General Chat

I can see me annoying the life out of you Kaye. I will tke on board all that you have said, and will get back to you if i need any extra advice You'll be sorryyyyyyyyyyyyy . LOL Thanks Kaye. Deanna X

That's something you need to be careful about - you want some idea of what you want for your item. You can start bidding at 99p, but there is always the risk that it will only sell for that - I find it's better to start a little nearer the minimum I want for my item, it costs a little more to list (only pennies), but you make up for it with a half decent price. You also need to be competitive - no good putting something on at £30 for example if someone else is selling exactly the same for £10. Have a look to see if anyone else is selling something similar - will give you an idea on postage too. Remember that things like Sewing Machines will require a fair amount of packaging, so don't forget to add that extra weight on and the extra cost of it onto your p&p. It's worth over-packing something, than risking it arriving at it's destination broken - you'll be obliged to refund the buyer if that happens. It sounds complicated at first but you'll soon get the hang of it. Kaye x

Getting REALLY excited now. Obviously I want to make something out of it, but the main thing is to *make space * in our tiny little house! I will take all the advice you all have given me, and look to postage costs first. THEN, I will decide what to ask... or do you think it is better to Auction it? I saw some things for 0.99p... do they do any good? I'd hate to put that down and end up selling my lovely sewing machine for 0.99p.... :-0( Deanna X

As Lorraine said be as honest as you can be in your listing - to avoid any problems after your item has sold. Obviously you don't want to make your item sound naff, but if you fail to mention something important about the condition or working order, then the buyer could get their money back if not happy. I find it best not to write loads and loads - I can never be bothered to read great long listings - you just need the relevant info. If you put it on for say ten days, just sit back and hopefully watch the bids go up and up! Kaye x

Good luck Deanna with your selling on ebay. I love doing it but I spend too much time watching my items and never get round to doing anything else! I buy quite a bit too so whatever I make profitwise goes straight back out. Never mind, it is good fun. But like it has been said previously, weigh your items so you know what to charge. A lot of buyers don't realize that the postage includes packing so don't undercut yourself. I did with the first few items I sold but you soon learn. I also found it was best to see how other people listed their items to make them more eye-catching. And, be very honest with your listings. Love Lorrainex

You need to have some idea of how much you want for your items - if you're not bothered then just start with a really low starting bid. You can put your things on bidding only (auction) and you decide at what price to start the bidding, or you can put them on a fixed price listing - you have one price only where someone can buy it now - no bidding. With heavy things like that it might be worth a trip to the post office to find out the best way of posting them and a rough price. You can put your items on for up to 10 days - that's up to you. When you log into My Ebay just click on the 'Sell' link at the top of the page and you go through the listing process step by step. When you've got the hang of how to list then it may be worth downloading their Turbo Lister programme which makes creating your listing easier and more convenient. Kaye x

So what exactly happens? I have an electric sewing machine (well used, and good working order) a 5.5 inch B/W television Radio combi (unused Christmas present) an Electric typewriter ( working, but who needs it.... I've got my puter!!) and a Button Accordian , which needs the strap fixing(not a big job) (which is too heavy for OH now) That is only what I can acctually SEE from here! What do you think? Deanna X

It is fun, Deanna and addictive as Kaye has already said. I love to buy stuff on there and get well excited when I'm the highest bidder....Hubby is selling his bike at the moment and we have 4 'watchers' -one guy is genuinely interested and has made some tentative enquiries. There are a couple of days left for bidding so I am imagining a 'pistols at dawn' scenario....gosh how sad am I? LOL Aileenx

It's quite addictive this buying off the internet business isn't it lol Ebay is very addictive - I have threatened to change the password more than once to stop Hubby spending all the profits! lol Have fun with it - it's so exciting the first time you sell anything. Kaye x

Thanks Kaye, I will. I feel Quite excited at the minute, and OH is already looking for 'musical instrunments'..... TO BUY!! Yesterday I was worried about buying a book from amazon. I must have become very couragous over night! LOL Thanks to you too debs. X Deanna X

Hi Deanna - I use Ebay all the time - in fact I've got an ebay shop. It's so easy to use - you have to pay a fee to put your stuff on there (listing) which varies depending on how much you start your bidding at, but it's quite low. You also have to pay a Final Value Fee - this is small percentage that you pay on the final bid price of your item - it's kind of like commission. Yes the buyer pays the postage costs, but it's best if you state how much they are in your listing. To get a rough idea of how much p&p to charge you could have a look at similar items on ebay, but I weigh all my items and then check how much they will cost me to post and then add £1 - £2 for packing fees etc. If you go to the Royal Mail website you can use their postal calculator - just put in the weight of your item and it will give you the different postage options and how much they all cost. If you want any other advice just pm - happy to help. Kaye x

the buyer pays for postage, guess on postage and packaging cost at first till u use to it or take items and get them weighed before u put items on e bay.

Do any of you use E bay, and can you tell me how? I've just had a look and am seriously thinking of joining , and getting rid of all the things I've been keeping..... *just n case!* I need to know... does the seller pay the postage? And if so, how do you decide what to Charge for the postage? sorry for being an idiot, but it all knd of frightens me. Deanna X