topic Re: Seller identity in Selling

Seller identity

sydneyromer — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 23:00:27 GMT

I am just trying to sell second hand clothes and accessories, not so much but more than 50 items, this translates to my personal info being distributed to 50 strangers ( assuming I sell them all but they are almost free, the prices unbelievable) Is there any way around this? Please let me know.

Many thanks

Re: Seller identity

curraone — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 23:08:12 GMT

No, the buyer needs to know who and where you are.

On the bright side, 50 potential buyers will need to expose to you their postal address and email address, and send you money, trusting you will send them their item.

And I would spend some time making your title and desciptions longer, e.g. this is an illegal title, because there is only one book, you need to put the title, author, etc.

Second hand/used books

Re: Seller identity

horizon1907 — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 23:06:21 GMT

Uhhhhh 😞 and your question being ? I don't quite understand ( or is that just me ? )

Re: Seller identity

bigbrickshop — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 23:23:57 GMT

If you don't want buyers having your home address you could get yourself a PO Box and use it for all sales and purchases.

Re: Seller identity

thecatspjs — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 23:55:34 GMT

eBay and paypal do not provide full address details on sale and payment advices, only suburb and state.

If a buyer requests contact information they can get your registered phone number, but you are sent advice that they have made this request, and in all my selling time on eBay I have only ever had one buyer request my phone number via eBay (rather than directly) and that was to organise a pick up straight after sale.

You could always leave off your address on parcels you send and run the risk of them not being returned to you if they are not able to be delivered, or get a po box as suggested by another poster.

Re: Seller identity

i-love-my-sheep — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 00:39:01 GMT

Not trying to be picky, but, I would start your 99c auctions higher because if they sell for 99c, by the time eBay takes their cut for the sale price and postage and if the buyer pays by PayPal, they will take their cut, you will be out of pocket. It's fine to list things low to almost give them away, but you don't want to have to pay out of your pocket for people to take them off your hands.

Good luck with it all!

Re: Seller identity

sydneyromer — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 03:16:16 GMT

Thank you very much Curraone.

Re: Seller identity

sydneyromer — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 03:21:59 GMT

Is this allowed on ebay?, sorry...just wanting to know more accepted ways on this new endeavor .
Thanks.

Re: Seller identity

sydneyromer — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 03:27:40 GMT

Thecatspjs, Thanks, I was referring to the address on the parcels, I am getting the impression that this is really the only way to go - must disclose actual name and address.

Re: Seller identity

sydneyromer — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 03:35:45 GMT

i-love-my-sheep, Thanks for the input, I thought that the .99 was only a bid starting point and that we can always turn down bids.

Do you mean to say that if you put a buy offer of .99 then the transaction will go thru without me having any say? Has that ever happened?

Thanks heaps for the well wish.

Re: Seller identity

clarry100 — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 03:43:11 GMT

If you start at 99-cents and you only get a single bid at that price and the auction ends you are commited to complete the sale at that price.

So if your costs are more than the 99-cents then yes you will be out of pocket.

Re: Seller identity

curraone — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 04:00:09 GMT

@sydneyromer wrote:
I thought that the .99 was only a bid starting point and that we can always turn down bids.

Do you mean to say that if you put a buy offer of .99 then the transaction will go thru without me having any say? Has that ever happened?

It happens all the time - there is no reserve on these kinds of auctions - all your items might go for 99c if you don't change your starting price.

Your return address on postage items can be a PO Box as mentioned earlier. The buyer is going to end up with your name, email, phone number, town so they can find out your address if they really want to, I wouldn't worry about it really.

Just work on your listings to give good titles and descriptions, with a reasonable starting price. Good luck from me too.

Re: Seller identity

peri-landlubber — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 04:25:32 GMT

What the other members might have forgotten to say, the postage & handling has eBay final value fee on it as well & on top of that there's Paypal's commission to handle that money as well as whatever U sell the item for.

($0.99 + $7.20) x 9.8% = $0.81 + (Paypal $0.30 per item + 2.4% of the total they collect = 50 cents).

So without turning around those 2 conglomerates are charging you a minimum of $1.30

In your postage U need to charge for wrapping the item, especially if it's bubble wrap.

Re: Seller identity

medalsbadgespatches — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 04:26:44 GMT

Hi Sydneyromer, I won a .99 cent auction once with free post. Cost the seller over $13 for postage.

Think long and hard aboout .99 auctions because if they sell for .99 you are obligated to fulfil the contract with the buyer.

Re: Seller identity

i-love-my-sheep — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 04:28:48 GMT

@sydneyromer wrote:
i-love-my-sheep, Thanks for the input, I thought that the .99 was only a bid starting point and that we can always turn down bids.

Do you mean to say that if you put a buy offer of .99 then the transaction will go thru without me having any say? Has that ever happened?

Thanks heaps for the well wish.

As mentioned, if you only get one bid, you are committed to the transaction. You can't end the item early because you didn't get the price you wanted, it's a breach of policy and you can get into big strife.

When I first started, I listed everything at 99c, because I thought it was the way it was done, and everything was selling for 99c, so I was losing money big time. I was paying eBay more than what I got from the sale. I soon learned to start the auction at the minimum price I was willing to accept, also factoring eBay's fees into the starting price. Even now, most of my things sell with just one bid (although last night I had multiple bidders which was a nice shock!).

Re: Seller identity

bene308 — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 04:50:11 GMT

I'm not sure if the books would see for more. If a buyer looks at it with postage of $7.20 they can buy the books cheaper online. Would it be better to offer books as a bulk lot so it's only one postage cost like a 3 kg parcel

Re: Seller identity

i-love-my-sheep — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 05:47:51 GMT

How thick are the books? Would they be less than 20mm/2cm where they could go either in a padded bag or a cardboard envelope? If they are only thin, I'd post them as a large letter.

I guess you could sell them as a lot. If they could be sent as large letter, I'd definitely put the price up, add in what postage would be (you can work it out on the Aust Post postage calculator - sing out if you're not sure how to use that), a bit more to cover eBay's fees and list with free postage.

If you can give us the dimensions of the books, we can probably help out as far as postage costs go.

Re: Seller identity

cherry*135 — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 08:40:29 GMT

eBay still has that little pop-up when listing an item that recommends starting an item at 99c. They really shouldn't have that anymore as there is not much chance of a seller even coming out even at that price.

Re: Seller identity

sydneyromer — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 08:45:19 GMT

omg!, don't want to be non compliant, thanks again for your generosity in sharing your experiences.
Hope you have more shocks!

Re: Seller identity

sydneyromer — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 08:53:29 GMT

(Good luck - noted) many thanks!!
I came to terms with it now - my info
I will do - work on my listings with clearer adjectives and will be more realistic with the prices.
I really appreciate your inputs.