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

[JFST]

That's the reason I ALWAYS print one by one and process one item at a time. Couldn't do it if I ran 90 auctions and sold everything...

 

[jebarne]

Howdy gents,

I have a question for sellers, and hope it's okay to post it here. I tried searching for this specific information, but kept getting directed to unrelated posts in this thread. After much random reading (though not the 2000+ pages...), I haven't yet found this exact advice.

From a seller's perspective, what tips, advice or dos/don'ts do you have for someone, like me, who's new to this style game and doesn't want to be a dickhead buyer? Or, perhaps, what mistakes do you see newcomers repeatedly make when first starting to inquire, bid and purchase via eBay and B&S?

I definitely already know to actually read the listing and actually read terms, but would value your insights from so many years of doing this work.

Regards,

c

1. I would say a good tip is that many sellers who accept offers set auto-accept and auto-decline criteria on their auctions. If you intend to offer less than 20% below the BIN price, you probably want to send a polite note to the seller expressing your interest in the event that they decide to accept a lower price.

When I do 30 day BIN/OBO listings, the last day of the listing I invariably get value buyers offering 10-25% of the BIN price. I routinely ignore these guys.

2. Unless you're buying items that are new with tags, remember that this isn't Bergdorfs. The things you buy are used. They will rarely be perfect. While egregious omissions aren't ok, if the keeper on a tie is a little loose, deal with it. A cracked button on a shirt? Deal with it. If the Navy tie you bought on your phone turns out to be a shade darker than you wanted, deal with it.

3. Remember that eBay is the internet. There is a built-in coarseness in language and personal interactions that you wouldn't engage in face to face. The opportunity to misunderstand or to be misunderstood is high. Hurried iPhone replies to questions and comical auto-correction require a bit of patience on both the part of the buyer and seller.

4. Most sellers are honest and not trying to cheat you. That said, some sellers offer near-flawless items and others sell whatever they find. I ended up on this forum and started selling after I started shopping on eBay for clothes after a weight-loss. My sister said, "You know people sell clothes on eBay." I honestly had no idea that there was a market for used clothing. I was a Nordstrom shopper. I noticed that certain listings were well photographed with clear measurements to guide me. I noticed that capnwes, brianpor, and spoopoker consistently had good photographs of their items and after a week I could pick their listings out of the crowd of eBay search results. my first purchase was a Canali tie from spoopoker. Googling these sellers I found this forum and started following the other sellers on the forum who seemed to care about their product presentation. I had been on this forum about a year before going to my first thrift store. Now in my 4th year as a seller, even today when I'm listing items, I consult brianpore's and capnwes's eBay listings for price guidance. My point in this story is to say that when you find a seller who consistently has high quality used items, follow them on eBay. Reward that hard work because it doesn't just happen.

5. Last I would say that you should remember that most people selling used clothing are doing this part time and have day jobs. I used to travel every other week and answered questions in the evenings at the hotel. If I was flying internationally, I could miss a whole day. If a seller takes a day to answer your question, it doesn't mean you're being ignored.

My $.02.

 

[drlivingston]

Inventory in... inventory out... Next!

 

[My Main Man]

I would add that the mere fact that @shabbytraddy signed up to ask that question leads me to believe he wouldn't be a problem buyer at all.

 

[shabbytraddy]

1. I would say a good tip is that many sellers who accept offers set auto-accept and auto-decline criteria on their auctions. If you intend to offer less than 20% below the BIN price, you probably want to send a polite note to the seller expressing your interest in the event that they decide to accept a lower price.

When I do 30 day BIN/OBO listings, the last day of the listing I invariably get value buyers offering 10-25% of the BIN price. I routinely ignore these guys.

2. Unless you're buying items that are new with tags, remember that this isn't Bergdorfs. The things you buy are used. They will rarely be perfect. While egregious omissions aren't ok, if the keeper on a tie is a little loose, deal with it. A cracked button on a shirt? Deal with it. If the Navy tie you bought on your phone turns out to be a shade darker than you wanted, deal with it.

3. Remember that eBay is the internet. There is a built-in coarseness in language and personal interactions that you wouldn't engage in face to face. The opportunity to misunderstand or to be misunderstood is high. Hurried iPhone replies to questions and comical auto-correction require a bit of patience on both the part of the buyer and seller.

4. Most sellers are honest and not trying to cheat you. That said, some sellers offer near-flawless items and others sell whatever they find. I ended up on this forum and started selling after I started shopping on eBay for clothes after a weight-loss. My sister said, "You know people sell clothes on eBay." I honestly had no idea that there was a market for used clothing. I was a Nordstrom shopper. I noticed that certain listings were well photographed with clear measurements to guide me. I noticed that capnwes, brianpor, and spoopoker consistently had good photographs of their items and after a week I could pick their listings out of the crowd of eBay search results. my first purchase was a Canali tie from spoopoker. Googling these sellers I found this forum and started following the other sellers on the forum who seemed to care about their product presentation. I had been on this forum about a year before going to my first thrift store. Now in my 4th year as a seller, even today when I'm listing items, I consult brianpore's and capnwes's eBay listings for price guidance. My point in this story is to say that when you find a seller who consistently has high quality used items, follow them on eBay. Reward that hard work because it doesn't just happen.

5. Last I would say that you should remember that most people selling used clothing are doing this part time and have day jobs. I used to travel every other week and answered questions in the evenings at the hotel. If I was flying internationally, I could miss a whole day. If a seller takes a day to answer your question, it doesn't mean you're being ignored.

My $.02.

Fantastic advice, thank you.

I have noticed (from eBay, this thread and B&S) the great service many here on SF provide, which is part of why I thought you'd be the best source of advice for how not to be a dickhead, at least unintentionally. Intentional dickhead, well, that's my bread and butter.

c

 

[HansderHund]

1. I would say a good tip is that many sellers who accept offers set auto-accept and auto-decline criteria on their auctions. If you intend to offer less than 20% below the BIN price, you probably want to send a polite note to the seller expressing your interest in the event that they decide to accept a lower price.

When I do 30 day BIN/OBO listings, the last day of the listing I invariably get value buyers offering 10-25% of the BIN price. I routinely ignore these guys.

2. Unless you're buying items that are new with tags, remember that this isn't Bergdorfs. The things you buy are used. They will rarely be perfect. While egregious omissions aren't ok, if the keeper on a tie is a little loose, deal with it. A cracked button on a shirt? Deal with it. If the Navy tie you bought on your phone turns out to be a shade darker than you wanted, deal with it.

3. Remember that eBay is the internet. There is a built-in coarseness in language and personal interactions that you wouldn't engage in face to face. The opportunity to misunderstand or to be misunderstood is high. Hurried iPhone replies to questions and comical auto-correction require a bit of patience on both the part of the buyer and seller.

4. Most sellers are honest and not trying to cheat you. That said, some sellers offer near-flawless items and others sell whatever they find. I ended up on this forum and started selling after I started shopping on eBay for clothes after a weight-loss. My sister said, "You know people sell clothes on eBay." I honestly had no idea that there was a market for used clothing. I was a Nordstrom shopper. I noticed that certain listings were well photographed with clear measurements to guide me. I noticed that capnwes, brianpor, and spoopoker consistently had good photographs of their items and after a week I could pick their listings out of the crowd of eBay search results. my first purchase was a Canali tie from spoopoker. Googling these sellers I found this forum and started following the other sellers on the forum who seemed to care about their product presentation. I had been on this forum about a year before going to my first thrift store. Now in my 4th year as a seller, even today when I'm listing items, I consult brianpore's and capnwes's eBay listings for price guidance. My point in this story is to say that when you find a seller who consistently has high quality used items, follow them on eBay. Reward that hard work because it doesn't just happen.

5. Last I would say that you should remember that most people selling used clothing are doing this part time and have day jobs. I used to travel every other week and answered questions in the evenings at the hotel. If I was flying internationally, I could miss a whole day. If a seller takes a day to answer your question, it doesn't mean you're being ignored.

My $.02.

Fantastic advice, thank you.

I have noticed (from eBay, this thread and B&S) the great service many here on SF provide, which is part of why I thought you'd be the best source of advice for how not to be a dickhead, at least unintentionally. Intentional dickhead, well, that's my bread and butter.

c

Welcome, @shabbytraddy! @jebarne gave a great overview. It can be a guessing game buying used clothes online. As far as "etiquette" goes, I don't have a whole lot to add. One thing that can be annoying is when someone asks for a massive price reduction when they have never bought anything. I'm happy to work with repeat customers, it's a mutual relationship.

As for advice on buying, get familiar with your preferred measurements. There are some "standard" measurements that people take, but it's always good to double-check how the seller takes them. Take a look online at what can easily be tailored, because those things will have to be done anyway.

If you find sellers that offer decent products at decent prices, find that they're responsive and accurate, keep an eye on them. There are some fellow sellers that I'll blindly trust without having seen a photo. I recently bought some linen pants, sight unseen from a colleague. We've bought from one another before, so tend to know the ballpark measurements. He sent me an email with two sentences describing them and I grabbed them from him before he had to photograph anything. They arrived and are perfect. Having knowledgeable sellers that you regularly shop can REALLY cut down on the time. It's sometimes like having a personal shopper without the added commission.

If you run into any problem sellers, don't hesitate to drop in here with questions. While there are a number of sellers on this thread, I (and most here) have no problem calling someone out for doing the wrong thing.

Good luck!

 

[flvinny521]

My point in this story is to say that when you find a seller who consistently has high quality used items, follow them on eBay.

Has anybody ever compiled a list? If not, should we start now?

 

[bert9000]

Can anyone help me with this type of lapel? Much appreciated.

 

[double00]

middy collar.

 

[drlivingston]

**oops**

 

[SpooPoker]

That's the reason I ALWAYS print one by one and process one item at a time. Couldn't do it if I ran 90 auctions and sold everything...

 

[JFST]

LOL, was expecting that @SpooPoker

 

[Reosymes]

Those two ties were the only items I shipped out that day.

Thanks guys for the replies. Let's see how this one goes. One of the buyers is super nice. The other, not so much..

 

[shabbytraddy]

Has anybody ever compiled a list? If not, should we start now?

I've been looking, but old threads from the searches have disappeared in the changeover. :/ Although it seems like half the fun is sifting the good from bad...


Good luck![/QUOTE]

Welcome, @shabbytraddy! @jebarne gave a great overview. It can be a guessing game buying used clothes online. As far as "etiquette" goes, I don't have a whole lot to add. One thing that can be annoying is when someone asks for a massive price reduction when they have never bought anything. I'm happy to work with repeat customers, it's a mutual relationship.

As for advice on buying, get familiar with your preferred measurements. There are some "standard" measurements that people take, but it's always good to double-check how the seller takes them. Take a look online at what can easily be tailored, because those things will have to be done anyway.

If you find sellers that offer decent products at decent prices, find that they're responsive and accurate, keep an eye on them. There are some fellow sellers that I'll blindly trust without having seen a photo. I recently bought some linen pants, sight unseen from a colleague. We've bought from one another before, so tend to know the ballpark measurements. He sent me an email with two sentences describing them and I grabbed them from him before he had to photograph anything. They arrived and are perfect. Having knowledgeable sellers that you regularly shop can REALLY cut down on the time. It's sometimes like having a personal shopper without the added commission.

If you run into any problem sellers, don't hesitate to drop in here with questions. While there are a number of sellers on this thread, I (and most here) have no problem calling someone out for doing the wrong thing.

Good luck!

Thanks for this, too.

Cultivating an authentic relationship seems key, especially if hoping to make repeat purchases. Popping through this thread has been helpful in knowing how not to get talked about.

Very grateful for the collective expertise here and throughout SF. Now I need to win some ******* bids. Fell asleep the other night and some weasley bastard scooped an Oxxford SC from Mike's store. Amateur hour for sure.

 

[Fueco]

LOL, that Oxxford was the last thing I shipped today.