eBay

[judy]

Who's bidding on stuff on eBay? I'm bidding on expandable cordless phones at
the moment and waiting for a pair of beige leather gloves.

I'm using the Bid Assistant for the phones - I may win, or it may take a while to get a good buy.

I love eBay!

Are we allowed to post about it? I hope so...if not, sorry Admin.

[AngieDoogles]

I don't think there's a rule against posting about eBay. Besides, I think admin forgot about us. lol

I bid on stuff sometimes, but it's pretty random. That's where I get my cameras and I'm also randomly checking on the GPS system I want, but I'm not going to bid on that until the rest of my financial aid money comes in and I pay off rent for the year. I always feel so much safer about purchases after I've done that.

Anyway, good luck! I hope you win what your wanting at a really good price!

[Janet]

I want to get on and check out WW cookbooks. Maybe I'll do that later this evening.

[Gina]

I like ebay , I use to sell and buy. I haven't been looking for anything in particular but I do browse here and there. You can get awesome stuff that is hard to find. I have had luck selling to..

Good luck Judy! Hope you win your auctions.

[Marilyn]

Hubby and I are hooked on E-Bay. We both buy and sell there, and have saved lots of money on our purchases, and got more than we could have anywhere else for things we have sold. E-Bay is AWESOME!!!!

I'm going to checkout the purses that Janet recommends and see if I can find a deal. Hubby likes checking out the vintage cars. We've bought cars and parts for cars, I bought a 36 foot 5th wheel RV, books, dishes, stainless steel flatware, perfume, all kinds of stuff. Sure helps us stretch our hard earned dollars.

The key as anywhere is don't buy it unless you really need it or have the disposable income to afford it, and know the value of what you are buying or selling and be smart in what you do.

I've watched people pay higher than new retail for a used item. How dumb is that???

[Tink]

I buy off Ebay several times a year. Especially when I'm Christmas shopping or need something like electronics or even a specialty fabric for a project.
I've never sold anything there yet though.

[highlans]

I am an ebay adict have brought all sorts old and new but really need to start selling some of my stuff. My daughter was mortified when I brought her some second hand jeans but when she recieved them and I only paid ?3 for them changed her mind and have since brought her other stuff. Had some things from one person really good bargains was then bidding on a handbag from her and ebay pulled the item but would not say why? gutted as was nice bag. So keep on bidding Oh and I brought myself for xmas a whitegold ring.

[Gina]

Originally Posted by highlans

I am an ebay adict have brought all sorts old and new but really need to start selling some of my stuff. My daughter was mortified when I brought her some second hand jeans but when she recieved them and I only paid ?3 for them changed her mind and have since brought her other stuff. Had some things from one person really good bargains was then bidding on a handbag from her and ebay pulled the item but would not say why? gutted as was nice bag. So keep on bidding Oh and I brought myself for xmas a whitegold ring.

One word of caution with Ebay, if you like luxury designer bags be VERY CAREFUL, for many sell knock offs and charge you an exuberant amount. Know your handbag for there are a lot of scammers selling on there and of course in jewerly like with Tiffany & Co. they have a lawsuit against ebay. So be careful and know what your bidding on...

[Janet]

I would like to 'someday' try to sell some things on ebay instead of having a garage sale, but I've heard it is expensive to sell on ebay...is this true? I tried to sell a fleece dog coat on ebay a few years ago, but I don't remember if it was going to cost me if it sold...it didn't sell. I was so disappointed.

[judy]

Originally Posted by AngieDoogles

I don't think there's a rule against posting about eBay. Besides, I think admin forgot about us. lol

I bid on stuff sometimes, but it's pretty random. That's where I get my cameras and I'm also randomly checking on the GPS system I want, but I'm not going to bid on that until the rest of my financial aid money comes in and I pay off rent for the year. I always feel so much safer about purchases after I've done that.

Anyway, good luck! I hope you win what your wanting at a really good price!

I'm going to start looking for a GPS system after I get the phones. I have to look them up in Consumers' Reports first. I've heard Garmin is the best at the moment. I want one that talks and has a larger screen.

Janet, which did you finally decide on after you researched them?

I'm always looking for something on eBay. I do the comparison shopping and you definitely have to be careful that you're not paying more there than you would elsewhere. I also never buy designer stuff on eBay anymore.

I just ordered 3 boxes of 100 brand name wee wee pads for $22 each. She's charging me $15 for combined shipping, and it goes to a dog rescue place. That's a good deal!

I've never sold there, although I have plenty to get rid of!

[DianaB]

I LOVE e-Bay!!!! I check things out every day and my watch box always has things in it that I'm watching. Whenever I need something it's the first place that I look! I collect children's dishes and cabinets from the 1900's so that's usually what I have in my watch box. I got a really good buy on some items last month. I was really excited when I won the bid and still excited when the box came. It was some children's dishes from the 1850's or earlier. The seller didn't have them listed right or they would have sold for much more.

I have sold some things on e-bay before. Some things it really paid off and others I didn't do so well. I think that it really pays off to research your item to sell before you list it. I made over $300 a couple of Christmas's ago with a $3-4 investment. ($232 of it was for perfume that I paid $1 for at a garage sale!!!) My husband was excited but you just don't come across things like that to sell every day.

[judy]

Originally Posted by DianaB

I LOVE e-Bay!!!! I check things out every day and my watch box always has things in it that I'm watching. Whenever I need something it's the first place that I look! I collect children's dishes and cabinets from the 1900's so that's usually what I have in my watch box. I got a really good buy on some items last month. I was really excited when I won the bid and still excited when the box came. It was some children's dishes from the 1850's or earlier. The seller didn't have them listed right or they would have sold for much more.

I have sold some things on e-bay before. Some things it really paid off and others I didn't do so well. I think that it really pays off to research your item to sell before you list it. I made over $300 a couple of Christmas's ago with a $3-4 investment. ($232 of it was for perfume that I paid $1 for at a garage sale!!!) My husband was excited but you just don't come across things like that to sell every day.

I remember seeing some of your lovely things when we showed pix of our homes.

Don't you love when the boxes come? I let the dogs smell them all over before I open them. It makes them so happy!

[Ponyup]

I don't buy much on ebay anymore, but I was addicted for a while. It was like a triple thrill for me. I'd get excited when I'd win, & then when it'd come in the mail & then when I'd get positive feedback. AAAAhhhh it was fun.

I was searching EBAY for out of print Dean Koontz books, but I've succeeded in getting all the ones i want & they can get pretty expensive. Other than that i mostly buy CD & movies.

[Marilyn]

As Diana and Gina said you have to be careful and research what you are buying or selling on E-Bay.

Janet, with regard to the cost of selling. When you build your listing there are a lot of options for embellishing your listing to make it prettier or more attractive, list in more than one category and such. The value of the item, how much in demand it is, and the amount of competition, should determine how it should be listed. I always use a gallery picture which is what displays a picture of the item beside the title in a simple search. And my other listing decisons are based, again on the criteria just mentioned. If you don't go with a lot of the extras, the listing is pretty inexpensive. When you are buiding it, you are told what each item costs, and when you finish and preview you can see your total cost and go back and delete some of the embellishments if you want to.

The key is to know your market, and post really good pictures. Clean background, clear images. If it's an item that I think the bid will go high enough on, I'll add the feature of allowing them to supersize the pics. My thought is that if your pictures are good and clear, you aren't trying to hide any defects. So people can bid with greater confidence.

Happy E-baying!!!! I've sold items on line for much more than they would have sold for at a garage sale.

Oh, one other thing. I suggest that after you take your pictures that you box the item for shipping and determine accurately what it will cost to ship. I have listed shipping several ways, but prefer to only ship to the contiguous 48 United States and since I am in Texas, I will check out costs to ship to the most expensive case like New York City and/or Seattle and offer shipping one or two ways charging a fixed shipping cost for each option that I know will cover my actual cost of shipping and packaging and a dollar or so for my time and gas. You can use E-bay's shipping calculator or go to www.usps.com & www.ups.com to determine the cost.

[Marilyn]

One other cost I forgot to mention. They do charge you a small commission for your sale. I don't know the percentage, but it's pretty small, and it may only be charged if the sale is over a certain amount. I'm really not sure. You may want to check this out. I do know it was not enough for me to be upset about it when I saw the invoice.

Ebay keeps the cost pretty low. They are counting on volume. If they make a dollar on each sale, and there are a million sales.....