Archive for the ‘Auction’ Category

Dear eBay Queen:

Hurray! My ship has come in!! I got my “Ying-ling dba Alamo Auto Sports and Andy Scott V. eBay” class-action settlement check today……Guess how much it is? Wait for it…………45 cents!!!  I vaguely remember signing up for this class action lawsuit.  This was for people who sold on eBay in the Auto Parts & Accessories category between the years 2005 to 2009. Should I cash this check? I’ve been brainstorming what to do with it.

Maybe I’ll let my kids list the check and the letter it’s attached to as a collector’s item in 2032. eBay will be just a distant memory by then, and folks will be collecting eBayana. Surely by then people will be posting holographic images of the stuff in their homes, and shoppers will do a virtual walk through other people’s houses. They will just point at things they want to buy, and the sellers will get a message saying something has been claimed. Once the virtual payment is made, the item’s molecular structure will be disintegrated, encrypted, and uploaded to an orbiting satellite. Then the buyer will download it to their re-integration module in the garage. The whole transaction will take about 90 seconds.

Seriously, should I cash this check? Do you think it will be worth something later? Here’s one odd thing: the check is void after Dec. 22, 2011. I thought checks were supposed to be good for a year. I’m thinking I might keep it. Don’t you think it would be too embarrassing to cash it at the bank?

45Cent-aire

Dear 45 Cent:

It’s always good to have a sense of humor about this kind of thing.  I was not part of that class action suit, so I did not get one of these “high dollar checks.”  In this situation, I would probably hold on to the check.  It might be worth more later, and at the very least would be interesting conversation piece hanging in your office.

Dear eBay Queen:

I’ve been selling for a few years, and I have a couple of questions for you.

• Why do you suppose millions of people sell on eBay when they have to pay a seller fee if their item doesn’t sell, when anyone can sell their stuff on Amazon and will only pay a seller fee when their item does sell?
• Can you explain this promotion eBay has with 1 day shipping time and Free shipping?

Thanks!

Tony

Dear Tony:

Amazon and eBay are both great venues to list your items to sell through.  Some people might disagree, but I really feel they are best suited for different items.

• Amazon is best for: books, house wares, kitchen items, arts, crafts and sewing

You can sell almost anything on Amazon, but Amazon sometimes only uses approved sellers for Toys, Clothing and Electronics.  So if you aren’t one of their approved merchants, you won’t be able to sell those items there.  I purchased a large lot of medical scrubs, and tried to list them on Amazon.  I could not sell my scrubs there, because clothing is a category I must be approved for in order to list.

Amazon doesn’t have any fees to list.  Their fees are charged only when the item sells. The down side to this is sometimes items are listed for a penny because of the competition.

• eBay is known for their collectibles, but anything can be sold on eBay as long as it’s not a knock off or a live animal. (There are a few other things, but these are the main restrictions.)

eBay does have listing fees, but I have found it prevents many people from doing what some people do on Amazon by selling something for a penny.

Either venue can be a great outlet to sell. Try them both out, and see how you do.

eBay’s new promotion will save you 20% on your final values fees when you offer free expedited (not overnight) shipping and have one day handling time.  For more info go here: http://announcements.ebay.com/2011/11/starting-tomorrow-save-20-on-your-final-value-fees-for-free-expedited-shipping-with-1-day-handling/   The promotion runs from November 24^th through November 25^th.  If you are a Top Rated Seller, you will receive the 20% off for your selling status, along with the new promotion.  That’s 40% off your final value fees.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 250912558734 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page.   Have you ever looked at something and thought “what is that thing?”  I’m sure many people have looked at this and thought that.  EC&M SF 1870’s Central Pacific Railroad Telegraph Insulator SOLD $5,560.00 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 love eBay!  After reading your blog, I guess you do too, huh?  I’m having a hard time with Turbo-lister and the logistics of getting all my stuff organized, but I’m making lots of money and I get to shop without guilt, which is cool.  I’m really into vintage and unique stuff.  Could you give me a few tips to keep me on track and organized?

I’m thinking I want to do this full time.  It’s such a rush!  Last week, I sold a wicker doll carriage for $100.99 plus shipping that I bought at a garage sale for $5.00.  How cool is that?  A few months back, I sold a silver baby cup with someone’s name already engraved on it for $70.00!  I bought it for .50 cents.  I think I am the garage sale queen!  I also had great luck the one and only storage unit I bought for $140.00.  It wasn’t that great, honestly but it had 6 industrial European hinges that sold for more than I paid for the whole unit!  I’m still selling that stuff.

BTW, It also contained a 1947 WORKING Singer Sewing Machine that’s sitting in my garage.

Since I’m into the vintage stuff, research takes up a lot of time but I’m good at it.  Please give me a tip or two………

Marcella dreamrich on EBAY

Dear Marcella:

Congratulations! eBay is a great way to make extra money, or to earn full time money. Your sales have been phenomenal! You’ve got a great eye. My downfall to selling on eBay is the research. I enjoy researching things, but it takes up so much time for me to do it that I’m just researching and not writing stuff up.

Here are some tips to help you stay organized.

•  Use Turbo-Lister’s Item numbers as your inventory numbers.
• Have a separate place for wrapping packages and photographing your items.
• Have specific times you wrap packages, write up eBay items, research, etc.
• If you are going to do this full time, make sure you allocate the proper space and time for your eBay business.  Both of those things can get out of hand quickly.

Turbo-lister is a great program to keep you organized, plus it’s FREE.  The one drawback to Turbo-lister is that it doesn’t schedule listings for free.

Dear eBay Queen;

Someone who owns a donation thrift store wants me to sell items for them. They are in Colorado, and I am in Western Kansas. I was thinking of having them set up their own eBay ID, and I would use my listing program to list the items for them. They would send me pictures for the listing, I would list the items and then they would ship and take care of everything else. I feel uncomfortable selling out of state like this and with not being able to handle the items and take pictures like I normally do. That is why I think they should use their own eBay ID. I just wonder if you have done anything like this before.

If I decide to use my ID, should I specify in the listing that the item is coming from another state, or do I change the location box. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I don’t think the person selling the items has had any experience with eBay, so that is another concern. The store is about 100 miles away.

Lisa, KS

Dear Lisa:

This could be quite a tricky situation. You would be covering yourself by having the seller use their own eBay account, but they still could quite possibly not ship items out as fast as they should, and their photos could be a complete mess. Would there be any way for you to make a trip out there once or twice a month? That way you could have the stuff in hand, and make sure it was packaged correctly and shipped on time.

If this isn’t feasible, I would consider referring them to a Trading Assistant in their area.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 270838009628 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page.) What was your favorite Saturday Morning Cartoon?  Mine was Scooby Doo.  Check out The Mystery Machine, Scooby’s Van.  SOLD $9,900.00 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649&item=270838009628

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 accidently send out a bed in the bag set and it was the wrong color. The buyer (whose address was in NY, opened a dispute for $114. I sent him a free return shipping label,  and I would send him a for a replacement. I then get an email saying he cannot return the item because he lives outside of the US.  He said it would cost $30 to send it back to the NY address and then another $30 to send the correct one to him. I had no idea he was sending this somewhere else. I can’t just refund him $114 without getting the item back! I sure hope PayPal doesn’t go and refund this money without the item being sent back.  Do you think they will?

Also, I am a dumpster diver.  I found a really cool Star Wars R2D2 interactive droid with a table mounted on it, (and it came with batteries!) out behind a grocery store dumpster.  It’s about 17″ tall and moves on command. It’s made by Hasbro and came out in 2002.  I hope to be putting that on eBay soon.  Do you have any ideas how to ship it?

Deb

Dear Deb:

PayPal will require the buyer to send the item back before they refund the money.  I would make sure that you put your return shipping label tracking number so that PayPal can see that it has not been shipped back to you.  Normally, claims close within 45 days.  If your buyer doesn’t do anything in that time, your money should be back in your account in no time.

Congratulations on the great find!  If this were mine, I would box it up, making sure to put lots of padding around the toy.  Since this could end up being a  pretty large, shipping box I would consider using UPS to ship it.

Dear eBay Queen:

I wrote to a seller concerning some jewelry charms that I was interested in. The picture had a group of these charms lying on a table and it was a bit difficult to distinguish the exact detail. I wrote and asked if he/she had a picture of an individual charm. The seller’s response was “Unfortunately we do not.”I thought that was odd, so I asked if it would be possible to take a picture of just one. The response was: “Unfortunately we only sell similar items not exact ones.”I was a bit surprised! I wrote back and asked if I wanted to purchase this exact charm, would you have them. The response was simply “no.”  Now I am really perplexed! How does a seller list/sell a pictured item they don’t have on hand?? I asked the seller if this ever cause a problem with his customers and the response was:

“Our description states clearly that we sell similar items, not exact. All of our customers know this and accept that fact. Most sellers today cannot post exact items due to the manpower required in taking pictures of every single item. That would probably run us out of business. That is just how it is done on eBay and all the large sellers do it this way. ”

Wow. Okay, I re-read the description and it does say “we sell similar items not exact”. But is this truly the way all large sellers work? When I do sell on eBay, I don’t list a lot of items, just a few here and there.  I’m not sure how large sellers operate but this just sounds a little “off” to me.

Ginger

Dear Ginger:

I would bet it is the same item, but not the exact item.  I also do this, when I have multiples of the same item.  It is weird that they would not take an up-close photo for you. Are there other sellers that have the same item up for sale?  If so, I would move on to their items and leave this sellers’ stuff for someone else to purchase. I would be interested in looking at their wording. If you still have it, let me know the eBay item number.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 320761066590 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page.  Were you a stewardess in the 1970’s?  Get out your old gear!  It’s time to sell it.  Braniff Airlines Emilio Pucci Space Bubble Helmet Rain Dome Uniform Hat. SOLD $1650.77 http://www.ebay.com/itm/320761066590?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

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