Unsure of where to start with selling!

[AlpacaPicnic]

So...
We need several thousand pounds work doing on our house. DH has a niche hobby and thinks we can raise the money, or at least some of it by selling some of his rare hobby 'stuff' on eBay.

I think it would be a good idea to have any money raised by PayPal to go straight into a separate joint savings account, than our normal accounts otherwise the money could risk being absorbed into our everyday spendings, bills etc. does that make sense? So I thought I could set up a separate email address to deal with any questions and a separate savings account for the funds.

We will not be running this as a business, it literally is just to get rid of some rare and unusual items and raise money for our house repairs.

Can anyone see any drawbacks with my thoughts? Or have any better advice or ideas that would work? I have sold in eBay before but it was about ten years ago and I suspect things have moved on since then...!

[imsorryiasked]

Just be aware that Ebay is now an expensive way of selling. As well as the listing fees ebay also take 10% of the sale price and the p&p price, plus paypal take a fair chunk too.
On the plus side if you need to send larger items by parcelforce48 then you can get huge discounts by using their "buy postage" button once your item has sold.
Depending on what the items are there may be other sites which would be better.
Good Luck!

[AlpacaPicnic]

Thank you! Luckily the items are small and lightweight - postage will be negligible. So 10% is the fvf? Oof! But it might be the only obvious place to sell them!

[Nappaholic]

Setting up a separate email and bank account sound like a great idea...bit of a hassle, but a good idea.

eBay sets limits on personal users...100 items a month, but there's also a financial limit too. PayPal also has limits, so you'd be best checking these out before finalising yr plan!

[AlpacaPicnic]

Thank you nappa, I had no idea about a limit.

See, this is why MN is the best! Straightforward answers :)

[Nanny0gg]

Have you thought about a RL auction house?

That's what we did for more expensive/unusual stuff.

Also, there are two types of sales - household where you can get rid of anything pretty much, especially large things. And the specialist ones where collectors look.

[StrangeGlue]

Might be worth looking at gum tree to avoid selling fees and putting up notices in niche hobby's shops.

[AlpacaPicnic]

Hadn't considered it tbh... I honestly think the hobby would be too niche for auctions. Its also more of an international interest so online is beneficial
It's MTG - magic - the gathering cards. So postage would be 60p - 1 for up to 5 cards or more... Some if the cards can be worth several hundred pounds - more if in good condition. Or to put it another way - a fruend recently sold his entire mint condition collection and bought a house with 2/3rds of the profit...

[AlpacaPicnic]

*friend!

As for putting notices in relevant shops... Guess what dh does for a living?! Hence the extensive rare collection...

[AlpacaPicnic]

But the local 'community' is limited so we need to be aiming for further afield ;-)

[LavenderGreen14]

if they are worth several hundred postage will be much more than 60p - special delivery or courier with online proof of delivery and adequate insurance will be needed.

[nickstmoritz]

When you list, think about ticking the box for your items to show on other ebay sites such as ebay.com for USA. It doesn't cost that much extra and might gain you sales if it is an interesting item. LG14 is right - only send by tracked/insured method.
As for saving the money then yes, you could set up an account linked to your paypal so you can transfer money and keep it separate from household expenses.
Take advantage of free listing weekends to start your item at a minimum price then fingers crossed for more. On your listing point out in the description that you have many more items to list and mention some good ones to get people checking out all your things.
List carefully, keep on top of questions and send fast. This will keep your feedback and DSRs in good shape.

Good Luck!

[AlpacaPicnic]

Thank you! I'd forgotten about insurance for postage so will remember to factor that in.

We are going to start small... A dozen or so cards at 'low' value of 99p to a couple of pounds. This will help us not be overwhelmed and also build up our feedback. Luckily we both work near post offices so don't have to factor in time to travel to send off the envelopes.

[LavenderGreen14]

start them in the evening on free listing weekends (like now) - and if you want more than 99p start at a higher price. You can't charge for your time if you aren't a business. You can list and schedule weeks ahead at 6p per item, but if on a free listing weekend you amend to go live at say 9pm, then you won't get charged the 6p. (as long as it is before the scheduled time that is).

[MisForMumNotMaid]

If your feedback is very low it can put buyers off.

You can buy lots of things on ebay for under £1. Its worth considering making a few purchases of things you'd buy anyway to push up your feedback score.

[LavenderGreen14]

but a bit pointless really as good feedback as a buyer does not make you a good seller.

[allhappynow]

As a new seller ,you won't be able to access your Paypal funds for up to 30days.It doesn't become instant until you've completed 25 sales or been selling for 90days.I have a personal acct and an Ebay store.If you're selling niche items,don't be surprised if you don't get a lot of bids.I personally find it better to list one off stuff with a Buy It Now and Best Offer or you might just get one 99p bid!-it's a very good idea to start off with selling small items by auction format on Ebay to build f.b and build confidence for the buyers.You can access funds sooner if you send via trackable / signed for-defo recommend this as a new seller as proof of postage is not sufficient in the event of a claim.Good luck!