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

[rhz5001]

Purple Heart club
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Congrats! I've been injured in plenty of ebay battles during my 8 years full time. I couldn't imagine your scars.

 

[justridiculous]

Congrats! I've been injured in plenty of ebay battles during my 8 years full time. I couldn't imagine your scars.

@SpooPoker can you share some of your favorite stories of selling on eBay? Good stuff, horror stories, etc.

 

[1ofTheCoolKids]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/10/15/usps-false-scans-packages/

 

[Steve Smith]

Question from a one feedback newbie on ebay "Is the shirt authentic and are they pre-owned?"

Quote from the description: "New Without Tags... Genuine authentic..."

I will not deal with idiots, especially suspicious ones who can't be bothered by reading descriptions and feedback. My only response to messages like this are to place them on the Blocked Bidder list. It's therapeutic.

 

[Tweets]

Sigh..
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Why can't we go one Q4 without all the hoop jumping. Most I need to add Department. If I list it under a Mens Clothing category, wouldn't that make the department Mens?

Fortunately, I saw somewhere you can now make these changes with CSV file uploads, so I will give that a try and report back.

Anyone had any luck fixing with CSV download/re-upload? I assume it will just download and somewhere tell me the columns I need to add?

 

[KotaB]

Small gripe from a newbie. I just had my first failure to pay. I sent him a nice message asking him if he was still interested. I suppose he thought I was a ebay rep or something so he kinda bashed me not knowing I was the seller. What really sucks is how you lose all your watchers and basically have to start your listing all over again.

 

[capnwes]

Anyone had any luck fixing with CSV download/re-upload? I assume it will just download and somewhere tell me the columns I need to add?

I haven't tried it yet, but there were detailed directions on the fall seller update.

 

[Tweets]

I haven't tried it yet, but there were detailed directions on the fall seller update.

I gave it a try, for once Ebay actually did something 98% right. You click on items needing the update, click download, here's the one gripe...you can only select 3 categories at a time, you download, it opens and everything is highlighted in tan that you need to update along with the drop downs are there, you fix them quickly, upload it back on the same page and its done. It was actually super easy, except that I have items in about 50 categories that need updates.

 

[haloitsme]

Has anyone had the issue, item is paid, shipped and waits for pickup at Walgreens (FEDEX), but the buyer does not pick the item up?

Thx

 

[Stewie]

So - Ebay has the ability to put a best offer on an auction, right? Why is it that people offer less then the starting bid on an item that will surely get more than the starting bid - i started the bid at $99 on a $300 easy sell - this guy keeps offering me like bids that arent even at half my starting price - do people really think a person will accept the offer like that?

 

[MJMcRibb]

So - Ebay has the ability to put a best offer on an auction, right? Why is it that people offer less then the starting bid on an item that will surely get more than the starting bid - i started the bid at $99 on a $300 easy sell - this guy keeps offering me like bids that arent even at half my starting price - do people really think a person will accept the offer like that?

I've done it on items where I've started the bid low to draw attention, knowing that I'm gonna get the "what would you take to buy it now" questions. Still get the low ballers.

 

[goatamous II]

I think it's as simple as people not thinking about the reason for a best offer
On a BIN listing, an offer will of course be less than your asking price

People are so programmed to think that way that they don't understand the reason there's an offer option on an auction

 

[SpooPoker]

can anyone translate the material and brand if there is one on this? Feels like cashmere but not sure.

 

[CWOyaji]

can anyone translate the material and brand if there is one on this? Feels like cashmere but not sure.
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That’s the Japanese translation of the Chinese characters after the 100%: The price is in RMB (renminbi) so probably a Chinese store and maker.

 

[Sartoriamo]

Shh, logic does not apply with eBay. Only redtape serves to fulfill their Vogonity.

Ebay keeps trying to find ways to improves sales that they’re losing to Amazon. Hopefully someone there is saying, “Hey y’all, what if we cut the bullshit and let our sellers sell without adding BS that gives them less time to create new listings?”

Couple things: first of all, love the Vogon reference. Hitchhikers is one of my favorite books of all time, especially for its Möbius-strip humor. Back in the 80s, when I worked as a newsman for the BBC in Scotland, my editor said "couple guys pimping a book downstairs: go interview them". Turned out it was none other than Douglas Adams and Monthy Python's Terry Jones, who'd written a book together. I was blown away, especially when both, somewhat meekly, introduced themselves and shook my hand, like this mega fan didn't know who they were. LOL. Hey, we were all just professionals, doing our jobs. Of course, as soon as we went live, they slipped into character and away we went with the antics, but they were the nicest, courteous, gentlest people, and searingly intelligent. RIP both. A great loss when I think what they might yet have had in store for us. Still have the book, autographed, of course.

Now back to dissing the Vogon behemoth: I think that our largely common entry point into eBay (CM) has given us somewhat more specificity in our searches: largely searching 100% by label. I remember back in the day doing sequential searches every morning for Brioni, Borrelli, Isaia, Loro, Ricci, Purple Label and so on. This is because I knew what I wanted. However, I suspect that the average consumer (aside from the hype beasts) searches not by brand, but by drilling in through a series of filters: pants > dress > flat front > gray > skinny > striped > wool > 34 > 31. Or whatever order.

And I further suspect that eBay is trying to make those filters somehow all-encompassing. It also fits with the theory that they're trying to Amazon-ify, and adjusting the platform to accommodate more sellers of new items. We are always selling n-of-1 items, while most sellers have a dozen, a hundred or a thousand of the same item, so they don't care about investing all the time into choosing dozens of search parameters, while for us it's like WTF? This why I find these "improvements" infuriating.