Auctions on-line. Anyone use them?

[sylvev]

Hi,
Was browsing on-line recently and came across the e-bay auction site. Has anyone sold or bought, I was a bit perturbed about giving my credit card details in order to register, or is this normal practice and safe? Any thoughts welcome. Thanks.

I have bought and sold on ebay many times and I have never had any problems. I think they ask you to register a credit card to try and prevent people signing up and making fake bids.

You should give it a go, but it is very addictive. Always check out someones feedback and unless they have got some negatives they I probably absolutely fine to deal with.

Don't get carried away with your bidding though. It is best to bid your highest amount right at the end of the auction, to avoid creating interest and putting the price up. I use an auction sniper now, which is very good for this.

HTH

Whats an auction sniper angiel?

I used e-bay for the first time in Feb and it all worked like clockwork. Will definitely go back there when the mumsnet chat runs out .....

Thanks Angiel, I can imagine it is addictive! I too don't know what a sniper is.

I've really enjoyed buying things through eBay. Most of DS's clothes are from there - it's great for baby clothes as most of them don't get much use and so are in great condition for a fraction of the price. I haven't had any bad experiences (touch wood) and have bought over a hundred things, ranging in price from £1 - 100, from Singapore and the US as well as England.

It's good fun getting the parcels and easier on me as DS is not great at going round the shops

We have twice sold items on ebay never bought anything. I'm not much of a materialist we tend to buy things 2nd hand locally. I did bid on something, once. I found bidding very stressful. Definitely decide your top price and do not go above it.

My tips to add to Angiel's: be prepared, if you're selling, that you may not get the price you really wanted.

Make it clear if postage is included in the selling price, or how much it is.

It seems like most people just trust each other to send cheques and the goods when the cheque clears.

It took us DAYS to get our first ad up. And DH & I are both computer geeks!

Take a look at lots of pages to see what an attractive advert looks like. I don't think it's necessary to pay for the extra front page listing, and all that, but the nicer your advert page is, the better the price you'll receive (honest!).

Certain items will always sell better on ebay than anywhere else; but some items sell lousy on ebay. Electronic goods go for really high prices. I am thinking to flog a buggy board on ebay; I think I'll get a better price for my wedding dress if I sell it locally, though.

An auction sniper is something that will go and bid for you in the last 10 seconds of the auction. I can post the address if anyone is interested.

I mainly sell the children's old clothes and they generally sell quite well - particularly next, gap etc. The most money I made was on a Meatloaf denim shirt that I got from a jumble sale for 50p, someone paid £31 for it!

I don't make a fortune from doing it as you do have to pay the fees etc but I did make enough to buy a dishwasher and provide the spending money for our holiday.

Angiel, can you let me have details of the auction sniper? I've been 'had' by others doing this and, well - if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
I agree it's totally addictive and you have to bear in mind the p&p when bidding and it's worth checking out how much the item would cost if it were brand new before placing too high a bid. I also never bid on items that don't state the p&p upfront.

Here's the link. You get a certain amount free every month after that you have to pay. I have won all the auctions i wanted since i started using this. You can still get outbid though if someone has a higher maximum bid.

lotsnipe.auctionstealer.com/home.cfm

I've bought on ebay once and had the goods within four days.

Thanks Angiel.

jodee, is ebay where you are spending your time these days?

Sylvev

I have been using it for years and had very little trouble, none with eBay and only a few with people buying from me or selling me stuff.

Thanks from me too AngieL

SB34 - where are you, on this thread????? (She's the eBay pro around here and totally responsible for getting me addicted!!)

E-bay is very addictive but beyond the addiction I have had no problems using it

Bit like Mumsnet then Winnie1

Inspired by you lot, I registered today with e-bay and bought a rather nice maternity dress there (apologies to anyone else here who was bidding for it!). Incredibly easy and I can see why it's addictive. Paid using PayPal and got an email from the seller saying the dress should be with me tomorrow.

WOW!! Thanks for the messages. I didn't take a lot of persuading...I too have since registered at e-bay. Still browsing, haven't placed a bid yet, but there was this really nice sofa and chairs.....perhaps I'd better start with smaller items!

Ah yes Ebay! As i sit here I am flicking from ebay to mumsnet. I have had some really good childrens clothes, and some for me! Never had a problem with anything. I do always pay by cheque tho', but i know people who use paypal with no problems

Hi all you ebay-ers. Can I ask a question? I have huge quantities of retro clothing ( 60's 70's mostly) to sell. I used to do a stall, but am thinking of advertising my wares on ebay. Most pieces would be priced at well under £15.00, so no large profit unless someone bought in bulk. Has anyone here sold retro clothing sucesssfully through the site? do you think it's worth me putting togther an ad? and more generally, is it easy to sell second hand clothing on the internet, as the buyer does not know if the items will fit them or what their condition is?

tigermoth, there is a specific section on ebay for vintage goods. I often look at this section. I'm sure your clothes would sell and probably with profit. I was bidding on a retro Japan airlines flight bag the other day, didn't win it as I realised the highest bidder was willing to pay an absolutly silly sum for it.

Yes, SB34 got me sucked into Ebay too. On her suggestion I sold my non-running Mk2 Escort on it when we moved house. It's great for selling still wrapped McDs Happy Meal toys - I got £8 for a Swedish Chef!

There are some sad people out there...

Off to look at Ebay right now oddly enough.

Ooo... you can sell cars on it?! goes to look at Ebay too

Well I now have a great new hobby, e-baying! It is really good fun and I've already bought 5 items (total £16) v. gd value. Thanks for advice. I have paid by cheque and eagerly await my goodies arriving. It is really amazing what you can buy.