The MLP Arena
TCB => Trader & Shipping Support => Topic started by: Pheasant on April 13, 2019, 04:49:44 PM
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Hi folks!
I've been doing some spring cleaning / decluttering, and was wondering how safe the current eBay scene was these days. Last time my mom and I sold there - which was over a year ago - most of our listings ended with NPBs. It was pretty discouraging.
Most of what I'm selling is hobby / toy stuff - Pokemon merchandise, G1s / G3s, and a handful of video games - nothing of 'real' value, really. (I will probably try to sell the ponies here in the Classifieds.)
Has there been any rash of NPBs / chargebacks / stuff I should be aware of?
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I don't know about how it is with toys specifically since I haven't really sold many of those, but I've sold a few dozen items over the past three months, and I've only had an issue with two people. One didn't pay, and the other tried to con me into giving free shipping, but other than that it's been pretty straightforward.
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I sold a few LPS over the past few months and despite how strange the buying base I have had no issues thus far, but most of them were BiN listings rather than proper auctions.
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For many years, it's geared toward BiNs > auctions. People are looking for a quick buy, not a timed auction. And with that, you can set your payment for automatic so you don't deal with NPB.
As always, keep your descriptions blunt and easy to read. And take pictures in good lighting, making sure to highlight flaws. That sort of thing avoids cases.
And for chargebacks (knock on wood), I think those are pretty rare.
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For me personally, eBay seems to be getting slower and slower with the sales. It does really depend on what you're selling though. For me, video games still sell fairly quickly (depending on the game) but a lot of collectibles and toys I was able to sell quickly and for decent prices in the past have just been sitting.
As for NPBs/chargebacks- I have been selling on eBay since 2010. I have only had a small handful of chargebacks in 9 years. I can't even remember the last time I had one. I was able to recoup my funds for all of the chargebacks on Paypal by providing proof that I shipped to the confirmed address on Paypal. As for NPBs, I'm sure there are still quite a few people who do not pay for auctions or Best Offers. I personally do not run auctions very often unless I have a free promotion on eBay so I'm not sure how often it happens but it's always a risk when you try to sell that way. I also agree with banditpony, I think a lot of people today are impatient and don't want to wait for an auction to run its course. It just seems to me that lately many auctions get few, if any, bids (of course if you are a buyer this sometimes means you can get a great deal!).
My preference has always been fixed price with immediate payment required. However, one thing to note is that eBay has recently made some changes to the fixed price format. All fixed price listings are now "Good til Cancelled". What this means is that the listing renews every 30 days unless you cancel it manually. If you still have some of your free listings left it's not a problem. However, if you have already used all your free listings for the month, then when the listing renews you will be charged the insertion fee. Some people don't mind this change but I personally find it really annoying, I don't want to have to babysit my listings to make sure I'm not charged all these extra fees. So that is something to be aware of if you decide to go the fixed price route.
Best of luck with the decluttering!
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In a word? Expensive.
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I'm selling for the first time in a long time and I am wary of potential problems but meh, I guess I'll see them through if they occur.
I think it's a lot less helpful now. I admit to being guilty of using BIN more than auctions as a buyer, but the good til cancelled thing worries me with the BINs because of my being back and forth between here and London - having something sell when I'm 4 hours away and not able to do anything about it isn't ideal, so I have avoided that this time.
I would rather sell stuff here but clearing space means sometimes taking that risk I guess. I think banditpony's advice is pretty good - I always try to overstate flaws rather than understate them if I can - and make it clear that I can take more pics and answer specific questions so to ask for these before bidding. It doesn't 100% prevent idiots, which are increasingly common these days as these kinds of sites become more mainstream - but you can only do what you can do :/
I would say it's safer than putting an ad and inviting strangers to your house.
But yeah. It is ridiculously expensive now compared to what it used to be, largely because private sellers with small numbers of auctions end up shouldering the burden of costs of those who sell a lot and get the discounts.
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I haven't had a lot of NPBs, only one in the past three years.
If you list auctions, list it for the price you want it to sell at. Like, you think the pony is worth $10? List it with a minimum bid of $10. Because auctions get very few views and you may only get one bidder (if you get any.)
BINs are where it's at. BIN buyers also tend to pay immediately. Just be careful of the "Good Till Canceled" thing.
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I don't think I can add much to what's already been said :relaxed:
It's pretty slow during the summer to sell stuff unless it's something really sought after/ HTF etc , you can still get higher prices during holiday times/between Sept-Jan , and personally I haven't had as many issues with NPB . Like Lady Moondancer , if I'm not selling as a BIN (to be honest I usually do sell as BIN's these days ), then I'll list the item with the auction price starting at the lowest price I'd be willing to accept for it. That way I avoid making a loss , even if only one person bids ;)
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A bit late in saying this, but thank you all for taking the time to reply!
I've since decided to sell anything worth over $10 on eBay; anything not sold within 1-2 months is getting donated. We'll see how it goes. Thanks again. :)