Too scared to sell

[opmania]

After reading so many horror stories about scammers and refunds, mBG and so much in buyers favor I just can't bring myself to list and have let the last two lots of 100 free listings go by ,as much as I'd like to.
And now the talk of so few sales is it really worth the effort?

[phorum_junkie*]

Only small percentage of members even know the discussion boards exist and only a small number of them actually post. As not many people come here to say I sold something and ever4ything was OK it does sometimes look like things go wrong a lot but the truth is tens of thousands of transactions take place every6y day without any problems at all.

I have been selling for a long, long, long time both in Australia and in the UK and I have never been ripped off, one person tried some years ago but I lost no money in the end. I have had to give a handful of refunds but that has come about because I have made a mistake.

You can start off small, sell some second hand, easy to post, low value items from around the house until ypou get the hang of it and you will hopefully find things go OK. Just make sure your descriptions are acurate and mention any faults and there you go.

[i-love-my-sheep]

I know it's been different for some others, but me personally, never had a dispute opened, never been scammed and sales are good. I know my time will come when I get a dispute opened, cop a neg, get scammed or whatever, but at the moment, no problems whatsoever. 

The few minor issues I've had, the buyers contacted me directly. I fixed the problem for them to their satisfaction and everyone was happy. 2 were genuine mistakes on my part. One buyer got a partial refund as she was happy to keep the items, the other got sent a replacement and got to keep the defective one. The other was clearly a change of mind, but she said the item was damaged. Again, no dispute, she sent it back and she got a refund. I resold it pretty quickly with no problems.

I think in the big scheme of things, what we see here is in our face, so it's more noticable when there are sellers having issues. I think you'll find that majority of the regulars here have had very few problems. It could also depend on what you sell as to whether you're an easy target for scammers. Clothing, DVD's books I believe are easier targets.

Someone buys a dress, she wears it to wherever she was going, can't possibly wear the same outfit twice, so claims there's a problem and wants a refund. DVD's, someone buys it, they watch it or record it, have no further use for it, so claim there's something wrong with it. Same as books to a lesser degree. Buy the book, read it, say there's an issue, demand a refund.

[saarzi]

imo...

If youre in it purely for the money, and Ebay is the only platform you use, then no, its not worth it, the risk is too high.

If you use other platforms alongside Ebay (like your own website /  markets / Facebook / etc), and factor ALLLL expenses into item prices, and ALSO factor the possibility of loss into your prices/ profit margins, then its worth it.

Its only scary if you dont have other solid selling platforms, and dont count your expense properly, and dont account for loss in your prices. This goes for businesses AND hobbies (no financial security per item also means no hobby).

as for only a few sales - depends if you want a business or a hobby? 

if youre working on Ebay an hour a day, and only selling 5 items a week and only profit $12 off each item, no, its not worth it (unless youre factoring a personal wage into your expenses, and the profit is above this), when you can get a day job that pays double. If its a hobby, as long as you look after the expenses and loss per item, then who cares if you only sell one?

My advice would be, figure out what you want from Ebay and build a business plan. Plan for failure and you will never fail.

[davewil1964]

I haven't been affected, yet, by the MGB. Unfortunately 98% of my sales are here. Fortunately I have a day job.

I do have 2 defects, the oldest of which won't go away for six months, but that is on transactions > 500, so not too bad. Especially when you need 5% defects from at least 8 transactions to get booted as a seller. Forever, admittedly.

[expanded_perceptions]

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@opmania wrote:
After reading so many horror stories about scammers and refunds, mBG and so much in buyers favor I just can't bring myself to list and have let the last two lots of 100 free listings go by ,as much as I'd like to.
And now the talk of so few sales is it really worth the effort?

---

I agree with what others are saying, it is hard to see context on these boards sometimes. This is the place where you will hear the horror stories, and rarely hear the run of the mill experiences. But I also agree that it possibly depends what category you are listing in, no question that some things are targets for scammers.

But, I fully agree with you. At one stage, I actually had a fair amount of anxiety when I did sell an item, especially from buyers with low feedback or new accounts. If the sale was from a long term member than it would ease somewhat. Part of me being outspoken on these boards recently though is that, as agents eBay should be doing far more than they do in weeding out the scammers, and investigating fully when when a buyer opens a dispute. Yes, it would be time consuming, but surely safety is a part of what the high fees are for?

[cathyjoyjoy]

It is true what many sellers have stated here; either its a 'hobby' selling items on ebay OR it cannot be your only avenue for selling items.  Also, this forum does mainly highlight the 'difficult' transactions as sellers seek advice from those with experience on how to handle difficult buyers when ebay provides little consequences for them.  I have had some wonderful feedback and additional private messages from buyers who have been more than happy with their purchcased items and the feedback wasn't enough to express how thrilled they were with their purchase.

You can include 12 free photos on listings and there's ample space to be honest about the condition and item specifics - that's the most important thing.  I even will state in the description that I am "unsure about the working order" of the item.  It comes down to honesty.  For example, I'm not a clock or watch person, but I've listed a couple of pocket watches and a mantel clock.  I had a expert watch collector and seller (he is not part of the bidding, but obviously keeps an eye on such listings) send me a private message about one of the pocket watches which I assumed wasn't working.  I followed his instruction carefully and it worked !!  So there are some very nice people out there ......... much like life generally.

Also, with ebay and paypal fees, for me it's not worth selling anything less than $5.

[opmania]

Thanks for the encouraging replies everyone I have been selling clothes up until recently but as one poster said I do feel this is a line targeted by scammers . So far I have been doing really well and loving selling but have recently had a small taste of the trouble fortunately eBay have removed two lots of nasty unwarranted feedback but have said they will not do it again.
I am thinking maybe it's better to exit gracefully on a high than to slink out with my tale between my legs so to speak

[opmania]

I especially love that cha ching on the phone when anitem sells what a buzz

[chameleon54 · Accepted solution]

Like sheep & PJ mentioned, we hear all the horror stories on the boards ( and most people including me occasionally get them ). But 99.5 % of transactions go without a hitch. I had a MBG claim last night which I got very grumpy about. I was sure I was being ripped off. After talking with the buyer and viewing a photo, it turned out to be genuine postal damage. I partially refunded and we parted on good terms with pos feedback exchanged. A mundane story about the system working as it should, that normally wouldnt make it onto the forums. ( Most MBG claims are probably the same ) 

As for sales, mine have been fairly consistent with a small decline over time which can be explained entirely by slow retail sales in general and consumer caution. This is reflected in the lowest intrest rates on record, even lower than when the financial crisis was at its worst. I still make a reasonable living selling from ebay and make slightly more dollars per hour than I used to make as a qualified tradesman.

I use the 100 freebie auctions on my private account and actually find they work very well. Two weeks ago, I had an item I purchased at a garage sale for $20 have over 50 watchers, numerous bids and it sold for $315. I currently have another item I paid $50 for, listed in latest round of 100 freebies. This has five bids, fourteen watchers and is currently at just over $170.00 with two days to go.  These are real life examples of mundane succesfull auctions that happen everyday that you dont hear about.

As sellers we tend to not say too much on the forums about good sales as it just looks like we are bragging, often when others may not be selling a lot. This means the forums appear much more negative and less balanced then what is happening in real ebay life

Why not just try listing a few things. See what sells succesfully and what items no-one is interested in. Focus on the good selling items and dont waste too much time or energy on the slow sellers. Take lots of photos, give accurate descriptions of any faults, be fair and honest with your buyers. If you do have a problem, try to see their point of view. Often buyers claims have a lot of merit. When you do eventually get that difficult, obnoxious, nothing you do can help buyer, try not to take it too much to heart. Sort it out as best you can and just accept the occasional ding in your stars and defect. I,ve got fairly good figures, but they are not perfect. My stars all have a slight ding and I have a nice collection of defects spread over my selling accounts. You cant please 100% of the people 100% of the time.