a poorer and wiser man

[Yorkshire Sam]

Had a spring clean of my garage ... or my man cave as SWMBO laughingly refers to it. Got a lot of old tools that have been renewed, replaced or no longer used, etc and decided a clear out was in order. Normally all this kind of stuff would go in a charity bag, dustbin or what ever but her ladyship says no... put it on ebay ... earn yourself a bit of money... Ha.
After following advice, keeping it interesting, low price, keep the postal charges reasonable etc. All the stuff does eventually sells at something or other ( most much to my surprise ) with the odd one or two going for the original .99p but hey do I care the postage is payed for so I proffed!
Then came the charges, not only do ebay get you coming with an insertion fee, but get you going too by charging you not only a final fee but a percentage of the postage too! Why should ebay get a cut of the postage charge which they do nothing at all for?? Then a feed back that two cold chisels where not as described ...( how do you improve a description of a couple of close quarters photos...) thus rebate insisted on and got! So by the time I have packed parcels, rundown to the post office, got proof of postage, replied to fatuous comments from ebay, etc .... I am out of pocket and out of patience. How you traders get on with it I just do not know, I take my hat off to you. Then to cap it all ebay tell me they are hanging onto my money for 3 - 4 weeks .. just in case??? In case of what! They must be earning a fortune in interest from retained money! The only money that has been made from my clean up is ebay. Its not a experience I would care to repeat. Next time... my recycling bin is going to be heavier! Sorry rant over!

 

[nathandavies]

maybe sell stuff on here. most things seem to go eventually

 

[Mike.S]

Interesting observations.

I've put-off selling stuff on ebay but briefly considered it when I recently cleared out my Dad's house - however, a very short completion date and logistical problems (I live 40 mins away) prevented that. Felt terrible throwing away taps, dies and sundry old tools, which, whilst of modest value, would have been appreciated by someone. Even worse was breaking up an old oak veneered wardrobe (great back panel etc all from proper wood - no hardboard, MDF in sight).

Before rambling too much, when I looked into ebay I found that they changed the commission to include P&P as many sellers were loading the P&P charge to include part of what would normally be the start price - in order to avoid part of the commission! So, I sort of understand why they did it.

 

[deema]

Stick it on Gumtree, it's free. Just like eBay, but free.

 

[carlb40]

Ebay have now started 20 free listings per month for private sellers. Due to the fees on postage, i now add that fee and a bit more to cover my time etc to package / post items.

 

[RogerS]

'Chisels'...would that be as in "eBay are chiselling pippers" ?

 

[Spindle]

Hi

Surely it makes sense to offer items on here in the first instance, (assuming they fulfil the conditions of the 'For Sale' forum).

Regards Mick

 

[RogerP]

I sell quite a lot on eBay and have been doing so for 14 years. I dislike the company's policies and attitude, but if you want maximum coverage and maximum price it's the only place. I reckon with PayPal charges (same company) between them taking 15% - which is the same or less than a "real" auction house "seller's premium". I wish they had some proper competition but they do not.

Selling is a bit of a black art, part of which in knowing what to make the starting price.

If it's a popular item and you're fairly sure there will be several/many bidders the a .99p start is okay.

BUT if it's specialist item that's a fools game.

So set the start price high and hope just one, maybe two if you're lucky, will want it enough to bite the bullet and bid. Usually works for me but you do need to know precisely what you're selling, the item's rarity, is it a difficult to find item and it should also be the only one of its type currently on eBay

 

[Otto]

You could always look at similar items and their p&p charges to get a feel for how much people will pay and then decide whether it's worth entering them on eBay. There's also the option to view recently completed auctions to give an idea of a reserve.
Food for thought anyway.

 

[Random Orbital Bob]

for any tools I would seriously recommend advertising here first. Think about it:

A tailor made target audience i.e. a special interest community that you know is likely to be interested.
No fees
Helpful comments and opinions about the nature/use of the goods.
Some measure of reduced risk because of the peer pressure in an open forum (not unlike the feedback system on ebay).

I've bought and sold about 6 times through here. It's always been positive, I've received great quality tools at reduced cost and actually met some delightful fellow wood-workers. This forum is a really useful resource make no mistake.

 

[MMUK]

What I don't understand is how eBay are getting away with charging a levy on postage. It is illegal to do so here in the UK :?

 

[RogerP]

What I don't understand is how eBay are getting away with charging a levy on postage. It is illegal to do so here in the UK :?

... I would imagine eBay's large team of lawyers think not. 8)

eBay's excuse is to stop some unscrupulous sellers charging excessively for P/P but, of course, all it has done is to generally put all postage charges. I now add on 11% to the stamp cost.

 

[rafezetter]

What I don't understand is how eBay are getting away with charging a levy on postage. It is illegal to do so here in the UK :?

They do it because for years now sellers have been putting items on "buy it now" for 99p, thus essentially avoiding sale commission fees and charging £40 postage, which previously was not part of the ebay fees system.

Naturally Ebay didn't like this creative fee avoidance and slapped a charge on that too.

I don't like it either, but I can understand why.

Sadly rather that have a fee for sale and a fee for postage and charge whichever is the greater, they've been greedy f*ckers and kept both.

As another said though, it's still the largest open market for items, and that's what keeps it from being boycotted by most sellers.

 

[RogerP]

eBay + PayPal (same company) together take roughly 15% of a sale. The average provincial auction house takes at least 15% from the seller and another 15% from the buyer - most often more from both + VAT. The big London auction houses take eye-watering commissions.

Gumtree is owned by eBay. Advertising on this board is okay but, or course, limited to certain types of items and the audience to a few hundred (perhaps?) against the many millions on eBay.

 

[chippy1970]

I've sold tons of stuff mainly Festool items on there with great success. Yeah they take a percentage but I wouldn't be able to sell stuff privately for anywhere near what I get on eBay.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[devonwoody]

Some years ago a neighbour of ours passed away and he had spent his retirement of 20 years in his fully equipped workshop. He had most probably spent thousands on equipment and the building etc.

His main passion was making clocks. His widow told us that the contents went for around £250. (I reckon new retail was around £15k)

His widow died very shortly afterwards so I always think perhaps neither lost financially.

But it will most probably happen to all of us who retire with this lifestyle.

So its ebay or the other thing.