New to eBay

Wyattandbeanes · « **on:** October 18, 2012, 09:10:15 PM »

I was planing of posting some ads on eBay this weekend to get rid of inventory for the first time. Can anybody give me the basics/tips that can help me from making newbie mistakes. Dose eBay charge you by ad or commission? I heard you had to pay to upload more than one pic or to add a subtitle is this true?

MovieMan · « **Reply #1 on:** October 18, 2012, 09:32:50 PM »

Quote from: Wyattandbeanes on October 18, 2012, 09:10:15 PM

I was planing of posting some ads on eBay this weekend to get rid of inventory for the first time. Can anybody give me the basics/tips that can help me from making newbie mistakes. Dose eBay charge you by ad or commission? I heard you had to pay to upload more than one pic or to add a subtitle is this true?

1) Jump in !
2) They might charge you up to $1.00 or so for the listing (or may be free)
3) If you sell an item they will charge you roughly 10% of the selling price as a final value fee.
4) You will want a PayPal account as that is what most buyers use to pay with.
5) You can tie your PayPal account to your checking account for easy transfer of your earnings.
6) Charges to you will go to your credit card (if that's the route you take).
7) Use calcuated shipping...your zip to theirs based on size, weight and zip code.

Use UPS and USPS. You can print labels right from your home printer.

Just jump in. Sell a few things in the $10 to $50 range to get the feel of it.

alloro · « **Reply #2 on:** October 19, 2012, 01:37:34 AM »

Quote from: Wyattandbeanes on October 18, 2012, 09:10:15 PM

I heard you had to pay to upload more than one pic or to add a subtitle is this true?

I have a store and am able to include 12 pictures per ad for free. Getting a store is a good idea if you plan on selling many items using the Buy it Now option. With a store you only pay $.20 per ad for a 30 day listing. Whereas if you don't get a store and use just a regular account, you will pay a couple of bucks per ad for only 7 days. So if it doesn't sell for a month it could cost to around $8 for 4 weeks. A store only costs $15 a month.

MovieMan · « **Reply #3 on:** October 19, 2012, 09:19:29 AM »

Quote from: Wyattandbeanes on October 18, 2012, 09:10:15 PM

I heard you had to pay to upload more than one pic or to add a subtitle is this true?

At one time it did cost .15 cents for pictures beyond the one free one they gave, but I think that often goes by the wayside as they frequently offer free pictures.

If you do get going on any regular basis, learn basic html and you can include as many FREE pictures as you want in the middle of the text you write about your item (see examples in this post).

I usually post about 10 pictures of an item and these are LARGE and detailed with macro closeups of labels, quality of material, namebrands, etc. I have gone up to 20 or so pics on some items. At a time when they DID charge for extra pics it was a good savings, but beyond that, the quality and size of the pics is a big attraction IMO.

I feel interspersing text like this with photos helps draw buyers down the page IF they are actually looking for a given item.

See how the images and text approach works. Anyway, it works for me. Each person has their own approach
and feelings about such things. Do what works for you and keep it simple in the beginning.

Here's another example.

The water testing meter above brought $400 on eBay. My cost was $30 from a flea market seller who didn't know what he had.

MovieMan · « **Reply #4 on:** October 19, 2012, 09:30:55 AM »

Quote from: Wyattandbeanes on October 18, 2012, 09:10:15 PM

I heard you had to pay to upload more than one pic or to add a subtitle is this true?

Forgot to comment on this part.

They do charge .50 cents for a subtitle but they shot themselves in the foot a few months ago when they expanded the available number of characters in the main title. You can often say everything you want right there.

I DO use the subtitle when I am selling something for LOCAL PICKUP ONLY as this helps some prospective buyers decide whether to even open the post and look at the item. If they live in New York and I am selling it for local pickup in California, it's just a waste of their time. I have even gotten thank you's from people for including that line..."Local pickup only in 'Podunk', California".

On the other hand I have also gotten emails from folks who say..."I'll pay the shipping, can I go ahead and bid?"
One fellow bought a rustic, cabin-oriented, American Handicraft lamp that way. He only lived 400 miles away and went ahead and bought it. I told him before he bid what the shipping would be. He bought it but a WEEK LATER he backed out and I had to relist it. I immediately put him on my blocked bidder list. The next guy was better. He lived 1500 miles away but the $140 shipping didn't stop him and he got a one of a kind item.

This was a great lamp and well worth the $500 plus shipping he paid. All four panels of the shade and all four surfaces of the upright had different hand-carved nature images.

Wyattandbeanes · « **Reply #5 on:** October 19, 2012, 12:34:12 PM »

Thanks guys. Is it smarter to use buy it now/best offer or auctions or is it just depending on the item most of mine are collectables since I sold big items on Craigslist. What about reserves do you guys use them at all?

MovieMan · « **Reply #6 on:** October 19, 2012, 12:38:22 PM »

Quote from: Wyattandbeanes on October 19, 2012, 12:34:12 PM

Thanks guys. Is it smarter to use buy it now/best offer or auctions or is it just depending on the item most of mine are collectables since I sold big items on Craigslist. What about reserves do you guys use them at all?

You will learn the most by just doing it.

MovieMan · « **Reply #7 on:** October 21, 2012, 09:49:09 AM »

Quote from: StorMe on October 21, 2012, 06:46:49 AM

Placing images outside the confines (inline HTML) of the provided image posting controls of e-bay and Craigs (and other ad services) is a good way to get an account limited or deleted. And, if the images get to large in size and the number of them is to many the pages load slow thusly creating issues the ad service doesn’t want.

Has worked for me without a problem for 9 years.

If a page loads slow or it looks out of skew people will close your ad and move on to the next one. I’m sure you have noticed how this page has grown in width because of the oversized images that were put on it. () People don’t like to scroll horizontally when viewing a web page. It’s just the pragmatics of basic Web Design.

I don't know about anyone else's computer, but I never have to scroll left and right
with the size of images I use, and when I have looked at other eBay sellers who also use large pictures I have not had to do so either. I suppose if a picture was REALLY large that might be the case, but otherwise, it hasn't been a problem for me.

MovieMan · « **Reply #8 on:** October 21, 2012, 06:48:05 PM »

Quote from: StorMe on October 21, 2012, 11:27:33 AM

This creates big holes in the ad server web pages where there was supposed to be an image. It may have been 9 years (doubtful) you have been doing it – you just haven’t been caught yet.

Your "doubtful" assertion just above is just one step short of calling me a liar and while I certainly don't feel the need to defend myself to anyone (and maybe especially you) I include here a document you are free to call into question as well. (name blocked out to protect the innocent....me

).

MovieMan · « **Reply #9 on:** October 22, 2012, 01:38:45 PM »

Quote

author=StorMe link=topic=2856.msg20284#msg20284 date=

Can't we be friends Ron, and play nice with each other?

Don't know about friends, Phil, but cordial is ok.

fredgsanford · « **Reply #10 on:** October 30, 2012, 08:52:06 PM »

embedding pictures is allowed , but i dont know for how much longer they are trying to make everything friendlier for mobile apps

stor me i just got this as a pop up notice on my sell your item review page

Attention Sellers:

If you have embedded photos in your description consider uploading them directly to eBay. Remember, uploading up to 12 photos is FREE! Doing so will make your photos more accessible to buyers, including those viewing on a mobile device.

nothing about it being not allowed
and theres not much better than big photos right in the add themselves

Cobia · « **Reply #11 on:** October 31, 2012, 07:49:41 AM »

Quote from: StorMe on October 31, 2012, 06:42:40 AM

Heck, even Glendon Cameron agrees with me about having a web site of your own. RE:

If anybody wants to find out how easy and cheap it is to have their own web site, contact me via the private messaging system here. I can offer great hosting solutions that won't break the bank.

Yep, thats one part of the business I am struggling with, not very tech savvy & typically I don't care for computers (except for forums like this). I started a website 2 years ago but really couldn't figure out how to draw traffic/customers to it. Didn't think I was getting my moneys worth so gave up the site and domain. I started a business Facebook page as well, but not being tech savvy again, not really able to use it to it's maximum advantage.

I had a customer offer to build a page for me at a reasonable price. I think my concern is maintaining it and actually using it, since I don't like spending hours in front of a computer screen. Dealing with Ebay, Craigslist, & Amazon is about all I can take without adding another platform I have to screw around with.

But I agree, having your own website to sell from is required to grow this resell business.

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