Buying and Selling on eBay: Tips, Tricks, Problems & Questions

[GMMcL]



Why wouldn't you just cancel all the bids, then end the auction?

Didn't know you could cancel bids. I thought you just had to end the auction. I agree with ATLNoob, that may solve the problem, though I wonder whether they'll figure out a way to close that loophole.

EDIT: Just read Brian's post. They obviously picked up the loophole. OK, Brian, I get your rationale. But it seems to me this is one of those "The beatings will continue until morale improves" kind of deals. The reason people are going outside the system is because the fee structure and seller protections suck. Increasing fees and decreasing seller protections isn't going to have the intended effect. It's just like the music industry jacking prices and cracking down on pirates.

Rant over.

Is canceling bids available to all Ebay sellers? I'm too cheap to pay for anything other than the default free account.

 

[Brianpore]

Quote:
Pretty sure everyone can cancel a bid (buyer or seller) or pretty much any reason until the last 24? or is it 12? hours.

I'm not saying the business model is good/bad, just passing the info along.

 

[TheNeedMachine]

My tips for spotting potential fraudulent sellers:

100% feedback rating doesn't mean much, even if it's 100+ feedbacks. Look at what items the feedback was left on. There are people who sell "Recipe for Grandma's most delicious cookies" for 10 cents and send you a text file recipe, and from those you can rack up 100 positive feedbacks for ten bucks in a couple hours. There are also "front" sellers who will sell you, say, a paperclip for a penny or ten cents; you don't really pay them but the seller marks it as paid, leaves you positive feedback, and you do the same for them in return using your other ebay account.

A seller deals in trinkets and baubles that they sold for cheap, got good feedback, then suddenly has a slew of high-end items.

Sellers photos are very inconsistent...some are glossy & nice, others are taken at the kitchen table = stock / swiped photos.

Here is a perfect example: This person bought a lot of things priced under a dollar or were private so you have no real idea, racked up feedback, and suddenly came into a pile of pricey watches...all auctions ending at the same time, by which time they have gotten paid, withdrawn the cash, closed all their accounts, and yes - you might get your money back but your credit card company takes the hit and you got nothing for your troubles. I'm not saying this person is in fact a fraudulent seller, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's how these auctions turned out. Being in Thailand doesn't make them any less suspicious. I found them when looking for an Audemars Piguet 18k watch - was contemplating a bid on theirs because $199 start bid is cheap as hell....when I said "hold up, let's read those feedbacks first." Looked at other items for sale - Omega Speedmaster?? Tag Heuer Carrera?? From a guy who has been buying phone charms and ****? No way...

Too good to be true always is. Not usually - always.

 

[mjt73106]

Pretty sure everyone can cancel a bid (buyer or seller) or pretty much any reason until the last 24? or is it 12? hours.

It used to be you could cancel a bid up until the auction ended, but it may have changed to the last 12 hours or other time constraint.

 

[grendel]

Got a question if I would ship these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/140837641726?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

to South Africa. Anyone have any troubles with shipping there?

If I can get these in the medium flat rate priority box, is that tracked and covered by eBay?

Any feedback on this?

Also, when are you guys gonna start listing fall stuff? I've got a bunch I want to list, but I don't want to start it too early.

 

[mjt73106]

Any feedback on this?

Also, when are you guys gonna start listing fall stuff? I've got a bunch I want to list, but I don't want to start it too early.

I have only shipped one item to SA and had no issues. Not much help. I am already starting to sell sweaters, so it is already happening. . .

 

[Tristan.sf]

Express Mail or First Class Mail with Registered Mail; see Brian's post or look back a little earlier in the thread if you want more information. I hope that helps.

So remind me again, which shipping service is best to use internationally, say, to South Korea? I mean for my protection with reliable tracking and everything.

 

[TheNeedMachine]

So remind me again, which shipping service is best to use internationally, say, to South Korea? I mean for my protection with reliable tracking and everything.

I shipped something to the Ukraine recently, with Registered mail / tracking, and the last thing I ever saw was "processed though sort facility" in New York. From that point on it was no man's land and I only knew that the buyer got it when they left me feedback. I gave him the tracking # so he saw what I saw, and he could have easily said he never got it - and I'd have no proof otherwise via the tracking # / usps.com. So I'm not bothering with international any longer if I feel the need to protect myself. Which isn't to say you should avoid international sales - most folks are honest everywhere. I just don't know of any tracking that will prove they got it...only of ways to insure it so that if there's a claim you are covered in that way (shipment loss vs. buyer claim).

 

[Evil Abed]

A question for you ebay pros...

Some of you may remember that crazy Corneliani ID jacket I picked up a while back with the zip out cashmere sweater thingy. I figure now is prime time to list it with the fall clothing season underway. I notice there's a guy on ebay selling a similar coat (not as nice) NWT for only $129, and is stocked with multiple sizes.

In your opinions, does his low nwt offering hurt the potential amount mine could make if offered at the same time? Or do you think they're different enough that buyers will know the difference and bid accordingly?

Post with mine.

 

[taxgenius]



Saw this and thought about bidding...then I read their feedback: [COLOR=FF0000]negative 2[/COLOR], sold the same bag twice before and refused to complete the transaction both times as they apparently wanted more money.  Wow, what a tool.

Amazing he got 56 bids on that one.

 

[Brianpore]

A question for you ebay pros...

Some of you may remember that crazy Corneliani ID jacket I picked up a while back with the zip out cashmere sweater thingy. I figure now is prime time to list it with the fall clothing season underway. I notice there's a guy on ebay selling a similar coat (not as nice) NWT for only $129, and is stocked with multiple sizes.

In your opinions, does his low nwt offering hurt the potential amount mine could make if offered at the same time? Or do you think they're different enough that buyers will know the difference and bid accordingly?

Post with mine.

Just a quick glance, and they look the same... going to be hard to get more then he is selling them for NWT unless you can show the differences...

 

[bytor13]

A question for you ebay pros...

Some of you may remember that crazy Corneliani ID jacket I picked up a while back with the zip out cashmere sweater thingy. I figure now is prime time to list it with the fall clothing season underway. I notice there's a guy on ebay selling a similar coat (not as nice) NWT for only $129, and is stocked with multiple sizes.

In your opinions, does his low nwt offering hurt the potential amount mine could make if offered at the same time? Or do you think they're different enough that buyers will know the difference and bid accordingly?

Post with mine.

I'd say his price certainly does affect yours, though you have some possibly important differences IMO, at least to the right buyer. Your piece is a different color and a smaller size (IIRC) than the one currently in stock from this seller, so if you wait it out you might get lucky. I don't know what you were expecting price-wise from it, but I imagine you might have to settle for a bit less than that. Also, I know that what the seller is offering isn't fake, but I don't like the lack of label and close-up pics, which is something you've already shot.

 

[VLSI]

I'd say it hurts resale a lottttt

 

[ruben]

^yeah

Though as novel s your jacket is, I wouldn't have though you'd get more than 80% of his price tops.

 

[Mox C]

I know that proper photos and presentation can be important for sales in general, so when I came across a little-used studio light set for half the price of new, I jumped at it. I've been wanting a monolight set for a while now, but haven't been able to justify the cost. At this price, it was a no brainer. I already have a flash meter.

I finagled the mannequin a little bit so that the sleeves present a bit better and don't just flop flaccid, and this is what I've come up with. I'm pretty happy with it.

The shirt is a little over-exposed, but that's easily corrected. I don't have much room to work with, so I wasn't able to separate the mannequin from the backdrop. I ended up using a gradient fill in Photoshop. I'll have to see what I can do about that, as it adds too much time to the workflow.

Have you high-numbers guys played with presentation on eBay and do you notice a difference? I imagine you have to be careful how much effort you put into it, as even a little bit of extra time for each item can add up to a lot in total.