eBay 2019
I used to sell on ebay (years ago) and just went on to try and sell something. It's completely new, and I'm a bit hesitant to use it, Seems much more geared towards bigger sellers and not little people like me. Does anyone still sell as a hobby, not big ticket items? After all the fees, not sure it will even be worth it, seriously. Just looking for advice from current sellers, pros and cons.
Thanks
Bessie I just read an article on LVL about a seller getting scammed on eBay. I found the comments on the article more interesting.
https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/northampton-county/2019/02/seller-loses-hundreds-in-ebay-fraud-scheme.html
OP on the phone I’ve sold recently, and if you just follow the basic selling features (just like the old days) it is just fine. You can upgrade, and use their marketing tools, etc. but you don’t have to. Just do a basic sell and it’s just like before.
tripsy I had an E-Bay store with hundreds of products for 15 years. I finally shut it down last year, and stick strictly with Amazon and my own site. I'm sure it's still fine for people who don't sell too many items, and sell antiques collectibles ect. For any small business owner I would say don't bother. Every year they find a new way to screw sellers with fee's, new listing formats, feedback rules ect. I can also say they have the absolute worst customer/tech support I've ever encountered. 9 out of 10 calls get routed to the Philippines, and the people who man those phones are completely clueless. It just wasn't worth the aggravation anymore. I still use it to find unique items as a buyer I wouldn't be able to anywhere else..
Denis They let people bid/win then not purchase. Between that and the fees, I won’t use them.
Facebook Marketplace and local “garage sales” and other local selling groups on Facebook is the way to go. You won’t give up fees.
PSJust as tripsy said - stick to old format with no special upgrades, especially for printing postal labels, and you will be OK. You definitely will get much more money for rare items selling on eBay than selling them on FB Marketplace or virtual garage sales sites - people there want everything dirt cheap and also assume that you are so desperate to sell your unusual item that you will bring it to convenient for them location and place. Nobody is expecting to pay more than $25 for any rare collectibles or antiques. It's better to pay eBay/PayPal fees than get a half of what you will get on eBay. And having many cheap thrift / second hand stores nearby definitely affects pricing.
Yes, eBay now allows buyer to cancel purchase (something I just experienced to my big surprise) but you will get all final value fees back and most of the time your listing is free so just immediately re-list.
Lena I sell a moderate amount of stuff...not at all reliant on it for income, more of a hobby and just to keep a little extra spending cash in my pocket. For some things, even with fees, it's great. For other things, not worth the hassle. There is a lot of stuff I sell that I will get FAR more $ for going by ebay than I would trying to sell locally, and there is other stuff that I don't have an actual expectation for, that if I can just sell it locally, so be it. Selling on any platform has it's ups and downs. Fees and overly biased buyer protection on eBay(I've not run into any issues as far as that goes). Tire kickers, no shows, cheapos(i.e.- item available for $150, "will you take $50"?), and people with unreasonable questions(i.e.- $5 item, available for PICK UP in Stanhope..."Can you deliver to Hackettstown, Stanhope is SO FAR") on local platforms. Just know what you're selling and to whom you're selling it. Do a little research on what like items are actually selling for(not what they're listed for) on various platforms.
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