Purging: selling on eBay?

[Momof3Labs]

Is it even worth trying? I'm thinking about some Hanna Andersson clothes, plus some maternity pieces. What do I need to know to get started?

Note that I sold stuff years ago on eBay, but haven't sold for probably 5-6 years. I'm not totally clueless, but I also don't know what has changed.

The shipping side doesn't worry me - I know about the paypal seller protection policy and such, and how to do shipping labels from paypal. I even have a postal scale.

Would I be better off looking for someone who will do it all for me (our local eBay store doesn't like to deal with clothing)?

[KrisM]

A fair amount has changed on the rules on ebay. You can't offer optional insurance as a seller, since it's there to protect you. You can insure it, of course, and can build the cost into your S&H, you just can't have it optional.

They are very often running free listings these days. I haven't listed in a few months and haven't checked lately, but be careful with it because your listing fees might be free, but the final value fee might be more. So, list the cheapest things free.

Offering free shipping will make your item come up higher in the "best match" search.

No charge for a gallery photo.

I have a handful of HA and MB stuff to list and just haven't done it. I do plan on putting it first on BBB swap and then on ebay.

[egoldber]

I've never sold a lot on eBay, but it has just gotten way too complicated for me. I'd rather donate than deal with the hassle.

[resipsaloquitur]

As a buyer, I find that HA goes well on Ebay and maternity does not.

Now as a seller.... well, I'm probably not going to sell much any more. I usually just clean out the kids closets and sell twice a year- maybe $200 a time total in income. But even given that, it's not worth it anymore considering the scammers. Five years ago it was rare to get a complaint, now it seems like half my auctions have an issue. About 10% of bidders never pay and ebay does nothing- well they file a complaint but they don't enfoce payment. And I had two auctions last time where this happened- I list something in EUC- noting any flaws. Buyers complain about this or that, that I know doesn't exist. Even though I say no refunds they threaten to leave bad feedback (The feed back system now really doens't allow sellers to leave feedback the same way as years ago.) unless I do a partial refund. One time I did and one time I didn't. Either way, I then see MY ITEM listed for sale by my buyer in EUC with NO FLAWS noted. Clearly this is a new business model- try to get stuff for free then resell it. Ebay does NOTHING to these people, even when I sent them all of the info to track.

And I've heard of some real horror stories from friends- people tracking them down IRL, people getting harassing/threatening emails, etc. There are really some wackos out there.

It feels like such a shame to just send the clothes to a consigment store- I get $1 for almost brand new Ralph Lauren shirts that retail for $40. We have one big consignment sale here each year but too much stuff gets stolen from it so I'm not doing that anymore. So I've settled with just giving stuff away- to friends or even friends of friends. At least I know someone will enjoy it and it isn't going to help scammers.

Wish I had a better solution. I live in an affluent area so my used clothes probably wouldn't even sell on CL. And since I"m new here I don't even qualify for the BBB.

[MolieMuts]

Now as a seller.... well, I'm probably not going to sell much any more. I usually just clean out the kids closets and sell twice a year- maybe $200 a time total in income. But even given that, it's not worth it anymore considering the scammers. Five years ago it was rare to get a complaint, now it seems like half my auctions have an issue. About 10% of bidders never pay and ebay does nothing- well they file a complaint but they don't enfoce payment. And I had two auctions last time where this happened- I list something in EUC- noting any flaws. Buyers complain about this or that, that I know doesn't exist. Even though I say no refunds they threaten to leave bad feedback (The feed back system now really doens't allow sellers to leave feedback the same way as years ago.) unless I do a partial refund. One time I did and one time I didn't. Either way, I then see MY ITEM listed for sale by my buyer in EUC with NO FLAWS noted. Clearly this is a new business model- try to get stuff for free then resell it. Ebay does NOTHING to these people, even when I sent them all of the info to track.

I have noticed the same thing about more complaints and non-paying bidders. The way ebay has it set up now, the buyer can complain about an item and you have no way to prove they are being untruthful. If you don't agree to refund their money, they can file a dispute through ebay and ebay will say they are "checking into it", but I don't think anybody even looks at the details of the auction. They will side with the buyer and claim that they have no way of knowing if the item arrived in the same condition as it was pictured and described in the auction. Mine wasn't even a condition complaint, it was a size complaint. The size was clearly pictured. Anyway, I am clearly still steamed over the whole thing, more of a matter of principal rather than a monetary or convenience reason.

Protect yourself as well as you can and ALWAYS use delivery confirmation or tracking when you ship.