Auction Power Guide

I am in the middle of Ebaying a massive pile of things that I don’t want or don’t use anymore from around my house. I’m about 25% of the way through it all right now and am realizing that I am literally getting owned by both shipping and Ebay fees.

I know that the fees are standard and there is nothing that can be done about them, but my concern in this question is the shipping. I’m a frequent shopper on Ebay as well and constantly buy things like $1.50 cables with free shipping from China or books for $7.00 with free shipping from the US. However, when I go to the USPS (the place I’ve found to be the least expensive to ship from so far), I generally get charged much higher prices than what these people that sell to me must be getting.

I was recently charged $6.85 to ship a book in a bubble mailer envelope and $13.xx to ship a 5lb set of pool balls. I always tell the post office clerk that I would like to ship my items using the least expensive and slowest route possible. If the sellers that I purchase from are being charged these shipping prices, then they are making little or losing money on sales.

I’m hoping someone could give me some insight on how these sellers are shipping their items. There must be something I’m missing. I can’t continue to sell items such as books when I’m selling them for $5 if I have to ask $6.85 for shipping.

Thanks in advance!

for items weighing 13oz or less, use first class mail/parcel. it goes the same way as sending a letter and is charged per oz

for books, use media mail.

if you are shipping priority mail, and the package is heavy, look into using flat rate.

the reason why the chinese cables can ship free is probably because they send what is the equivalent of first class mail since the package is light. books are shipped media mail which is a lot less expensive than other services.

http://postcalc.usps.com/ use that to calculate prices for your listings (but you need a general idea of weight for your packages).

all you really need to do is not offer free shipping for now(until you become more familiar with postage). have calculated shipping in your listings so that the buyer pays for it and you dont worry about how much it will cost you. but you need to know the weight of what you are shipping

Trying to learn how to start selling on Ebay – I have a paypal buyer account – will it work for selling? Do they charge you any fees?

Yes it works both ways. You can also use it to request money with out selling on eBay and it has a great savings rate if you want to keep your profits in one place. The fee charged depends on the total dollar amount charged including your shipping charges. You are not charged when you use the account to purchase items on eBay. If for any reason you have to refund a buyer you get the fee returned. It also has a great link for shipping with the post office and UPS. You can pay your shipping right out of your Paypal balance. Best of all you can give your packages to your local carrier instead of running to the PO all the time. Good luck.

i have an account already on ebay and have been buying stuff for 3 months on there i think. i want to start selling on there and i would sign up for paypal using my debit card. after i sign up for paypal what do i do to start selling on ebay?

btw, how much does ebay take away from you when you sell something? or when do they take away money and how much?

Read the "how to start selling" tutorial on Ebay would be my advice. There is a lot you need to learn and easy mistakes to avoid making. The sellers fees are listed clearly there, it depends on your starting price, whether you use Buy It Now or auction format etc. You may have to pay an insertion fee? Definitely a Final Value Fee (depends on the final selling price) and a fee to Paypal for accepting a payment. Bear these things in mind when selling :-

See how much similar items are selling for by "watching" one in My Ebay and check after the auction ends. It might not be worth your while bothering for low value items once the fees are paid.

Take a really good clear photograph to upload, don’t copy off the internet.

Weigh the item in its packaging before you work out the P&P, packaging can weigh heavy.

Heavy items do not sell well, people won’t pay a fortune for P&P so think before you sell esp. books which can be quite heavy.

Describe any defects/faults in full it saves having to issue a refund later on to an unhappy buyer.

Always get proof of posting stamped at the post office (this is free, not the same as registered post) because buyers can sometimes turn round and say an item never arrived. If you can scan/email proof of posting to them and have a clear refund policy stated on the auction this takes the wind out of their sales.

Always send expensive items by registered post only, choose that option from the list and sort out how much this is before you list the item.

Good communication is the key on Ebay, communicate with your buyers, answer questions promptly and keep them informed when you post the item.

I have quite alot to sell. How do i know what a wise purchase of bubblewrap, rolls of brown paper and alsortment of envelopes i would clearly need, without running out during a sale?

If you start off with a few rolls of brown tape, a couple of rolls of clear sellotape, some grey wrapping bags in medium size (cut them down when they arereally to big and stick them with sellotape), a roll of bubble wrap and also start saving boxes for the bigger things. If using padded enveloppes calculate the shipping accordingly and buy them as you sell.
It all depends on what you are selling. Clothes can be put in a grey post bag but breakable will need proper cardboard boxes and padding. I use foam personally. It costs me an arm and a leg but i recoup it through shipping charges. if you sell books beware of the corners and sometimes it pays to reinforce paperback with sturdy cardboard to prevent them bending.
FRAGILE and DO NOT BEND stickers might come in handy too.
Go to the post office and get ‘proof of delivery’ cards, airmail stickers and also custom stickers for outside the EU.

Oh and thumbs up to the person that mentioned scales. get an electronic set that goes up to about 2 kg. They are not cheap but worth every penny if you sell regularly. Anything heavier than 2kg I weigh on my bathroom scales.

How does a seller get paid selling on Ebay?
I have some things that I want to sell on Ebay. I was told by a friend that I would contact Paypal to set up a way to get paid. Is this true? How does it work.

I got an email from Ebay saying that I can list for free Oct 1-6 and it’s easy to list, sell and ship.

go to both websites and sign-up and wait, go read through the help section about shipping and getting paid and how it all works. Fees too. Get familiar real good, then sell one item to get used to how it works in the real world. Go from there. But read read read read.

Can be very rewarding but be informed first, to make the sales go smooth.

You can also get a paypal debit card which is nice because at the post office or whatever method you choose, you can pay the shipping cost with the card directly from your paypal account. And the buyer pays shipping so that makes it very handy as you can see.

No false advertisements, please, just tips from real people on how to sell your stuff. I know the basics and have been doing it for a while, but I was wondering if anyone has any "tricks of the trade" so to speak.

Give really good descriptions, measurements, and details on your product.

Always have a photo on the listing page.

Don’t have a false low price then a huge handling fee on the shipping. Do actual shipping costs, and ship fast, within a day of the auction ending.

Always leave feedback and ask for it too.

If you ever have a problem customer, do your best to solve it and make them happy. The feedback in the long run will make a difference in your sales credibility.

Combine shipping. When you are doing your listings, do a bunch that would appeal to the same customer at once, and mention in your description that you have other similar items, and you can combine shipping, and give a really good deal. I offer small or lightweight items for just $1.00 more per auction when combined with the large or heavy ones, and ship them in the same box.

Get free packaging materials. The post office has free priority mail packaging, and your local recycling center would be thrilled to give you shredded paper, styrofoam pellets, cardboard boxes and anything else they have that you could use.

Research a little before pricing your items, and see what they are selling for. List yours slightly below the average, and you will probably get more action on it and end up with a better price overall than if you price it too high to begin with.

Use brand names, model numbers or other hot keywords in your title. For example, we just sold a bunch of Corvette parts and accesories, and one of the descriptive phrases was C3, which referred to the era of the body style or something. They all sold. For antiques, use both descriptive phrases on the general look and style, as well as specifics that are imprinted on the item. For example, Haviland Limoges Pink Roses White China Teapot with gold. That says what it is for the collectors, as well as coming up for someone in general looking for pink rose china or haviland teapot or Limoges gold.

If you are buying stuff to sell on Ebay, always look for brand names, and try to keep your merchandise in a certain catagory. To see what is really selling now, Ebay has a "hot selling item" list that is updated monthly. Some things are obvious in seasons, you will get a better price on a winter coat in January than you will in July. Christmas items should be listed so the ending gives plenty of time for shipping in time for the holiday.

Good luck, and happy selling. ITs fun!

I put a bunch of items (wedding presents that did not suit our tastes, from overseas relatives we have never met) up for sale. The auction finished on Tuesday. I tried 3 times every day to go to the post office Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during work hours (the only time they’re open) to find a line out the door (and I couldn’t wait as it was during work hours). I emailed all of the buyers this problem to le them know about the delay, and posted everything successfully on Saturday morning.
I should say that the shipping details state on each item I will "usually ship withing 2 days".
Today (Friday night, the next week) I received a message from a buyer saying "I DID want to give this as a gift to someone tomorrow, but I guess I can’t now, because I still haven’t received it".
Now, postal service aside (because it really should have arrived with the buyer by now), how do I handle this?
I’m not running a business from ebay, I’m just selling some household items for a little extra pocket money (the item in question was a $5 picture frame), but I really don’t want negative feedback because I sell so little that it will effect my statistics.
How should I respond to this person?

The post office will pick up packages from you if you print your own labels.

Just tell the buyers the items are going out on such and such a date. I would offer a refund to the buyer who wanted the item sent right away.

Change your shipping time to 3 days.

About how much does a ps2 cost to ship on ebay with 2 controllers?Don’t say it depands on the size you know how a ps2 looks like.Just give me a guess,it doesn’t have to be accurate.

But it depends on the size of the PACKAGE, not the size of the item inside. You’re the only one who knows how big of a box you’re going to use to send it and how much packing material you’re going to wrap around it. And the Post Office charges by WEIGHT as well as by size.

If you want just an estimate, check out any of the many PS2s that are already being offered for sale and see how much they’re charging for shipping.

Remember, whatever you put down for your shipping cost is what you must stick to, so don’t lowball it.

Ok I’m cluess on selling on Ebay. I need to know how to get the pictures on there from my phone or how else to get them on there, how do I calculate shipping and handling to tell them how much it will cost? Any other good advice?

first you will have to register on ebay you will need a valid credit card.i scan my pitcures onto ebay as far as shipping goes you can go to the post office and they have a book they can give you for rates on shipping.

okay well, im looking for some who knows about usps or sells on ebay who might be able to shed some insight on this,
I’m gonna start selling on ebay , what I’m trying to figure out is how the shipping works, I’m trying to do this in the most convenient way,
basically my questions come down to this, I understand taking merchandise to the post office & shipping the items out to customers, that’s obvious ,what I’m wondering is how does the shipping from home work??
Can I just give the package to the mailman when he comes during his route to deliver mail? is there a limit to how many packages i can ship from home? can i package the items in any type of box & just slap the label on there & ship it? do i need a package scale, or what do i need to determine cost to ship individual packages from home? please, i would really appreciate any information from anyone who knows about this stuff! thank you guys

eBay has a function on your seller summary page where you can print postage labels.The postage fee comes out of your Paypal account, where the customer has already paid you.

You can give your packages to your mail carrier.

No limit on the # of packages you can ship from home.

You can use whatever packaging you like, that makes sense of course.

This free guide will help you – The Ultimate eBay Shipping Guide has everything you need to know about shipping.

http://ebaysellingcoach.com/f/Ultimate_eBay_shipping_guide.pdf