I hope that this thread is not considred inapporpriate and that it may benefit others as well.
I’ve purchased model railroad equipment from ebay over the past several years and have been satisfied, overall. I’m seriously considering selling model railroad related items on Ebay, as some of you have been doing so for a while now.
Being green at this…I’m hoping that you’d be willing to share your tips, experiences and suggestions for persons wanting to sell their items on Ebay and “not get burned” [B)]in the process.
I know there’s a seller’s section on ebay, but as with many things, it’s good to hear/read from those that have actually gone through the experience themselves. [;)]
Probably seems goofy, but among the puzzlers for me are
“How much do I charge for shipping?” especially since a winner could be located in Huntsville, Alabama, Seattle, Washington or New Brunswick, Canada. Do I just look for the maximum rate of the maximum distance from my town to the furthest point of the North American border?
Do you guys have a shipper that you prefer? US Postal Service, UPS, Fed Ex, RPS?
After a successful sale, how much of a commission does Ebay get from
Well, just like choosing a DCC system, I hope you’re ready to do a lot of reading. Although your questions are straight forward and general in nature, your needs will be different for many reasons, so it would be in your best interest to determine what you want to get out of selling on ebay. There have been a few threads in the past that have dealt with the same topic of selling on ebay and here are two that I found through the search function. If you read through them you might get some pretty good tips from the posted replies:
Selling on eBay
Train buying and selling on ebay…
As far as ebay fees, shipping methods, and what not, your best source for information on those matters would be from ebay itself. Maybe these links would be of benefit to you, especially the eBay University one:
Hope you find this information helpful and don’t take the easy way out by not doing research. If you want to succeed and get the most for your sale items, read and learn all you can before you start to list things on eBay. Good luck.
Stick to US Mail for shipping, reliable and easy to deal with, even across borders.
Do sign up for a PayPal account, it will cost you a small percentage of your sales, but will lead to more sales - people don’t have to go to the bank or post office to get costly money order, then mail it. They will require a credit card from you as well as a bank account number. After you have sold some items, you can have them transfer the funds directly to your bank account or credit card. Or you can leave it with them and use it to buy stuff on your own. Many people open up a separate bank account just for such dealings if they are leery of using their main account. The greatest thing about PayPal is most auctions are paid for quickly after they end, and you can mail out the parcels right away, getting rid of everything. Waiting for money orders (never accept checks!) can sometimes take a long time.
Be honest in your descriptions of your items, including any defects, flaws or broken items. Good photos go a long way to showing potential buyers what you are offering. eBay will host photos for you, and you can add additional ones through a free Photobucket account.
I’ve been dealing with eBay since 1999, moslty as a seller. It’s been a valuable resource for me, and I’ve sold items I never could locally. Got great prices for some stuff, only lost money on a few oddball items.
I hope that this thread is not considred inapporpriate and that it may benefit others as well.
I’ve purchased model railroad equipment from ebay over the past several years and have been satisfied, overall. I’m seriously considering selling model railroad related items on Ebay, as some of you have been doing so for a while now.
Being green at this…I’m hoping that you’d be willing to share your tips, experiences and suggestions for persons wanting to sell their items on Ebay and “not get burned” [B)]in the process.
I know there’s a seller’s section on ebay, but as with many things, it’s good to hear/read from those that have actually gone through the experience themselves. [;)]
Probably seems goofy, but among the puzzlers for me are
“How much do I charge for shipping?” especially since a winner could be located in Huntsville, Alabama, Seattle, Washington or New Brunswick, Canada. Do I just look for the maximum rate of the maximum distance from my town to the furthest point of the North American border?
Do you guys have a shipper that you prefer? US Postal Service, UPS, Fed Ex, RPS?
Why charge a handling fee if you get free boxes from the USPS, recycled stuffers (newspapers, bubble wrap, etc.)? About the only thing you may pay for is the tape at less than a buck a roll. I usually avoid sellers that charge a “handling” fee, so AntonioFP45, I hope you don’t decide to charge a handling fee. Other than that, the rest of rolleiman’s tips and experience is very good advice.
The tape I use runs about $100 for a case of 24 rolls. But your package will still be taped when it arrives. Cant’t say as much for the box. [:-^]
For domestic shipping, I charged USPS priority mail price plus a buck or so and change to round up to even money. After all, it does cost for tape, shipping labels, gas to the post office, etc. But I don’t try to rape the customer on S&H.
For international shipping, I’ve found USPS usually runs a few dollars more to most anywhere. I send Int’l stuff usually by air letter post. Usually $15 or less.
Once in awhile, I undercharge shipping. Usually by less than a couple bucks. Oh well, I just have to eat that. Just cuts a little off the top. No big deal. Win some, lose some.
Insurance is always available, at the customers request and expense. Same with delivery confirmation, and /or other add-ons.
I NEVER ship until funds have cleared.
If using that ePay site, always leave feedback after item is shipped. I’ve found if you don’t leave feedback, the buyer may not. Feedback can be good.
I am very grateful for your willingness to help. You’ve all given me an excellent, solid footing to start on…and I won’t take the easy way out. In addition to saving this thread, I will do my own thorough research as well now that I know what to specifically look for.
You’re right, depends on the tape. I can buy some at the Dollar Tree and it’s pretty good tape. I’ve used the same tape on the boxes that my girlfriend and I used when we moved to this apartment last August. If the tape can secure all the boxes we used including four boxes stuffed to the limit with train stuff and not fail, I’m very confident that it’ll hold the ends of a box together for shipping.
Yes it costs money to drive to the P.O., to buy tape, labels, and what not, I personally find when a regular Joe adds S&H to the shipping cost to be as bad as over charging for shipping. One or two dollars may not seem like much, but charge that amount to 30 people and you just made 30-60 dollars extra, may as well charge minimum wage for the time it takes to package the items. To each his own, but like I said, I usually pass up sellers that tack on S&H.
I second this advice, as someone who buys a lot on ebay (and have sold quite a bit as well) – it really does pay to accept paypal. I get extremely upset (at myself) whenever I buy something and then find out afterwards I have to go through the trouble to write out a check and mail it in. Its generally my own fault though for not reading carefully enough-- but as a BUYER-- the people you want to attract – it makes me feel really annoyed when I can’t just pay with paypal and get it over with. The people who accept paypal get paid immediately by me, while the others (sad to say) get paid when I remember and get around to it. Fortunately for me most of the sellers I’ve encountered accept paypal.
The other thing – as a BUYER – that really, really, REALLY pisses me off, is when you get a pretty good deal on an item only to find out the seller’s gonna SOAK YOU for the shipping. I generally put them on my little list of sellers I won’t buy from again. Sometimes I buy stuff even knowing I’m going to get bilked on the shipping-- but it really raises my hackles and makes me want to avoid the seller the next time.
I get the same feeling when sellers say they’ll “combine items to save on shipping” and then instead of getting soaked for an astronomical amount, they only whack you with 90% of a huge amount-- “uh, gee thanks there Bud!” They get added to my list as well. Having sold a fair amount of stuff on ebay (not trains yet so far-- but will soon) I have a very good understanding of the actual, true cost of shipping, packing, handling and the whole lot. Most sellers are mostly reasonable, but a few make you want to drop-kick them into next week!
Another lesser annoyance, as a buyer, is when a seller isn’t as honest as s/he could or should be in their listing.
A couple of cases in point-- a few months ago I bought a supposedly nearly-new F3 (or similar, don’t recall exactly) locomotive from a feller on ebay. Wh
#1 Always be honest with the buyer. If you make a mistake fess up. If you make a mistake and it costs you extra to cover your mistake, so be it. You will earn a lot of goodwill by doing this and it will keep the buyer happy and hopefully your 100% seller feedback rating intact.
#2 Even though it takes a lot of time to pack well, be thorough in this area. There is nothing worse than buying that special freight car you have been looking for for years only to have it arrive with a broken stirrup step. If an item is flopping around in its manufacturers box, pack around the item to keep it from floating before putting it in the shipping container. Don’t underestimate the time it takes to do this, either!
#3 USPS has free Priority Mail boxes. You can order them online and they will drop them right at your door at no charge. Most boxes come 20 or 25 to a flat as I recall. Depending on what you’re selling the shoebox style boxes are a decent all around size. Get some label stock - I use 8 1/2 x 11 size sheets that have an approximately 6" x 8" label on them and then I use the USPS site to create the label and apply the postage. You can do this with all the players - UPS, FedEx, etc. So once the package is packed and the label applied I just have to drop it through the hole in the wall at the Post Office. If you’ve packed it well (see above) this should not cause any damage. If you are worried about something getting damaged in shipping you probably haven’t packed it well enough! Ship promptly. I always tried to ship within a day of receiving payment via PayPal. More often than not it was the same day. This always impressed the buyers.
#4 Like somebody noted above, use the free TurboLister. It’s a big help when putting auction items up because it allows you to create a shell with all the usual fine print. Then you just have to concentrate on taking the photos and adding the item description.
One reason to charge a “handling fee” is that it takes time to pick up and item, wrap it up carefully and put it in the box, tape it up, get the label ready, label the box, and get it down to the post office. As a previous poster pointed out, gas is $4 bucks a gallon these days-- but even when it wasn’t, it was still an expense that adds up.
If you’re selling one or two items then it isn’t that big a deal-- in fact, it would be overkill to charge a handling fee. But if you’re in business using ebay, and you do that day in and day out, it all adds up-- and it costs you actual real money. So you can handle it one of two ways-- ignore it and take the hit, or else try to figure out an “equitable way” to spread that load around, ie. the “handling fee”.
Of course some sellers milk it for all its worth. But most, I’ve found, are reasonable about it. And the same can be said about shipping fees in-general.
Yes, don’t under-estimate the hassle of being an ebay seller! It may not seem like a lot of work, now before you’ve tried it, or if you’ve only sold a couple of items, but keeping up with it full-time can be a challenge sometimes, especially if you’re successful at it. One thing that can be a big help if you’re full-time: hire a local teenager (or your kid, or spouse), they’re often willing to help with the packing and labelling for a few extra bucks. Just be sure to keep a sharp eye out so the right items go into the right boxes and are packed well.