I'm thinking about selling on eBay and I had some questions.

-How do you guys figure out what to charge for shipping? Do you all have scales? Are they expensive?

-If you sell clothes, (baby and/or women's) do you find that they go better in lots or individually? And how do you determine what to price them at?

-If it's not something you make (shopping cart covers, etc) what kind of things do you sell? I'm thinking clothes and our videos (in good condition) that we don't watch any more.

-Do you find any of those "extras" you can buy as a seller to be worth the money?

-Any other tips on anything?

TIA!
jenn

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-How do you guys figure out what to charge for shipping? Do you all have scales? Are they expensive? I do have a small electronic postal scale that I bought off ebay. It was around $20. I have seen similar in stores. I defiantely think it is worth it.

-If you sell clothes, (baby and/or women's) do you find that they go better in lots or individually? And how do you determine what to price them at? If the item is nice, good condition and name brand, I sell individually. If the items are more worn and/or not name brand, I group them into varying lots. For lots I try to pick similar items that are the same size. Most single items I list at the minimum I want to sell for. If I am feeling confident that a lot will sell, I start it at 99 cents.

-If it's not something you make (shopping cart covers, etc) what kind of things do you sell? I'm thinking clothes and our videos (in good condition) that we don't watch any more. I sell a bit of everything. Mostly I sell my son's old baby clothes, toys and shoes. Most VHS tapes don't seem to sell well from what I have seen.

-Do you find any of those "extras" you can buy as a seller to be worth the money? The only time I buy extras is if ebay is running a special like penny gallery or something. Otherwise I don't bother for the inexpensive items. I did sell some sterling silver for my mom and used the gallery and supersize picture pack for that.

-Any other tips on anything? I use delivery confirmation for everything and think it is worth it. I print my shipping labels on a program I downloaded from the post office so it is only an extra 13 cents (free for priority). I also offer postal insurance on everything. If the buyer choses not to buy it, that is their problem because it was offerred. I'll add more later if I can think of any.

Good luck!

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-How do you guys figure out what to charge for shipping? Do you all have scales? Are they expensive? I have a little scale I bought from Office Max. It cost about $10 I think. I sell mostly smaller items. So I usually just charge $1-2 for shipping.. and an occassional $3.85 for priority.

-If you sell clothes, (baby and/or women's) do you find that they go better in lots or individually? And how do you determine what to price them at? I have sold clothes. And I've done both.. individual and lots. And I've sold both ways... so I think it just depends on what you are selling.

-If it's not something you make (shopping cart covers, etc) what kind of things do you sell? I'm thinking clothes and our videos (in good condition) that we don't watch any more. I usually sell brand new items. I work at a store, so I get things on clearance and sale and get my discount on top of that. So I get brand new items really cheap and sell it for more. I also check out the clearance racks at Old Navy and Target and usually can get some good deals on there to sell.

-Do you find any of those "extras" you can buy as a seller to be worth the money? I usually always do a gallery pic. It's a quarter extra. But I find when I'm looking for things on ebay myself, I usually just look at the items with the gallery pic. But again, it depends on what you're selling.

-Any other tips on anything? Don't plan on making a ton of money at first. It's a learning curve. The first few times I sold on ebay I didn't charge enough shipping, or some items didn't sell for to much. You really don't know what's going to happen until you start selling. So you'll get better as you go along. HTH!

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Lisa (27) & Doug (33)
Logan Douglas (1) 12/26/06
Angel ~ Layla Catherine (18 weeks) 9/17/03


Goal #1

great tips so far!!

-How do you guys figure out what to charge for shipping? Do you all have scales? Are they expensive? I don't use a scale. I estimate pretty close, and if I overestimated I always up the shipping class. I buy mailing envelopes in bulk for .33-.50 each otherwise they can be up to $1.59 at some stores. I also mail alot of things priority and charge flat $3.85 - its faster and people are usually willing to pay it. Quick shipping is a plus. I always mail within 72 hrs of payment.
-If you sell clothes, (baby and/or women's) do you find that they go better in lots or individually? And how do you determine what to price them at? I have done both. It depends. People pay less per piece if its in a lot, but an outfit really should be sold together. If you have odds and ends (different brands of shirts and shorts or pants) they tend to sell better in a lot. If I want a certain price I start it at that. I sell a lot of gymboree which 95% of the time sells, so I start the bids low and hope for the best! Big ticket items should always have a reserve price imo.

-If it's not something you make (shopping cart covers, etc) what kind of things do you sell? I'm thinking clothes and our videos (in good condition) that we don't watch any more. I sell new things, clothing from my house, and things from clearance racks/thrift stores. I do a lot of gymbo and boy scout things (uniforms, etc). I have not been able to sell videos either - consider a library to share among your friends (trade) or donate them to your local library.
-Do you find any of those "extras" you can buy as a seller to be worth the money? Only when the extra is on sale. Sometimes I do gallery.

-Any other tips on anything? Ditto to what has been said. If you are serious, download turbolister for free. It allows you to create all of your ads offline, and save them in a spreadsheet if you want, and then upload when you sign on. Creating an ad on the actual ebay site is way too slow for me.
Invest in a fairly good camera. Good pics make a world of difference. Showcase on a neutral background that makes the item stand out (don't show a gray sweatshirt on gray carpet - use a wood table instead). Don't list too many things at once when you start - you'll have a hard time keeping track Oh, and I don't accept checks. Just never have. You are welcome to check out some of my auctions (my3busyboys). My ads are simple but I don't use an auction design service - thats another fee. And this is just a hobby for me.

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