Selling on ebay

[Clay]

Well, after picking up a half-dozen Masterpiece Primes for $20 a piece a couple of months ago, I think it's time to start selling them.

I've never sold anything on ebay before, though. I know it requires a credit card to pay the ebay fees, etc, but what else?

How does one configure the shipping calculator? Do I need to weigh the package ahead of time to know what weight to put in?

I also don't have a paypal account, and don't entirely plan on getting one (mostly because I do not have a credit card of my own). Will that hurt the auction?

Would it be better to just have them "BuyItNow" for $35 or so instead of auctioning them off one at a time?

[Denyer]

Originally posted by Clay
Well, after picking up a half-dozen Masterpiece Primes for $20 a piece a couple of months ago, I think it's time to start selling them.

They came down that low? Ouch. So much for any other masterpiece TFs being produced in future...

My usual formula is to stick in a baseline (minimum I'm willing to accept) as the opening bid, a buy-it-now that's competitive compared to whatever other listings for that product are up, and let them run.

Generally, I wouldn't put up too many similar or identical items. Weighing in advance is an obvious, as is checking out airmail prices to a few destinations (bear in mind that most of the rest of the world didn't get these on release—there's definitely a market; I'd probably be interested myself were the things not so large to display and heavy to ship.) Not offering an online payment option is likely to hurt your chances of shifting stuff, especially this close to Christmas and especially with your overseas market.

[Clay]

Originally posted by Denyer
They came down that low? Ouch. So much for any other masterpiece TFs being produced in future...

Well, it just depends on the store and the manager. I have one walmart close by (the one I picked them up from), and two within a thirty minute drive or so.

The two that are farther are a little more urban areas (for Kentucky, anyway), and those two stores actually sold out of them fairly quickly at retail. The area I live in with the store closest to me is a little more backward, so their stock didn't move at all. So, it just depends, I suppose.

My usual formula is to stick in a baseline (minimum I'm willing to accept) as the opening bid, a buy-it-now that's competitive compared to whatever other listings for that product are up, and let them run.

That sounds about what I planned to do, except I thought about putting them up as a commodity item under a buyitnow with a stock of 5 to hopefully simplify things. Of course, that may actually complicate them by having to keep track of essentially five auctions at the same time.

Generally, I wouldn't put up too many similar or identical items. Weighing in advance is an obvious, as is checking out airmail prices to a few destinations (bear in mind that most of the rest of the world didn't get these on release—there's definitely a market; I'd probably be interested myself were the things not so large to display and heavy to ship.) Not offering an online payment option is likely to hurt your chances of shifting stuff, especially this close to Christmas and especially with your overseas market.

Well, the problem about paypal is twofold:

1) I'd have to use my dad's credit card or the like, and thus not actually be the beneficiary of the auction. (credit cards are a horrible, horrible invention designed to financially enslave the populous, which is why I don't have one, but that's another matter entirely).

And 2) I've never used it before, so I won't know the routines.

But you do have a good point. The FAQ said auctions with paypal are 50% more likely to end successfully, so the pros probably outweigh the cons.

I don't mind selling them to members of the board, but I'd rather do it through ebay so there's some recourse for me if I get jipped. I made a deal to sell one to someone on this board at-cost a few months ago, and decided to trade the difference for a couple of basics I couldn't find around here, and got the shaft because of it. But, that's my fault.

But you just not wanting one because of the size? That's just weird, man

[Sir Auros]

Originally posted by Clay
How does one configure the shipping calculator? Do I need to weigh the package ahead of time to know what weight to put in?

Offer a wide variety of shipping options, including the cheapest ones available and hope the damn thing works. I wouldn't recommend it with international shipping options...actually, I wouldn't recommend shipping internationally at all since it seems many people outside of the US just can't follow instructions when the shipping calculator fails to caculate shipping for their countries.

[Denyer]

Originally posted by Sir Auros
it seems many people outside of the US just can't follow instructions when the shipping calculator fails to caculate shipping for their countries.

Don't use the shipping calculator—just add a clear note for all international bidders to email you and wait to be invoiced before sending payment. Much simpler, especially when you know your country's postal services.

I'd say about a third of the stuff I've sold has been to the US / rest of Europe / Australia / Japan.

Originally posted by Clay
That sounds about what I planned to do, except I thought about putting them up as a commodity item under a buyitnow with a stock of 5 to hopefully simplify things.

Do you have existing eBay feedback? Some selling options aren't available to users with below a certain feedback rating—it limits the number of people who sign up, scam and disappear with the money.

Originally posted by Clay
credit cards are a horrible, horrible invention designed to financially enslave the populous

Not if you don't use them to borrow. They add a significant safety factor to internet transactions—whereas I'll trust, say, Amazon.co.uk with a debit card, others I generally wouldn't.

Originally posted by Clay
you just not wanting one because of the size? That's just weird, man

It's a bit like I wouldn't want Fort Max. I would, however, like a colour-accurate version that was smaller. The closest thing has been the Takara RobotMasters version.