Success on eBay?

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Adios Pantalones

Adios Pantalones

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
May 20, 2008
6,569
S.NH- Mass's smoking section
wileyhillmudworks.etsy.com
I have an etsy shop, but just listed my first ever item on eBay. I think the strategies are very different, so I'm looking for eBay advice.

I'm selling new hand-made stuff. As I am new, there's no history to look at and say "this guy is legit"- so what can I do? Haven't really figured out the profile stuff yet, as I've only accessed from a mobile device that makes it a PITA.

Thanks
 
Being you are selling hand made artistic stuff, the newness is likely to be overlooked. Ebay search results give higher results typically for free shipping and items on sale.
 
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The shipping is what can kill a profit. As long as you can ship to most places for a known price or less you can make money. I've lost $$ a few times because of shipping.

Also key words in the title are what I find produce lots of hits, call your item as many names as you can think of that people not-in-the-know would call it.

TS
 
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Another option that my wife uses is a collective artist's website. Look up ahouseartworks.com. Site details are at bottom.
 
Shipping as mentioned above is key to get right. Also when I started selling off stuff (extra stuff around the house, cds, Penn reels, collectable crap, etc) make it clear where you are and are not will not ship to, eBay is international and customs is a pita. I also sold some items on the cheap just to get a few good ratings under my belt, people just don't want to be scammed.

Pay Pal is trusted by most so set up an account if you don't have one yet and account for their 3% take. They're also a pita but they protect the buyer thus increasing your sales.
 
There is a seller forum over there with some good tips for successful selling and to minimize your exposure to scammers. Since you are already experienced with online selling you probably already know most of the tricks regarding the additional percentages being taken and shipping charges to account for. My rule for selling anything on eBay is to not be surprised if I get scammed and be able to afford losing the payment for the item.
 
Don't use FedEx or UPS to ship ,,if you do over insure it. I've literally had UPS destroy items beyond fixing. USPS is the best value. Anyone is eligible for commercial base rates by opening an account. And you get free boxes shipped to your door.
I'm moving away from ebay due to non existent customer support and the high fees. The fees are better spent promoting your own website. Google ads has an advertising program for your own website and theres always craigslist and all the social media. FREE. Through many of the website platforms you can buy internet advertising also.
Ebays dying a slow death IMO.
PM me if you want more specific info.
 
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JustWood said:
Don't use FedEx or UPS to ship ,,if you do over insure it. I've literally had UPS destroy items beyond fixing. USPS is the best value. Anyone is eligible for commercial base rates by opening an account. And you get free boxes shipped to your door.
I'm moving away from ebay due to non existent customer support and the high fees. The fees are better spent promoting your own website. Google ads has an advertising program for your own website and theres always craigslist and all the social media. FREE. Through many of the website platforms you can buy internet advertising also.
Ebays dying a slow death IMO.
PM me if you want more specific info.
Click to expand...
Wow this is great info! My wife is actually looking into something like this.

Very interesting on UPS and FedEx..........:confused:

TS
 
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Justwood is right. Prior to shutting down we sold over 4,000 items of excess on eBay that we had to take to get the commercially valuable jewels in bankruptcy lots. Along about 2006 in trying to become Amazon eBay pretty much killed off the small sellers that made'em. And recently looking back in on the place it appears that they hammer small sellers with any buyer complaint. With no recourse for the seller. The changes they made to "stores" and the fee increases including charging fees on shipping sold us on just starting a site with free software and blowing them off after five rocking and rolling years.

They wanted the big retailers and the big retailers all just jumped into e-commerce without them. eBay got to be more hassle than they it was worth.

And the USPS shipping comments are dead on. Cheaper and more reliable than Fedex and UPS because they not only don't destroy the stuff but if moves seven days a week toward the destination. UPS and Fedex knock off for the weekend.

Out of three thousand USPS shipments we had one lost and one damaged.
 
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I don't understand all the comments about shipping costs on eBay. A few years ago I sold about $13,000.00 worth of everything from car parts to coins and camera lenses to buyers all over the world. I only paid for the shipping once, it was part of my offer in the ad. In every other case, the buyer paid the shipping. Has something changed?
 
Guess I'm only familiar with the current ebay as I've sold and bought on there in the last 5 years. Once you're aware of the costs, it was pretty smooth.
I know the buyer has ALL the power but I never really had any issues. Sold over $10,000 worth of stuff from silver to cds and no issues.

Agree on the shipping. USPS is the way to go.
 
BB brings up a good point about small sellers. eBay just doesn't care anymore about small sellers. They can eliminate a lot of staff by eliminating small sellers and just deal with big retailers. This IMO will bring ebay to their knees eventually. Ebay was founded on small sellers.I'm thrilled with what Carl Icahn is doing at ebay. John Donahue is clueless.
Going through an issue on ebay right now with a bad buyer. Situation was a package was destroyed by USPS according to buyer which I'm doubting at this point by the pics I've reviewed. I'm in the process of getting neg feedback removed. If ebay/buyer doesn't cooperate then a USPS investigation will be opened. Pending outcome of USPS investigation Federal fraud charges may be brought up. What bad buyers don't understand is when they lie about a situation ,is that they are participating in mail fraud. Whether charges are pursued is dependent on the sellers knowledge or willingness to take it to that level. When principal and income is on the line. Chitmayhitthefan!
 
fossil said:
I don't understand all the comments about shipping costs on eBay. A few years ago I sold about $13,000.00 worth of everything from car parts to coins and camera lenses to buyers all over the world. I only paid for the shipping once, it was part of my offer in the ad. In every other case, the buyer paid the shipping. Has something changed?
Click to expand...

In eBay's misguided attempt to become Amazon, they heavily push you to do free shipping. Which means you pay fee's on the cost of shipping since sellers appropriately jack the price up to cover shipping. Then to futher drive the point home, they started charging fee's on whatever shipping costs you do collect.
 
JustWood said:
BB brings up a good point about small sellers. eBay just doesn't care anymore about small sellers. They can eliminate a lot of staff by eliminating small sellers and just deal with big retailers. This IMO will bring ebay to their knees eventually. Ebay was founded on small sellers.I'm thrilled with what Carl Icahn is doing at ebay. John Donahue is clueless.
Going through an issue on ebay right now with a bad buyer. Situation was a package was destroyed by USPS according to buyer which I'm doubting at this point by the pics I've reviewed. I'm in the process of getting neg feedback removed. If ebay/buyer doesn't cooperate then a USPS investigation will be opened. Pending outcome of USPS investigation Federal fraud charges may be brought up. What bad buyers don't understand is when they lie about a situation ,is that they are participating in mail fraud. Whether charges are pursued is dependent on the sellers knowledge or willingness to take it to that level. When principal and income is on the line. Chitmayhitthefan!
Click to expand...

There are some buyers that actively blackmail sellers. Especially when you get to some sort of power-seller level (ie, the fee's become affordable) there is so much hinging on maintaining excellent buyer feedback to keep your power-seller level, buyers know this and some will complain/lie/steal because most sellers will just refund or re-send in order to maintain their feedback levels and the power-seller status. Loosing the power-seller status can cause an instant 4-5x fee rate increase which would drive a lot of sellers under.

eBay is attempting to do the whole "always happy no fuss return" Amazon style. Except Amazon != eBay. Can really screw over the small time eBay sellers.

One last bit of advice. Always ship via some trackable method. You loose by default if you cannot prove that it arrived on their doorstep.
 
Interesting. Sounds like I was active in the "good old days" of eBay. I don't even have an account anymore (or PayPal either).
 
You do some interesting stuff, I found you on ebay and will be checking on your auctions.
 
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I agree with a lot of the comments. I'm no shop but used eBay to sell off old stuff for years, 10+. The place used to be great but went downhill, especially after they bought PayPal. Its heavily stacked against the seller now, you have almost no options if a buyer scams you, can't leave bad feedback and PayPal always sides with the buyer in a dispute even if you have evidence.

Do not EVER ship without tracking and insurance. Buyer will claim the item not received and PayPal will instantly refund them. So they get your item and your money :(
 
jharkin said:
I agree with a lot of the comments. I'm no shop but used eBay to sell off old stuff for years, 10+. The place used to be great but went downhill, especially after they bought PayPal. Its heavily stacked against the seller now, you have almost no options if a buyer scams you, can't leave bad feedback and PayPal always sides with the buyer in a dispute even if you have evidence.
Click to expand...

This may have been the case a few years ago. Things have changed somewhat and there are ways to avoid scammers and beat them at their own game.
 
Thanks all. One of the hardest parts of being an artist or craftsperson is pricing. Too low and you screw yourself and may even sell less as the price is part of the perception of quality. Too high and nothing moves. I am hoping that ebay will be a way to move some of my higher-end stuff if it works out.

Like I said- there are some folks that are freaks for some of this stuff, so hopefully it turns into a decent outlet.
 
Adios Pantalones said:
Thanks all. One of the hardest parts of being an artist or craftsperson is pricing. Too low and you screw yourself and may even sell less as the price is part of the perception of quality. Too high and nothing moves. I am hoping that ebay will be a way to move some of my higher-end stuff if it works out.

Like I said- there are some folks that are freaks for some of this stuff, so hopefully it turns into a decent outlet.
Click to expand...


If you have some patrons, a website is good for showing works in progress and the (inevitable) increasing inventory. Wifey sells paintings before she has them finished this way. Just list the site with each ebay item.
 
Adios Pantalones said:
Thanks all. One of the hardest parts of being an artist or craftsperson is pricing. Too low and you screw yourself and may even sell less as the price is part of the perception of quality. Too high and nothing moves. I am hoping that ebay will be a way to move some of my higher-end stuff if it works out.

Like I said- there are some folks that are freaks for some of this stuff, so hopefully it turns into a decent outlet.
Click to expand...
I would put prices on your facebook page. I would also put Wiley Hill Mudworks in your item description. That will get people from eBay to your site avoiding ebays ridiculous fees.
 
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Today is the last day of the auction and it's bidding up a bit already (closes at 10 pm). Maybe I should have pumped up the "buy it now price" more ;)

Thanks again for the advice/warnings
 
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