What to Know BEFORE You eBay
Written: Mar 21 '00
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There is an inherent risk in this kind of activity. You can decrease the risk by following a few tried and true recommendations.
AS A BUYER:
Check the feedback rating of the seller
-- Including comments from other buyers
Check out the seller's other auctions
-- At times you can get a feel for what he's got for sale (I once got into a bidding war with someone on an item I wanted, only to discover the seller had about 20 of these items listed and I only needed to go to one of his other auctions to get the same item for a greatly reduced price)
Stay in email contact with the seller after the auction has closed
-- Email them with initial contact info
-- Email them when you've mailed the payment
-- Email them when you've received the item and have posted positive feedback
Watch out for people trying to make extra profit from shipping charges
-- If someone charges me $3.50 or more for a lightweight item, it'd better come to me via Priority shipping (and I will often tell them I expect that)
-- If I pay $4 or $5 for shipping and I get their package and see they actually paid 67 cents to mail the item, I am NOT happy and they will get an email from me inquiring about this practice
-- If there's enough time before an auction ends, you can always email the seller and ask why he charges to much for shipping. I did this once and there WAS a reason and I was okay with it.
-- Mostly, though, just look at the shipping rates before you bid... a $1 necklace may not look like as good a deal when you see they want $5 to ship it
AS A SELLER:
If you don't want to risk bounced checks, don't accept them
-- This was my biggest beef as a seller because my bank charges me $17.50 for each bounced check (many sellers reiterate that they won't ship an item until a personal check has cleared, but that does nothing to offset the bank charge you're still out)
Check the feedback rating of the high bidder in order to stay on top of things
-- Meaning, if two people say they just got a little behind schedule with payment, I'd be willing to believe the one with 50 positive ratings and be highly skeptical of the one with 5 negative ratings
Stay in email contact with the high bidder
-- Email them as soon as the auction ends, giving them all the info you require for the transaction and providing your mailing address for them to send the money, also state exactly how you will accept payment
-- Email them when you've received their money and let them know you promptly sent out their package, assuming you're not waiting for the check to clear
-- Post your feedback promptly (and you can mention that you did this in the email you sent them to say you got the money and sent their package)
If you have your doubts about a new eBayer (someone with a low feedback rating... a newbie), you can look up what they've bid on in the past
-- If it looks like they're bidding on everything under the sun... proceed with caution.
I recommend not sending out the product until you have the cash in hand
-- Meaning if you've received a personal check, wait until it clears (but make sure the buyer KNOWS ahead of time you're making him wait!)
-- I've heard some mention money orders bouncing, but I've never run across this
Keep track of all your sales
-- I use a Word table that shows EVERY step of the transaction: if the buyer contacted me, gave me his address, said he mailed the money, when I received the money, when and how (UPS, Priority, bookrate, etc) I mailed the package, if I left feedback, etc.
Sidenote:
-- If you send bookrate (which you can do for books, cassettes tapes, videos, etc.) be aware the shipping time can vary greatly from 1 week to 2 months. Be prepared as a buyer and as a seller.
Be honest
-- Try to think of things that would disappoint a buyer and head them off
-- If you're selling a book that has some folded pages, say so!
-- If that carnival glass vase has a small chip on the edge, say so!
-- If Barbie's foot has some dog teeth marks, say so!
Be honest with shipping charges too
-- If you have a heavy item, take it to the P.O. and get an estimate of the shipping charges
-- A lot of bidders base a good portion of their decisions on shipping charges; I have been known to bypass something that doesn't list the shipping charges in the item description
Be prepared for deadbeat bidders.
-- I've had a few and it's annoying and frustrating. Often I'll continue to email them, giving them the benefit of the doubt and sometimes these people just honestly forgot about the auction and all's well.
-- If they turn out to be flakes, I post negative feedback to warn other sellers
Know ahead of time if you're willing to deal with foreign countries.
-- I've bought from the U.K. and that's it... the seller made it easy
-- I sold something to bidder from South America who never sent the money... you just have to experiment, I guess
Make sure you really want to sell an item
-- Is it worth losing your first Barbie for $50?
Make sure you put an opening bid that is the lowest you'd be willing to accept for an item
-- I've undersold before, thinking surely there would be at least two interested bidders who'd get the price up, then finding out one person bought my item for the opening bid which was much lower than I should have accepted for the item
-- You CAN relist an item, changing the price as well as other info, if it doesn't sell the first time
If you're unsure what an item is worth, do some research
-- Search on 'completed' auctions in eBay, look for the item online
-- I had a toddler bed I was trying to list and sell for $5 (I just wanted someone to take the dang thing), but when I looked at other beds online I found out I had a discontinued bed that is in high demand and I got over $100 for it!
If it's feasible and safe, clean your items before you sell them
-- If you're unsure what effect it will have, don't do it. I've sold jewelry and books before, claiming they showed wear but that I preferred to sell them 'as is' instead of risking ruining them by some amateur cleaning session
You will have a better response if you post pictures of your items
-- Take pictures of the large items, showing a few different angles and including something as a size reference; scan the smaller items directly on the scanner
I can't respond to questions about foreign transactions... But you can always go to the help center on eBay and look it up or ask in email.
That's all I can think of at the moment, but it should be enough to get you started.
Happy eBaying!
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Lighthouse
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Location: Oakland, CA
Reviews written: 65
Trusted by: 51 members
About Me:
Jewelry designer, author, researcher, multi-media artist, photographer, journalist, musician
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