New ebay seller questions

[gazzy90]

Hi all!

I've been a member on here quite a while and have a lot of feedback.
I've also been on ebay quite a while but I've only bought so far and so I have 34 stars as a buyer.

I recently acquired some greek ponies which I need to sell and since I haven't received any good offers for them here, I was considering ebay. The problem is I haven't got any seller feedback.
So what should I do?
Just go ahead and list them or try to sell some cheaper items first to get some seller feedback?
The thing is I spent a lot of money for these ponies so I need to sell them asap. So not sure if I can do the second.

What do you suggest? Would you buy from someone that hasn't got any seller feedback yet? I mean everyone has to start somewhere! And my first pony would be under $100 anyway.

Or is there a chance that anyone could help me hosting the auctions? I know that's too much to ask, I was just wondering if it's a possibility.

Also, since I'm at it, I have a couple of questions concerning ebay sales:
- Do you think it's better to always send your items by recorded delivery so that you have proof of postage? Or is that only for more expensive items?

- How much do ebay and paypal charge you for a sale? For example, if you sell a pony for $100, how much will that leave you with, more or less?

Thanx guys

[halbarad]

I personally wouldn't buy a $100 item from a seller with no feedback, however if you have already bought items, you will show up with your buyer's feedback, not 0 feedback. Unless the buyer goes all the way to check your feedback page to notice it's all for buying and not for selling, they might not worry about that. So I'd say just go for it
As for the other questions, I'm sorry I can't be of any help

[Prismatic]

I always get delivery confirmation, even on a $2 item.  But I've only sold within the us.  If I sold a $100 pony internationally, I'd probably look into at least insurance on it if not some sort of confirmation.  Insurance didn't cost much.

Ebay charges 11% on a sale, plus a listing fee (tho with at least us ebay the first 50 you sell a month are free listing) and I don't know paypal's off the top of my head.  If you look under the seller info on Ebay they should have a breakdown of their charges.

I buy from lower feedback sellers a lot and have never had a problem.  Be informative in your listing, and I think you should be fine

[Eskara1862]

It's sounding like you need the money fairly quickly.  If that's the case, then eBay is not the way to go with selling the Greek ponies.  They'll hold your money for either 21 days or until 3 days after delivery confirmation shows it as delivered.
Count on loosing approx 20% of the items selling price to fees with PayPal and eBay.
You can always try listing an "auction" here at the Arena and accepting offers.

[Ringlets]

Have you tried to sell them here recently?  On the old Arena a lot of people were having trouble getting on or posting replies, so that may have affected your sales too   perhaps try one more time here before going to ebay , as ebay can be pretty expensive.
As far as buying from you on ebay (or anyone else with only buyer feedback and not seller feedback) I think everyone has to start somewhere and I wouldnt have any problem with that at all
I would definitely recommend sending items by recorded delivery , especially more expensive ones like Greek ponies. You never know what kind of person is going to buy them and you dont want to risk getting scammed by anyone on ebay.  For much lower valued items it depends on your country as to whether to go for recorded delivery - for example here in the UK it isnt necessary for items valued under £46 as the PO will refund you if it gets lost as long as you keep the  PO receipt, but that isnt the case in the US. I dont know about Greece. If they dont refund you for lost items that werent sent by recorded delivery then ii might be best not to risk it

[Sea_Breeze]

Eskara is right. I just got back into selling on eBay and its SO frustrating. The withheld funds are a JOKE. Honestly I would try here & the trading post a little bit more to drum up sales. Ebay at a last resort

[gazzy90]

Thank you for all the replies and advice guys.

20% on fees is a lot!
I don't understand why people even bother selling items for 1 or 2 dollars, how do they ever make a profit?

And I've heard about a lot of people being disappointed and fed up with ebay...and it sucks that they hold on to your money for so long!

I guess I'll try on here for a while longer and then maybe try ebay...or maybe not? 
Ive always managed to sell my greeks on here, even if I had to wait months. And it's such a nice and friendly community, I always feel safe when selling to someone here.

[banditpony]

There are a lot of things on ebay that suck, but it's not completely awful if you know what you are doing.


I personally like that ebay holds fees for newer sellers, especially if they are selling harder to find items. Why? Because it ends up being safer. I don't like holding fees for 21 days, but I do like holding fees until 3 days after item is confirmed to be delivered... OH and I DON'T think they should hold shipping, I think that's... horrible. ( x_x; thats my personal opinion though).



If you list your item AUCTION style, then it's 9% of your total.
If you list your item BIN then its 11% (if its a pony) for up to initial $50, then 6% afterwards to up to $1,000.


PAYPAL fees are 2.9%+30cents


I don't think that adds up to 20%, but I'm not good with math...... that why I use some tools that are available online for estimating if its worth it to list something on ebay X3

Here is a ebay fee calculator : http://www.rolbe.com/ebay.htm

Here is a page with the fees : http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html , the highest fee charged is 13% and it depends in what category. There are often insertion fees too, but they have 50 auctions free every month.


I had a discussion of what my fiance thought of "high" fees, since he sells vintage camera equipment on ebay. We both came to an agreement that even with high fees, there is a lot of exposure you can get on ebay to sell items as compared to a specialized forum.

[gazzy90]

Thanx a lot banditpony, that's a lot of useful info!

I'll definitely check out the pages you mention when I decide to sell on ebay.
I'm quite scared though