Archive for October, 2011

Dear eBay Queen;

I’ve sold a few things here and there on eBay. I’m not really a serious seller.  I just buy things when I need them, and sell thing when I want too.  That being said, I have a diamond ring that I would like to sell.  It’s a 1.5 carat solitaire with a total 2 carat weight of diamonds. It’s not really an engagement ring, and not really a cocktail ring. I’m thinking I would like $5,500.00 for the ring. What is the best way to sell this?

I am also a little worried about my protection as a seller.  I see there is protection in place for buyers, but how can I be sure that if I send my ring to someone, they won’t switch the diamonds and then return the ring to me?

John
Dear John:

I’ve been selling for almost 14 years on eBay.  I still believe eBay’s philosophy, “That people are basically good.” If you decide to sell your ring on eBay, I would make sure that the ring has been appraised (recently).  This way if in the unlikely event that a dishonest person purchased your item and wanted to return it, you would have the appraisal with the drawing and photos of the ring.

There is seller protection, but not from what you are concerned about.  There aren’t any guarantees that someone wouldn’t switch your ring. Every sale on eBay involves risk.  Some other options for you might be Craigslist.

Dear eBay Queen:

I was in your eBay class at the beginning of the year.  You told a story about a friend of yours that purchased a childrens boutique store that was going out of business.  I kept thinking that might be the way to accumulate eBay inventory.  I’ve been browsing Craigslist, local newspapers and Freecycle.  I ended up with a couple of different things.  I was wondering if you could help me figure out the best way to sell these items?

We purchased a large quantity of rubber stamps.  I think this was from a serious scrapbooking person or maybe from a store.  I tried to get the story behind them, but when I went to pick them up the guy just said “They are my wife’s, I don’t know much about them. Glad they are leaving here.” The stamps are all different, and range in sizes from 1 inch square to 6 inch stamps.  Most of these are new most new, and I would say that 95% of them are unused.  There are probably 600 rubber stamps total, not including the sets.  I have a variety of themes including Christmas, Valentines, Hanukah, Fourth of July, and the rest are miscellaneous.  This lot cost me a total of $45.

The next lot of items we purchased was a lot of NEW hardback books.  There are 225 books, and each book has no more than 2 duplicates. Most of these are current best sellers, some fiction, and some nonfiction.  I bought these at an auction, and paid $35.00 for the whole lot.

How would you eBay them? Would you sell them in one huge lot with a Buy it Now with Best Offer? Should I separate them out and sell them individually?

Trina; Tonganoxie, KS

Dear Trina:

Those sound like some great buys!  In a situation like this, you need to decide how long you want to mess with these.  If you sell them individually, you will be writing each one up, and they may not sell the 1^st or 2^nd time.  If you sell them in a lot, you may not make all the money on them you would have if you sold them individually.  The best thing to do is check out what some of the ending prices or completed listings of these items are.

I would check into selling the hardbacks on Amazon.com and eBay.  It’s easy to list books on Amazon, and there is no cost to list them for 30 days.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 170700262000 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page.) Do you love Halloween Decorations? Check out this vintage Halloween Screen Stand Up.   SOLD $1525.00 HERE

Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul. Do you have a question for the eBay Queen? Email: questions@asktheebayqueen.com

Dear eBay Queen:

I’ve been trying to figure out when the best time was to list boutique children’s clothing. I’ve done quite a bit of research, and I thought I would share it with you and your readers.

I notice that even though I searched best match, the top listings were for items ending within an hour or so. Therefore you want your listings to end on days and the best time of day when the most people are on eBay. You would not believe how many people don’t realize this. There are so many people that are working on their auction listings at ten o’clock in the evening and just launch it then. That way, the auction ends 3, to 10 days later at that exact time.

You need to be careful about what time you list things.  For instance, if you live in Kansas, and list something at 8:00am that is 9:00am on the East coast and 6:00am on the West coast.  How many people do you think are on eBay at that time? There are nowhere near as many as later in the day or evening, but still some.

I’ve done quite a bit of research, and here’s what I came up with.

• Mondays seem like an excellent day to have your items list. There are lots of people surfing eBay at work. After the weekend they need their “eBay fix.” Monday is statistically the best day to end an auction-especially in the early evening. (3-6PM) Pacific Time.
• Tuesdays are the worst days in my opinion.  According to my statistics and that of TeraPeak and Hammer Tap, Tuesday’s receives the lowest number of bids on eBay.
• Wednesdays are fair and not quite as bad as Tuesday.
• Thursday seems to be about the same as Wednesday
• Friday: I like Fridays as long as it’s before 5:00 PM (Pacific).
• Saturdays aren’t the best days for me.
• Sundays are excellent, with the evening being the best time for items to end.

Different types of people shop at different times. I try not to have anything end during popular television shows, because my sales are affected negatively then.  I hope my eBay OCD has helped someone out!

OCD Oscar; Oklahoma

Dear Oscar:

I usually list auctions on Sunday evenings and Monday afternoons.  When it comes to fixed price, I list whenever I can, as the item is on for 30days, and is not affected by listing times.

Thank you for sharing your listing time secrets with us!

Dear eBay Queen:

I wanted your help selling a pair of brand new unused boots on the eBay auction site. I recently signed up on the eBay website and I am now ready to start selling my first item on eBay.

I have a pair of brand new pair of safety boots. These boots were ordered last week and just got here a couple of days ago. The boots are 1 size larger, so they don’t really fit me. The boots are Super Safety Boots – Size 10. Selling price is $300.

How do I word it in the eBay description page? Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Kind Regards,

Josh

Dear Josh:

I did a little checking on your boots, and I didn’t find any with the brand name “Super Safety”, but I did find 214 boots currently on eBay with the term “Super Safety”.   If this were my item, I would make sure to include the brand name, if they have one.

I am going to assume, since the price of these boots is in the $300.00 range, these are Danner Boots.  For a title, I would do something like this: “New Men’s Danner Super Safety Black Work Boots sz 10.”  My description would be something like this:

Up for auction is a brand new pair of men’s Danner Super Safety Black work boots.  Brand new never worn.  I ordered these and they came in the wrong size.  My loss is your gain.

• Color
• Boot name (from the manufacture)
• What’s it made of? Leather, vinyl?
• Men’s Size 10
• Man Made?
• New in the Box or just new
• Retail price: (?)
• Measurements from heel to toe on the bottom of the boot
•  Does it have a steel toe?
•  How much you are charging for shipping, OR how much the item weighs.

Good luck with your boots!

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 220870022893 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page.  Do you remember your first Halloween Costume? Do you still have it? Check out this 1966 Ben Cooper Marvel Ironman Halloween Costume MIB Iron Man SOLD $500.00 HERE

Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul. Do you have a question for the eBay Queen? Email: questions@asktheebayqueen.com

Dear eBay Queen:

I was in my local thrift store and found a few little things to sell on eBay.  When I went to check out a volunteer, was processing some new stuff that had been dropped off.  We struck up a conversation, and he showed me the rhinestone costume jewelry he was pricing.  The jewelry was in a large plastic grocery bag. I’m not sure why I did this, but I asked how much it would be if I bought it all, and he offered all of it to me at a price I could not refuse (24.99).

Now I have no idea how to sell these! I’ve gone through the bag, and have noticed that some pieces are marked, and others are not.  Some of the names are: Monet, Haskell, Trifari , Juliana and Eisenberg.  A couple of the pieces are marked Sterling.  I have a total of 19.5 pounds and maybe 112 individual pieces. How should I sell this?  The jewelry is beautiful.  I hope I did a good job.

Sonja L.

Dear Sonja:

WOW! I’m just a little bit jealous! There are several ways to sell this. Your first option is to sell it in a lot.  There are many sellers that choose to get the big bucks by selling it in a lot.  I’ve seen some lots go for $200 to $1400.00 when being sold in all together.  Your other option is to sell it by the piece.  Some Juliana and Eisenberg pieces can sell for upwards of $100.00 to 800.00 each!

The way I think I would go, is selling most of it by the piece.  I would invest in a good costume jewelry book or at least check one out at the library.  When you look through the book, try to get the costume jewelry “lingo” down.  The prices in the book are just a guide, and not what the current market will bear.  Since you don’t have a lot of money in the pieces I would start them between $9.99 and 14.99 each and see where the auction takes you.

Dear eBay Queen:

I think I need to vent to someone who understands.  I’ve mailed off 214 packages in the last month, of those 214 packages only 142 have been delivered!  These were all sent First Class Mail. I have buyers complaining left and right. Most of my buyers are being extremely patient, but I’m not sure how long I can hold them off.

There are AT LEAST 18 packages that I know of, most of whom are going to first-time buyers.  I shipped these within hours of their payment, and they still haven’t gotten their stuff. I went to my local PO twice and they keep showing they are at the “Processing Facility”.

It really ticks  me off that I had to spend three hours last night checking these things on the USPS website to make sure they have arrived.  With customer service like this, it’s no wonder the USPS is flippin’ broke. I’m so TIRED of tap dancing with my buyers, I’m not even a good dancer!  I am just watching and waiting to see my DSR ratings go down.  Not to mention the new negatives and/or neutrals that I will receive.  To top those off, you know I’ll lose my Top Rated Seller status along with it!

If I get through this without a negative or ding’d DSR, it will be a miracle!  Do you have any advice for me?

Mail King

Dear King:

This is totally unacceptable! I would contact your post master immediately, ask if you can meet with them and go over the tracking for the missing packages.  Hopefully they will be able to help you figure out what exactly is going on.  If your post master doesn’t seem too interested in helping you, I would contact the customer service number for the post office: 800-275-8777 or 877-876-8777.

Once you contact the post office, I would email the customers that have not received their items.  Let them know what is going on, and that you are on top of the situation.  Ask if they will be patient for the next week, and if they still haven’t received the items you will refund their money.

I am really sorry this has happened.  Let me know how this turns out.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 160646826541 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page). Do people still listen to the radio?  Check out this Art Deco Blue Bakelite Astor Football Valve/Tube Radio  SOLD $3,199.95  http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&nma=true&rt=nc&item=160646826541

Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul. Do you have a question for the eBay Queen? Email: questions@asktheebayqueen.com