Have you ever bought or sold something on eBay?

[kenny]

Have you ever bought or sold something on eBay?

 

[ruby59]

Yes, I have both sold and bought on ebay.

 

[armywife13]

Bought-yes, several times. Sold-no.

 

[chrono]

Haven't sold a thing but I've purchased books, music CDs, toys, settings and gems.

 

[erinl]

I started buying on ebay with gems. Started selling toys and household goods. The experience has been almost all positive. Now I throw ebay into my regular rotation of online shopping sites.

 

[Kaleigh]

Bought yes. Sold no. But would like to....

 

[Rhea]

Both bought and sold. I haven't done much of either, but levi's discontinued my jeans so I've been buying a few pairs there.

 

[iLander]

Bought and sold to customers all over the world.

237 feedbacks, all 100% positive, knock on wood. Active member since 1999.

 

[Niel]

I bought my marquise and my wedding band off eBay.

 

[diamondringlover]

I have bought but I have not sold...even though I think about doing it all the time...not sure what holds me back, it just seem intimating to me

 

[kenny]

Wow!
So far 92% have used eBay.
I never have.
Maybe it's time for met to get with it.
I have lots of stuff to sell.

... but how do you get started with zero feedback?

 

[isaku5]

I have both bought and sold on eBay with great results.

That being said, I'm not sure that I would buy a big ticket item unless I either knew the seller or had exchanged several e-mails with him/her.

 

[erinl]

Kenny--

I had bought several things on ebay before I tried to sell anything, so I had that as positive feedback. I think it depends on what you are selling as well. Selling diamonds with 0% feedback would probably be difficult.

They have apps for iphones and androids for ebay sales. I don't like to complete my entire listing on the phone (too time consuming for me) but I really like it for taking pictures of my items to start off the sales item. I found photo shoots and then uploading pics to my computer and then uploading to ebay was the main annoyance that prevented me from getting the item listed.

I have gotten 100% rates on 90+ items, with detailed descriptions of why the buyer liked dealing with me. And I have sold some toys and collectibles in really damaged packaging. I find if I completely describe what is going on with the packaging opposed to overselling it, then I am good. I also package items nicely-- I am the queen of bubblewrap!

As far as buying, I have purchased new items for my kids, toys, etc. A lot of vendors have online stores and sell new items. I have bought gem scales, calipers etc. I have also used it as a place to find items that I couldn't find in a store anymore.

 

[kenny]

Thanks Erinl.

I didn't know buyers had ratings too.

So with no rating would anyone sell anything to me?
Won't they think I'm Satan?

 

[chrono]

It is easy for a buyer with no rating to buy something. I made my first purchase with zero feedback. After each purchase, the seller will rate me for promptness of payment and whether I was a good / easy to deal with customer. In return, I rated the seller for the condition of the item, promptness of shipping, customer service and etc.

 

[erinl]

Kenny--

I know you were joking, but in seriousness once you click buy and pay for it the vendor pretty much has to sell it to you! You have to have a paypal account though.

 

[Enerchi]

Bought - 28 times
Sold - 0 (no idea how to go thru the selling process and way to ignorant to figure it out! Total Ludite here when it comes to technology)

All but one of my OECs for my RG DBTY came from eBay! All of my experiences have been very good and all products have been just what was promised.

 

[kenny]

So, when selling how much do I lose to eBay fees and PayPal fees?
As a seller, do I also have to pay for shipping and insurance too?

 

[erinl]

Kenny--

You can decide if you want the buyer to pay for shipping or if you offer free shipping. A lot of the stuff I sell is under 15 bucks so I don't included free shipping, otherwise I would be sending the stuff basically for free!

I haven't looked in awhile regarding fees-- I think it adds up to about 10-11 percent to ebay, and about 3 percent to paypal? And I think it depends on what kind of a store you run-- big volume etc. They have it listed, but I haven't really bothered to read up on it-- the stuff I was selling needed to go regardless of fees.

Ebay also takes a chunk of the shipping-- I think years ago people would charge 99 cents for an item and then some outrageous amount on shipping, so that the seller wouldn't lose that percentage to ebay. For example, years ago i bought this huge cat tree that was 2 dollars, 80 dollars shipping. But ebay copped onto that and included a fee on shipping too so sellers can't trick the system.

 

[qtiekiki]

So, when selling how much do I lose to eBay fees and PayPal fees?
As a seller, do I also have to pay for shipping and insurance too?

I've bought and sold a few times. Ebay recommends buying a few things to have a good feedback before selling, I think. I did that.

Here's the ebay fee calculator: http://www.fees.ebay.com/feeweb/feecalculator

Paypal fee is 2.9% + $0.30 for payment $0-$3000.

You don't have to offer free shipping or free insurance. I usually charge for shipping and offered insurance for a fee for items >$100.

 

[AGBF]

Bought and sold to customers all over the world.

237 feedbacks, all 100% positive, knock on wood. Active member since 1999.

I joined after you, iLander, in January of 2001, but have almost 750 feedbacks (all positive). Well, one person left a neutral, but she was new and didn't know any better. I refunded all her money, but I got stuck with that one neutral many years ago and it still rankles! Yes, I bought and sold. Except for during The Auction for America, where I sold red white and blue jeweled pins and socks and stuff for the charities to support survivors of 9/11, I think all I ever sold was Lilly Pulitzer or Vera Bradley vintage bags and clothing. That was a while ago. Since then I have only been buying.

AGBF

 

[monarch64]

I've sold several things but have only bought one thing. I'm a very casual user.

 

[charleston1]

Bought probably 25 times and sold 0 times. Its so much easier to buy than to sell!

I have bought purses, dvds, cheap jewellery, etc. The most I have spent on an item is about $300.

Ebay is also great for buying out of season. I was going to Mexico in January and wanted flip flops and of course there were none in the stores but found exactly what I wanted on Ebay.

I have thought about selling but honestly it seems like a lot of work and then I talk myself out of it.

 

[marcy]

I've bought quite a few items on Ebay and sold a few things.

 

[Ally T]

Both. And I have raised most of the £1,000 I need for my new hand made pear setting through selling unsused jewellery & handbags. It has been a really positive experience, and I have been amazed at how much money I have raised from things I don't want

 

[dk168]

I have bought and sold jewellery and other items on eBay.

More a buyer than a seller though, and I got my fingers seriously burnt with hefty fees when I tried to sell some jewellery a few years ago, and have learnt my lessons.

DK

 

[CrazyBirdLady]

I have purchased over 100 items on eBay. I love eBay and look at the site daily. I haven't sold anything on there but I've been meaning to.

 

[Aerix]

I've bought and sold on eBay. If you really dig through the listings and know what to search for, you can find great deals sometimes. I sold a few things before and just recently started selling more on there (mainly jewelry from my ex.) I don't really like the 10% eBay fee (it used to be less before) but I found that it can be faster than selling on DB or LT and if you have something with a brand name, sometimes you can get more than you would selling on either of those sites too. I agree that it would be best to get some feedback from buying stuff before attempting to sell anything.

 

[arkieb1]

I don't think it matters that you have zero feedback, we all have to start somewhere. I have bought and sold (mostly sold) over 1000+ items I have over 800 all 100% positive feedbacks on everything, but in the early days not everyone left feedback.... Both ebay and Paypal (which is how most people pay) take fees which are clearly listed on each site. I have purchased items from Ebay sellers all over the world, Australia, the US, Japan, Korea, Thailand, China, the UK, France, Italy, Germany just to name a few....

It is your choice who pays postage you can offer free postage and insurance to attract more buyers or when you write an ebay listing there are boxes which specify how much postage you wish to charge. It's handy to have a postal calculator on another screen that way you can type in the measurements of the item the weight and get the max cost shipping it anywhere in the US. In Australia we have prepaid satchels which I buy in bulk this is the cheapest way to ship things around to anywhere in Australia. So, postage it is a flat rate which is the cost of the satchels for the customer + insurance...

I would however recommend the following;

1) Set up a separate small bank account that has no fees for Ebay items so that you transfer cash from it and to it from Paypal and then from that over to your regular bank account. You could also encounter people who do not have a Paypal account that wish to wire you money directly to an account. Having a small separate account JUST for ebay will help prevent the main bank accounts that you own being hacked.
2) Unless you want people at your home specify no pick ups on your items. I have people all the time wanting to pick up small items to save on postage costs. If you sell a lot of items this is a huge pain in the butt because you can wait for half a day for someone to turn up to your house and they can be late, or mess you around etc. The only exception I make is when the item is huge like a piece of exercise equipment for example and it cannot be sent cheaply via the postal system.

 

[makemepretty]

Both. I have 1,070+ all positive feed backs. I'm picky about what I buy and picky who I sell to...now. I've only been scammed once, I did get my money and the scammer got my laptop. It left an old paypal account in the negative, which saddens me because papal has now changed their rules so today I would not have been penalized. I sent it signature confirmation and they signed for it but then said they didn't authorize the charge. Luckily, I had already transferred the money out of my account. Overall it's been great though.