eBay noob...advice, help, warnings? (1 Viewer)

[Tim Holyoke]

I'm sure I'm in the minority nowadays, but I've never bought or sold anything on eBay. I've looked at auctions and stuff on there just for amusement, but I really don't have a clear understanding of the process, especially with minimum bids, reserves, things like that.

Is there an unbiased eBay FAQ somewhere? What advice can you give me? Warnings? FYI, I have some Metallica tickets for a sold out show that I'm trying to make a few bucks on, that's my main reason for interest right now. But once I get an account up and going, I have a lot of other crap laying around that I could stand to get rid of. Thanks a lot for any help, I appreciate it.

Tim

 

[JustinCleveland]

No, but it's bastards like you that didn't let me score tickets to that show

The best thing to know when going into sales on eBay is to tell EVERYTHING up front. Warnings, disclaimers, payment policies, everything. That way, if and when a buy goes bad, you have your butt covered. Look around at a lot of auctions, and copy a style that is both visually apealing, while getting in all the relevent information.

Good luck!

 

[Scott L]

For buying:

- Always look at shipping charges to your area before bidding

- NEVER bid on someone that has the sunglasses icon next to their User ID. This means they recently changed their name or are new. Even if they have 100% 200+ feedback don't go with them. I did as well as many others on this one seller, once he changed his name we couldn't post negative feedback for him.

- Check out feedback. Don't be afraid to message his/her previous buyers.

As for selling:

- Open a Paypal account

- Look at other sellers of the same item and see what warnings/disclaimers they have. Check to see the "Completed Items" and their descriptions. Notice which auctions were the most successful and borrow parts of the decription in your auction.

- Pictures always help, you will get more money if you post several pictures.

- KISS.

 

[Don Black]

-NEVER pay with a debit card.

-ALWAYS pay with a credit card.

-ALWAYS check for insurance liability issues.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Rubbish. It can also mean they've changed their email address. People have to change their eBay ID for many reasons, including to avoid being mistaken for someone else who signed up with a similar name. And after 30 days, the sunglasses icon disappears anyway.

It's the percentage of bad feedback which is important.

Remember if you open a PayPal account to accept credit card payments, you'll have a decent sized fee with each incoming money transaction (CC or not). To accept the CC payments a standard account has to be 'upgraded'. The problem is PayPal will not refuse an incoming CC payment if you account isn't upgraded, so you have to go through the process of rejecting it. For buyers, PayPal is really good. For sellers, it can add more hassle (note the use of the word *can*). The main issue I have with them is that it can take longer to get your hands on the cash from a PayPal account transaction than it would do with someone sent you a normal cheque/ They also reserve the right to really f**k you about if they want to.

http://www.paypalsucks.com/

Main points:
Be utterly honest in your auction description.
Be wary of bad feedback (look at it in context though)
Only send the goods AFTER payment is received (and cleared if a cheque)
Don't take any crap.

 

[DonRoeber]

If it's something that your selling that you can take pictures of, buy a digital camera, and take pictures of the darn thing. I'm sick of looking at auctions only to see the manufacturer's picture.

 

[Chris_Morris]

It all depends on when the person pays. If they pay right after a transaction, I'll have the money in my bank account in 3 days. What I have taken to do recently though, is use Paypal's virtual credit card to pay an online bill with the balance so that I don't have to worry about when it shows up in my bank account, I know that on payday, there will be less of bill x to pay.

Chris

 

[Rob Gillespie]

I think the US version is a bit different Chris. Here, the PayPal to Bank withdrawal takes around five working days to go through.

A cheque takes three days to clear.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

If you get in a bidding war with another buyer, be sure to check all similar auctions. Sometimes the seller of one, or many auction items will use an alternate ID to bid on his(or her) own items to drive the price up. If multiple items are all being bid-on by the same seller, chances are good that it is some kind of scam.

This happened when I was bidding on a pair of HK speakers and a friend of mine was bidding on a laptop apple.

Also be aware of the "Ebay Sniper": someone who waits until the last minute to place a bid just to make you lose! People normally bid in $5 tiers and so 'snipers' usually have an easy time with "guessing" what your high-bid is.

And

If it sounds too good to be true. It usually is!

 

[Tim Holyoke]

OK, thanks for the advice guys. I really don't plan on buying anything. I'm really picky about things I use, and generally like new stuff . Basically I think I'm going to clean out my closet and sell a bunch of stuff. The Metallica tickets are first up though. My main dilemma now is whether or not to use Paypal. Rob said to receive CC payments you need an account upgrade...is this true in the US also? Just looking at their fee schedule, it looked like it'd be free to me? What other fees, hidden or not, are their associated with Paypal?

Also, I didn't look much, but what are the seller's fees on Ebay? Is it always the same percentage, or can it change depending on what type of item you're selling? Thanks a lot for the help.

 

[Scott Wong]

Not to get off topic... but what Metallica show are you guys talking about?!?!

Scott.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Or does it to try and win the item!

It's a legitimate tactic. I've done it on several items I've bought - including two pieces of art during the last week.

I tend to place a bid fairly early on to 'register' my interest, so to speak. I'll then watch until the last couple of hours and then decide whether the price has gone too high already. I then set up a bid to the point where I have one last acknowledgement button to click - and leave it there 'till the last few seconds.

Of course, there's no guarantee I'll win the item. I'm just as likely to be outbid as anybody else, but if I AM the highest bidder there's no time for anyone else to get in there.

 

[Tim Holyoke]

I'm talking about the May 2nd show at the Coliseum in Madison. There's also a couple in Milwaukee around the same time, if I'm not mistaken. The Madison show sold out in about 15 minutes.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Am I the only person who actually puts the highest amount I'll pay the first time I bid on something? Seems silly to have to increase your bid everytime someone outbids you.

Note: Increasing your bid, from your original "High Bid" will count as another bid! This means you will have uped the ante on yourself!

Example: I place my maximum bid of $150 on an item (lets say a cursed mummy). The auction has bid incraments of $1. I'm the current high biddr with a current bid of $50 (for example). But I win $500 on a scratch-n-win ticket and decide to up my maximum bid to $650 so I don't get outbid as easily.

The Ebay computers will see a new high bid (650) that outbid the last high bid (150) and raise the auction amount accordingly, now $151, with me being the high bidder.

I just paid an extra $100 to outbid myself because the Ebay automated system can't adjust the bids once placed! This is an important tip to consider when bidding on an item!

 

[Rob Gillespie]

Yeah but I don't outbid myself.


Well, I never do. My interest in an item can change as the auction progresses. I'm very much into buying artwork at the moment (new flat and all) and a paitning that really takes my fancy on Monday can be out of favour by Friday. I wouldn't risk bidding a high amount on an item I may possibly change my mind on later.

My initial bid is simply a gesture to state that I'm in the running for it. I'll then dive in at the last second. That's just how I do things.

I won an item last week - a painting that was hovering around the £90 mark for the last few days. I got in from work on Friday and saw it was still at that price, so with about four minutes to go I placed a bid of £120. The auction price then rose to about £108 with me as the high bidder. During the last ten seconds, two people bid - one got outbid immediately by my £120 but the second also bid £120. I won because my £120 was lodged first. If he had bid £120.01 he'd have won it.

It may not seem particularly sporting thing to do, but 'sniping' is always going to happen in a time-limited auction.

 

[SethH]

you might consider buying something on ebay before you sell anything. I am always very skeptical of anyone selling something if they have a 0 feedback rating. While I'd still be skeptical if it was a 1, I would still feel a little better about it. Basically, if you put those tickets up for sale and there is another pair of tickets to the same show, people will likely pay more for the others if the seller has a good feedback rating.

 

[Jean Luc]

There's something about ebay i just don't get. While i am very interested in some of the things they sell, i still try to figure out where these products come from. Example: right now for auction are 2 new office 2003 packages that are bidding at $250-300. The retail price for these are over $500. is this something the seller bought and decided to sell, is it a scam, does the person realize he is going to lose money, are they the originals, even though he says so? when I see a product like that, I can't help but think there is a huge catch, therefore i am reluctant to bid. Am i overreacting??
I guess the bigger question is: in the end, do people mostly make or lose money seeling things on ebay?

 

[Shane Gralaw]

I am an Ebay sniper. Sorry, but it just makes good financial sense. If you put in a high bid early, then other potential bidders have plenty of time to drive the bid up to the highest amount you are willing to pay. If you jump in the last few seconds with that amount, then you are more likely to get the item at a lower price (unless the previous bidder´s price is that much higher, then you lose because by going in at the last second, you don't have time to bid again- but those are the breaks).

 

[Marvin]

EBay has some restrictions as to whether you can sell a ticket for greater than its cost, depending on the state:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/event-tickets.html

 

[Jon.M]

As a regular seller on eBay, I can honestly say I hate bid sniping. :frowning: I like good old fashioned bidding wars when a couple people with big egos decides that neither one of them is going to be outbid.

I've seen people get around the face value policy on ticket sales by tossing them into an auction as a throw-in. For example, there will be a listing for a Metallica keychain and oh, by the way, the winning bidder gets two front row ducats for the March 13 Metallica concert in Cleveland.