Going to start selling soon, questions for people with experience?

[Untamed]

Hello,

I'm going to start selling my rather large sized video game and DVD collection soon and I've been digging and digging about information related to selling on eBay, shipping etc. I think I have most of the information I need covered, but I'd like some clarification on a few things from some poeple with experience.

I'm going to be listing my items mostly with free shipping, and including it in the starting auction price. I've got #1 paper bubble mailers on order. I plan to ship exclusively to Canada (I've got the Buyer block option ticked to only countries I allow shipping to) unless I get something cleared up below. I have a postage scale at work so I can package, weigh and get price here, I plan to affix my own stamps to the items and ship lettermail oversized and put the items in the mailbox myself due to the tolerance being higher than the post office slots.

I'm wondering if I can ship lettermail to the USA by affixing my own postage stamps to the items, as i understand goods can't go that way across the border but it may slide just fine if I submit through a mailbox?

I'm also wondering, due to having various sized cases and cartridges, cords, etc, if it would make sense for me to cut my larger #1 bubble mailers to fit the object better and use the scraps and tape for smaller items? I mean a GBA cart is going to be very small, whereas a DVD is larger and I don't really want them shaking around in the loose packaging.

Other than those two points, any tips or suggestions based on what I've said above?

I've honestly been digging and digging and somehow many many people sell things through eBay just fine but I'm anxious!

I'm also trying to decide if I should sell some of the bigger ticket items on eBay or on here to make it simpler as there are a number of reputable collectors here.

[Bojay1997]

Unless you are selling low value/common items, limiting your sales to Canada is just plain dumb. The size of the collecting community is only a fraction of what it is in the US and frankly, many of the wealthiest bidders are in Europe and around the world. Similarly, bubble mailers are fine for loose cartridges, but anything that has a case or box will be destroyed and Ebay makes you as the seller fully responsible for that. While forums are great for discussions and selling more common or bulk stuff, for truly rare items, you will never have a better market than on Ebay, even with all the hassles and fees.

[Rickstilwell1]

In my experience, buying things for what sounds like a decent price is easy, but when selling things sometimes it is really hard to sell things for as much as you got them for. It's like "where are the people who bid against you now?"

[Untamed]

Unless you are selling low value/common items, limiting your sales to Canada is just plain dumb. The size of the collecting community is only a fraction of what it is in the US and frankly, many of the wealthiest bidders are in Europe and around the world. Similarly, bubble mailers are fine for loose cartridges, but anything that has a case or box will be destroyed and Ebay makes you as the seller fully responsible for that. While forums are great for discussions and selling more common or bulk stuff, for truly rare items, you will never have a better market than on Ebay, even with all the hassles and fees.

I guess I should clarify, I initially posted this elsewhere and didn't get a response and by trying here I need to tailor it to my crowd!

My collection compared to many here would be more 'modest' than 'large', and my big ticket items are a few things worth $100-$500 or so, with nothing being so uncommon that looking a few days in a row on eBay wouldn't net it.

It is wholly understandable that for very very uncommon or rare items it'd be foolish of me to limit myself in that manor to just Canada. I suppose for most of the things I'm selling I can use bubble mailers then, with attention paid more to items with brittle cases (SegaCD/Saturn). For the pricier items I'll most definitely be shipping registered with tracking and well packed. I can also look into expanding a few select items to the USA as people would be more likely willing to pay the shipping associated than with 'SONIC 2 SUPER RARE L@@K' with $12 shipping on a $4 cart lol, but wrapping my head around what I need to charge for international shipping is a bit rough.

Who wants a crack at my Bubblebath Babes proto? (joking)

[Untamed]

Well eBay, thanks.

That was a bust.

I spend weeks preparing to get this done, jumping through hoops, researching, buying shipping material, pricing, etc etc etc.

I finally am prepared to start my listing. I start at the top of my list with 'Dragon Quest' for the NES. Not likely to sell easily, fairly cheap, testing the waters.

That went well enough, it posted. Forced to use eBay.ca or eBay.com due to some stupid differences.

I then go to list my second game. 'Sorry, you can only list one item in this category for the next 30 days.'

Seriously? What the flying fuck? That is basically EVERYTHING I'm selling. I've had an open account with good feedback for a decade now! There was no warning that this would happen.

Now I've got one listed auction for something that isn't liekly to sell. The Christmas bustle is going to be missed.

Seriously, fuck you eBay, what's the point now? Auctions are the whole bloody reason your site is there.

Now what? I'm stumped. The misery and time that went into beginning to sell something I quite like. For nought. Bleh.

[Gameguy]

List your games locally on Kijiji. You're in Vancouver which is a major city, you'll have no problems selling your games as long as they're fairly priced. I've never found it worthwhile to sell cheap games online, and even expensive games sell for just as much locally. If a game is only worth $5, you'll be paying $2-$4 just to ship it which to me is a waste of time, especially with ebay taking a cut of your sales too. DVDs are similar but usually difficult to sell no matter where they're listed.

I don't usually look at the auction forum or I would have posted this advice sooner.

[boatofcar]

Truth be told, eBay has made it 100 times easier to sell things than even a year or two ago, especially video games. I was able to list 50 games in a fraction of the time that it used to take me. Now that there are no listing fees, there's really no reason not to list everything.

For international shipping, in the states eBay has the global shipping program, where you ship the item to their global distribution system and they will ship it out wherever it needs to go with the proper forms and everything. This is the single greatest thing that has ever happened on eBay, because there are a ton of collectors all over the world who will pay top dollar for what you have. There are still some countries that aren't in the program, and I just don't ship to those countries. Not sure if there's a global shipping program in Canada, but it would be worth checking out.

[Koa Zo]

For international shipping, in the states eBay has the global shipping program, where you ship the item to their global distribution system and they will ship it out wherever it needs to go with the proper forms and everything.
What are the fees like for this Global Shipping program?

I ship international with the USPS Flat Rate box which cost about $25 for most destinations.

For the ebay program, we will have to pay two shipping fees, no?