EBAY virgin needs advice.

[Thrumbleux]

Any advice! Never sold anything on EBAY before so could use a little advice on how it works.
The things I want to know about are how EBAY gets its money - is it linked to reserve price, duration of auction, etc, etc?
How do I get paid - Paypal account required?
Is there a limit on how many photos can be posted?
To begin with it's small stuff I'm selling with value in double digits, but there are bikes which should fetch hundreds to go also.
Any advice welcome. TIA.

Mods: Can you please move this to Community Chatter (or somewhere more appropriate)? It's only here because here is the only place I can post - see earlier thread.

[adrimo]

They are paid by invoice which you pay on receipt or linked to take from your PayPal acc linked to your bank acc
ebay fees based on insertion fee! start price and other options etc
they also base fees on final selling price typically 22-25%.

you can add about 4 photos for free then add more at a cost, same as selling in multiple areas, one area free then cost for extra

[Thrumbleux]

They are paid by invoice which you pay on receipt or linked to take from your PayPal acc linked to your bank acc
ebay fees based on insertion fee! start price and other options etc

Thanks Adrimo.
Presumably the above, ie payment details, start price and other options are all laid out when placing ad?

they also base fees on final selling price typically 22-25%.

Have I got this right? EBAY takes a 22-25% commission? That's outrageous! Makes art galleries seem a bargain. A trained, professional salesman is lucky to get that!

you can add about 4 photos for free then add more at a cost, same as selling in multiple areas, one area free then cost for extra

How tight is an area? All UK but not global? My local village?

Beginning to wonder if this is going to pay me or cost me to clear a garage.....

[RacingSnake]

Erm, not sure I agree with much of adrimo's figures??!!

It is now free to list your first 20 items at ANY price, auction or buy it now are free each month.
Final value fees do vary, however an average is probably closer to 10% - but then if you are paid via paypal (which you MUST offer!) then you'll lose about another 5% - so budget for a 15% cut off your total price including postage fees.

No different fees for selling across locations!! LOL - however if you want to list on the german ebay site or the US ebay (for example), then yes, you pay extra - but if you allow international posting then they'll often 'see' your items on ebay.co.uk anyway - so don't worry about that.

Oh, and photo's - it's typically 1 free, or 12 free (max) - and the latter is more often the case... when you start listing, the picture section will tell you how many are free for your chosen category.


The only downside these days is people think they can either bid and not pay, or choose to return the item if they don't want it - even if you say no returns - and more often than not it'll come back broken or bits missing.
Ebay always side with the buyer, so just make sure you describe accurately to make sure you weed out any chancers.

[problemchild1976]

Selling on ebay can and normally is a very simple activity.

have a look at the "sellers fees" section on ebay to find out how much you will have to part with after you sell!!

selling varies depending on your item....

I have listed old computer games at a set "buy it now" price on a 30day auction with free postage this normally makes people think they are getting a good deal but factor it into your price as the listing will ask you how you will post it .... e.g. parcel force 24hr or royal mail recorded etc.

things i have no use for any more i put at 99p starting price and cover myself with postage costs. I have regularly sold total tat for good money as people get bought into the bidding excitement.

if its an item that is common, search ebay for it and then use the "sell one like this" item to make sure it gets listed in with all the same bits. failing that, just be careful what options you select otherwise no one will see you ad. e.g. cars/parts/engine

if its a nice item that you expect good money for then spend 20p on making your ad look nice as themed adverts look pro and make the advert centrally justified, add some colour and also some humour really helps - e.g. i bought these jeans thinking i was still 18 and a lot slimmer but clearly i'm a fat middle aged man who looks silly in tight low rider jeans!

select options such as "don't allow bids from people with non-payments" "do not accept returns"

its also worth considering selling via the mobile app - very intuitive and you can take pics with phone and add to advert v v easily but not as pro looking - depends on the item

if its something like an electrical device, always worth filming it working just before you send it off in case thee buyer says it doesnt work when it arrives. also get prrof of postage. print postage labels through paypal as you get a discount on parcel force etc

once sold, the risk is that you then replace the tat you have sold with new tat off ebay using the money in your paypal account and then at the end of the month when your ebay bill comes in you have to pay for that with your own money as you have spent all your paypal money.

hope that helps a bit.

JJ

[baggpus]

good post JJ sums it all up nicely specially the last bit lol

[adrimo]

When I said area I meant category sorry ie a Samsung galaxy camera is a phone and a camera so one category is free but 2 is extra

In march I sold about £100 worth of goods and my fees were about £17 before PayPal costs so for me that works out more than 10% plus the final value includes postage so bear that in mind. All prices are laid out before u commit. Thanks

[Thrumbleux]

Thanks all, I'll be sure to re-read what's been written here prior to venturing onto EBAY.
(Given the 'quality' of some of the writing I've seen on EBAY it can't be much harder to place an ad than rattling a playpen.....)

[problemchild1976]

testing

JJ

[Thrumbleux]

OK, got first item listed and it's showing on ebay without any mention of PayPal. Trying to list another and getting some BS from PayPal saying it doesn't recognise my e-mail address (the only e-mail address I have ever had) but yet it appeared unprompted in their box. That's after ebay requiring I resign in and am getting PINs via the phone but the messages (yes multiple) differ (two types_ as do the PINs). It's when I entered the PINs that the PP page appeared and I'm now stuck there. Any idea why?
Pretty sure I gave PP my details years back (how else does my e-mail address pop up) but can't remember password.

[problemchild1976]

go to paypal separately

when you constructed the ad, did you do anything for the paypal part??

post the item number and let me have a look as a buyer.

JJ

[Thrumbleux]

go to paypal separately

when you constructed the ad, did you do anything for the paypal part??

Nope.

post the item number and let me have a look as a buyer.

JJ

Can't as it wont list. You can see the first listing though and I did the second one exactly the same then PP's BS.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261503409390?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Worse still, the way my lap top is behaving this morning (it's all over the place) have to wonder if it hasn't picked up a virus....Scan time.

[Thrumbleux]

The above issue now resolved - I have another.
I have two listings but need to 'revise' one of them (showing wrong item location and post code (though in the 'postage' section the correct post code is shown). It also has a stupid postage price (£3.20 for a motorcycle - I think not!). Problem I'm having is I can't change/revise it. I click on 'revise item' and as soon as I delete the incorrect post code it goes back to listing stating revision done - but the errors remain.
What do I need to do?
Also, does a 'start bid price' mean the same as reserve price? That is, can it not be won for a price lower than the 'start bid price'?
TIA.

[RacingSnake]

A start price will be the first bidding price.
A reserve price will (technically) only be known to you... so people can start bidding at 99p (or whatever you set your starting price at), but it won't actually sell until you hit the reserve. - like a 'real' auction.

As for your revisions, has anyone bid on your item?? because if they have this will stop you changing certain key bits of information - such as postage cost!! - reason being so that once you have bids, you can't suddenly whack the price right up and commit them to paying more.
You can end the listing, and re-list it with the correct values, alternatively you can cancel any bids on the item too, then change the listing - not sure if that is frowned upon or not.
You could also revise the item and put a big note in red in the description stating that the postage is NOT £3.20. I've seen that on some adverts too.

[Thrumbleux]

Thanks RS. It was the postcode I was trying to change (not that it's that important) but nor could I access the details panel where I was going to highlight the anomalies Yes, though, a bid had been made (invisible to me).
So, have I got the following correct?:
1. Bidding can only be at values higher than my starting bid?
2. I can decide not to sell if I don't feel the final bid is high enough? Or do/did I need to specify a reserve price? (why do some listings show 'reserve not met' during the auction?)