OPINIONS ON THIS PLEASE?

[mamadiva]

My listing is it alright?

Never done it before.

[Flightattendant4]

It ain't showing up - have you actually finished the listing?

[Flightattendant4]

You need to schedule it if you want to show us before it goes live

[mamadiva]

oh lol sorry was preview am just adding postage etc this is a pita

anyone know how much a buggy snuggle weighs by chance?

[Flightattendant4]

I'd put about £3.99 for first recorded.

[mamadiva]

think might need to change this

[Flightattendant4]

Its a really good listing

Postage is high, maybe reduce that to about a fiver and you'll be fine.

I usually just guess roughly tbh.

[mamadiva]

Ah see I went all proper and done it on the RM website

[Flightattendant4]

I wish I knew how!

I am lazy like that, don't trust it as the PO always gives me a different price anyway..hope it sells well for you.

[mamadiva]

Thank You.

[blueshoes]

hi mamadiva, I really like your description. It gives enough information and makes you sound sincere and trustworthy.

The postage is too high, I'm afraid. I did a search on 'Completed Listings' and those that sold don't generally have postage that exceeds £5 - so agree with flight there.

You don't need to send by first class. 2nd class packets is fine. I assume the snuggle with packaging won't exceed 1 kg (the max weight for 2nd class). Postage for that is £2.49 + £0.72 if you want recorded delivery (I don't bother but it is good practice) + cost of packaging (which can just be a plastic bag cellotaped together and wrapped in brown paper). You will easily come within £5.

For the title, you might want to put the words 'footmuff', 'cosytoes'. It might read a little strange but some people search by using these keywords, rather than 'buggy snuggle' and you want your listing to get on their radar.

The starting price is a little high I feel. I think your item is attractive and if you feel the same, you might want to start at a lower price to encourage a bidding war. To start at £10 means your item will probably sell around £10 or a bit higher because people give your item a miss to hold out for a bargain.

I would suggest not more than a £5 starting price. Again, I say this looking at Completed Listings of auctions of buggy snuggles that achieved a good final price (£25 or more).

Also, I don't think it is good idea to end your listing at 4 pm-ish. You need to end your auctions around 7 pm or later when most people are in. The usual recommendation is to end on a Sat or Sun night but those nights are usually jammed with listings so you get less exposure, even if the traffic is higher.

I find Wed night works equally well by baby-type listings because parents start looking once their little ones are in bed.

Phew, I will stop now.

[mamadiva]

Thanks Blueshoes,

I have changed postage and starting price to £5, so hopefully that helps and I added a random cosytose word to the heading

Will try and remember later and change the listing time then becauseobviously I cant do that now.

Need to have a big clearout before christmas although the stuff I had earmarked to go DS has suddenly started playing with this morning just to make me feel guilty I spose.

With toys and clothes am I better to list in bundles or individual items?

[blueshoes]

Hi mamadiva, all the best for your snuggle listing. Just me being pedantic, but you might want the change the spelling to 'cosytoes'.

You can have a fairly idea of whether you priced it right and whether the item is attractive from the number of watchers. Basically, if you want to have at least 3-6 watchers by the time the auction comes to an end, to have a good chance for it to sell and at a good price even.

Don't be disheartened if no one bids or watches until the last 2 days. Activity is usually highest just before auction because before that your listing gets crowded out by other auctions that end earlier.

There is as always an element of luck. Please don't kick me if you don't sell or sell at £5 (needing to take cover already). I have had to re-list items due to timewasters and the selling price for the same item can differ quite a bit.

[blueshoes]

Mamadiva, you were asking about bundles or individual items for toys and clothes. I only have experience with listing individual items because that is my preferred way of bidding as a buyer and I understand the psychology behind bidding for such items.

But here goes anyway - the basic rule is that if you have a brand name item in good condition that you think will sell on its own, list it individually. If you have lots of items that make up a coherent bundle, then you can list as a bundle. A coherent bundle means for example, showing how you can mix and match outfits with coats, rather than one random vest coupled with 3 trousers and 6 sleepsuits. Brightly coloured bundles definitely sell better than bland ones - they just photograph so much better and are more visually appealing.

Make sure you sell in the right season. So I would just put clothes for winter in the bundle, not for summer.

For bundles, always group the clothes by size!

You generally get less per item for a bundle than if you sell individually but that is why people bid for bundles in the first place. By selling as a bundle, you get less hassle because it is only one delivery or self-collection. You can also shift items which are attractive when grouped with matching items but will probably not sell on their own because they are unbranded. You have to throw a few good branded items with your bundle to sweeten the deal.

In all cases, list and photograph all defects. Have lots and lots of clearly labelled photos. You probably don't want to sell anything with too many defects. My rule is if I am not happy to buy such an item, I should not sell it.

[blueshoes]

I don't generally sell toys on eBay because the much higher p&p eats into the profits and the packaging is quite tricky unlike for clothes. You can list self-collection but that greatly restricts the market to just those in your area. I only sell toys which I know are very desirable (by doing a search on Completed Listings first) eg I sold a tiny love buggy arch in mint condition for a fairly good price.

[Flightattendant4]

Just to add that Buggysnuggle is a well known and sought after brand so people (me) do search for it! Deffo keep that in the title...it is no ordinary cosytoes...

[guyFAwkesreQuiem]

I've just done quite well selling baby/young children toys. I bundled quite a few of them up, so I had a bundle of 6 baby toys (rattles, teethers, little musical things), then a bundle of 12 McDonalds toys (which sold as someone wanted the Nemo's grin]), also sold various other bits and piececs too.

However, having said that no matter what I'm selling (toys, books, clothes, music, anything) I always do a search of completed listings

a) To see whether they've actually been selling
b) To see what sort of price they've gone for (so I know where to start my auction price)
c) To have a check to make sure my P&P prices aren't overly restrictive.

[blueshoes]

ah, mamadiva, if you are referring to 'buggysnuggle' as a brand, rather than a description, you should remove the space between 'buggy' and 'snggle' because it won't show up if people search for the brand without the space.

Also, add a line in your description about yours being a smoke-free, pet-free home, if in fact it is.

[ToThrottleablackbird]

Jusr so you have rough idea about postage, I recieved two buggysnuggles today that came 1st class recorded and cost just over a fiver.

[mamadiva]

Ah okay thanks everyone,

Got my first bidder but they only bid a fiver

BUT I do have 3 watchers so here's hoping!

I paid £40 for it but if I manage to get £15-20 back I'd be happy.

[guyFAwkesreQuiem]

mamadiva - it will only show at £5 as that is the starting price - even if they've inputted £50 in the "bid now" box - it will still start at £5

[blueshoes]

3 watchers with 5 days to run is fairly good going. 5 days is lots more time in eBay.

As guy says, the first bid is always at the starting price, whatever the actual price the buyer bid: This is how bidding works on eBay

Bidders never pay more than their maximum bid. But they could end up winning the item for less (but never less than the starting price) - hence they always have the incentive of getting a bargain. As a rough rule, your item will sell at the price of the second highest bid + an increment.

To go above the starting price, you have to have at least 2 bidders. Which is why for auctions, you want to attract as many bidders as possible. Hence the low starting price - you have more people (watchers) who end up putting your item on their watch list and might eventually bid around the auction end time. BTW, not all watchers bid and most seasoned eBayers will bid very close to the end of the auction so as to maximise their chances of getting a bargain.

If your starting price is too high, people will bypass your item and at best you sell at the starting price if someone likes it enough or higher, if you manage to attract more bidders.

As always, there is an element of luck.

[guyFAwkesreQuiem]

thank you Blueshoes - you explained it much better than me - I'd just woken up at 8.45 to hear DS1's friend knocking for him to walk to school, DS1 had had his breakfast, but was only half dressed, and DS2 was still fast asleep in bed - so mad panic to get them both out of the door to get to school on time

[blueshoes]

guy .

Interesting to write it all down. I always bid in the last minute, so am party to many a bidding frenzy!

[guyFAwkesreQuiem]

yeah wasn't good - I really hope I'm sleeping better/falling asleep earlier when we move after Christmas - DS2 is nearly 5 (tomorrow ) - but as we live literally next door to the school and he's a sensible boy I have no qualms about letting him dash next door - obviously when we move we're not going to be so close, even if we end up on the same street (I'm hopeful - there's a rental place down the road being done up that I'm keeping my eye on.......) I won't be happy letting him run round on his own if it's further than next door......

Although I guess if there's no roads to cross I probably would still let DS1 walk him there (DS1 walks up to school - top of the road as opposed to next door) on his own.

I'm gutted - I love refreshing my items I'm selling when auctions are about to finish to see the number of hits going up, and watch any last minute bidding wars - the thing I'm most hopeful about (4 watchers at the moment - ending on Sunday afternoon) will finish when I'm out WAAAAAAAAAAAH

[blueshoes]

guy, oh to live next door to school. Must be a parent's dream.

Sad isn't it. To check our listings in the last minute. It is quite addictive. The most hotly fought auctions can be the ones with absolutely no bids (until the final minutes) but tons of watchers. A sign that the sharks are circling. Hopefully you will come home on Sunday to a nice final price.