Selling on Ebay looks a nightmare.
Be careful to insist on UK or EU buyers only payment before shipping, etc., otherwise you'll have some joker from far-far-away outbid everyone then try and scam you by trying to have you ship the stuff before he pays for it. Been there done that, and when he complained to eBay that I didn't fall for his scam, it was ME that got in trouble with eBay. The more caveats you put in the text of your ad, the better protected you are against both scammers and the eBay nazis themselves.
Also, I think the fees are too high to start with, then EBay insists you accept Paypal payments, and so EBay (which owns Paypal) gets another sizable bite of your cherry. Paypal also has a nice habit of holding onto your money, saying it's anti drug money laundering checks - bullshot! - for a week or two if it's a sizeable amount. I ended up havng to get bills of sale for stuff I bought two years previously and fax them to Paypal before they would release MY money.
I will buy on eBay - from reputable sellers like Lintone Audio who sell off their ex-demo stuff on EBay - but I can't be ahem'ed with selling stuff there.
One last tip: if you do sell on EBay make sure you photograph, with date stamps, everything before you pack it, how you packed it and the finished package. I've also had jokers complaint heir goods were delivered fully smashed to pulp, try and claim a refund, but not provide photos, despite repeated requests, of proof.
Ebay's a doddle. 
It's worth getting a friend who already uses Ebay to walk you through the ropes the first time but once you've got an Ebay and PayPal acount setup it's very simple to use. 
Ebay's a doddle.
It's worth getting a friend who already uses Ebay to walk you through the ropes the first time but once you've got an Ebay and PayPal acount setup it's very simple to use.
If you don't mind loosing 15 to 20% of your cash to the eBay / Paypal tag-team and if you don't get some a-hole from Zambia try and ship you a pair of ProAc Studio 140s BEFORE he pays for them...
List on a Thursday between 7pm and 10pm for 10 days with a starting price of 99p. Then all you will pay is 10% of the sale price. You will get the best sale price that way.
If there's something you really have a minimum price for, list it buy it now or best offer a bit above that for 30 days.
I'm confused, but I'm not even sure why...Is that different to listing on any other day between those times? I sometimes list on Thursday but only on the basis that it gives me two weekends...
Many weekends are free listing weekends now, and that works even if you set the listing up in advance.
Thursday is different because you only get a choice of 7 or 10 days, so any day other than Thursday or Sunday will not end on a Sunday. Unless you choose to fix a start time, but you pay for that and I consider it an unnecessary cost. For the most part I don't see the point in free listing weekends as 99p starts are always free and IME generate higher final prices as you get more and earlier bids and more watchers.
It's really not that bad!
It costs a couple of quid to list an item, and ebay will take 10% of the sale total (excluding postage costs) up to £40- i.e if you sell something for £20 they get £2, but if you sell something for £10,000 they only take the maximum £40.
I agree it's not that bad but you dont seem to find as many bargains that you did a few years ago. There are a lot more Buy It Now sales than there used to be, plus starting prices nearer to what the seller actually wants rather than 99p for example.
Also I think you'll find that the maximum is £70 now for Hi-Fi related stuff. I could be wrong though?
If you're selling something where the buyer is collecting from you then insist on cash on collection rather than Paypal. I've heard of scams where payment is made by Paypal, goods collected and then non-receipt claim made by the buyer/scammer. Ebay/Paypal tend to come down on the side of the buyer and end up giving them a refund on Paypal and hence from you, the seller.
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Have you considered other specialist hifi classifieds? I recently sold an amplifier on AVforums and got what I wanted pricewise with no fees or strings attached. The purchaser was very pleasant to deal with and a genuine hifi enthusiast.
I would have similar reservations as yourself if selling on eBay (I will buy but never sell), but many people keep telling me that it's quite straightforward to do. I may consider it for low value goods. For higher value (expensive or heavy items) I might be tempted to put a restriction that the buyer collects.
List on a Thursday between 7pm and 10pm for 10 days with a starting price of 99p. Then all you will pay is 10% of the sale price. You will get the best sale price that way.
If there's something you really have a minimum price for, list it buy it now or best offer a bit above that for 30 days.
I'm confused, but I'm not even sure why...Is that different to listing on any other day between those times? I sometimes list on Thursday but only on the basis that it gives me two weekends...
Many weekends are free listing weekends now, and that works even if you set the listing up in advance.
Thursday is different because you only get a choice of 7 or 10 days, so any day other than Thursday or Sunday will not end on a Sunday. Unless you choose to fix a start time, but you pay for that and I consider it an unnecessary cost. For the most part I don't see the point in free listing weekends as 99p starts are always free and IME generate higher final prices as you get more and earlier bids and more watchers.
I've scheduled an auction for a free weekend and had the price reduced to 0 before, a few times, I'm pretty sure.
Is that why they stipulate free listings have to be over £1? Because the ones below are free anyway?
That's right.
Ebay's a doddle.
It's worth getting a friend who already uses Ebay to walk you through the ropes the first time but once you've got an Ebay and PayPal acount setup it's very simple to use.
If you don't mind loosing 15 to 20% of your cash to the eBay / Paypal tag-team and if you don't get some a-hole from Zambia try and ship you a pair of ProAc Studio 140s BEFORE he pays for them...
Which is why I suggested that he should get someone experienced to help him out. They would show him things like how to check peoples feedback to see if they're a good seller/buyer and show him how to check PayPay to make sure that the money has gone through before he posts things onto the buyer.
Ebay is easy to use and provided you are sensible (only buy from reputable sellers and check Paypal before posting etc) it is pretty safe. I've been using Ebay regularly for six years and have never had any major problems.
I also only ever sell to the UK. It's too much hassle and expense posting stuff abroad.
One of the provisos is that it'll be mainland uk only. Even better if they'll collect. They can have a dem if required.
Have you considered other specialist hifi classifieds? I recently sold an amplifier on AVforums and got what I wanted pricewise with no fees or strings attached. The purchaser was very pleasant to deal with and a genuine hifi enthusiast.
I would have similar reservations as yourself if selling on eBay (I will buy but never sell), but many people keep telling me that it's quite straightforward to do. I may consider it for low value goods. For higher value (expensive or heavy items) I might be tempted to put a restriction that the buyer collects.
I have sold stuff on AVForums before but it has mainly been lower value cables and I/C's etc. No problem at all but make sure you're not trying to sell the same thing elsewhere at the same time, otherwise if they find out you'll be banned probably!
I also recently attempted to sell on my mint Arcam A28 amp on AVForums at a really good price, a real bargain it was. Not one iota of interest, zilch, apart from one chancer offering to pay some ridiculously and quite insulting low price. That ended up being sold quite quickly on Ebay for a figure considerably higher than it was offered on AVForums.
I've also sold stuff without hassle on PinkFishMedia, HiFiWigwam and AOS.
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Just plan on 'donating' about 10% of your sellng-price to PayPal and eBay and you won't go far wrong.
It costs a couple of quid to list an item, and ebay will take 10% of the sale total (excluding postage costs) up to £40- i.e if you sell something for £20 they get £2, but if you sell something for £10,000 they only take the maximum £40.
Not true, they changed this a little while ago and removed the £40 cap.
eBay's not bad if your sensible and most has been said already.
1) Be sure to keep a record of the serial number of the unit you sell so you don't get someone's broken unit back.
2) Keep pictures of the unit and the packaging before you send it.
3) Package it well as couriers are handfisted oafs. Also note that unless you package items in accordance with couriers recommendations (which are ridiculously OTT) your extra insurance you take out will be worthless. They will reject it due to packaging being insufficient.
4) Only accept Paypal if shipping, only ship to a Paypal confirmed address and cash only if collecting.
5) Be sure NOT to not highlight the accept returns option when placing the listing on eBay. The problem with this is the buyer can request to return it a month later and eBay just push it through so you get a broken unit back just to keep the seller happy. Your selling second hand goods with no warranty remember.
This is how the actual bidding went when I sold my Pioneer Plasma - I started it @ £4.99 as it was a relatively expensive item, and 38 bids later achieved £281 which I was very happy with. There was never any danger of it selling for a silly price as it had a market value of a certain amount. What I never understand though is that you always get some early intial bidders who never go much above minimum bid, if at all - do they really think they are going to get a £250 quid plus telly for a tenner ?!
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