ebay question

[CMAC]

I'm very new to ebay and will probably never use it enormously, but my wife started selling a lot of her old coats, bags shoes etc
she would start at 99p and was saddened many times as designer bags and shoes hardly used would only sell for 99p even though they might have been bought for up to £100

I've just noticed in the sale section you can end an item at any time, my question is, is it frowned upon or not allowed to end an item that isnt going to get past a silly low figure even if there are minutes till auction end?

 

[Twire]

I would say it's frowned upon, especially if you have the winning bid.

You can always put a reserve on.

 

[pbrown7582]

You can't end an auction with less than 24hrs to go,
If you want to start items higher without paying listing fees wait for free listing weekends usually once a month but only announced on the Friday before so you have to be ready to list in advance.
It is supposedly against the rules to rnd early without good reason but it happens an awful lot do I wouldn't worry toouch about it loads of things get ended early and many even sold privately thru email.

Note The minimum reserve is £50 and charges apply.

 

[GreiginFife]

It is frowned upon if there are bids placed on it. If you have a genuine reason for it then fair enough but doing it because you aren't getting what you wanted for it is a definite frown.
If you start an item at 99p with no reserve as Twire points out then you really are taking a chance if it's a high value item.

 

[Rooter]

i sell a lot on ebay, i never end items early. if you dont want them to sell for 99p, don't start them at that.

Either set a reserve, or start that at the bottom range of what you want for it, but be realistic in your valuation. do your research.

Also, if she is new to selling etc, most important tips in my opinion for getting good sales are:

Take GOOD pictures and more than 1. if the item was £100 new and you want £30 for it, spend 12p on an extra picture and make sure its staged well. Plain background with clarity of detail. Also if its clothing, make sure its ironed!!

Use the full character allowance in the title, use as many key words as possible to allow the widest number of searches to find your item.

Don't take the mickey on postage costs. people don't like paying lots. I can look at an item and tell you the cost these days! (i know, its sad)

ALWAYS send via a recorded service. Ebay will always side with the buyer on any disputes, so make sure you have your "house in order" and keep all the tracing receipts from the post office.

Write as much as you can in the description, people are lazy these days and only say "its a back gucci handbag" measure it, describe it, make comment to any down sides of the items, ie the zip is broken, or the paint has come off the zip etc. be 100% honest and describe everything.

Timing! in my experience, Sunday nights are the best time for auctions finishing, but i guess it depends on what you may be selling.. Dont end stuff when people will not be online (ie between 4.30pm and 6.30pm) or silly times in the morning.. I would say evenings between 7pm and 9.30pm are peak.

Good luck!

 

[Val]

My biggest bug bear is the fee's and in particular the final value fee, 10% is too much and accepting £90 for something you are looking for £100 because that is it's worth IMO isn't right.

 

[Rooter]

My biggest bug bear is the fee's and in particular the final value fee, 10% is too much and accepting £90 for something you are looking for £100 because that is it's worth IMO isn't right.

Find somewhere to sell it with as big an audience as ebay for less... there are a couple of similar ones, but no where near the amount of buyers that ebay has.

It does stink, i agree, but there is not much choice. Another kick in the proverbials is then the paypal fees!! (paypal owned by ebay)

 

[Val]

Find somewhere to sell it with as big an audience as ebay for less... there are a couple of similar ones, but no where near the amount of buyers that ebay has.

It does stink, i agree, but there is not much choice. Another kick in the proverbials is then the paypal fees!! (paypal owned by ebay)

I know mate, I recently received £48.50 for an item including delivery, i'll likely be left with about £35 for it.

 

[Andy808]

My biggest bug bear is the fee's and in particular the final value fee, 10% is too much and accepting £90 for something you are looking for £100 because that is it's worth IMO isn't right.

I don't think 10% is that bad, you'll struggle to find any other auctioneers that have 10% commission, most are 15% or 20% PLUS vat. If you don't like paying paypal fees then have people send a cheque or postal order, you'll soon get fed up with going to the post office or waiting for cheques to clear before sending items off.

 

[Val]

I don't think 10% is that bad, you'll struggle to find any other auctioneers that have 10% commission, most are 15% or 20% PLUS vat. If you don't like paying paypal fees then have people send a cheque or postal order, you'll soon get fed up with going to the post office or waiting for cheques to clear before sending items off.

I know what you are saying and I know ebay gives a captive audience but's frustrating that you end up getting at least 10% less after all the fees are taken into account.

Anyway, wonder whats on ebay today

 

[GreiginFife]

I know what you are saying and I know ebay gives a captive audience but's frustrating that you end up getting at least 10% less after all the fees are taken into account.

Anyway, wonder whats on ebay today

Soon to be vinyl, lots and lots of vinyl

 

[AmandaJR]

As a buyer who gets many bargains on Ebay I know I'd frown upon it! I'm sure Ebay would too. When I sell stuff I start it at the minimum I'd let it go for. I do use free listing days but the listing fee is pennies (unlike the final fees!).

 

[williamalex1]

gumtree don't have charges ive been told