Is it LEGAL to advertise items SIMULTANEOUSLY on different e-commerce sites?

[artforartssake]

I have a number of household items (beds, wardrobes, tables etc) which I will need to sell QUICKLY prior to moving to a new apartment next month.

To expedite the sales, I’m considering listing them SIMULTANEOUSLY on eBay, Gumtree and Qsales.

If I use the “Buy it now” option i.e. NO AUCTION, is there any problem with this strategy? Do I need to mention on each of these three sites that I’m also advertising on the other two?

And what would happen if an item was sold on two of the sites at the same time?

Any other ideas as to how I can leverage this plan to EXPEDITE sales and MAXIMISE proceeds?

[elusiveeditions]

Hi OP- some great advice here! that I can't add to much- except to say this can be done, if you're diligent/fast about it.

Eg, I've frequently purchased some small/cheap items from an ebay seller who simultaneously lists the same stock on gumtree. Every time I've purchased an item on here, this seller whips the ad off gumtree quick smart (I've checked).

Yes, you could get yourself in a right pickle, and it is riskier the higher-priced the items are... but it's not impossible. And def. not illegal.

Best of luck regardless.

[elusiveeditions]

Oh, I just realised most of your items are pick-up only. So, the rules are:

1) No paypal for pick up. Cash on collection only.

2) You immediately lose all seller protection by not accepting paypal- c'est la vie, but it works just fine provided the buyer inspects, agrees and pays in cash as they collect.

3) Legality doesn't immediately come into it- you're not acting illegally by listing on 2 sites- you could list on 20 selling mediums if you had them. Legality rears its head only when things go bad- and they won't if you're careful. Eg- don't dangle 2 buyers at once etc.

I'd list these items on both ebay/gumtree. Yes, use BIN not auction. If it sells on one pull the ad off the other. QS has such low selling rates I wouldn't bother, it's just more admin for no return.

Sounds like you've a fair task ahead of you... enjoy and good luck again 🙂

[englishrosegardens]

I assume with gumtree they just ring you and can't actually buy on the site.  If this is the case I wouldn't bother saying anything about it being listed elsewhere.  When people contact you, just tell them the first one to hand over the money and pick up the item gets it, otherwise you could have people asking you to hold it for them so they can have first look at it and then never turning up.  If they can't actually buy it on the site, they'll have no idea who else has contacted you, and for all they know you could have sold it five minutes before they got there. 

I'd probably hold it long enough for someone to drive there (the time it takes for their trip) but no more.  We once advertised a fridge and several people wanted first option on it but none turned up.  We had to re-advertise it but we were smarter by then and said first one to show up with the money got it - and it sold it a few hours.

It used to be the rule on ebay that you couldn't list here and somewhere else at the same time, but I have no idea what the rules are now.  They keep changing things and it's hard to keep up, but I'd imagine the rule still applies because everything is about "the buyer experience".

[artforartssake]

thanks for the help!!

I think that settles it then: Ebay and Gumtree only B.I.N., no auction, and no need to mention the dual listings!

Is it ok to state that the only payment method accepted is cash on collection?

I thought it was COMPULSORY to accept Paypal for ALL sales

[englishrosegardens]

I don't know much about gumtree but I'd assume you can stipulate cash on collection only. From other threads I've read, there's no paypal protection for buyer or seller on gumtree, but if they pay by paypal and don't pick it up you could run into difficulties if you've still got the items when you're ready to move.

I'm not sure about ebay but I'd assume paypal is compulsory. There'd be nothing wrong with saying "cash on collection PLEASE". I'd have something at the very top of the description saying the items have to be picked up within X number of days, and give yourself plenty of spare time.

[elusiveeditions]

Hi again OP,

No, it's not compulsory to ACCEPT paypal. It's compulsory to OFFER paypal, as an option.

That is- to sell on ebay, you must 1) have a paypal account, 2) link your paypal account to your ebay account & 3) offer paypal as a payment option (whether people use it or not).

Yes, you should put 'cash on collection only' in big letters in your ad. Ebay don't prohibit this at all- it's well within policy- they just don't encourage it.

The problem with accepting paypal for pick-up items is that your buyers can potentially claim INR (item not received)- in which case ebay & paypal will almost always find in favour of the buyer, UNLESS you can prove 'delivery' of the item. What they like, as proof of delivery, is a tracking number from Australia Post or a courier- eg, something from a 3rd party they can check online and is independant of the seller. (there is much argument about this.. I'm summarising here a tad).

Clearly this can't be done for pick-up items like furniture (what tracking? They just turned up & took it away) however, EB/PP will find in favour of the buyer no matter what other eveidence you have (such as, a signed receipt, a photo of the buyer loading the item into their car, a photo of the pope doing the chicken dance)- historically all these things have failed.

As such, for pick-up items ALWAYS take cash only, and make that point hard in the ad. Some people won't read it, but that's not your fault. If someone pays by paypal and wants to come collect it- refund their money back via paypal and send a polite msg saying thanks, but it's cash on collection ONLY.

Also, if/when you have buyers turning up to buy/take the stuiff away- make sure they INSPECT it beforehand. Don't let them fob you off with "I don't have time now, I'll just take it, it looks fine". That opens the door to claiming SNAD (significantly not as described)...another long story.

Apologies for giving you more **bleep** to follow! And, well done to you for doing your research beforehand. Pls don't be put off, this can work out well, it just takes some work 🙂

[i-love-my-sheep]

Sorry Elusive, but even if the buyer uses PayPal for a pick up item, there is still no buyer protection, so they can't claim INR and can't claim SNAD. The only risk to the seller is if the buyer paid through PayPal with a credit card and they can then claim a chargeback for the card.

[elusiveeditions]

Ah ok, that's a good point. No need to be sorry.

OP- pls accept this adjustment to my rantings.

[artforartssake]

thanks guys, I think I've got the idea

HOWEVER, you won't believe but I just got a HUGE and UNPLEASANT shock from Ebay today

I have been preparing my listings over the past 2 months or so and storing them in Ebay's new "drafts" feature, thinking that they'd be there for ever until submitted for sale

Some of them I haven't edited for a few weeks as I was just waiting till closer to the time of moving out, (which is shortly) and was planning to upload them all at the same time

Imagine my shock when I went to check them today and they've ALL DISAPPEARED!! that's about 7 or 8 carefully prep'd listings that I've spent hours on, and they're gone

So I took a closer look at the rules around the Drafts and it says that they will be removed if not edited for 30 days

I just cannot believe it!! All that work gone and now I'll have to start all over again and the pressure is on

Is there anyway I can get my drafts back??

[springyzone]

We had exactly the same situation last month when clearing an estate. We had bedroom suites, tables, a lounge suite, garden seats etc to move. Gumtree is very successful for these sorts of larger items that are pick up only. It is almost useless for small items, so remember that if you ever have to buy as it is a buyers market for small stuff.

Here is what we did.

-We listed the large  items on ebay but not as buy it now, we had auction format but ending in 5 days (7 days is better, depends on your time line though. We wanted auctions to finish by Thursday so people would pick up on thew weekend as we were not living in the house where the things were stored).

-At the same time, we listed the items on gumtree.

----------------------------

Here is what we found.

-Gumtree buyers will try to beat you down in price, so always ask a little more for the item to allow for this.

-Ebay auctions go up, so start them at the lowest price you are prepared to accept. Be realistic as you do have to move it all.

-On no account pull the ads off either ebay or gumtree till you have a sale.

You will be in control as you will know exactly when the ebay auction is due to end.

-If someone from gumtree contacts you, you should be keeping a close enough eye on your ebay ads to know if there has been a bid or not. If there has been no bid, no problems, let the gumtree people come and have a look and hopefully buy. If they do buy, all you then need to do is delete the ad off ebay.

-But what if someone has already bid on ebay in the meantime? You would simply need to go into the ad and list it as item no longer available.

-. As soon as an item had an ebay bid, we waited it out and if we had any queries from gumtree people, we actually told them we would contact them if the ebay buyer did not turn up

Gumtree is great in that you are not paying any commission.

Results? Ours varied. We ended up selling a couple of things on ebay for the same price we could have sold on gumtree (we had buyers waiting), so we lost out, and on a couple of other items we made more on ebay eg wall unit that did not sell at all on gumtree @ $30, got about $77 on ebay.

I tried Q sales but got not one enquiry. Looks like a good site but I don't think it is well known.