eBay Tips

Minoks wrote: jaquoval wrote: This may be contentious, but my recommendation is that unless you're going to use 'Buy it Now', don't bother bidding early in the auction. Most of the serious action happens in the last 5 minutes (sometimes the last 5 seconds). All you do with early bids is give other buyers something to bounce their bids off of and ultimately drive up the price. Do your research and figure out the maximum you're willing to bid, then place that bid as late in the sale as you can manage. If it goes over your max before that point or if you still get outbid, shrug your shoulderss and move on - there'll always be a next time. Some folks use sniping software - I personally prefer to do things manually. (Seems fairer to me, and you can't beat the adrenaline rush... ;) On the contrary, my recommendation is to always place a bid if you are really interested (I've won an auction although not being the hig bidder, and below the price I set as my limit). Seller can cancel bids following his own policy, winning bidder can fail to complete the buy, etc. If you are afraid of bidding too early, place a bid below what you are willing to pay, but not too low; something like "wow!, if i can get it at that price...". You can always place a highest one at a later time, perhaps in the last minute of the auction.

Actually, I like that idea Minoks. I've had a few items via 2nd chance. One from a buyer that dropped out. Another from a store selling several of an item, so I got mine for my bid.

If you are going to bid early. Then bid and then walk away from the auction .... until the last seconds. Then it looks like you have forgotten about the auction! I've seen lots where you have a buyer pop in and out and bid several times (actual bids, not their original bid being bumped due to other bidders).

So either
- Lurk and bid at the end, or
- bid early and forget, or
- bid early and then be there at the end

There is also some snipe software you can use?

bengeo wrote: >> I've had a few items via 2nd chance An explanation of how that works would be good. New users could think it is a scam as it can seem odd when it happens. Andy

Briefly. And for all eBay comms. You'll see the offer from within your eBay account.

Once you get a "second chance offer" ... check back to the original ad, and look at the bidding. Most case you will be the 2nd highest bidder. Normal run of events is that for some reason the top bidder didn't check out (either pulled out or hadn't read something in the small print, like for example 'paypal only').

Some sellers have a 'pay within 72 hrs' clause. So you might get your second chance offer 72 hrs after auction close.

You are NOT obliged to take the item. Lets day you were bidding on a 20/2.8, you missed this deal, and got another deal - so you are clear from the 1st one.

Chance might be that you still want it. You can accept and then pay as if you won the item. Or decline, in which case the seller may give the 2nd chance offer to the 3rd highest bidder. So, it is possible that you are the 3rd or 4th higest bidder - although in that case, I think most sellers would just re-list it?

For sellers, what is the form on adding links to other sites that give info or opinions about the lens - for instance the Dyxum lens reviews or Dcap's pages? Is it allowed? Is it bad ettiquette?

Bob

Has anyone considered offering a Dyxum discount when they sell something on ebay? Often people put up equipment for sale here because they would rather it went to a member of our community, but would it be possible to offer (say) a 10% discount for Dyxum members when selling an item in an auction? A condition could be that they should be registered here before the auction began (people could confirm their eligibility via a PM). Does ebay allow such discounts? I only suggest it because it would seem to benefit Dyxum by bringing in more members, the buyer (because they are getting an edge on the competition) and the seller (because a Dyxum member is more likely to be a known quantity who will be reliable).

There may, of course, be pitfalls I have not spotted. What do you think?

Bob

How long do you list your items?

3days or 7 days?

I thought I'd add a few comments from my experiences with eBay buying and selling. I have been using eBay since back in the days when it was called "AuctionWeb". There were no user names at the time - just email addresses. I have bought and sold many items over the years and I have over 1000 positive feedback mostly as a seller. I have just one negative - due to a crazy and completely unreasonable buyer. I have sold items for anywhere from a few dollars to about $1000, including musical instruments, general antiques, and even my 1994 Saturn.

Here are a few of my opinions:

Don't Use Reserves.
Set the starting bid at the very minimum you would be willing to take for the item. Items that are well listed will generally be seen by many people and will sell for a reasonable price. So many people sell with high reserves that are never met that when potential buyers see there is a reserve on an item they often don't bother to watch the auction. I feel an honest seller should say the minimum he is willing to take for an item. This way a bidder knows whether the seller really wants to sell or if he is just getting an "appraisal". I very rarely bid on an auction where there is a reserve that has not been met. And I am sure that I'm not the only one.

Accept PayPal.
I know some people hate PayPal and think that PayPal fees (for sellers) are excessive. They don't want the 3% or so taken from their auction price, so they do not take PayPal. However, by not taking PayPal they lose potential bidders. Unless you are selling items that are very high priced ($100s of dollars or more) I believe your profit will be greater in auctions that accept PayPal. Again, I know that I am much less likely to bid on an auction that doesn't accept PayPal than one that does. I don't like to deal with checks, money orders, hand-addressing envelopes, and post office drop-offs when I could just quickly pay online. If you make 5-10% more on an auction that accepts PayPal you won't mind paying the 3% fee.

Keep Your Listing Simple.
There is no need for lots of fancy bells and whistles. Take good pictures and give a detailed description. That is all it takes to get good bids. Don't have 1000s of terms and conditions or complicated forms that need to be completed by the buyer.

Work Hard To Establish Good Feedback.
Good feedback is very important as a seller. Treat people with respect, even if they seem unreasonable. In over 1000 transactions on eBay I have only had a few problems that couldn't be worked out to everybody's satisfaction and only one that resulted in a negative. Some would say I am naive, but I believe most people out there are reasonable. Exchange phone numbers if you are having a dispute via email that isn't going away. Sometimes talking to someone helps both people remember that that they are dealing with another human.

Sell Internationally.
It is a little harder to ship items internationally, but if you want to maximize your profits you shouldn't shut out most of the world from bidding. If ease is more important than the bottom line, then feel free to sell only within your own country. I have sold at least 100 items to bidders outside the US and I have never had a single problem (except two items that were lost by the postal system - fortunately not big dollar items).

Anyway, those are just a few thoughts off the top of my head. I may edit/add in the near future.

Edited by alphadog - 18 December 2006 at 13:48

staneC wrote: Hi, Im am selling some old stuff on ebay.uk. and if I go un ebay.de I can't find my item even if I check "Europe".

- you need to ensure you have made it available for europe (from memory I think its by selecting the countries in the postal area of the listing forms/pages)
- and you need to wait a few hours too. Often when you list on ebay, then check the 'directory' ... your item won't appear for a few hours.

Edited by DcapVividOptic - 09 January 2007 at 23:23