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 Replies: 17 / Views: 5,340 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7646 Posts |
Definitely get PayPal verified. It is to your advantage and your Buyers will see that you are serious. Eventually, PayPal will start releasing your funds faster when they see you playing by the rules and doing what you agreed to do.
You might do "ok" with bulk lots of common stuff but it will not be a slam dunk. As a new Seller it is up to you to attract bidders/buyers to your listings with accurate and detailed descriptions.
You have to "test the water" and see what works/sells and what doesn't work or sell and adjust your listings and selling tactics accordingly. Do not expect to have results overnight. It is time consuming and frustrating at times, but for me it was/is worth it.
Good luck!
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New Member
United States
6 Posts |
End auctions on Sunday
Offer a return policy
Start your auctions at $0.99
Use a gallery picture
Write a good description
Optimize you listing
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1192 Posts |
Yeah I'm going to try my vintage lion brothers apollo patches first a few at a time. They go for $15-30 apiece on ebay but I got them as a lot for less than a quarter for 20. They were such a cool came with some papers and their orginal shipping envelope no idea why they were donated. Edited by Bertensgrad
05/12/2015 04:11 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
946 Posts |
I usually will end the auction for fri-sat time. (When people get paid usually). I'll also make sure the auction doesn't end at a random weird time. It will be like 7-9 oclock at night when mostly everyone is home from work and they have their own free time to use how they want. I use my Droid for ebay. Its pretty simple. I find what I am trying to sell and I save that as my own draft and pretty much 75% of the listing is done there. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7390 Posts |
Bert, I am a professional picker. I started out by going to estate sales and after I time and again, on a consistent basis, bought items for $20-$50 and resold them for $500ish I realized I had an amazing eye which is a MUST for a picker. The knowledge you gain over time about the generalities of collectibles and market trends will.help you grow tremendousLY but THE PICKER EYE is what cannot be taught. You either have it or you dont. Others have answered your questions on ebay selling quite well but I would like to add something... I am almost done with ebay. When I was new to it I would find similar items that sold and "sell one like this" not knowing it was a banned item like an old BB gun that was so rusty it was a wall hanger but it didn't matter the just ended the listing like I was selling a fake coin. If you get 2 or three of those they suspend your selling account indefinitely and you are screwed. So read the rules (something I omitted doing early on regretfully) and TRY to follow them... I say this because as a general picker you are going to get a wide range of items. If you were selling one thing like coins or clothes or whatever it's simple. The bane and pleasure of a picker is the wide array of very cool items that will pass through your fingers. Happy hunting!... and go to estate sales. Much better than thrifting if you do.have the eye in terms of the amount of quality items at affordable prices (usually). Nowadays I travel and put ads in local classified mags like pennysaver in the towns I go to advertising what I am and what I'm looking for but a good estate sale still pulls at my heart string a bit because I cut my teeth with them and made some good $. But lost some too while training my eye but I just consider that as paying for my education when it happened |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1911 Posts |
Common world coins and wheat pennies would generate the interest I believe. I am looking for both currently as long as they are the cheap ones! ;) But as for ebay like others have said be nice even if people are foolish and also I have found it is amazing to people when I actually answer back their questions early instead of waiting hours. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1192 Posts |
Ok I will try a auction on some excess coin lots I have on here.
I plan on mostly selling collectables, some coins, and vintage toys mostly. I just don't have the eyes for clothes fashion wise. I just know brands and usually just take a risk on them to platos closet to sell. I just want it for hobby money but if I can get it to start paying student loans that would be amazing. It super helps inventory being able to pick up good small stuff and clothes just by its weight while getting to pick through it before I choose what items to buy. Now if I can only figure out how to sell it.
My main place is like where goodwill donations go to die haha. It's all the excess they don't have room or time to ship to stores. A lot of corporate donations of goods and anything too weird for them to sale and they don't know what to do with.
I went ahead and decided to get my paypal verified so I should be able to start selling this weekend with the inventory I have.
Edited by Bertensgrad
05/12/2015 4:21 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1949 Posts |
Trial and error really the only way to learn. What works for one person may not work for you... Sometimes there are factors that are 100% outside of your control...
One huge tip I would give though is have a VERY thick skin- People seem to think that interactions online allow them to talk and behave in ways they would never to a persons face... Be prepared for that
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2189 Posts |
The advice westernsky gave is right on. I would also add, expect your funds to be held longer than you expect. As a new seller you may have limits, IE; 10 items per month, $250. total sales.Payments via Pay Pal usually will be released to you 3-5 days after the item shows delivered or a little sooner if feedback is received from the buyer.
After 3 months you can expect your limits to be increased, maybe 50 items and $2,500. if all goes well. Its a 3 month trial/break-in period.
so pick the items you list wisely, your 10 listings per month gets used up fast. Be very cautious on anyone trying to circumvent the system, especially when they see a "NEW" seller with 0 feedback on sales.
I started same as you exactly 2 years ago selling but had been buying since 2009.
Good luck!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
589 Posts |
Quote:
As a new seller you may have limits, IE; 10 items per month, $250. total sales.Payments via Pay Pal usually will be released to you 3-5 days after the item shows delivered or a little sooner if feedback is received from the buyer.
After 3 months you can expect your limits to be increased, maybe 50 items and $2,500. if all goes well. Its a 3 month trial/break-in period. When I started selling on ebay about a year ago now, my limits were 10 items or $100, which was automatically raised to 100 items or $5000 per month when I got around 10 positive seller feedbacks. I've had to call them to get my amount raised since then, and only by total items I can a month, not the total dollar amount. I'll need to start approaching $5000 a month before they'll raise that. |
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Moderator
 United States
16680 Posts |
I've been on ebay since 1997. Take the best photos possible of all angles of product. I have a ship in 2 business days policy. I track ALL orders over $15. I block anyone with less than 98% positive feedback. I block anyone with less than 10 feedback total. Make your terms crystal clear and I don't ship to any Country but US because of complex postal regulations and no way to track item. I've been burned once and that's all it took. Do these things for your protection and you'll be fine. swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5404 Posts |
Do not use 99 cent auctions. BIN best offer is the best way to go these days. If you go the auction route you are going to get picked off by bottom feeders. Ship items tracked only or you will get nailed by the I didn't get it by the lying buyer goofs that have just proliferated since ebay is 100 per cent buyer centric. Do not sell cheap items on ebay as the reward is very minimal for the time spent. Remember time is your most valuable and expensive asset. Have a good business sense or you are completely wasting your time and efforts. Other than that have fun selling. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7646 Posts |
As far as 99 cent auction vs fixed price, do what works best for you and your situation. As you start out try both and make adjustments based on results.
Yes, the bottom feeders show up on the 99 cent auctions but I've seen fixed price stuff get relisted over and over for years and still not sell. All it takes is a few bottom feeders to create a feeding frenzy on an auction and you can end up with a good old fashioned bidding war.
My experience is that quality listing practices, along with good value being offered, will sell your items no matter what format you choose to use.
Good luck!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2335 Posts |
IMO one of the most important things to get a handle on is shipping. Sign up with USPS online & take advantage of the free shipping supplies. Learn to use the ebay system for printing postage. You get a discount on postage & free tracking. Once you attain Top Rated Seller (TRS) status the discounts can really add up. Many buyers look at the total price & will bid higher for an auction with a lower shipping cost. I use both auction & BIN. The key is to KNOW what your item's ebay market value is & how much demand there is. If you run an auction you must start it at the minimum you are willing to accept unless it's an extremely high demand item. It doesn't hurt to research and/or talk with other people selling on ebay. I don't post much but I follow a Facebook group called Thrifting With The Boys. They also have a couple other groups that discuss shipping & marketing. Lots of good info available there even if I don't agree with all of it. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1192 Posts |
Kinda scared but I decided to jump into it with some stuff I found. None of it coins at this point, though kinda like large fabric coins haha. However if someone can critique my first listings let me know, I would greatly appreciated it. My ebay is linked to my profile. I want to start selling some coins as I find some I think I can profit off of. I was lucky to find some vintage nasa patches and toys to try the process out. I think the big thing at the beginning is that it's going to be bad til I can get some feedback going. |
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Replies: 17 / Views: 5,340 |
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Posted 05/12/2015 01:23 am
