eBay advice

dorin

I'm about to post a bunch of stuff on eBay. Does anyone have an advice on what to do and not to do when making my auction? I sold a textbook to Australia once and didn't say there would be extra shipping, and ended up losing $40 on that auction. I'm trying to avoid crap like that if at all possible.

If it's relevant, I will be selling comics, VHS tapes, video games, and books.

Viscountalpha

Post actual shipping costs as how you will ship or USA ONLY

Dhalphir

Be very specific about where you will ship to and what the costs will be.

A line like "USA Shipping Only - Extra charged for international shipping as per <Company X> rates"
Provide a link to the website of the shipping company so that people can determine the rates for themselves.

Besides that, post accurate and complete pictures of everything you are selling. If its an electronic device of some sort, post a video if possible demonstrating the fact that it works completely, and if you are reselling something as new or near-new, make sure to detail what exactly is going to be included in the package if it would normally be included in a package bought new.

For example, I bought a Logitech G25 racing wheel from Ebay a while back, and the seller, while mentioning that the power supply was included with the package, he did not note that the actual power cable (that runs from the powerpoint to the power supply) would NOT be included, and such a cable would definitely have been included in the package if bought new. While I didn't leave negative feedback due to it not being that big a deal (such cables are $10 max from any electronics store), it was still something he neglected to mention.

Good luck!

Rethius

• Unique photographs. Taking a picture of your item goes a long way towards instilling confidence in buyers, especially if you're a newer seller. Highly recommend this.
• Realize that you're about to create a real business listing, believe it or not. Try to treat your customers with decency, don't act like a silly goose towards them. (You would not believe how many people I see who treat their eBay business like it's their kids lemonade stand or something)
• Most importantly, set up your buyer requirements. These are settings in your account that you can use to automatically block high risk bidders - people without PayPal accounts, international bidders, people who have had issues backing out of transactions in the past, etc. There's like 10 things you can select. Doing this will save you from MANY headaches, especially if you're newer to selling on the site. Link for details on how to do it here.

Beyond that, just relax. It's pretty easy to do, and as long as you don't treat your customers like hell you will be just fine.

Uncle Long

The most common question I get asked from buyers is "Will you ship to X-Country, and how much will that cost?" I only ship to the US, but I still get this question frequently. What I usually do is to reply to the question with "I'm sorry, I only ship to the US at this time," and I make the question and response public. I don't know why most people miss this restriction in my item description and in the listing shipping information, but I rarely have more than one person ask me about international shipping on the same item.

Beyond that, just be courteous, be complete and honest with your listing, and demonstrate that you know what you're talking about.

For instance, I primarily sell photographic equipment, particularly old film cameras. I get a much higher sale on items when I can talk about the condition in terms that are particular to the item, like "no light leaks, bellows in great condition and supple." I also make sure to include at least one photo of the actual item on my plain dark brown desk. It eliminates distractions and usually makes the item look its best, which is important. A professional looking listing usually means higher sales because the buyer trusts you.

Additionally, do what you can to make each buyer happy. Usually this means being quick and courteous in responding to any questions, charging a fair price for shipping, and shipping either the same day or the next day. As a buyer there are few things more irksome than buying an item on Thursday and getting an e-mail from the seller that they shipped it the following Tuesday, when I would have likely had the item delivered had they shipped the next day. Finally, once you've shipped the item be sure and update the tracking information. You may wish to let the buyer know that you've sent the item and provide the tracking number in an e-mail as well, or through Paypal, but that's kind of a personal choice.