Looking for advice

[Preston]

Don’t laugh we all have our idiosyncrasies.

I want to start using the Market place for sale section.

I don’t know nothing about packaging and posting, don’t know what it costs, who pays?

I don’t trust the post from experience.

I don’t have a PayPal account and I don’t want it.

I don’t want checks, I've always dealt with cash, how does postal order work and is it possible to use that instead?

If I say collect only, would it offend people that are not local?

If you are thinking "don’t sell if you have all these issues". My tools will just rot away as 90% of them are not used anymore. And that would be a shame if not a crime.

 

[Graham Orm]

Is this a joke? Unless a potential buyer is on your doorstep you're wasting your time.

 

[AndyT]

I know from your other posts you have a lot of nice tools and from the picture here you have enough plane irons to stock a shop. So I am glad you are taking action.

You need to decide whether you want to maximise your income or whether you mainly want your tools to go to someone who will use them.

For max income you should sell on here or on eBay but to do that you have to put in some work. Taking photos, packing and despatching all take time and effort. You can buy or scrounge packaging but you need to make a proper job of it. Millions of packages get delivered very efficiently by the mail, but I suggest waiting until after Xmas.

To use eBay you must open a PayPal account. Again, millions do so perfectly happily.

If you don't want to put the time in to selling, you need someone to buy the lot. That means a dealer. The only London one I know of is Hackney Tools, who posts on here a bit.

Alternatively, you could put them all in an auction. There are two specialist tool auctioneers, neither very local to you, Tony Murland and David Stanley.

If I lived in Middlesex, I might be giving you different advice! ;-)

 

[Rhossydd]

I don’t know nothing about packaging and posting, don’t know what it costs, who pays?

Either price it inclusive of posting or specify a postage and packing fee. The later is usually better if you're prepared to allow collection in person.

I don’t trust the post from experience.

Seems a bit daft given the rest of the world uses it every day. The alternative is couriers, but that might add complication and cost.

I don’t have a PayPal account and I don’t want it.
I don’t want checks, I've always dealt with cash, how does postal order work and is it possible to use that instead?

If you're only prepared to deal with cash, you're significantly reducing the number of people that can, or are willing to, buy from you. I assume that direct bank transfers are similarly unacceptable.
Postal orders are a nuisance for buyers to use compared to most other common payment methods.

If I say collect only, would it offend people that are not local?

Offend ? no, they just won't buy from you.

 

[Graham Orm]

Preston, what you are saying is that you want your buyers to come to your door with cash for perhaps a £20 plane iron. How many people would travel to do that? Unless you find someone right on your doorstep your only option as Andy says is a dealer. I honestly thought your post was a wind up.

The best way to sell them and get the money you want is on Ebay using Paypal.

Have a look at Gumtree. It's like a local paper but on line. I've sold lots of stuff on it. You get loads of time wasters but it's cheap and local.

 

[Karl]

Seems a silly way of trying to sell - i've seen from some of your other threads that you clearly have quite a few items to sell.

Could you not get a close trusted friend/relative to sell on your behalf on e-bay?

Cheers

Karl

 

[RogerP]

eBay, PayPal and Royal Mail are fine in my experience over 13 years and countless sales.
Heavy/bulky items send by carrier - Parcel2Go is easy and cheaper than RM for many items.

Budget for 15% commission eBay/PayPal combined.
Full P/P cost are normally met buy the buyer.
Don't waste your time "collection only".
Postal Orders are a pain for both parties.

Buy a very large roll of bubble wrap and a stock of cardboard boxes.
From market or car-boot I pay £6 for a 50cm x 100 meter roll of bubble wrap
Boxes cost me 10p-20p each from market stall.
You'll also need Sellotape and parcel tape.

Good luck

 

[Preston]

Thanks guys, I do appreciate all the advice from all of you, I guess having a PayPal account is going to be unavoidable.
Andy, Hackney tools is a very nice man. He's already taken some cream from the top and said he would come back for more, I guess Christmas is not the right time for buying tools in bulk.

 

[Richard T]

I was a bit dubious about paypal before I tried it but it turns out to be very useful and so far harmless.

Posting and packaging is a bit of a pain but maybe if you sold a lot of things at once, trips to the post office might be reduced. :deer

 

[RogerP]

I was a bit dubious about paypal before I tried it but it turns out to be very useful and so far harmless.

Posting and packaging is a bit of a pain but maybe if you sold a lot of things at once, trips to the post office might be reduced. :deer

My advice is NOT to sell more than a few items ending at or near the same time. It's all too easy to get in a muddle responding to buyers, checking payments, labelling parcels etc. And don't forget carriers will also collect your parcel for very little extra.

 

[MickCheese]

My wife runs a postal business (Not selling tool by the way)

She sends out many parcels every day and you could count on one hand the amount that have any problems in a whole year so those that tell you things get 'lost in the post' are generally lying, there is the occasional one but not to the extent people would have you believe.

She sells through a website where people usually pay with PayPal. There are two issues with them, the first is the cost, they seem to take a small fortune in fees. The other is their reluctance to deal with issues in a sensible manner and the fact you just cannot get anyone to talk to when things go wrong and as the seller they always seem to be on the side of the buyer.

As for packaging we are always rummaging through the supermarkets empty boxes for ones of the right size to recycle. Boxes are expensive and she uses Special Delivery which is extortionate.

Do you have enough tools to sell to wait until there is a woodworking show and have a stand there?

Good luck.

Mick

 

[RogerP]

My wife runs a postal business (Not selling tool by the way)

She sends out many parcels every day and you could count on one hand the amount that have any problems in a whole year so those that tell you things get 'lost in the post' are generally lying, there is the occasional one but not to the extent people would have you believe.

She sells through a website where people usually pay with PayPal. There are two issues with them, the first is the cost, they seem to take a small fortune in fees. The other is their reluctance to deal with issues in a sensible manner and the fact you just cannot get anyone to talk to when things go wrong and as the seller they always seem to be on the side of the buyer.

As for packaging we are always rummaging through the supermarkets empty boxes for ones of the right size to recycle. Boxes are expensive and she uses Special Delivery which is extortionate.

Do you have enough tools to sell to wait until there is a woodworking show and have a stand there?

Good luck.

Mick

Must agree on the "missing parcels" the only ones I had "lost" were those I didn't send registered. Strange that :roll:

PayPal only charge the seller much the same as any other card and less than some - 3.7% + 20p (or close to that). The only problem with PayPal I've ever had was sorted out over the phone (free 0800 number) by a very helpful guy.

I gave up rummaging in supermarkets for boxes and just buy mine in batches of 60 flat-packed from a trader at the local car-boot. Did a stand at a show once - terribly expensive plus fuel getting there and only few buyers.

 

[deema]

I can only praise PayPal. It has my opinion many advantages. No one knows your bank or credit card details details for one, and I only transfer enough money into it for what I have bought. It's purchase guarantee is first class.

The other brilliant thing about it is, unlike a credit card, PayPal guarantees the quality of a product down to the last penny. Credit Cards normally guarantee only any item over £100 (not a purchase of several items that together add up to over £100). They actually pay up as well. I have had a refund of £650 for a machine and a few smaller amounts over the years. A little bit of work to do to get your money back, but nothing that takes more than 10 minutes.

On selling items, I have found that starting things at 99p is not only the cheapest way on eBay, but also the best way of getting people interested and achieving the highest value. Place a sticker on the item if you have more than one, with a number. Photograph it highlighting any defects. People like to know what they are getting. Describe it in full, and again highlight any defects. The sticker will assist in identifying which item goes to which person.

Respond to questions quickly, and post promptly. Offer collection which a lot of people like to do. Don't over price postage as a way of 'boosting' the price. People know what postage cost.....and it invariable causes poor feedback.

Once your up and running eBay is a great way of getting rid of your surplus stuff....and I do mean almost anything. One mans rubbish is another mans gold.

I was like you completely against eBay a few years ago.....now I don't know how I would live without it.

 

[tobytools]

I've sold loads in the bay, never had a problem if the item is recorded, when a item wasn't it got lost, funny that. Shifting all those tools with out ebay and pick up only will be tough, good luck.
Even better, you could go to the David stanly auctions and have a stool, lots of tool lovers there.

TT

 

[MIGNAL]

He has a lot of stuff to sell. That makes packing and trips to the Post Office a lot more efficient. He just has to time things so that sales and posting items are all done at a similar time. Alternately he might be able to do it all by courier and collection from his door.

 

[Preston]

Thank you Mignal, he appreciates your help