Requesting E-Bay help

[lightman]

This is off topic and kind of like the "options to paypal" thread, but I did not want to hi-jack so I'm starting this one. I'm looking for a friendly E-Bay seller to explain things to me.

As some of you know, I'm having to retire due to health reasons and also having to close my wiring business. Another contractor bought my truck and offered to buy my inventory and tools. I think the deal will work out ok except for a few things. I have drawers and bins full of connectors and fittings. Many of the connectors are copper and sell for 3,4,or 5 dollars each. Usually buyers want the whole bin for the price of one item. I'm not expecting full price, but don't want to give them away. I'm also considering sell them for scrap, but that would really be a waste. So, I'm thinking about listing these on E-Bay. But, I don't know where to start. I understand that they charge for listing and then get a fee when the item sells. It sounds excessive.

Anyway, please educate me about E-Bay. I would also be interested in any other ideas. Thanks in advance!

[Handloader109]

Is simple to sell, fees can be high, so I would go to eBay and do a few searches to see if there are or us been sales of similar items. If not, then probably not good place to try. I do buy occasionally, but don't sell much due to fees. You still may be better selling as lump to some one who knows value.

[labradigger1]

eBay charges 3% and PayPal an additional 7%, total fees total about 10% total.
Lab

[RobS]

eBay charges 3% and PayPal an additional 7%, total fees total about 10% total.
Lab

Isn't Paypal a little over 3% to 4%?

[labradigger1]

Isn't Paypal a little over 3% to 4%?
Maybe, I may have the fees transposed.

[Alvarez Kelly]

eBay charges 3% and PayPal an additional 7%, total fees total about 10% total.
Lab
This is not quite accurate.

eBay charges 10%, but if you follow all their rules, including offering a money back guarantee, you can get a small discount. Unless you have a "store" which means you will have a monthly fee, whether you sell anything or not. Also, there are listing fees, after you use the 20 free listings they give you monthly.

Paypal charges 3%, plus 30 cents for every payment you receive. Also, paypal will send you a 1099 if you sell over $20,000.00 AND more than 200 items. Keep good cost records or you may owe the IRS more than you bargained for.

A good rule of thumb is, if it's light and can ship cheap or in flat rate boxes, and is worth at least a few bucks more than the postage, it's worth selling on eBay. Large or heavy stuff that will cost a bunch to ship will still sell, but most buyers factor shipping into the total costs they are willing to pay.

PM me if you'd like more info.

[pertnear]

...So, I'm thinking about listing these on E-Bay. But, I don't know where to start. I understand that they charge for listing and then get a fee when the item sells. It sounds excessive.

Anyway, please educate me about E-Bay. I would also be interested in any other ideas. Thanks in advance!
Perhaps you can find someone with a good rating & experience to research your items & take good pictures & sell them for you on eBay for a piece of the action. Yes, it is another bite out of your money but someone that knows the in's & out's can get the most money for your items. There definitely are some tricks of the trade to get the most money for items on eBay.

FWIW...

[flyingmonkey35]

I have found a few rules about selling on eBay

Add 15% to fair market value.

Add the cost of shipping to total.

Then list the items free shipping.

Always have a buy it now option.

Take good quality photos of the item.

Do Not use stock photos. Unless the item is brand new in packaging.

Go to the manufacturers website for item discrpiton and msrp value.

And the last rule of thumb is how much time do you want to spend?

A large 1 time bulk sale may be for you.

Good luck

[flyingmonkey35]

One more thing.

If no buy it now option. Only list it for 3 days max.

98% of all eBay purchases are impulse buys.

[cajun shooter]

I listed my HD motorcycle for $10,500 for 21 days and my total charge was $45 which is a lot cheaper than my local paper.
Paypal charges work out to about 3 1/2 % to the seller which when you consider the convenice that it provides is a darn good deal. They have a rep as being anti gun and some sellers and buyers automatic shut them down because of that.
I'm 68 and disabled with a very bad back, to the point that I have a pain pump implanted in me. If I can not use Paypal to purchase, I'm not able to drive to the PO for a MO. Some sellers don't think about people with my problem.
Don't allow buyers to use the friends or family to send you funds which is free with Paypal. I've had buyers not wanting to pay fees under a dollar so they can by pass the charges. If you are caught doing this by Paypal, they will freeze your account and stop you from selling.
I think that this practice is not only taking advantage of a courtesy extended by the company but boils down to theft. Some persons will give up dollars to escape pennies in fees.
I'm a very strong gun person and have been involved in firearms for most of my 68 years. I'm a former POST Firearms Instructor and was a manager of a gun store for about 5 years. So I don't support PP and their anti-gun stance, but because of my disability it does allow me the ability to shop and buy things from my home. It's like milking a snake to acquire the venom to save lives. You may have to do it and it's better than not having it.
My father always told me, Son, don't cut off your nose to spite your face. It took me several years to finally understand what he meant. They have many others in my position and like others, I never gave the handicap a thought about the problems they face until I was in that group.
I'm not ranting about this but trying to give you another line of thought if you sell items on Ebay.
Take Care David

[shooterg]

Many places have consignment shops that sell your stuff on evilbay for ya - of course, they get their cut too, but you do no work.

[Alvarez Kelly]

I listed my HD motorcycle for $10,500 for 21 days and my total charge was $45 which is a lot cheaper than my local paper.
Paypal charges work out to about 3 1/2 % to the seller which when you consider the convenice that it provides is a darn good deal. They have a rep as being anti gun and some sellers and buyers automatic shut them down because of that.
I'm 68 and disabled with a very bad back, to the point that I have a pain pump implanted in me. If I can not use Paypal to purchase, I'm not able to drive to the PO for a MO. Some sellers don't think about people with my problem.
Don't allow buyers to use the friends or family to send you funds which is free with Paypal. I've had buyers not wanting to pay fees under a dollar so they can by pass the charges. If you are caught doing this by Paypal, they will freeze your account and stop you from selling.
I think that this practice is not only taking advantage of a courtesy extended by the company but boils down to theft. Some persons will give up dollars to escape pennies in fees.
I'm a very strong gun person and have been involved in firearms for most of my 68 years. I'm a former POST Firearms Instructor and was a manager of a gun store for about 5 years. So I don't support PP and their anti-gun stance, but because of my disability it does allow me the ability to shop and buy things from my home. It's like milking a snake to acquire the venom to save lives. You may have to do it and it's better than not having it.
My father always told me, Son, don't cut off your nose to spite your face. It took me several years to finally understand what he meant. They have many others in my position and like others, I never gave the handicap a thought about the problems they face until I was in that group.
I'm not ranting about this but trying to give you another line of thought if you sell items on Ebay.
Take Care David

3 1/2 % might be very accurate for a high dollar item. The fees, as a percentage, get smaller as the price of the item increases. The fees for selling $5, $10, and $100 items, is 10%, plus 3% for PayPal, plus .$30 for each PayPal payment received. When I started selling a few things about 5 or 6 years ago, the fees were only about 7 % total. Now they are 13%. And... eBay gets 10% of whatever you charge for shipping.

I sold two $50 items yesterday. I know what the fees are NOW. I'm not really complaining, but the fees have almost doubled on low cost items since I started selling. As long as you factor in the fees, it still makes sense to sell to a nationwide customer base on some stuff. I do not sell internationally. Too much risk in my opinion.

[blackthorn]

Another idea might be to look around your area to see if there is someone in the same business as you were. He/she will likely need the items and will know the value of what you have for sale and you might be able to negotiate a "whole lot" deal that leaves both parties happy.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Another option is proxibid.

Is there a auction house near you? that has converted to online auctions through proxibid?

When I was planning my recent gun auction I visited my local auction house, I was given a tour of a current online auction they were holding, which was 6,000 lots of comic books. WOW, that's alot of work. BUT they do it all: photos, listing, advertising, money collection, shipping, dealing with problems...now they take a hefty percentage, about 15% on the back end and usually about 10% on the front end (buyers premium). But it sure is easy for the seller.

[Boolit_Head]

One thing I am curious about is what type of connectors are these and would they even sell on ebay? Might want to do a few searches and see if Ebay is flooded with them or if there are any at all. If it is flooded it may drive the price down. If there are none at all no one may be looking for them there and they may not sell. Just food for thought.

[pertnear]

One thing I am curious about is what type of connectors are these and would they even sell on ebay? Might want to do a few searches and see if Ebay is flooded with them or if there are any at all. If it is flooded it may drive the price down. If there are none at all no one may be looking for them there and they may not sell. Just food for thought.
Very good advice, but I'm sure this is the type of help the OP needs. If we were near by, we could show him how to do a search for items that sold & help figure out a price point for selling or if it is worth posting at all. I sounds like the items he has would be better posted as "Buy Now" or at least as an option, rather than just an auction. A good example of electrical sales is old breakers. If they are no longer made, they can fetch a good price on eBay, but the buyer wants it ASAP & doesn't want to wait for an auction to end.

[GT27]

Your local Craigslist is where I would start,its FREE!

[lightman]

Thanks for the replys and ideas, everyone. My search on E-Bay did not provide as much info as you guys did! I may PM a few of you in a day or two. I searched the auctions, but do not know how to search the closed auctions to see what sold and the price. I sold some old motor controls and breakers on Craiglist a few years ago and it worked out well. I did not get much response this time, so I'm looking at other options. Thanks again.

PS, If any of you guys are active on E-Bay I might be interested in a joint venture.

[big bore 99]

I closed up my tool and die shop a few years ago and used ebay for all the smaller stuff like dividing heads and consumable tooling. I got good prices for some of it and not so good on some too. I guess it evened out. I sold all the machinery on craigs list to mostly local people. Craigs list has a bad rep, but I never had a problem.

[ascast]

l-man, I have used both for years. C-list is for the big stuff that wont ship, cars, boats, piles of yard tools, tractors.....on and on. Ebay is for the small stuff that fits in a box. Ship everything in the USPS Flat rate boxes. They will ship them to your house. FREE !!! It is so much easier to just use them rather than hunting for boxes and all that. 1st class ( your own box) is not a whole lot cheaper than FLAT RATE. Insurance is included as is tracking number. Print the label and tape it on. It's about 50cents more per box but a whole lot faster. And it is all tracked for you automatically in ebays' new management system. The Paypal debate rages on, but fact is it is VERY convenient and fast. All you ebay fees and your POSTAGE will be automatically debited. You get a monthly statement or anytime you want.
Learn to do the ADVANCED SEARCH for CLOSED AUCTIONS. You can get a feel for what your stuff has brought in the past. Don't assume you'll get the highest price listed, it is a bit of a **** shoot. Take good pic's, good close detail ( as needed), as many views as needed, and... DON'T even post bad, crappy pic's. It is a indication of attempted deception.
Start small and sell a couple or a few cheaper items at a loss( maybe) to get your feet wet. I could go on for hours..
Learn the ADVANCED SEARCH, try several different names or descriptions if needed until you find what your looking for.
Be very careful about letting someone else do the listings, like your local antique shop. for example. I once got a POPE luber for under $25 delivered to my hot little hands.
If you go that route, write your own descriptions.

gotta go eat ice cream

[Garyshome]

Let's see your on a firearms forum....Maybe you can find an electrical something forum to sell stuff on?

[ascast]

good thinking Garyshome

[doc1876]

I just sold a saddle on eBay for $450. EBay charged me 10%, I contacted them & they said that 10% is standard. I just barely broke even. I did charge shipping.

[lightman]

Let's see your on a firearms forum....Maybe you can find an electrical something forum to sell stuff on?

Not trying to sell electrical stuff here, read the post! Thanks for your help, though!

[MaryB]

On ebay I add 12% to everything as a starting price. Do a search for closed auctions to get an idea of what stuff is selling at. I have been buying the larger copper ring terminals I use on my solar stuff from ebay so there is a market...

[dragon813gt]

Be prepared for eBay to hold your money for a few weeks as well. They don't release it right away to new sellers. They expect you to ship an item to an unknown person w/out giving you any money to ship it. eBay also takes 10% of the shipping fee which is BS. If you don't factor that in you lose money because of it. I'd try Craigslist first.