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

[Brianpore]

Quote: Toss a few items up here and Ill let you know what I would have written if you want...

 

[HansderHund]



Toss a few items up here and Ill let you know what I would have written if you want...

I'd love to have your input on them, but I sell 95% of my things to German speakers. In the listing, I give descriptions in both German and English but I focus more on the German speakers. By any chance, do you happen to speak German?

 

[Brianpore]

Quote: nein

 

[HansderHund]



nein

Das ist schade.

 

[GMMcL]

Cucinelli item has 320 views, 18 watchers and 0 bids.

Dear universe: I demand my explanation.

Where's that pesky vultures circling meme when you need it.....

 

[HansderHund]

I recently opened up an Etsy store to see what it was all about. I know some here are active on Etsy, so I'd be curious to hear their take on it. The listing process is fairly simple. They seem to charge .20USD (not sure why I'm paying in $ as opposed to €) per listing and 3.5% of the transaction.

My goal is to move things that would otherwise go unnoticed on ebay. On ebay, the bulk of my sales go to Austrian and Germany. It's as cheap to send a small package to Germany as it is anywhere else in the EU, but it's still expensive. Between the currency exchange rate and shipping costs, I can't compete with sellers in the US to the American audience. Therefore, I wanted a way to list items that have the possibility of getting more eyes on them over a longer period. Etsy seems to offer that. My target is still the EU. I have written the descriptions only in English and I'm pricing items in the euro.

It's sort of an experiment right now, considering the fact that it's so cheap to list an item. If it gets no views/doesn't sell, I suppose I'm only out the .20. Right now, the pictures aren't the best and they only allow 5 pictures max. That's a problem for most items. I like to show a lot of details in pictures and I'm accustomed to using about 12 or so to give an accurate description. I put my listings up quickly, so the prices are all over the place as well. I plan on changing things up as I go to get a feel for it and see if it's something that will work.

One thing I do like about it is the ability to easily discount items or edit them. If something isn't moving fast enough, I'd rather reduce the price than wait for the right buyer to come along 6 months later. However, it would be great if they offered some sort of "best offer" option that would allow buyers to submit their version of the price.

I'll give it some time and report back on how it works. I'd love to hear from anyone's positive or negative experiences!

 

[HansderHund]



Cucinelli item has 320 views, 18 watchers and 0 bids.

Dear universe: I demand my explanation.

Where's that pesky vultures circling meme when you need it.....

I know the pain. I recently had a women's (very) recent North Face down parka listed. I had 19 watchers and the viewers shot up in the last 10 minutes. After my "auction alarm" went off to alert me that everything was over, I click refresh on the tab and I had only gotten about a third of what I had expected and what completed listings had shown.

 

[HomerJ]

Not sure where to post this but HUGE price increase from USPS for First Class International packages.

Mailed a 2oz package to Canada today and paid... $6.55.

Couple months ago I sent a similar package all the way to Norway for $3.78. That's like 74% jump lol.

 

[capnwes]

If I wasn't so bald already I would be pulling out more hair!

Has anyone else had trouble printing international labels through the paypal shipping tool (not the ebay tool)? I had to ship a package to Indonesia last night and purchased the label no problem. When I tried to print it, I first had to download and install a JAVA update. The download was apparently corrupted and the label would not print. Since you are given 24 hours to print the label, I figured I would do it at work this morning. Had to install the JAVA update here too....corrupted...again, label would not print ....again. Finally I got JAVA to update, and when I attempted to reprint the label I was informed that I had printed too many copies of the lapel. I had to void the label and start all over again. Tried to print it through google chrome...no dice. Printed again through IE and it finally worked. UGGGHHHH!

When that Java **** acts up, that is so frustrating. Ive had that happen a few times.

Follow-up ...so this has turned into a fiasco....

So, last Friday, I should have finally received my refund from the voided label. Instead, I received an email from paypal stating that my label cancellation had been denied by the USPS, because the label has shown up in the tracking system as having been sent. WTF!! This is impossible, since I could never even get the label to print in the first place.

I checked the tracing for the "voided" label, and sure enough, it shows that it was initially checked, a week later, in at a post office in North Carolina. In my opinion this is a result of an obvious, but extremely coincidental and highly unlikely mistake. I believe the label on the package in NC, having a similar tracking number, was un-scan-able. The carrier would have needed to manually punch in the number and probably typed in the wrong number....which just so happened to be the one label I was trying to void. The post office agrees with my theory

I wouldn't normally be too worried about it, except the label cost me $82. I tried to talk to paypal about it and they said the post office needs to handle it. I spent 1.5 hours at the post office yesterday, and their hands are tied too. They said paypal needs to handle it. Now I have to call paypal back and try to convince them to call or email the postmaster to verify the mistake. WHAT A MESS. The chances of this happening are about as slim as winning the lottery.

 

[Steve Smith]

^^^That is an insanely unlucky chain of events.

 

[mjt73106]

As most of you have already found out USPS rates increased substantially, especially international rates; Full details via the link.

https://stamps.custhelp.com/app/ans...~/usps-2013-postage-rate-increase-information

So much for the Fed not detecting any signs of inflation. Some of the international rates increased in excess of 20%!!!

International Price Changes Rates as of 1/27/2013 Previous Postage Rates
Express Mail Int'l (0.5 lb.) $32.59 and up $26.91 and up
Express Mail Int'l Flat Rate Box (Canada) $64.95 $59.95
Express Mail Int'l Flat Rate Box (Other Countries) $79.95 $74.95
Express Mail Int'l Flat Rate Envelopes (Canada) $34.95 $29.95
Express Mail Int'l Flat Rate Envelopes (Other Countries) $44.95 $38.00
Priority Mail Int'l (1 lb.) $27.40 and up $22.09 and up
Priority Mail Int'l Flat Rate Envelopes (Canada) $19.95 $12.95
Priority Mail Int'l Flat Rate Envelopes (Other Countries) $23.95 $16.95
Priority Mail Int'l Small Flat Rate Box (Canada) $19.95 $12.95
Priority Mail Int'l Small Flat Rate Box (Other Countries) $23.95 $16.95
Priority Mail Int'l Medium Flat Rate Box (Canada) $40.95 $32.95
Priority Mail Int'l Medium Flat Rate Box (Other Countries) $59.95 $47.95
Priority Mail Int'l Large Flat Rate Box (Canada) $53.95 $39.95
Priority Mail Int'l Large Flat Rate Box (Other Countries) $77.95 $60.95
First Class Package Int'l Service (Canada - 1 lb.) $9.50 $5.75
First Class Package Int'l Service (Mexico - 1 lb.) $13.55 $9.29
First Class Package Int'l Service (Asia, Europe Australia - 1 lb.) $15.08 $11.60
First Class Package Int'l Service (Other Countries - 1 lb.) $14.63 $11.26

 

[hucklecat]

Anyone else have low sales the last week? Just wondering as we still list the same type items and for the same price as always, sales are down by 75% for USA buyers. International not down much which is odd due to the USPS price increase.

 

[GMMcL]



Anyone else have low sales the last week? Just wondering as we still list the same type items and for the same price as always, sales are down by 75% for USA buyers. International not down much which is odd due to the USPS price increase. 

Yes. Luckily, I chose last week to list my Anderson & Sheppard cashmere SC and NWT Cucinelli moleskin trou. Both sold, and at a profit (barely on the Cucinelli), but very unsatisfactorily. And I DID heed the warnings about the Superbowl: None of my items ended Sunday. All ended either Saturday or Monday (thinking folks would be looking for a distraction after the big game was over). Still got screwed.

 

[mjt73106]

Anyone else have low sales the last week? Just wondering as we still list the same type items and for the same price as always, sales are down by 75% for USA buyers. International not down much which is odd due to the USPS price increase.

About the same in number of items and a little increase in $ value. Too many variables to draw any conclusions in regard to Super Bowl.

 

[Steve Smith]



Anyone else have low sales the last week? Just wondering as we still list the same type items and for the same price as always, sales are down by 75% for USA buyers. International not down much which is odd due to the USPS price increase. 

The last two weeks have been pretty weak for me. I won't be listing any more sweaters until October or November, got killed on a few cashmeres.