Ebay - selling or online store?

Rozmataz

SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
Joined
Jun 13, 2002
Posts
2,773
Loc
Fingerlakes Region of NYS
I am interested in putting some items on ebay to sell. Does anyone have any advice, pros, cons regarding how to use it. And any easy way to "get into" it?

Thanks,

Roz
 
Search for the same type of items you want to sell and check the "completed auctions" to see if there is much competition and if they are getting any bites. Note: you have to have an account and be logged in to see completed auctions.

Unless you have something unique or sought after, Ebay is not a good venue for making money.
John
 
This topic just came up yesterday. A friend is a power seller and had done VERY well selling antiques and collectables. He just opened a store and he was amazed at what was happening. He was putting all the no-sale stuff from the auctions into the store and wham - people were grabing the stuff for his asking price. In his opinion people ought to do both.

To me the store seems less demanding. If you have items that you will be selling again and again, like blanked board and 11 x 14 frames, the store is nice.
 
To sell effectively on ebay, always make sure your title is descriptive and clear, your description is complete and includes the condition of your item and its specifications, and ALWAYS have a good photo or two. When you write your description, try to include as many different words and phrases you can think of that people looking for your item might use in a search. For instance, an underpinner might be called a vnailer, frame joiner, mitre joiner, etc. Choosing your category can be important for people who browse but don't search for specific items. Ditto to John - If you have what people are looking for, you will sell more at a higher price.
 
We sold a car on ebay a few months ago, and I would (and plan to) absolutely do it again. It was an antique car, so the market for something like that is not huge, and ebay reaches a lot of people, so it worked well for us. The car actually went for more than what we would have taken for it, and the customer was responsible for all shipping arrangements, so good for us.
One recommendation, use LOTS of photos and a very detailed description, or you'll be answering silly questions every 3 minutes.
 
We tried Ebay and flumked. Yet some people are making it..

Our biggest problem was searching for it..

Art does not seem to sell well on Ebay..least not for us. Example..we had a real nice drawing of a wolf. I think thats what it was called..just plain ole wolf. Never in a kazillion years will you ever find just your wolf. Not even with the artist name attached or busn. name. It will be heaped in a pile of paintings that have wolf. Might be 100 of them or 50...Same with Eagle,Moose, or waterfall etc..Not even Alaskan gray wolf. So the descriptive name must be something else and detailed. Then just maybe I will find it and bid on it and of course I am wanting it as cheap as possible. A place for art...hmmm. Seems like that is your call. For every down story there will be two more success stories. We left it up there for several months and even tried the store. We added all the extras for a fee. Finaly we just gave it up..! To this day I wonder what could we have done differently.

TO maake things worst, Diane's sister goes online and orders a print. arrives stuffed between to pieces of carboard. very unprofessional and looked awful in my opinion, not to mention high priced for what it was.
Go figure!
 
I totally agree that a photo is a must... I rarely look at a listing if doesn't have a photo and I have had better luck selling with one. Taking credit cards vastly increases the number of prospective buyers as well.
 
Roz, I strongly recommend buying the book "eBay PowerUser's Bible", author is Greg Holden, publisher is Wiley, ISBN 0-7645-5942-7. Check with Amazon.com for sellers.

It's pretty comprehensive as a guide for buying & selling on eBay.
kaffeetrinker_2.gif
 
Originally posted by deaconsbench:
Roz, I strongly recommend buying the book "eBay PowerUser's Bible", author is Greg Holden, publisher is Wiley, ISBN 0-7645-5942-7. Check with Amazon.com for sellers.

It's pretty comprehensive as a guide for buying & selling on eBay.
kaffeetrinker_2.gif
You mean there is no eBay for Dummies??
 
I've sold a number of items on Ebay and timing and description are King. Just recently sold 4 of the same print at different times for $150. / $170. / 173.05 / 175.05. Have the same print in my gallery for $100.00 and haven't sold it off the wall in a year.

Couple years ago I had an n-scale model train layout for sale at a moving sale and a firm price of $450.00 on it no takers. Put it on Ebay and it sold for $975.00 and the irony was it was a guy from my hometown that bought it.

Have also had some items that didn't sell. In the real world its Location, Location, Location. On Ebay it is timing / right place (category) and the right time.
 
This is all encouraging.... I am still in the research process. Thanks.

And what I have to sell varies. Some shop, some personal. Nothing too grand!
 
In order for art to sell for a worthwhile profit on eBay it has to be really collectible. If it is a print it has to be sold out by the publisher and really popular for you to get near issue price. Otherwise forgetaboutit. Frames - people will buy frames for 1/2 of wholesale of chinese ready mades. List a dozen 8x10s for $10 and someone will write and ask if you will take $4. But your frames are waterguilded and made by hand with great care? They see no difference. Think about all the eBay commercials and marketing you see... get it cheap! Items starting at $1!

Now, back in the day... around 1998/1999 I was LOVING eBay. I was bs-ing with a Crescent rep and he mentioned how a relative was doing eBay for a full time job so I took a look. List a print for full issue and watch it go up... List a bunch of collectibles at full retail and sell 95% of them... Those days are long, long gone. So incredibly long gone. I'm an eBay PowerSeller as a hobby and, by and large, I don't bother with prints and frames. I have 2 internet hobbies, eBay and poker. I make more on poker. :D Anyway, if you put art or framing on eBay be willing to sell it at a loss in order to get rid of it.
 
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