What the hell happened?

[Porksta]

Did I do something wrong in my auction that made it go for so little? Was shipping too high, because it really will cost that much. The exact same thing sold for $200 less than a month ago. 325 unique views, 20 watchers and only $40. Any advice? I am barely making a profit here. Here's hoping the 1 Feedback buyer doesn't pay for it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290261513227&ssPageName=STRK:MESO:IT&ih=019

[megasdkirby]

Ah damn it...I missed it. :( And I was watching it too. :(

Well, I guess the demand dwindled quite a bit unfortunately.

How much did your SMS unit go for?

[Porksta]

Haven't put it up yet. I have to put it up soon though before ebay caps shipping at $15.

[megasdkirby]

That's right...they are about to change the shipping policies.

Also, I finally noticed that it was a newbie who won the auction. I hope he doesn't give you a headache. :(

[Porksta]

Damn he just paid. Asked if I will include a tracking number. Hell no I won't.

[megasdkirby]

O_o

I would recommend it. If he is a newbie, he could easily say that the package never arrived even though it did and con you out of a console and money. Having a tracking number will at least protect you somewhat. If he got it, it should appear as "delivered" in case he wants to play mean games with you.

[Porksta]

I'll save my receipt. If that doesn't prove I sent, I don't know what will. If for some reason the package doesn't arrive hey, he should have bought insurance.

[darkhades]

Yes there is a massive problem with this listing......You only ship to the USA. You lost my bid becuase of this... just saying.

[Chickenpuppet]

IMHO, if you want to make the big dollars, you gotta offer worldwide shipping. Bet if you check the one that sold for $200.00, it got bought by someone outside of the US... but I am just guessing.

[ryborg]

I'll save my receipt. If that doesn't prove I sent, I don't know what will. If for some reason the package doesn't arrive hey, he should have bought insurance.

Be that as it may, the postal receipt won't help you if there's a chargeback attempt. If you print postage online, you'll get free or discounted DC, which WILL stop a fraudulent chargeback attempt.

Sucks about the price though. You really didn't do anything wrong.

[Porksta]

That's another thing that gets me - my auction clearly says under shipping options "Ships to: USA", yet I got countless emails of people wanting to know how much it cost to ship to Canada and Russia. I mean, do I go to ebay.co.uk to shop?

[megasdkirby]

I'll save my receipt. If that doesn't prove I sent, I don't know what will. If for some reason the package doesn't arrive hey, he should have bought insurance.

Yeah, but unfortunately, the idiots at Paypal do not see it that way.

The first thing they will ask you is "Do you have evidence that you sent it?". You then submit the receipt. Then they will ask you for evidence that indicates that the buyer received the console.

Unable to provide this will end up in favor of the buyer and you lost the console AND money.

And even though he did or did not pay for insurance, Paypal sees it as your responsibility nonetheless. So in the end, you still loose.

I dunno, I would waste the extra $0.65 for Delivery Confirmation, but that's up to you.

[megasdkirby]

That's another thing that gets me - my auction clearly says under shipping options "Ships to: USA", yet I got countless emails of people wanting to know how much it cost to ship to Canada and Russia. I mean, do I go to ebay.co.uk to shop?

I know, but they ask in the offshot to see if you are willing to ship overseas.

It never hurts to try (them asking questions). :)

[Porksta]

Hm, I see if I print out the label online I can get free DC. Is there some catch? Do they charge more? If I am off by a couple ounces is the whole package sent back to me?

[ryborg]

Hm, I see if I print out the label online I can get free DC. Is there some catch? Do they charge more? If I am off by a couple ounces is the whole package sent back to me?

Nope, no catch. The PO wants people printing postage at home because it saves the window clerks time, which is why it's free or discounted. If you have a scale, just round to the nearest ounce. Weight doesn't print in terms of tenths of ounces. Even if you're off by an ounce, nothing will likely happen. Worst case scenario is that it arrives postage due for like $.20.

[Porksta]

Do I just drop it off at the counter or can I give it to the mailman?

[Cornelius]

Definitely get the DC. I'm surprised you aren't familiar with Paypal's ridiculous buyer and seller "protection policies" since you appear to be an experienced seller, but since you don't seem to be, it would definitely be worth your looking into. Like the others have said, the short of it is that if you don't get DC AND ship to a confirmed address, you could lose the item and your money, no questions asked. Buyer only has to ask for the money from paypal and they'll get it. You can't even leave them negative feedback about it!

As to your auction, I don't see anything wrong with it. I find eBay's method of displaying multiple images annoying, so I just host them myself and get the added benefit of it being free. But that's not a big deal. I've had some stuff go really low for no reason, too. It just sucks. I've had some dumb stuff go stupidly high, too, so guess it evens out. I doubt it is the cause, but I'd never list a system, even a nice-on-its-own one like that, without a game or two to go with it. One would hope that nice system is going to a collector, but with systems some of the high bidders could well be someone that just wants to play Super Mario World.

edit: Meant to ad: if I have a small thing, I'll let my letter carrier take it. If it is big, or there are a bunch or little things, I'll drop them at the post. It is just a nice thing to do, since carrying extra stuff down the block can be a pain (they walk a block+ here in the city). I figure if I made a habit of loading her down, I might start having unexplained issues with my mail.

[The Shawn]

WOW! I just sold a used SNES 2 mini to a fellow forum member for $40 plus $10 shipping, and it didn't have the box or baggies. Maybe you should of sold it on Amazon for $100 shipped, bet someone would have bit on it...

:hmm:

[Kitsune Sniper]

I mentioned my low sales last week in a thread somewhere around here. I had a lot of good items and almost none of them sold - nobody even offered a price on my symphony of the night or final fantasy tactics for PS1, but even so I sold my zelda collector's edition for $25. :|

It's as if a lot of buyers just... don't want to buy anything anymore. :\

[Sph1nx]

People ask becuase in my expereince as a Canadian, 75% of the time US sellers will ship to Canadians if you ask.

[megasdkirby]

When I buy on Ebay, I NEVER say I'm from PR.

For some oddball reason, many Ebay sellers think PR is in China or some far away place. WTF? So I bid anyway, and I have never had a single problem so far. All are understanding or when they ask I just tell them with proof.

I used to ask before bidding and many times I would get a resounding "NO BECAUSE YOU LIVE TOO FAR AWAY". One seller actually told me once "I don't know...are you located in India?"

-_-

[InsaneDavid]

What happened? Simple. Sometimes the buyer makes gets an amazing deal. Sometimes the buyer makes bank. In the case of this auction it was the first one. That's just auctions and the risk you take.

I've listed things I've wanted $50.00 for, checked the auction page with a day to go and had a bidding war at $300.00+. On the other hand I've listed stuff that consistantly makes $100.00+ and had people kick around in the $30.00 range, it happens.

That's why I just sit on game stuff here now, with a little patience I've always sold for a solid price here in the forums.

[Kitsune Sniper]

When I buy on Ebay, I NEVER say I'm from PR.

For some oddball reason, many Ebay sellers think PR is in China or some far away place. WTF? So I bid anyway, and I have never had a single problem so far. All are understanding or when they ask I just tell them with proof.

I used to ask before bidding and many times I would get a resounding "NO BECAUSE YOU LIVE TOO FAR AWAY". One seller actually told me once "I don't know...are you located in India?"

-_-

Uh, doesn't your profile say you're in the USA? (Well, you know what I mean!)

[megasdkirby]

Uh, doesn't your profile say you're in the USA? (Well, you know what I mean!)

Yes, it says "United States" on my Feedback page, for instance. I make sure I put "USA" as the country, else I will be bombarded by Ebay sellers thinking PR is located on the moon.

But I never actually bid...I usually snipe so recently, it's never an issue. Specially when I win and send payment 3 minutes after it finished. :)

[zektor]

I don't want you to take this the wrong way but....

You keep listing things as "never used". Anybody who is any type of collector of these systems can clearly see that it has been opened and used. New/never used looks much differently. The system was originally in a baggie that had warning writing. The peripherals were wrapped...etc.

I saw you did the same thing in regards to the SMS in the buy/sell thread. That was definitely not new in box at all. Heck, some of the wires had white paint on them from god knows what. I know you said that the a/v cable had been pressed against the foam or whatnot, but the a/v cable was not even something that was originally packed with the SMS. The PSU has some paint speckles, the manuals bent and in the baggies, the wires for everything have been opened and used....and it can be fairly certain that the system has as well if you consider all of the variables. Someone even went the distance of taping up the box at one point. I don't know about you, but I don't buy a new system, open it, play with the cables, bend the manuals, tape the box, etc and NOT use the system.

Again, I am not picking on you (and I do not what you to think that at all), but merely giving some advice. If you list these things as "great condition, working with box" rather than "never used" you will probably see more bids/get more purchases. Most people tangled up in this hobby and whilst shopping around see the slightest sign of deceit simply bail out. I know I do...

[The 1 2 P]

Did I do something wrong in my auction that made it go for so little? Was shipping too high, because it really will cost that much. The exact same thing sold for $200 less than a month ago. 325 unique views, 20 watchers and only $40. Any advice? I am barely making a profit here. Here's hoping the 1 Feedback buyer doesn't pay for it.



Shit happens son but your attitude is alittle off. Don't get me wrong, I hate having my auctions under sell too, but there are ways to get around that. First there is the reserve bid, where your auction won't sell unless it reaches a pre-designated price set by you. And second is my personal favorite--the buy it now auction. Ebay is now letting sellers list buy it now items for any price for a mere 5 cent listing fee and this last until the end of the year. Truth be told your item wouldn't have sold for $200 at bin(I think the auction you saw was a fluke) but you could have atleast gotten $80-120 for it.

Two more things. First, NEVER refuse to pay an extra 65-75 cents for a tracking number, especially when the buyer is a noob. You think you are pissed off now? Wait until you get dick-rolled for not "sending" your item and all because you just didn't want to spend an extra 65 cents. When this happened to me the kid stole the credit card from his mom. So there was a charge back and I was out of my money and my factory sealed Zelda game. I will never make that mistake again, I always get dc now.

The other thing is this: you should really consider worldwide shipping. You will get lots more bidders and items that won't sell for what you want will have a better chance of selling. A few years ago I listed my complete in box JVC X-Eye system for a starting bid of $125. It didn't sell the two times I had it listed for the US only. The third time I opened it to worldwide bidders(at the request of a UK bidder) and it sold. Plus he paid all the extra shipping charges.

So in conclusion, ALWAYS get dc for high dollar items ($20 and up IMO). ALWAYS set a reserve bid or buy it now price for an item you desperatly want to sell for a certain price. Start to atleast consider doing worldwide shipping. And last and most importantly, for the love of Paul--stop assuming that if an item you have sells for $10,000 in another auction, then yours will sell for the same amount. One week a factory sealed copy of Indiana Jones for N64 sold for $800(I pmed the seller a few days afterwards to find out that the winner refused to pay and said she just got carried away in another stupid bidding war). So over the next 2 weeks no less than 5 factory sealed copies of Indiana Jones showed up on ebay, all thinking they had a chance to make $800 but none of them getting higher than $140.

I hope you see my point because it doesn't get any clearer than that. Good luck with the rest of your auctions and I hope you get what you want for them.

[swlovinist]

Ebay is not a definative slam dunk on profit. Sometimes you get people into a bidding war and the price is great. Other times, you can have a great auction that nobody cares about. Prices and demand fluctuate all the time. I have been selling on ebay for nearly 10 years and still am amazed of items that have gone for too little or too much.

[Kitsune Sniper]

*Long rant about Delivery Confirmation goes here*

Ahem. If you're sending a CD or two, you can get DC for eighteen cents if you use PayPal shipping to print out the postage for a First Class Parcel (an envelope that's at least 3/4 of an inch thick).

But don't listen to just one bit of the advice that The 1 2 P gave: ALWAYS GET DELIVERY CONFIRMATION. Even if the item sold for a buck. Always work the fee into the shipping cost. Don't risk getting ripped off - even if the item is worth a buck, the real thieves will try to get as much of it back as they can. Everything else he said is fine, though, aheh.

[InsaneDavid]

I saw you did the same thing in regards to the SMS in the buy/sell thread. That was definitely not new in box at all. Heck, some of the wires had white paint on them from god knows what.

Not paint, styro scrap flaking off and becoming adhered to the cables, pretty common with the SMS. Mine is the same, manuals are all bent in the same way as well oddly. Definately not new however.

[Mayhem]

People ask becuase in my expereince as a Canadian, 75% of the time US sellers will ship to Canadians if you ask.

I ask because quite often US sellers will ship abroad, they just forgot to change the "US only" shipping option when they did the listing...

[Cornelius]

Not paint, styro scrap flaking off and becoming adhered to the cables, pretty common with the SMS. Mine is the same, manuals are all bent in the same way as well oddly. Definately not new however.

ditto. I think the plasticizer is leeching out and causing the styro to adhere. Since the cables seem to be less flexible and retain their bent shapes from the coil more, I'm pretty sure that's what is going on.

[megasdkirby]

But don't listen to just one bit of the advice that The 1 2 P gave: ALWAYS GET DELIVERY CONFIRMATION. Even if the item sold for a buck. Always work the fee into the shipping cost. Don't risk getting ripped off - even if the item is worth a buck, the real thieves will try to get as much of it back as they can. Everything else he said is fine, though, aheh.

I agree 100%. No matter what the item is, ALWAYS get Delivery Confirmation. ALWAYS.

Heck, if the item is extremely expensive, get signature confirmation. I am willing to spend the extra amount (which isn't alot) as proof on a very pricey item and force the would be con artist to sign...if their intention was to rip off, they will get royally pissed when they have to sign because they know it won't be possible anymore.

Any protection you could put that protects you, is always good.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I ask because quite often US sellers will ship abroad, they just forgot to change the "US only" shipping option when they did the listing...

heh. Lord knows I've done that more than a few times. ^^;

[ryborg]

First there is the reserve bid, where your auction won't sell unless it reaches a pre-designated price set by you.

The reserve "feature" is the biggest scam on the site. The fee used to be refunded to you if the item met the reserve, but now it is a non-refundable $2 additional fee for items $200 and less. Why on earth would you ever use that when you could straight up list the item for less than that?


Ebay is now letting sellers list buy it now items for any price for a mere 5 cent listing fee and this last until the end of the year.

Where are you getting these numbers from? Are you referring to a regular auction with the BIN add-on? That style of auction is now absolutely useless with the Fixed Price method of listing. Also, the $.05 BIN add-on is only for items $10 and less, and it only lasts for a maximum of 10 days. If you're talking about Fixed Price listings, there aren't any sales going on now, and the cheapest you can list something BIN now is $.15/month in certain categories under the new fee structure.


ALWAYS get dc for high dollar items ($20 and up IMO).

Also don't forget to get insurance for items over $250, as Paypal requires a signature for items that pricey.

[The 1 2 P]

The reserve "feature" is the biggest scam on the site. The fee used to be refunded to you if the item met the reserve, but now it is a non-refundable $2 additional fee for items $200 and less. Why on earth would you ever use that when you could straight up list the item for less than that?


Where are you getting these numbers from? Are you referring to a regular auction with the BIN add-on? That style of auction is now absolutely useless with the Fixed Price method of listing. Also, the $.05 BIN add-on is only for items $10 and less, and it only lasts for a maximum of 10 days. If you're talking about Fixed Price listings, there aren't any sales going on now, and the cheapest you can list something BIN now is $.15/month in certain categories under the new fee structure.



See next post.

[ryborg]

These are 5 cent to list regardless of your starting amount

See next post.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html

[The 1 2 P]

The reserve "feature" is the biggest scam on the site. The fee used to be refunded to you if the item met the reserve, but now it is a non-refundable $2 additional fee for items $200 and less. Why on earth would you ever use that when you could straight up list the item for less than that?

I'm sure he'd rather pay an extra $2 to insure his auction sold for $70-120 instead of just $40.


Where are you getting these numbers from? Are you referring to a regular auction with the BIN add-on? That style of auction is now absolutely useless with the Fixed Price method of listing. Also, the $.05 BIN add-on is only for items $10 and less, and it only lasts for a maximum of 10 days. If you're talking about Fixed Price listings, there aren't any sales going on now, and the cheapest you can list something BIN now is $.15/month in certain categories under the new fee structure.





I was talking about the 5 cent fixed auctions, which are basically buy it now auctions because they end when you buy them. Heres the announcement: bad link

[ryborg]

That's a link to your My Ebay Inbox. No one else can go there.

[The 1 2 P]

That's a link to your My Ebay Inbox. No one else can go there.

Holiday special: list Books, Music, Movies & DVDs, Video Games for just 5 cents
From September 16 to the end of the year, Fixed Price Insertion Fees for these hot holiday categories is just 5 cents for a full 30 days when you list with pre-filled item information.

That is copied and pasted right from my ebay newletter email.

[ryborg]

Ah, it's a temporary sale with hoops to jump through. It also doesn't appear on ebay's Announcement board where they announce their sales. Strange.

[The 1 2 P]

Ah, it's a temporary sale with hoops to jump through. It also doesn't appear on ebay's Announcement board where they announce their sales. Strange.

Yeah I couldn't find it there so I just copied and pasted. If you sell on ebay you should have gotten that email from them too in your messages.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Ah, it's a temporary sale with hoops to jump through. It also doesn't appear on ebay's Announcement board where they announce their sales. Strange.

I got an email about this a few days ago and just went "WTF, eBay."

I also got a brochure from them saying "LOOK! LIST STUFF IT COSTS FIVE CENTS ZOMGAWD" in the mail. REAL mail.

[ryborg]

I also got a brochure from them saying "LOOK! LIST STUFF IT COSTS FIVE CENTS ZOMGAWD" in the mail. REAL mail.

I haven't gotten one of those in a while. Are they still advertising bootleg items at absurdly low prices there?


Yeah I couldn't find it there so I just copied and pasted. If you sell on ebay you should have gotten that email from them too in your messages.

I opted out of their promotional junk years ago because 99% of it was worthless spam. They've always posted deals on the official announcement board, until now apparently. I also don't use the Pre-Filled Item Info because it's frequently wrong and I don't want to confuse buyers, so I didn't even notice there was a sale going on.

[The 1 2 P]

I got an email about this a few days ago and just went "WTF, eBay."

I also got a brochure from them saying "LOOK! LIST STUFF IT COSTS FIVE CENTS ZOMGAWD" in the mail. REAL mail.

Well it is a nice way to list some high dollar stuff. But even I didn't get real mail from them about it. Not that I need it.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I haven't gotten one of those in a while. Are they still advertising bootleg items at absurdly low prices there?

I dunno. I usually toss whatever they send me after I get home.