Free listings weekend. Never sold before - what do I need to know?

[FuzzpigFourFiveSix]

Totally clueless here - hadn't even bought anything on eBay until a few weeks ago!

We've got a few things to sell, ranging from cheap children's books/clothes to a couple of valuable records and an exceedingly posh fountain pen.

What's best to do - auction or BIN? What about postage costs and packaging? I don't know anything about fees etc or even how to list things (will be using the iPhone app)

Anyone want to advise a newbie? Thank you :)

I find that auction listings sell better-people get auction fever!
Here are my tips;
Have a look at completed listings of what you're selling to get an idea of what price to expect (if you don't know, search for the item, go to 'advanced', scroll down and tick 'completed listings').
Make sure to weigh items with packaging and use Royal Mail's price finder.
Check your items thoroughly for any damage and include it in the listing, preferably with photos.
Take photos in good light and on a plain, contrasting background.
You could try grouping a few similar items (eg. three 6-9 month tops) if they're unlikely to get much on their own.
End your items at a time when people are looking. I find weekend mornings and Monday-Thursday evenings best.
Make sure you include search terms in you titles and fill it up with as many as you can fit-people don't search for words like 'look', 'gorgeous' or 'with' for example.

Oh and if you're selling anything big like a pushchair, you'll usually get a lot more if you offer postage. Just wrap with lots of bubble wrap if you don't have a suitable box.

Take good photos.
Bundle stuff up, especially similar childrens clothes.
You have to pay Ebay 10% final value fees and Paypal about another 4%.
Weigh items plus a jiffybag+bubblewrap, especially when quoting for overseas postage (only worry about that if asked, and they rarely win the auction but help push prices up) - you don't want to lose money on postage.
Big items - do collection only if you're in a city, but otherwise you'll need to offer postage -see what others are charging.

Good search terms in the title, and end on an evening that isn't Fri or Sat.
And think whether you can really be arsed to wrap up 20 items in bubblewrap and all and write addresses on them - consider how much profit you might make, whether stuff could be bundled, and how much you need the extra 50p you might end up with. Look at 'completed listings' to see how much things might sell for. Remember one bid at a start price of £4.99 is better than 10 bids starting at 99p that get you up to say £1.63!

(can you tell I have acquired a hatred of wrapping over the last year?! I've just gone through piles of books and most would be lucky to make 99p, so the charity shop wins. Slowly creating a pile of stuff to sell before Christmas when more people are looking - many people are away in August so stuff doesn't sell so well, be warned. Consider waiting for September.)

Thanks all - sorry for late reply I've been at work (started my new job yesterday)

I agree about thinking "is it worth the hassle" - there was loads of stuff we thought we might eBay as we've had a massive declutter, but in the end I just thought Oh sod that and gave a lot of it to the charity shop I volunteer at - especially stuff like children's books/clothes which I know they are desperate for.

Got a bundle of maternity clothes as well, and some baby outfits (I had a dungaree obsession)

Oh bugger this means I have to iron stuff doesn't it. :(

So, the fees thing, does that mean if something sells for a tenner I'd end up with about £8.60 after eBay/paypal fees?

Also is it worth using recorded delivery - some of the items are valuable.

You pay 10% to eBay and 3.4% +20p to PayPal. So if you sold something for £10, you'd get £8.56.
If it's worth more than £46, you'd need to send by Special Delivery. Otherwise you can send by any normal service and still get compensation if it goes missing. I choose to send recorded if it's worth over £25ish.

Thanks :)

Wow that website is confusing

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Oops

So, for something valuable I could send it by recorded delivery with first or second class stamps?

Also am I right in thinking I can specify that I'll only ship within uk?

Did you do the price finder where you put in the weight, choose which category it fits into (letter/large letter/packet) and then it comes up with the various options? It's far too complicated to look up prices on their lists!
As long as the value is only up to £46 and it's under 1kg, you can send by recorded with 1st/2nd class stamps.
There is a place on eBay you can specify all sorts of things including where you ship to. I can never find it though.

Yep that's what I looked at. Does it have to be special delivery as opposed to just recorded delivery if it's valuable then? Hopefully a couple of the small but valuable items would sell for a fair bit.

The compensation on 1st/2nd class postage is always equivalent to 100 first class stamps, so £46 at the moment. Recorded is just added on to 1st or 2nd class post. So yes, you'd need to use Special Delivery for anything worth more than £46 and up to £500. I don't know about posting things worth more than that.

Recorded delivery is the ordinary 1st/2nd postage price plus currently 75p. You can (and should) get 'proof of posting' instead from the post office which is free and should give you equal protection but I believe is more hassle if something gets lost in the post.
I send everything recorded as while it might mean I don't sell as much, it seems to cut out the annoying buyers who like to claim they never received their item - usually something they only paid 99p for in the first place. So far, touch wood, etc.

You can specify you only ship within the UK, but if you add the EU, USA/Canada, and Aus/NZ (ie places with a decent postal service) you can get a lot of extra bidders for rare items. I've never had a problem. Rural Spain must have a total lack of computer shops given how many bits of crap I've sent there!

Second the poster who said to maybe wait a while. Ebay is very very quiet at the moment as lots of folk are away/busy with kids - it all picks up in Sept for Christmas.

Have to admit I didn't think about high/low season. As I said earlier I've only just started using eBay - been getting lots of bargains for Xmas presents. Maybe it's only been so good (and easy to win the auctions) because it's quiet! Being so obsessively early is perhaps paying off :o

Could wait for most items then - am I right in thinking auctions starting at 99p or less are always free to list? But higher starting bids mean you have to pay?

Oh sorry it's fuzzpig here just trying out a new name :)

Yes, auctions (not BINs) starting at 99p are free - check how many pics you're allowed as it's usually only 1 but some categories allow more for free.

free listings are limited to 100 per month