Top loaders are fine. Just use a team bag to “close” it. Card savers are more trouble than they’re worth.
FWIW - I had never sold anything until last fall. Now I’ve sold > 50 items. It’s easy. Just take good pics and package your items well. Auctions are fine too - I’ve never sold for less than what the current market price is when starting at $.99. This isn’t really something that needs to be overthought jmo
It’s refreshing to hear your thoughts, @iisanaggie,. It’s nice to hear that the $.99 auctions do well which is relieving to some of my fears. I am trying a few out now, some small items, a few more valuable ones, just to start. I am eager to dive in after getting such amazing input from you and your fellow sellers. I really appreciate your time and thought!
I think that as the item picks up bids while it’s priced very low, a rising bid count legitimizes a listing - at least it does in my opinion. I usually pause on items that already have bids placed, it’s like a pre-screening process. Other buyers have already looked at the listing and decided it was worthy of a bid, even if it is a low amount so I am more likely to click on it and investigate further. There are just so many BIN and over-inflated Best Offers that it can be mind-numbing. Also the people that place bids in the early phase will continue to receive notifications on the listing and may come in and bid at the end of the auction.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with auctions - as for myself as a buyer, I am in the same boat as you, I use the bids as legitimizing factors. My fear is getting bids in the first place, almost as if a $.99 auction is “too good to be true.” I wonder what I could do to entice earlier bids? Are there any strategies on this? In my mind, I often wait for the ending of an auction to bid. I can’t get into the mind of an early bidder because I, myself, am not an early bidder!
I don’t really understand the early bidders either, but my guess for the most reasonable explanation is that some are busy people or know they won’t be available at the end of the auction so they will put in a low to medium max bid hoping that they will get a deal once it does end. As long as you take good pictures, have a good title and description, and, most importantly, have something that has value, I wouldn’t be worried about an expensive item slipping through the cracks and going for a buck. Sold so many valuable things starting at .99 and it’s never happened to me once
Thanks for your reassurance in your experiences. Yeah, I’m in the same boat, I can’t wrap my head around it, but then again, the other hand of it is that someone will wait for the end of the auction (worst case still at $.99) and try to snipe the item for some arbitrary number in their head (hoping to beat out other snipers), but that arbitrary number isn’t so arbitrary because, if they want the item, they’ll most likely pick a figure similar to recently sold ones to beat out others trying to get a “deaL” At least that’s how my mind works, but it could be ignorant or naive. Nonetheless, you’ve given me faith that there won’t be any proof until the final day(s) of the auction when people start to focus on an item rather than early bidding. I really appreciate you taking the time to share and I hope you’re having a great night!
If you get negative feedback or a buyer who is emotional, aggressive, tough to deal with, dont forget to relax and take it with positivity. I have been able to reverse like 10 negative feedbacks and divert lots of buyers from leaving negative feedback (5000+ sales so far, enough to experience some issues). Occasionally i will have to bribe a buyer to remove a negative feedback because “item was lost” by offering a small gift or something, but my 99.9% is worth keeping in my opinion. I also think theres a few methods to pricing items; personally i would rather price my item and have it sit for a month instead of being bought immediately, the immediate sales usually are a sign of underpricing, but if a listing sits high you can still field offers. Never overcharge for shipping. Package items safely. Include freebies with a note “please leave positive feedback” especially when just starting, the freebies really help boost feedback. Do a mixture of items for auction which you dont care about the final price, some hIgh BIN and some cheap n easy sale items. I try to diversify my item selection too.
I don’t have any tips myself, since I’ve never sold anything on eBay (yet) - despite having over 1k in buyer feedback, haha.
But I do want to thank everyone who commented thus far. Some very useful tips which I’ll keep in mind when I will (probably soon) start selling stuff myself.
I do wonder how the seller’s location impacts the sales, though. I’m personally from The Netherlands, and even with worldwide shipping enabled, I can imagine I won’t nearly get as much potential buyers in comparison to sellers from the US or Japan.
Ignore buyers that message you with “best price?” or “whats the cheapest price?”, 99.99% of these messages are time wasters.
Don’t deal off ebay if you listed on ebay. If you list it on ebay, keep the transaction on ebay.
ALWAYS send with signature tracked shipping.
Personally, insurance for the package is a coinflip for me. I heard horror stories of already opened packages received by buyer due to declared value (aka insurance). On the flip side, if item is lost during transit, you and the buyer are covered.
If you have “Offers” turned out and receive an offer, I screen possible buyers by checking their feedback. (Fun Story: I told a potential buyer I didn’t want his business due to negative experiences from previous sale, said he reported me for discrimination)
I normally take a picture with the contents inside the packaging with address clearly visible and then a second picture of the fully wrapped package once processed by the post office.
I like the idea of adding in freebies at the beginning of my service to improve my feedback. Only recently, I’ve learned how important feedback is to sellers. I understand how crucial it is to treat every client with positivity and understanding so as to always keep a good reputation, get good feedback, and expand my business. I find it hard to choose a shipping option under $5 though. Is this normal?
Personally, I have had mixed experiences with insurance/tracking. Mostly on international shipments, I have had my packages opened and items taken out, then resealed and continued to the destination, just to be met with disgust. Then, I have had packages lost in America (most likely due to the disorganization of USPS during the pandemic). I just don’t know how to navigate these difficult, yet rare circumstances. There is no other option other than FedEx or UPS, but that’s… $$$
I have “offers” on so as to have the option to screen and check their reputation/feedback before accepting. I am also very careful about how I ship my items as, being a buyer as well, I have had some horror stories.
One thing that made selling less stressful for me was to prep everything you can before the sale in bulk. That way when you get an oder in you can just slap on an address and send it out, it was a life saver on busy days.
Things like having all the packaging together and return address pre-written/printed, ect.
It’s good to have something in place on the opening of the top loader as things can slide out in transport, normal tape is horrible but a tiny bit of masking tape did wonders for me as it holds well but can still tear and be removed very easily
I also got a lot of positive feedback for including a mass printed thank you note with some art on it that was super easy to do and people seemed to appreciate it.
Hey, thanks so much for the feedback and input here. I plan on prepping a quasi-assembly line in my dorm room when I return to school next semester. Until then, I don’t believe I’ll have enough inventory to overwhelm me, but by then, maybe (hopefully!).
Per your input regarding a note, I definitely agree. In fact, something hand written goes a long way too! I also plan to throw in a few freebies here and there (cards gifted to me that I may not like, etc…)
I hope that your sales are going well and that you’re safe and healthy
Assess your risk tolerance and decide the threshold you will send stuff via lettermail for minimal costs. I think usa also has a very low cost tracked lettermail option, like $1 i heard.
Above are all very helpful. One thing I’d add: I personally avoid stating the condition of the card as “Mint” “NM” etc. since it is very subjective. When I first started posting on eBay I had some buyers that disagreed with my assessment and it got troublesome so now I just take good clear pictures (always use the 12 max - different angles etc.) and let buyers use their own judgement. Cards might not sell for as much but it’s the right way to go imo.
I appreciate this consideration - I am thinking that applying a universal good service, regardless of price, is important. I have purchased $2 cards before which I really cared about which were ruined by lettermail before - I personally would opt to pay more to get a safe delivery. But if this is that big of a factor for others, I’d love to hear.
