Selling on Amazon or EBay

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doodles
Posts: 8300
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:19 pm

Selling on Amazon or EBay

Post by doodles »

Does anybody have any experience of selling on either Amazon or eBay? I've bought from both but never sold and in fact my eBay account is now defunct as it hasn't been used for so long.

Ds's have a number of bits they want to sell on, mainly console games and quite large and expensive Lego sets. All boxed and in good condition etc etc.

I went onto Amazon last night to look into setting up a seller account but was rather put off by the fact that they wanted a lot of personal details above and beyond name and address etc. In fact they wanted passport details - or at least I think they did. Why do they need this when I'm already a purchaser with them. EBay looked simpler but I'm not sure I could cope with "auctions" I only ever went for the "buy now" items.

Anybody else set up an account?
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad !
marigold
Posts: 656
Joined: Tue Sep 22, 2009 3:14 pm
Location: essex

Re: Selling on Amazon or EBay

Post by marigold »

I have sold a lot of clothes on ebay for myself and on behalf of my daughter and have had no problems at all apart from once when I sent something to Mexico and it got lost in the post. It was really easy to set up an account.
I would recommend having a look to see what sort of prices similar things are going for, perhaps follow a few, in order to put a realistic starting price and to avoid disapointment at final selling prices. I have found those to be incredibly unpredictable,eg getting nearly £50 once for a net petticoat but only a couple of quid for things I was expecting to fund holidays to the Maldives with. A really good photo helps. I have never gone for the "buy now " method as the excitemnet of cooking supper with one eye on the lap top watching the bids come in is tremendous fun.
Make sure you put a realistic P and P price too. Weigh the item and look up postage costs on the post office web site, factor in jiffy bags etc too. To begin with I was far too generous and ended up loosing money.
My middle daughter sold a lot of lego in small individual bags , 10 Harry Potters etc and they went very well and a friend sold all her son's boxed and complete lego sets and for things like Star Wars stuff got some serious cash. It may be worth waiting until a bit nearer Christmas.

I have it on good authority that mad ? is a fantastic ebayer so hopefully she will be along with some solid advice.
mad?
Posts: 5621
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 6:27 pm
Location: london

Re: Selling on Amazon or EBay

Post by mad? »

Hello! Yes, Ebay selling has worked well for me, but do watch a few similar items first as it is surprising what goes for a lot and what does't. Totally echo everything marigold has said, love watching the bids come in at the end but be ready to go to the post office pretty promptly and also for buyers who take a day or two to pay, despite having bid with 6 seconds to go! I use out 'takings' to fund our log purchase every year, makes me feel thrifty. Less pleasing is when I realise I am selling off some Jack Wills/Top Shop stuff that DD2 will have barely worn but paid a fortune for, hey ho :roll:
mad?
BucksBornNBred
Posts: 1031
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2015 4:01 pm

Re: Selling on Amazon or EBay

Post by BucksBornNBred »

Never sold on Amazon, only on ebay which is really simple to set up. As Marigold says, take plenty of pictures (including any that show imperfections) and imo it is best to describe the item honestly - when I am buying I am always suspicious of ones where no details have been added. Make sure you know the selling fees both with ebay and paypal and add those in to the price as they are quite hefty. The most challenging thing was trying to find correct packaging and working out the p&p charges -which seem to change every day - and remember to factor in petrol and cost of materials. I found it helped to make a spreadsheet so that I could enter a price I thought was appropriate and the let the spreadsheet work out if I would cover my costs. I had the most success with the 99p start, which usually attracts more bids, but be aware that it has to go at 99p if you only get one bid and then with charges you may find you only get 50p (or less, I can't remember the exact figures) for the item so it is a gamble. Good luck :-)
MedievalBabe
Posts: 1191
Joined: Wed Oct 16, 2013 9:56 pm

Re: Selling on Amazon or EBay

Post by MedievalBabe »

We buy and sell happily on eBay as it is so easy. We always do auctions but don't always follow the advised price and as the others have said we always check the p&p otherwise you could lose what you have sold the item for just posting it if your not careful. Somethings sell much easier than others, we have successfully sold Lego before but failed on books.

We frequently sell gymnastic leotards, usually ones we have bought secondhand which get worn for a few months before they no longer fit and then sell them on for about the same price we bought it for.

I do know a few people who have sold on Amazon, usually books only, they have said the fees are more expensive and the p&p is set by Amazon and you must post within 24 hours of sale.

Good luck and hope the pennies roll in.
Guest55
Posts: 16254
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: Selling on Amazon or EBay

Post by Guest55 »

DS has successfully sold console games in shops like CeX - might be worth checking whether there is somewhere local that does this.
BucksBornNBred
Posts: 1031
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2015 4:01 pm

Re: Selling on Amazon or EBay

Post by BucksBornNBred »

Guest55 wrote:DS has successfully sold console games in shops like CeX - might be worth checking whether there is somewhere local that does this.
CeX is easy but you don't get a very good price tbh.
KB
Posts: 3030
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:28 pm

Re: Selling on Amazon or EBay

Post by KB »

Recommend eBay over Amazon.
kenyancowgirl
Posts: 6738
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 8:59 pm

Re: Selling on Amazon or EBay

Post by kenyancowgirl »

+1....especially for named things like Lego - you are more likely to fetch a realistic price.

My only addition to the responses already would be, use the auction function but make sure you end your auction on a Sunday night around 8pm if possible (proven that more sales made around that time/day). I would also consider saving your Lego stuff till about November (if you can bear to hold onto it that long!) We have maximised selling prices in the lead up to Christmas on our old Lego sets.
doodles
Posts: 8300
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:19 pm

Re: Selling on Amazon or EBay

Post by doodles »

Thank you everybody.

It looks like eBay is the way to go. Must say I'm quite relieved as I didn't fancy putting my passport details into Amazon :?

Good advice to wait until nearer Christmas, sounds like it's a job for October half term, but I may try a couple of the Xbox games before then to get things up and running.
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad !
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