Request Tips for First Time Seller

[dresoccer4]

hello all! i had another thread going asking about some sketchy messages i received after I posted my first item for auction (a gaming laptop) and got 1 bid. I was basically told I would definitely get scammed, so I cancelled the auction, luckily with no penalty. 

I still want to sell this thing, but want to be very careful how I set it up, as to gurantee not to get scammed. My question to the community is, how can I, as a first time seller, set up my listing for a fairly high-priced item, that avoids getting shafted. 

i read that doing a buy it now option is safer than auction, yeah? what other reccomendations do y'all have? thanks for any and all help!

[dresoccer4]

doom and gloom is right. i haven't heard a single story about someone successfully selling a >$500 item on their first go. all i want to do is sell my old gaming laptop since i bought a new one. i thought this would be a simple, painless task. but man, how wrong i was

[bubbleman2010]

You had a fish on the line,but got scared and cut the line. You should always let things play out so you can figure out what the Rocks got cookin....

[chrysylys]

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@dresoccer4wrote:
doom and gloom is right. i haven't heard a single story about someone successfully selling a >$500 item on their first go.

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You won't hear about those.  That isn't the kind of thing people come to the boards for.  They come here when things go wrong, not when they go right.

Look at it this way.  A quick search tells me there were an estimated 2,100 car/train accidents in 2017, or about 5-6 per day.  How many cars and trains passed through crossing safely in 2017?  Accidents got in the statistics, safe crossings did not.

[dresoccer4]

but how would one know if there are any specific success stories like the scenario i mentioned?

in your example applied to this, there's no way of telling how many safe crossings there are, you can only know how many accidents. and if you know one specific crossing has the majority of the accidents, it'd be wise to avoid it altogether.

[sockmonkeydave]

@dresoccer4

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@dresoccer4wrote:
..thinking about the overseas thing. what if i force a signature at delivery? then we'll know a real person and real address had to sign for it. so if something goes south it'd be easier to track down, right?

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No NO NO, sell to the US only, your chance of getting scammed goes through the roof on international.

If you wan't to be safe take out an ad in the newspaper, or CL, and cash only.

So many first time sellers start out with high end items, and lose the item and the cash.

[dresoccer4]

i think you misunderstood

[sockmonkeydave]

@dresoccer4

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@dresoccer4wrote:
hm, can i only sell to US customers?

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Yes but you need to set up your account and listing to block other countries.

Not trying to be mean, but you are nowhere close to selling on ebay.

You have so much to learn before you jump in.

[sockmonkeydave]

@dresoccer4

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@dresoccer4wrote:
i think you misunderstood

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I may have, but if you use the quote button, I can see what you are replying to.

[dresoccer4]

thats what this thread was for 🙂 to prepare. but ive decided not to do it anymore since there seems to be a very high chance the buyer would be a scammer, and there's 0 ways to guarantee i wont be ripped off. not worth it

[sockmonkeydave]

@dresoccer4

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@dresoccer4wrote:
thats what this thread was for 🙂 to prepare. but ive decided not to do it anymore since there seems to be a very high chance the buyer would be a scammer, and there's 0 ways to guarantee i wont be ripped off. not worth it

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Even experienced sellers, would shy away from selling high end computers, iphones and cameras.

It's not all doom and gloom, but you have a better chance of getting scammed, on these items.