Advice on selling things via eBay

Hi everyone..!

As everyone does...I also searched for this..and finally as everyone does..i m sticking my own...

I just want to sell some items in ebay...4 months before i registered with ebay and got a buyer account. got more than 10 points..

As everything is in german..I couldnot get exactly what they mean..!

Do I have to pay any initial cost to ebay..?
Do I have to give my account details..?

How much should I pay ..to whom..If I want to sell item worth 100 euros..!

thx in adv,

you could always just go to a drop shop (like the one opposite Ostbahnhof), they do it all for you (including making a pretty picture)

Never used it mself but seems to be the rage at the mo, for people selling higher value stuff and not wanting the hassle of posting it off and everything. But I guess you pay for the service, no clue how much (Edit: a mod just put a link here so you could read that)

ops..! I just wanna make it myself..!

drop shop..???

Forget about drop shop.

You'll either give ebay a credit card number or set it up so that they can take your monthly dues out of your Paypal account. If you don't sell anything, you don't owe anything, but when you set up each auction you'll see what the costs are.

Do you have specific questions?

how about you read the instructions at http://ebay.com? The German one works the same way.

don't you pay if your item doesn't sell ? ?

yep..false (strange!)..a right qn..!

Do we have to pay if we didn't sell..?

Also..Do I have to pay any initial cost ..?

there's a (compound) listing fee which you pay, sell or no sell, then there's a (larger) fee which you pay when the sale is complete. go to anglo ebay site for precise details on fees. order of magnitude is 5% total fees.

No initial cost. No payment if you don't have any auctions up. I'll have to check about the fee if your item doesn't sell. I don't remember.

You might want to check these boards:

Ebay US discussion boards
Ebay UK discussion boards
Ebay DE discussion boards (in German, of course)

There are loads of people at these boards who will answer any questions you have. There is, just like here, a search function as well. There are lots of Germans and expats living in Germany on both the US and UK boards. On the US international trading board, there's a German guy who goes by the username red_elk, and he has a list of people all over Ebay who are willing to help with translation (as a one-time thing though, not frequent, repeated translation).

amazed & gr8 to see all these instant replies..!

thx dudes..!

just wondering...

if you put something up for sale on ebay and you're not happy with the price (too low etc) can you resale in another auction or must it always go to the highest bidder? or in this case i could be the highest bidder so i can just start it all over again?

help appreciated

Set a realistic starting price. Check how much similar items are selling for. Time the auction to end at a busy time, Sunday evening is popular. Definitely avoid ending the auction during times when everyone is watching football.

Don't set up a new ID to bid against yourself, this is against ebay rules and easy enough for experienced buyers to spot what you are doing. I would never bid in an auction if I thought the seller was shill bidding like this.

...or just set a reserve price.

you can only do that on the ebay in UK. in germany there is no reserve price

Well, technically there is, but only for items like cars and such.

It's pointless removing an item early because you're not happy with the price its received because you will get more bids. Anyone who knows what they are doing on eBay will bid in the dying seconds of an auction. So you will no idea how much an item will sell for until it's actually sold. In fact, an item with a low price heading into the final few minutes will attract more last-minute bidders, potentially resulting in a higher sale price.

My tips for selling things on eBay:

1. check typical sales price of similar items in advance. eBay lets you search for finished auction over the past three months. this is a good way to find out how much you can expect to get.

2. set the auction to end on a sunday afternoon (12 noon to 6pm), preferably running for 10 days. in almost all cases it's better to leave the starting price at 1 Euro.

3. have a read through a couple of these auction descriptions, esecially the ones that did well. if it's a generic article (e.g. electrical applicance) you can probably reuse their photos.

4. with non-generic stuff (e.g. furniture) it's important to include good photos, that is they should be (i) well lit, (ii) have a fairly good resolution and (iii) make the item look sexy.

5. include a clear, concise description of the item. pre-empt questions you think will be asked in the text.

This is one thing you CANNOT do!

The photos (and description) within a listing are the "intellectual property" of the original seller.
Ebay will remove any listing where photos have been pinched - so long as the listing is reported, which it often is.

You should have GOOD pictures, but make sure they are your own.

MT

Ebay rules prohibit the seller from bidding him/herself, or colluding with others to bid in or win the auction if the price is not high enough. It does happen regularly though. Downside being that if you win your own auction you still have to pay EBay commision, although you might not have sold the item...

I was referring to generic photos of white goods, which the previous seller had "borrowed" from the manufacturer website, but it's a practical solution for other photos as well, as long as it accurately represents the item in question. Done this hundred's of times without any problems.

(However, I do accept that it's against the eBay rules and I definitely wouldn't ever use a photo taken from a commercial seller, because that would lead to problems)

I am convinced that bidding on your own auctions, or getting your friends to do it, will make no difference to the final selling price. An item will sell for its market value; if the bid price gets too high, no-one else will bid on it.

The fact is that the final price is determined by the final person to bid on it; usually a last-minute sniper. They will either win the item themselves or set the price that an earlier (higher) bidder will pay. Getting a friend to throw in a bid three days before the sale ends won't make the remotest bit of difference to the final selling price.

If your item isn't reaching the price you were hoping to sell for then bidding yourself (of having a friend place bids) might mean that you either raise the price competing with another bidder, or "buy" the item yourself so you can offer it another day, in hope...

The price level is usually a raised to a selling level by run-of-the-mill (and less wary) bidders, then finalised by the snipers. It's simply a case of raising it (or not) to or above the level you want to sell at...

I used to sell things (and buy!) on ebay in Australia. I had a constant stream of things going in and out of the house and it was fun and I could finance the kid´s growing wardrobes by selling theri old things for example. Its been over a year without ebay and I want to do it again.

Yes, I know there are fees and I could list things here on TT for free, but there are various reasons why ebay works better for some items- collectables, designer goods, Australian branded things etc.

So, I was wondering if anyone out there can offer me any advice or tips? I am a bit scared of all the German legalese and my German skills are not up to the fine print. I imagine there are some ways in which German ebay differs from the Australian one. For instance, I have noticed that private sellers say that they are private sellers on the listing (is this to avoid needing to be required to legally refund if someone wants to return an idea because it doesn´t fit (ie, their fault)).

If anyone has any tips for me, it would be very much appreciated (either here or my PM). I will only be selling second hand things on a private basis at this point.

The other thing I am concerned about is postage, I was fully up to speed with the best ways in Oz and feel overwhelmed here! I will be spending a lot of time in the post office if past experience is anything to go by.

Topics merged by admin

I can understand that I'd be lost without ebay. I think I also like the fun of it!

I have sold many things on ebay and on TT and I kind of use my judgment as to what would go best where. If I know I'd get a fair price for something I try to sell it either through here or the intranet at work to avoid the ebay fees.

But for example clothes I tend to sell more on ebay and have made quite a bit on some items. But it really does depend.

I love ebay

I haven't noticed too many differences between the German and UK eBay. The private/business seller differentiation is now made on all eBay sites, as far as I'm aware.

Regarding postage, Hermes is your friend for anything larger than a book; the price includes up to €500 insurance.

I hear you PurpleM! I just starting buying there and need to sell now to support it!

Thanks STB, So with Hermes, I just need to take it to my local "drop point" right? I also know in Germany, you can post books specially if you close the envelope a special way.

I am mostly worried about quoting the wrong postage price when I list something. I guess it will take me a while to get the hang of it.

Regarding postage - just join Stampit. It does all the calculations for you and prints the lables. The site is in English and German. It's a doddle.

Thanks Garibaldi, I am feeling a lot better about this already :-)

Over estimate -everyone else does. It's not just the cost of postage, but also the envelope, and packing materials, and of course your time in the trip to the post office. Professional EBayers make some of their profits in this way. Only last week I bought a small phone adapter for €1, plus €2.90 shipping. The stamp on the package was only 70cents, so the vendor made his money there. Others were selling the same adapter for only 50 cents, but wanted up to €4.90 for shipping.

@YL6, yes of course, I used to charge my own kind of handling charge in Oz too, but I think it will take me a while to get a feel for what the market will take here. Also strictly ebay does not allow people to avoid fees by overcharging on postage?

Regarding shipping be careful if you use DPD.

DPD destroyed 3 packets I sent and refused to compensate me for them as the recipient had signed for them. The recipient pointed out the damage to the carrier, but DPD still refused to pay up. I am to this day 600 euros out of pocket entirely because of DPD.

Is DPD Deutsche Post?

As someone who works for eBay here in DE, I'm glad to see you guys are having fun with it.

I will note that you want to make sure you state in your listings that you're a private seller. Make sure, however, you have a return policy.

As per what I understand, Professional sellers are held to be more accountable for their VAT (they're exempt on the site but have to pay it via their accountant as part of their normal business expense). In addition, if they are professional seller, regardless of what their return policy states, they are required to take ALL returns made within 14 days of reciept of the package. This means that there's a potential for some buyer risks there (think they buy a clothing item, wear it out, then return it dirty and stained saying it didn't fit - and seller would have to refund)...

By being a private seller, you can make a statement something to the equivalent of "buying as is" and you may be covered. In addition, your VAT is taken as a part of your eBay fees - so you don't wind up paying taxes twice.

Hope this helps. If you need any more advice, lmk.

~Rose

Thanks Phoenix-Rose

1. So being a private seller, I pay VAT even on used items? Is this right?

2. Being a private seller, I also need to state that I am a private seller and do not accept returns unless there is a fault in the item´s description?

Yes you can send them via Büchersendung you just need to write that on the envelope. Same goes for Warensendung. Here are details of prices and sizes.

I am lucky because at our company we can send private post insured up to 500€ and weight of up to 32kg anywhere in Germany for just 4€

I think sometimes people who offer a little less on postage sometimes get the edge over sellers who charge a bit more. For example when I sell something say really heavy and bulky I still don't charge too much for postage (say max 10€ depending on what it is) that way I think people are more inclined to bid. That works for me as I can post stuff really cheaply!

So Warensendung is like the book one then? And it is Ok to use for ebay? Do you need to leave the package unfastened in the same way? Can I use it is conjunction with Stampit? Questions...questions...

I think the overcharging on postage is about fee avoidance and it gets my hackles up a bit too. I AM also less likely to pay more.

Edit: I read the English info. Unfastened package (those kleber things). Up to 500 grams only.

1) Yes - this is automatically included in your insertion and final value fees (when the item sells).

2) Yes, you need a return policy. Being a private seller, this will over ride the 14 day automatic return that is applied to business sellers (from what I understand.) By having a return policy, it will also make it clear to your buyer what you believe and how the transaction will go from start to finish. (I always recommend it - even in the places like the US where it's not required. It simply clarifies how you expect things to go.)

Personally, I also have a number 3 related to feedback in my return policy - i say something like:

3) All items sold as is, with no returns unless the item is significantly not as described. Shipping is within 3 business days of payment being cleared. You will get an email when the item is on its way. My goal is for you to be happy with your item and my service. If there are any problems or concerns, please contact me before leaving negative feedback. In addition, If you have any questions about this item, please feel free to contact me before you bid by using the "contact a seller" link at the top of the listing before the item closes.

It gives the return policy, and also kind of some feedback guidelines for the buyer - for what you expect of them and the transaction. To date, I've never had any problems, and actually managed to work it out with the buyers if they wound up unhappy.

~Rose

Thanks Phoenix_Rose. That is very informative.

I must admit I am a bit disappointed that I will be charged VAT for selling second hand things...what the rational behind this? I know the government is behind it of course, but how it that logical to charge VAT on things which have already been taxed when bought for the first time?

Is there anyway to claim VAT back? Now, I kinda wonder whether it will be worth it to sell things.

If you are a private seller then you don't charge/pay VAT on any of your sales. You DO pay VAT on your EBay charges/commissions, just like you pay VAT on everything else.

Ok, now that makes sense!

So when I am registering as a seller (I only have a buyer´s account now), there will be an option to select I am private?

Yes, presuming, of course you are selling privately, and not trading (such as buying things in and re-selling) to make a profit.

I am an ebay newbie really, I have done a total of 5 transactions over the last few years and I hate it. I think the main reason I hate it is cos it won't let me use it in English on the .de site. Now maybe I am being stupid and just can't find the option. I realise I can get it in English if I go to the .com or .co.uk, but I want it listed on the German site.

So what do I do other than suck it up and do it all in German? I thought it was meant to be an international site!

The easiest way to list on a different site is to use Turbolister. Just download the English version from ebay.uk and then add ebay.de as a site you want to sell on.

You can do all your listings using the English version of Turbolister and choosing which site you want to sell on, then save the listings until a convenient time, then log on to ebay and upload them

you can dial their service number.
that is the best way to know them all.

Turbo lister is fine if you run Windows. I don't

@ugo2000? I don't want to get to know them, I just want to use the website in English.

Assuming you use a mac buy a copy of Garagesale. Very nice program, simple yet powerful and cheap.
Allows you to chose your listings in all available countries and with english language. sorted

Well you know what they say about assumptions

Still, I don't see why I should have to install software just to use a website that should be usable in english (It apparently uses the same backend as all the english versions of the site so it shoudl be easy to do).

Oh well, I have now put 10 items up and am getting used to it in german now. Not many bids on my stuff yet but it's already starting to addict.. Why is that???

It's probably a bit late in the day to be asking this now, but how do you do the reserve price thing? The only price related option I could ever find was the starting price.

I don't think you can do this on the German eBay. If you'd rather keep an item than see it sell for below a particular value, then set up a second user ID and bid your "reserve price" yourself (or ask a friend to do it).

That's called shill bidding, and it's not only against ebay policy - it's also illegal.