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

[Patrologia]

Yep, and just one example of what I mean for affordable options, live...

 

[bert9000]

I’d recommend getting a Dymo label printer, depending on how many labels you’re printing. The machine itself is pretty cheap but the real savings are in the labels, which are a lot cheaper than regular printer labels and ink. Plus, it fits nicely on my desk.

 

[jts287]

Anyone know if something happened to Frieschskys? They disappeared from my seller watch list (thought I accidentally deleted), and their external website isn't working. My last purchase from them was like 8 mos ago, so grayed out on eBay (which I effing hate). Is allseasons-goldlines a different outfit, or was there a name change/sale/etc?

 

[Pronto Merona]

+1 on getting a printer. they are super cheap and you will earn back the cost of the printer within the first would-be trip to stand for an hour in line if not within several sales if you factor in the discount you get printing through ebay. The label printer bert mentions above is on my list of stuff to buy but just a normal cheap printer will save you tons of time.

 

[noob in 89]

Thanks, guys. I’ll obviously have to look into this. I had no idea there was a discount for printing labels.

 

[Patrologia]

Thanks, guys. I’ll obviously have to look into this. I had no idea there was a discount for printing labels.

What you get is the commercial pricing. eBay gets it for you, and for low volume at least I think is the easiest. Stamps, and any of the other similar ones will give you pretty much the same but I haven’t looked into them because whatever benefits there probably are haven’t yet been worth my investigative energies.

 

[drlivingston]

Thanks, guys. I’ll obviously have to look into this. I had no idea there was a discount for printing labels.

It's not just eBay. I sell on Facebook Marketplace as well. I print shipping labels direct from PayPal with a discount as well. The Dymo printer will certainly pay for itself in short order.

 

[goatamous II]

I've said it before, but worth mentioning again that HP has free ink if you're a low volume printer (max 15 pages a month)

The second you have to pay for ink, then the Dymo is the better deal.

 

[Patrologia]

Not eBay, but Posh. Is anybody familiar with the return/refund process from the buyers end? I bought a “bundle” where at least one item was sized wrong—and I specifically asked. I can’t quite tell with the other, but I might want to keep one pair of shoes and return the other. Google suggests this isn’t a thing, but most of the results I’m seeing are a year or so old and I wonder if anything’s changes.

(Condition/price point making flipping them unattractive. This was supposed to have been a personal purchase)

 

[MJMcRibb]

Not eBay, but Posh. Is anybody familiar with the return/refund process from the buyers end? I bought a “bundle” where at least one item was sized wrong—and I specifically asked. I can’t quite tell with the other, but I might want to keep one pair of shoes and return the other. Google suggests this isn’t a thing, but most of the results I’m seeing are a year or so old and I wonder if anything’s changes.

(Condition/price point making flipping them unattractive. This was supposed to have been a personal purchase)

Shouldn't be difficult if it's clear. You'll have to provide proof, as in a photo. I've to return a few things for damage. One was suit that was ridiculously over dry cleaned. The shine was hard to get a good photo of and I had to upload like 3 different ones, because they kept saying the picture didn't clearly show the damage. Certainly more seller friendly from that end than eBay.

 

[Patrologia]

Shouldn't be difficult if it's clear. You'll have to provide proof, as in a photo. I've to return a few things for damage. One was suit that was ridiculously over dry cleaned. The shine was hard to get a good photo of and I had to upload like 3 different ones, because they kept saying the picture didn't clearly show the damage. Certainly more seller friendly from that end than eBay.

It’ll be clear, since it says 3E instead of E! Have they changed it so I can return part of a bundle?

 

[goatamous II]

I think i know the answer but want to confirm
I don't have a store on ebay - there is no way to set an account on vacation, is there?
Thinking I might need to end my listings when I'm away if i'm concerned about actually selling something and not being there to ship it

 

[Patrologia]

I think i know the answer but want to confirm
I don't have a store on ebay - there is no way to set an account on vacation, is there?
Thinking I might need to end my listings when I'm away if i'm concerned about actually selling something and not being there to ship it

That's right, no vacation without store. Some will advise to adjust your handling times, but I prefer to end everything before. Buyers don't tend to pay enough attention to your extended handling time, and they can get pissed. At that point, it no longer matters what you said your time would be, ebay will back the buyers.

One further point, assuming that since you don't have a store you're trying to stay under a certain number of listings per month, you might want to end those listings that are about to relist as you get closer to vacation so that when you relist them upon return they won't have relisted twice in the month. (Unless the vacation crosses over a month change, in which case, it doesn't matter.)

 

[goatamous II]

That's a good call, thanks
Will adjust accordingly

 

[Ken P]

Buyer opened a return then decided to keep the item. I messaged them and asked them to close the return but they’ve gone awol. Is there a way I can ask eBay to close it? I can either report the buyer but none of the preset options describe my situation or I can stuck in a loop getting sent to help articles.

I understand they’re trying to field customer service calls but they make it so hard to get in touch these days.

Also this new return request notification design in app is bugging me. I’m still waiting on these items to arrive. Why must in be in red when it isn’t an actionable item right now? /rant