair advantage. Whew! But 50 free listings helps a little with the policy downfalls. For sure going to read the Buyer protection policy. 

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Being a new seller, you will have limits on how many items you can list a month.

I think most start out at 5 or 10 items.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@spiritdreams-4 wrote:

Thank you for your advice, I thought I would just get some clutter out of the shed from back when I sold before. Heck, I don't remember what I paid for most of it and to me it don’t have much value but to others I know it’s still pretty collectable. I might have to do some rethinking on it and start with the least valuable stuff… Researching prices is now on my to do list. Can sellers still start auction out at $0.99 and  if so does it help with the listing cost?

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I'd be really careful about starting listings at 99 cents.  Bidding wars are not as common as they used to be, which is what you may be remembering, and the item could just ride off into the sunset with just one bid.  The advice here is usually to never start an auction at less than you would be willing to accept.

Also approximately 80% of all listings are fixed price, immediate payment required now.  Buyers amy not want to wait, and the immediate payment required keeps the listing up until a serious buyer who will actually pay for the item comes along.  You avoid non pays this way; but if you insist on auctions, do have your blocks set up properly.

[castlemagicmemories]

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@spiritdreams-4 wrote:

Thank you for your advice, out of all the years I sold beforehand, I only had one lady who was extremely difficult to work with, we both ended by calling a truce with both of us leaving each other negative feedback.  Right after I quit sellers I heard sellers were unable to leave appropriate feedback for buyers, is that still the case?

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Ebay took away the seller's ability to neg buyers in 2008.  Don't be tempted to leave a negative comment in the positive format because that is a policy violation, and the buyer can have it removed if they call CS.

[reallynicestamps]

I wonder if a Buy it now wouldn’t be best. I noticed they stay up longer.

Fixed Price listings make up 85% of eBay now.

You can even add Immediate Payment Required.

Fixed Price is attractive to the 52% of buyers who are shopping on their phones.

Look at your uploaded listing on your own smartphone and then go back and revise revise revise.

The most important parts of your listing are the pictures (up to 12) and the title, particularly the first four words.

Don't sell internationally until you have at least 10 DSRs and know what DSRs are.
When you do start international sales, don't use the GSP for anything selling under $50.

Don't sign up for the GSP until you know what it is.

You can refuse Returns, but you can't refuse Refunds.

Your customers' payments will be held for up to 21 days (less if you are in the US) against your customer satisfaction. You can use the Held funds to buy shipping labels, which are often discounted.

[lauralemur]

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@agent006140 wrote:

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@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

Paypal has never had access to withdraw from bank accounts when your account was negative.

What they did do was piggyback on other outgoing payments and use any incoming payments to bring a negative balance back to zero.

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In the early days,Paypal did access our bank account to retrieve the payment if we lose a dispute or chargeback,this is how a merchant account provider does,but due to complaints,Paypal swore not to do it anymore,(Paypal is not our merchant account provider).

But recently there are some sellers who insist Paypal did that,-withdraw fund from their bank account,I dont know any details how it happens.

But Paypal will remind you to bring the negative balance to neutral by transferring fund from your bank account,or if you continue to sell,furture payments would be used to offset the negative balance OR if you ever use your credit card to make purchase,yes,Paypal will piggyback and charge the negative balance to your credit card.

Also OP may want to know ,if she pays with her bank account in the form of echeck,paypal will withdraw the payment via ACH,not once,but twice if first time results in NSF,and her bank will charge her NSF fee every time Paypal access her account and there is not enough fund.

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Just a few months ago Paypal did this to me - I had authorized a return which was more than the balance in my Paypal account.  I figured I would pay the negative balance on payday.  I asked their customer service ahead of time if this was ok, and they said yes I would have 30 days to restore the account to zero balance.  Well, Paypal immediately  took the money from my linked bank account to cover the difference, without asking or warning.  It did not "piggyback" any other transaction.  It left me without enough to cover my personal bills for the week.  There was no "reminder" after the fact or grace period to pay, it happened automatically.   I learned that you should create a separate bank account for ebay/paypal purposes separate from personal finances with enough balance to cover the most expensive item sold in the past 6 months.  If you are using Paypal, I would research their policies too, especially for new accounts/new ebay sellers.  Buyers can open cases through Paypal directly and bypass ebay if this was the payment form, so it helps to know how things work on that end too.

[uncseniorsportsfan]

If it's been years since you sold here - the biggest changes are that fixed price works better than auctions on the majority of items, and the cost of shipping has increasesd a lot which often means the higher the shipping cost - the lower the selling price.

Lower your expectations and do your research on an item before wasting time listing it.  My rule of thumb is if there are more than 10 of the same item with none having sold in the past 60 days - it usually isn't worth listing unless you want to be the lowest price.   

I would also say that while reading these boards will prepare you for most problems you sould encounter and you will receive some helpful tips - the majority of transactions go through without a hitch if the items are accurately listed.   

You will read a lot here about returns which everyone in ecommerce has to deal with - it is not just an ebay problem.   Clothing, jewelry, and electronics seem to  be most vulnerable to returns.  The only two items I have ever had returned on this account were shirts, and I resold both of them.   Short but detailed descriptions and photos - not describing items as "mint", "perfect",  or "like new" - should help lower returns. 

Good luck - give it a try!

[luv3labs]

Be aware that "Seller protections" no longer exist.
If you ask eBay to assist you with a transaction, there is a huge likelihood that you will receive a "Defect" for having done so.

If the item is not something you would feel comfortable just throwing away, along with $5 to $10 attached to it, then you should probably find a safer place to sell it.

If you start your item at 99 cents, that is what it will sell for.

Do not believe what the Customer Service people tell you when you call them, especially when it is obvious that English is not their most familiar language.

Be prepared to ship out goods & receive "Returns" of random garbage, for which you must pay the postage both ways.

After you list an item, try doing a "Search" which should logically lead to your item, & don't be surprised when either you can't find it, or, eBay has done you the "courtesy" of posting many similar items at lower prices from other Sellers right in the middle of your item's Listing.

Welcome to the "new & improved" eBay experience.

[uncseniorsportsfan]

There has never really been any seller protection on the part of ebay - in the early years their mantra was "we are only a venue".    Sellers need to do all they can to protect themselves.

If things were really as bad as you paint them - ebay would be out of business.  Sure there will be the occasional bump in the road when selling on ebay, but that will be true on any third party seller site - even the mighty Amazon.    And yes, the occasional item will be damaged - either due to rough handling  by the carrier or inadequate packing by the seller. 

Would I stop using USPS because 2 out of a thousand items were damaged in transit?   No.    Would I stop using ebay because 2 out of a thousand sales were returned?  No.   Do I waste my time searching for my own items?  No.   Do I expect even 30% of my items to sell the first time listed?   No.

What I do expect is for the vast majority of my ebay transactions to be positive.   And they are. 

[eurydicesjewels]

I'm in the same boat as you are. I've been a buyer on here for years and decided to take the leap. I'm glad that I have selling restrictions, ie amount and number of items. I want to learn slowly. I have done a lot of reading on policy and changes and have gone through many messages on this board. People who have been on here a long time, especially when you can see their selling account and they do well, are invaluable for what I need to learn.

Slow and steady wins the race I always believe. Hope it stays true.

Good Luck.

[namtrag1]

eBay has changed over the years.

My best advice to sell items on eBay is to follow the recomended guidelines:

Your sale price = $4.25

Your cost = $1.00

eBay fees = .25

Recommended FREE Shipping = $8.25

Total Profit =  <$5.25> loss

Don't worry you'll make it up in volume!

LOL LOL

[femmefan1946]

EBay is not your friend.

This is business , not personal.

I believe that eBay has become MORE user-friendly over the years with simplified Sell Your Item forms, including the Advanced Sell Your Item form which I would encourage you to use.

Costs have decreased, unfortunately, with more competition (25 million sellers) so have profits.

https://expandedramblings.com/index.php/ebay-stats/

As a Canadian seller, I have always shipped internationally, and have slightly less difficulty with overseas buyers than I do with US buyers.

Still, most people are honest. If you are have fewer than 1% failed transactions, that's normal.

If you are getting more than 5% failed transactions, come back for more advice.

When you do decide to engage with all the 1.3 billion worldwide members, look into the Global Shipping Program for your pricier items (over $50) and into First Class Parcel International for shipping lower value items. Both give you tracking which is your best Seller Protection.

Don't sell internationally until you have at least 10 DSRs and know what DSRs are.

EBay ignores feedback in measuring your Seller Account.

But being able to automatically Block deadbeats with Unpaid Item Strikes makes avoiding the worst scammers much easier. You never even see them. 

Most transactions are Fixed Price. You can add Immediate Payment Required and the listing stays active until someone pays.

[femmefan1946]

BTW- if you still have your old account and can remember the password, any account with more than your current 2FB is useful.

[magsmg101]

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@spiritdreams-4 wrote:

I use to sell on Ebay years ago and stopped because of the not so friendly policies toward sellers. I’ve been thinking about selling again. I thought I would test the waters by starting out with some not so expensive stuff and would like as much advice and tips from skilled sellers and even new sellers. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

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Hello @spiritdreams-4
Lots of great policy & selling advice from very experienced sellers.

However the accounting aspect does not seem to have been mentioned.

My 2 cents…Come April you will / should sit with your tax preparer armed with at least an excel spreadsheet with your sales $ - cost $ + any expenses.

All the best to you.

[uncseniorsportsfan]

Those who are simply downsizing or selling used items sitting around the house don't have to worry about accounting and the tax man.  Many small sellers on ebay are not businesses. 

[magsmg101]

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@uncseniorsportsfan wrote:

Those who are simply downsizing or selling used items sitting around the house don't have to worry about accounting and the tax man.  Many small sellers on ebay are not businesses. 

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Correct me if I am wrong, but I belive ebay considers all sellers as businesses. and should abide by "industry Standard practices"????