Former Ebay seller, away from it for ten years, thinking about starting back up, mostly vintage bikes and parts. What's changed in the last decade? Is it still the best place to sell these types of items? Are the fees and rules ridiculous? Appreciate any relevant information or experiences. Thanks!
Still sell on eBay but the fees are crazy high! 10% plus PayPal is a must now which hits you for another 3% Everything needs to be free shipping also or they add fees for that? plus people almost expect free shipping these days? You just need to price things with that in mind. Still the best to sell to a wider audience, I sold more stuff to Europe then the states. they do let you list for free and you can keep listing till it sells... Good Luck!
I'm not really a seller but definitely a buyer.....seems like the trend is moving toward Facebook Marketplace. You can join groups that target specific populations. Yes I still look on ebay and craigslist but I'm finding on FB Marketplace those groups are more in tune with realistic prices.....currently anyways.
I tried selling my old car on eBay. Winning bidder "didn't realize shipping a car from Ohio to Oregon would be really expensive." Missed the down-payment. Filed non-paying bidder. More bs filing. Did second offer to 2nd highest bidder. Was a scammer. Relisted. Next winner was non-responsive. Went to FB. Put up with the losers and lowballers there, but eventually sold it for a price I was happy with. EBay has a non-binding bid policy for vehicles. If the buyer wins the auction, he doesn't actually have to go through with it. Easy for bored people to waste your time.
Its a pain as others described above, and is a last resort for me if I have exhausted my local sales listing and product isnt moving. Ebay eventually gets it sold. Free to list, but expect fees for getting that broader audience.
I like it but always do buy it now or best offer to combat the shit heads.. I also click "returns not accepted" to avoid further shit heads. Ebay sides with the buyer a lot so u gotta do things like this to protect yourself (12 really good photos also a must)
I do Ebay sometimes, been on there since 2003. I buy much more than I sell. Ebay has a scoring system.
I own a pawn shop so eBay is a great tool and outlet for me. I try to keep 50-100 buy it nows up at once. I did away with auctions and as others said always include free shipping. I’m able to liquidate about 100k a year there though so even though it’s a pia sometimes it’s more streamlined for sure now that they’ve taken payment t processing in house and they auto charge taxes.
It’s really good if you have a unique item because of the global reach, and their international shipping program is painless. I had a few sets of mint Brembo cast iton 320mm floating rotors. I priced them at $500/set and they sold to France and Australia. Price what you have accordingly, and someone will likely buy it at some point. As others have said, forget the auctions and just list as buy-it-now. Also, the system defaults to “or best offer,” so make sure to unselect that. And, you should indicate that free shipping is conus only. have fun!
I still run auctions but I set the starting price at what I need to get for it. Costs less then running a buy it now! sometimes it goes for more.
