Buying and Selling on eBay: Tips, Tricks, Problems & Questions

TheNeedMachine · Jun 25, 2013

FaceOfBoh said:
I'm posting this link here to an article about a documentary I'm watching about a photographer whose body of work was discovered after her death.

Anyone in Chicago heard of Vivian Maier? I'd never heard of her but I'm sure it was in all the papers.

Negatives and photos were bought at a storage locker auction and then flipped on ebay.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...1-secrets-from-the-workhouse-itv-8673641.html

I'd heard about her after I'd already moved away from Chicago - was a few years ago when the story came to light - correct? Or maybe I'm thinking of a different everyday woman who, once she got her hands on a camera, it never left her...and she had thousands of images, undeveloped, in a storage locker. Has to be the same gal. In any case, a very Henry Darger-esque quality to it that I just love.

txwoodworker · Jun 25, 2013

ATLnoob said:
Giddy like a schoolgirl to finally upgrade from my 2005 Razr to a proper smart phone (Samsung Galaxy S4 Active) - now I can hit up eBay completed / Google when I have a [shirt/coat/jeans/etc] in my hand at the thrift store and am wondering to myself "Is this a something, or a nothing?" Probably save me $30 - $40 per month in regrettable purchases and pay for itself over time.

Do folks here do a lot of web searches when in the field, or just go with what you know and leave the questionable stuff behind?

Always, always always search in the field I wish my phone was fast enough to use Terapeak, but eBay app for Android saves (more often makes) me so much in the field. Found many odd brands that were big $ that I would've passed on.

capnwes said:
This!

Yeah, I've been getting sloppy lately, I've had 2 people message me with mistakes in my listings. They've all been pleasant so far, and I've thanked them and offered free shipping for helping me out.

I'll tell you what is a constant scare, sending the wrong item to the wrong person. Sold 42 items this Sunday and just had a heart attack when someone paid and I looked at the listing and thought for sure I had mailed it to someone else this morning. I pre-bagged a bunch of stuff with the last 4 of the auction number on them for the ones I knew were going out, but a ton of stuff got sniped so I was pulling off the shelf and flipping through my box of bags. Hasn't happened yet, but it's going to, and not for a couple of $9.99 items I'm sure, it's bound to be a RLPL that had a bidding war. I'd bag everything with the listing # when I list it, but I am no Spoo and have a ton of stuff go unsold each week. So the relisted item will have a different #, that would be harder to keep up with. Anyone have a foolproof system, besides selling every single listing each week?

FaceOfBoh · Jun 25, 2013

ATLnoob said:
I'd heard about her after I'd already moved away from Chicago - was a few years ago when the story came to light - correct? Or maybe I'm thinking of a different everyday woman who, once she got her hands on a camera, it never left her...and she had thousands of images, undeveloped, in a storage locker. Has to be the same gal. In any case, a very Henry Darger-esque quality to it that I just love.

Correct! Impressive photos. Much of them undeveloped negatives and those few that were were simply small ones done at the local drugstore.

stevent · Jun 25, 2013

How many of you guys have issues with people not reading basic info in the listing, have gotten a few bid retractions and had to cancel sales as well since buyers couldn't be bothered to read a few lines?

ogredave · Jun 25, 2013

GMMcL said:
Re: all this talk. Let's give these guys some possible benefit of the doubt. When I list more than usual, I start making stupid mistakes. Recall that I'm ~~a normal person so I don't~~ not cool enough to own a Mac, so my method is taking a previous listing for a similar item and then modfiying it. I have on occasion genuinely forgotten to change "NWOT" or "NWT" to "Pre-owned." Mostly this was before there was the text box for describing condition, but still. It happens to me ALL the time with sizing. I skip right to uploading pictures, get distracted, then go to the description and totally forget to fill out all that info in between. I've even forgotten to change the title. So it's possible the seller is a DB, but it's also possible it was an honest mistake. But if you got your money back, who cares?

I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. But when the item is sold, you don't blindly ship the item without seeing what it is. You have to read the title at least to know which shirt to ship. How do you read NWT <shirt> and then proceed to ship a shirt that isn't new, doesn't have tags, and is worn out all over?

And getting money back doesn't mean I got my time back. Time is money.

VLSI · Jun 26, 2013

stevent said:
How many of you guys have issues with people not reading basic info in the listing, have gotten a few bid retractions and had to cancel sales as well since buyers couldn't be bothered to read a few lines?

Seems common, the not reading part at least, haven't had too much issue with bid retraction. Assume no one reads your ad. Take very clear pictures and bold/caps/make large anything you really want them to know. Hell, I'm not convinced they even look at all the pictures half the time...

TheNeedMachine · Jun 26, 2013

txwoodworker said:
Always, always always search in the field I wish my phone was fast enough to use Terapeak, but eBay app for Android saves (more often makes) me so much in the field. Found many odd brands that were big $ that I would've passed on.
Yeah, I've been getting sloppy lately, I've had 2 people message me with mistakes in my listings. They've all been pleasant so far, and I've thanked them and offered free shipping for helping me out.

I'll tell you what is a constant scare, sending the wrong item to the wrong person. Sold 42 items this Sunday and just had a heart attack when someone paid and I looked at the listing and thought for sure I had mailed it to someone else this morning. I pre-bagged a bunch of stuff with the last 4 of the auction number on them for the ones I knew were going out, but a ton of stuff got sniped so I was pulling off the shelf and flipping through my box of bags. Hasn't happened yet, but it's going to, and not for a couple of $9.99 items I'm sure, it's bound to be a RLPL that had a bidding war. I'd bag everything with the listing # when I list it, but I am no Spoo and have a ton of stuff go unsold each week. So the relisted item will have a different #, that would be harder to keep up with. Anyone have a foolproof system, besides selling every single listing each week?

I hadn't thought of being able to look up brands / labels that I normally always pass on because I'd never heard of them - that's a good tip as well!

When I sold vinyl records years ago, I did once ship the wrong records to 2 people (got them backwards) - they were both cool about it and I sent them each $10 to repack what they got and swap them in the mail between each other. Now, with clothing, I pull all my sold items and print the shipping labels as step #1 - as I print each one, I poke a hole in the blank end of the sheet of paper and slide it over the hangar that the item is hanging from...then bring everything into my other room where I do my folding & packing up. This way, I know the correct label is with the correct item. Because I do not sell everything each week, and the most I have ever closed on one day is maybe 30 sold items, it's the best I have come up with so far. I don't pre-pack/bag anything.

stevent said:
How many of you guys have issues with people not reading basic info in the listing, have gotten a few bid retractions and had to cancel sales as well since buyers couldn't be bothered to read a few lines?

Occasionally...and it's people who do not read sizes / measurements, who buy something intending to try it on and return if it does not fit, using the "not as described" all-encompassing reason. Not so much with retractions or cancellations - they just buy to try.

ogredave said:
And getting money back doesn't mean I got my time back. Time is money.

Precisely - if someone has to re-pack an item, and go to the post office to return it to me because of my mistake, I send them an extra PayPal payment for their trouble, over and above refund of purchase and shipping both ways. Only happened twice, and it's an incentive to myself to triple-check everything for condition / size / measurements etc.

Brianpore · Jun 26, 2013

ATLnoob said:
Quote: Considering I use BIN OBO 99% of the time, I have things sell almost every day which actually makes it easier. I just pull the items, pack them, as I'm packing write on the package what they are (1-2 words so I remember), print the labels and stick them on. I dont ship Sat or Sun, so anything sold on Fri, Sat & Sun gets shipped Monday morning. Usually about 10 items.

capnwes · Jun 26, 2013

I'm now set up so that I have a separate, intermediate rack, where I hang things as they get bids throughout the week. This eliminates the need to pull 30-50 items at one time.

From there I have my work station set up in a way that I can fold, bag, box, weigh and tag each package from my office chair with little wasted movement. I do one package at a time from start to finish, to not get them confused. I don't use the bulk label print option. That would be trouble for sure. It takes me less than 3 minutes a package.

All that's left after that is to carry them out to the front porch for their scheduled pickup.

suited · Jun 26, 2013

stevent said:
How many of you guys have issues with people not reading basic info in the listing, have gotten a few bid retractions and had to cancel sales as well since buyers couldn't be bothered to read a few lines?

A buyer returned a pair of Burberry sandals without even messaging me first. Included was a hand written note that said she's "sorry but they didn't fit, and she has other pairs of Burberry sandals and these were over-sized." In the auction there was a picture of the sandals with a tape measure stretched across them, allowing the buyer to see EXACTLY how long they were. She also said that there were some scuff marks that weren't show in the pictures - the scuff marks were shown in 2 different photos taken with a $600 camera. I refunded her money and sent a message, politely calling her out on her bullshit :happy:

Snoogz · Jun 26, 2013

I like the ideas you guys have shared about the shipping process you guys use.

I'd be interested in hearing how you guys itemize or categorize your items.
Do you use a # system? And how do you keep track of them?
I know some big sellers who deal with consignment (spoo) use a numbering system for each item.

Brianpore · Jun 26, 2013

Snoogz said:
I like the ideas you guys have shared about the shipping process you guys use.

I'd be interested in hearing how you guys itemize or categorize your items.
Do you use a # system? And how do you keep track of them?
I know some big sellers who deal with consignment (spoo) use a numbering system for each item.

I have anywhere from 200-300 items at a time and I find it easy enough to just use excel. Add items to the bottom of the list when I thrift them or come in on consignment. Put the purchased price or persons name next to the item depending on situation. When it's sold move it to the sold page. Put the org price (or name), sold price, shipping fee, ebay fee, paypal fee = Total

Can't think of a much easier way to do it honestly.

No numbering system. Just a short description. I think this would work up to a certain point, about 700-1000 items give or take then it might be a little hard to find the item on excel in a quick manner but with the search function its not bad as of right now. If that was the case, I would keep the same format but would have separate pages for the inventory all within one document: suits, sport coats, pants, shoes, ties/belts

Snoogz · Jun 26, 2013

I really like that idea Brian. I wish I was skilled enough in Excel to be able to create a page that allows me to input costs / fees, sale price, and calculate a total at the end like you described.

Anyone else use a system like Brian?

Aidan K · Jun 26, 2013

I keep track of it in a very similar way to Brian, though on a very much smaller scale, using a google drive spreadsheet.

tben · Jun 26, 2013

Safest, easiest, and cheapest way to ship to Poland? First time for me. Thanks!

Buying and Selling on eBay: Tips, Tricks, Problems & Questions

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