1st experience with selling on Ebay left me wondering if i should continue

[bits_aand_pieces]

Hi all,

Being a new user with eBay i decided id have a go and start selling some of my unwanted items. So i created my first auction.

It was an ipad 1 starting off at $380.00 with a buy now price of $400.00.

I was so pleased that within a few hours of listing the auction that it actually sold for $400.00.

Then the reality of eBay selling started to set in. I discovered that eBay would profit $32.00 odd dollars from it. i bit steep i thought. I mean for that price there must be alternative selling methods out there.

Second whammy was when ebay emailed me to say that the auction had been cancelled due to fraudulent bidding on my auction. So they refunded me the fees there were going to take. Wow how gracious of them.

Now all of this being a new user has left me wondering even if i should continue down this road. Ive heard so many good things about ebay but if this is the norm ebay can keep it.

any thoughts anyone?

[the-kazbar]

My first suggestion would be to start with a few items that are not high risk/high scam items to get a feel for it.

List within Australia at first until you are confident.

I would also check out the bidder requirements page and select that you want new buyers to be required to do phone verification and also block bidders in countries that you do not post to.

Don't give up 🙂 It is not as easy as many think it is but you will get the hang of it if you stick with it.

[koalablue12]

Ebay charges 7.9% commission on sold items I think. If you placed an ad in the paper I doubt you could do it for less. With regard to the 'fraudulent bidding' ebay have done you a favour.

What if this buyer had sent you 'notice of paypal payment' which was not genuine, you perhap's may not have realised that there are people who can and will do anything they can get away with if they think you may fall for it. As you are very new, unfortunately you would be a target to them. You have lost nothing this time and before you decide if you are gong to relist, set your buyer blocks in place. This will stop these kind of 'scammers' from getting to you so easily. Also - a BIN is not a reserve price, so start the bidding at the 'lowest' amount you are willing to accept for your item, good luck...in the grand scheme of things most ebayers are good and genuine people.

[koalablue12]

Sorry - forgot to advise how to set BBL - Go to your account and select site preferences from the drop down menu, you will see the option to put your blocks in place. You can access your blocked bidder list via the Site map at the bottom of any ebay page, tick bidders with strikes, those in locations you don`t wish to sell to, and those not verified.

[extra-keen]

Ebay can be great fun, but do start your selling with low value items - say something you expect to sell for $2.00 to $10.00. As you feel more confident, start listing items with a greater value. It is great fun to see your auctions getting bids and if you use Buy it now format, it is a buz every time something sells.

Stick with it. The very vast majority of sellers and buyers are honest and above board. Following the previous posters advice is advisable regarding blocked bidder lists etc.

And regarding Ebay fees - yes they do seem high, but ebay without a doubt gets the best traffic, so in the end it is fairly good advertising value - I take account of their fees when I create my listings, including them in the cost of the product.

Good luck!

[bits_aand_pieces]

thanks for the replies guys,

im pretty tech savvy so i had no problem with the settting up of the auction.  i did 'tick' all the relevant spots to prevent fraudulent bidders, but that bidder did get thru.

ive taken a look at his feedback status and several sellers did state that this person was fraudulent however they gave him positive feedback (?). im assuming that this was done to prevent the sellers getting negative feedback themselves.  this throws the feedback system out the window.

yeah i agree that e-bay does have a high volume of traffic, however with the emergance of facebook auction users which dont charge any fees i think in the foreseeable future that might be an option as well.

anyway, i think ill give it another go and see how the auction progresses this time.

thanks again 🙂

[2106greencat]

The reason the buyer has 100% feedback is because a buyer can not receive a neg, been this way for about 4 years I think. Sellers use NPB in this case and buyer gets a strike, you set your BBL accordingly, and that way a buyer with more than 2 strikes can not bid.

With regard to fee's., I also think they are a bit exxy, but you would probably be looking at the same if not more in a classified paper ad etc. Of course, Gumrtree is another option, but I am uncertain of the fee's they have.

[tom_leroy_and_alexs_dad]

The only fee that Gumtree charge that I know about is to keep your ad at the top of the page. Watch out for scammers there also and never deal with anyone who mentions Nigeria.

Be grateful to ebay for canceling your auction. You could have easily lost the item and never received payment for it.