I could use some good eBay tips

[k8track]

Although I've bought several things from eBay, I've never had the occasion to sell anything on there... until now. I've got a few video game items (which didn't sell on the Buying & Selling forum here) that I'm going to put up for auction. Frankly, I find the process a bit intimidating. I want to do it right the first time. Does anyone have any good tips for putting stuff up for auction? Things I should do, things I should NOT do, all the disclaimers I need to cover my butt, etc. I want to be thorough so as not to be screwed on a technicality. What ticks people off? I know people have gotten miffed at too-high reserve prices. I've seen people on this forum rake eBay sellers over the coals. Any nuggets of advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Savedman]

I always try to be clear on what payment methods I accept and how I will accept them. For ex: I will accept a personal check drawn from a U.S. bank from winner with a feedback of 10 or higher with minimal feedback at my discression. This covers me if someone wants to send me a check from Africa that I can't get cashed in my little two bit town. It also covers me if the buyer has a feedback rating of 10 but only because he got 20 positives and 10 negatives!

If I put the shipping price I put that it is good for the U.S. ONLY and if overseas bidders want to know how much shipping is then to please email me with thier address and I will TRY to find out before the auction ends but no promises. I don't jack my shipping prices up since I get all my packing materiels for free from my office that would just throw it away anyway.

You might want to decide what means you are willing to ship by also. Guys like Sylentwulf don't like to ship media rate because it takes so long in some cases but I don't really mind. I let the seller choose.

I hope that these help! Happy selling!!

[Savedman]

Also, A picture is worth a thousand words. If you can get a pic of your item then put it on there. The first pic is free anyway so you might as well take advantage of it.

[MrRetroGamer]

Dont's:

Don't use a fuzzy, out of focus, blurry, dark picture!
Don't steal someone else's picture
Don't type your auction in all CAPS! :/
Don't be vague in your description
Don't use RARE, L@@K or other "attention" getters in your title

Probably more, but that's all I can think of now. Good Luck.

[portnoyd]

Don't. Whatever you do. Let stupid people bid on it. Sadly, this is unavoidable.

Seriously, try and keep a tabs on all your auctions, and see if any high bidders have zero feedback or whatnot. Feel free to contact them, because there's a reason some people say zero feedback don't bid.

Clearly state shipping several times. State terms of the deal clearly, so they can eat it if they don't like it. Try and avoid out of country deals, because they can cause problems in some cases. (Best way is to make it clearly known to the bidder if they want outside of the US shipping, that they must contact you first). No checks, MOs and paypal only.

There's more, but I have to go home now.

dave

[k8track]

Thanks for the advice, guys. It helps out a lot. I'll post my first auction shortly. We'll see how I do.

[Britboy]

make sure you say CONTINENTAL U.S.!!! People in Alaska cant get classic games, so they always buy off of ebay. Make sure you're covered or you'll end up paying extra to ship to Alaska.

[kevincure]

As for putting RARE in your auction titles - I've been testing and I seem to do better when I put RARE in my auction titles. Most of what I sell really are rarer titles, but from the seller's POV, they're pretty effective in any case.

Here's my recommendation: Spell everything right! If you have few feedback and don't spell/don't include a picture, I would never buy. Professionalism goes a ways.

[k8track]

Well, I gotta tell you, that is one thing that does annoy me so very much... if it works for you, that's great, but I've decided that one of my ground rules is that I will never use that word in any of my auction titles. Ever. Even if it really is rare. To wit, my first auction (which I'll post next week, hopefully) is going to be Turbo for Intellivision... which really is quite rare. But I'm not going to trumpet it as such... people looking for that particular title will already know that. It would be redundant.

[Mixaen]

Good luck with your items. I look at the description line and if it dont intrest myself I dont go any futher.