Fool's Guide to selling on EBay

[AvadaKedavra]

I have sold a couple of bits n pieces, very low value a few years ago with no problems but don't really know too much about selling on ebay and their forums are scary :o but am ready to get into properly listing and selling all my excess stuff as I badly need the money.
Maybe if it goes well I would think about opening a proper ebay business but that's way ahead in the future.

so - what do I need to know!?

Any hints or tips?

End your listings on Sunday evening for best results.
That's all I've got I'm afraid. oh and I always start at 0.99p - I think it encourages bids, although of course you lose out sometimes. Good luck!

But don't end auctions during X Factor or the soaps, or any other popular shows.

I find Monday or Tuesday nights better than Sundays to be honest.

Always take as many pics as you can, detail any flaws, give any measurements (especially for clothing), use scales to find the weight and then calculate postage using royal mail price finder, try and post items asap after the auction has ended.

If you do start items at 99p you may have to sell for that amount with only 1 bidder, so if you want a particular amount for an item start it at that. Worth paying extra to list. You could even try buy it nows with a best offer if you want a set amount for an item.

Study 'Completed Listings' for similar items. More important than anything else. How many bids are you likely to get? Is it worth the hassle or would it be better to bundle lots of stuff together?

Don't charge more than others for postage, but also ensure you cover your postage costs with 20p to spare (buying plastic mailing bags will save you shedloads of hassle and reduce postage costs to less than if you reuse jiffy bags!)

If you'll be lucky to get a bidder or two, start at the price you want. If something really is desirable then start lower but IME recently so many people are selling and everyone wants a bargain that you only get a couple bids.
If something is bulky then a BIN price is worth spending on adding.

And good photos! Practice with all the flash options on your camera, upload, crop and adjust colour. Especially for clothes.

And don't buy cheap packing tape. Not worth the aggro!!!

And anything of any value send recorded.

And definite yes to quality parcel tape.

Brilliant tips, thank you!

Is Ebay worse for selling now they changed to no negs for buyers, do you get more chancers do you think? [worry]