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Ebay is the place to be

February 25th, 2008 at 08:33 pm

I've heard a lot of ebay-bashing lately on a couple of different forums due to the fee changes and feedback changes. People are saying they will stop selling on ebay and switch to Craigslist or have a yard sale or just give the stuff away and take a tax deduction.

I've been selling on ebay since 1997 so I've seen lots of changes over the years, but I still think they've got the best deal in town.

I had taken a break from ebay for a while, but started selling again at the end of December. Since then, I've listed 25 items. 22 have sold, so an 88% success rate. Last week, I was 5 for 5 with all items selling.

I listed another 5 items last nite. I had 1 watcher within 15 minutes. By this morning, I had 1 item with a bid and a total of 7 watchers on 4 of 5 items. By this afternoon, I had 3 bids on 2 items and still had 7 watchers. So odds are good that at least 4 items will sell this week.

I don't know of any other venue where I can get that kind of exposure and that type of response to selling my stuff. Yes, fees have gradually increased and it isn't as lucrative as it once was, but it still beats everything else out there.

Posted in Ebay | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “Ebay is the place to be”

  1. gruntina Says:
    February 25th, 2008 at 09:54 pm 1203976495
    1203976495

    I sold a bike and a pair skis the same very day I posted on craigslist.

    I believe it depends on what area you live and what you are selling.

  2. disneysteve Says:
    February 25th, 2008 at 10:03 pm 1203976988
    1203976988

    I like that ebay listings are international so my items get seen by an audience of millions. I also like that everything is handled online and by mail. I wouldn't want to be setting up meetings with strangers to transact business.

  3. gruntina Says:
    February 25th, 2008 at 10:22 pm 1203978140
    1203978140

    I agree setting up meetings with strangers is not the safest way and thus why I have to meet in a public place with my husband.

    I like the convenience of selling quickly and getting it over with preferring locals so I do not have to deal with fees and shipping. I work in HR so any transaction, ads posting, shipping’s and professional conversations that are more complex and stuff is something I do not want to do on my private time. I have no intention of selling items as a second job.

    But I do think eBay is awesome as a buyer.

  4. creditcardfree Says:
    February 25th, 2008 at 10:44 pm 1203979499
    1203979499

    I agree! I started selling last April and it's why I've been a little absent from savingadvice.com!

  5. disneysteve Says:
    February 25th, 2008 at 10:54 pm 1203980086
    1203980086

    Makes sense, gruntina. All depends on what it is your are selling and what you want to do. My receptionist loves craigslist and has bought and sold a bunch of stuff on there. I tend to sell mostly collectible items that have a more niche kind of audience. I might not get a buyer locally but may find one in California or Ohio or Belgium or Scotland. All depends on the item.

  6. scfr Says:
    February 26th, 2008 at 03:26 am 1203996378
    1203996378

    Right - it absolutely depends on the item! When we did our pre-move sell off, some things sold very nicely on Ebay (lightweight items with recognizable identifiers such as brand names), while some were better left to Craigslist (fantastic for selling furniture), and the misc. brandless stuff that's just too cheap and expensive to think about mailing was best left for the garage sale.

  7. lost in debt Says:
    February 27th, 2008 at 01:11 am 1204074702
    1204074702

    I have a 100% rating at ebay but have only a 10 rating so I've not sold hardly anything. When I got into this financial mess I tried to sell my jewelry and didn't sell a piece. What sells on ebay?

  8. disneysteve Says:
    February 27th, 2008 at 12:49 pm 1204116561
    1204116561

    lost in debt - Pretty much everything and anything sells on ebay. I think the problem you are running into is your feedback rating, especially if you are attempting to sell more costly items like jewelry. Buyers are hesitant to deal with sellers who don't have much of a track record. I'd suggest starting with smaller, cheaper items to help build your score. Also, if possible, do some buying as well. That will also help your score. Remember that just about everything is available on ebay, including common household stuff that you probably buy anyway. Before you head off to Target or Wal-Mart for stuff, check ebay first. You can often get stuff as cheap or cheaper on ebay, and those transactions would help boost your feedback score.

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