Selling on Ebay - any tips?

[secondly]

Softie, defiantely on figure. The clothes almost always look better and it gives a more professional image.

Also, I think your idea about selling non-designer goods at first is really smart. Designer E-Bay stores always look like (and frequently are) scams.

 

[softgrey]

also, it is worthy to note that it is NOT a seller's market during May, June and July.
Not a good time to sell...hold on until August if you can.
Things go for dirt-cheap during this time for the most part.

really?...why?...
what if it's summer stuff?...
i mean...summer stuff is always cheaper than winter stuff anyway i guess...

i figured i'd sell stuff that is sort of trendy right now..
like some wedges and some wood jewelry, stuff like that...
it won't be as popular by august...so i have to do it now!!...

then by august maybe i will have more of a reputation so i can sell the higher end stuff....no?...

thanks for the input secondly...
i thought on-figure would be better myself...

*but then i tried it on and my friend was like...
'why are you selling that...it's so cute...!'...
just what i DIDN"T need to hear...

 

[secondly]

Purge now before you become a pack-rat and end up on some tacky TLC show about how messy you are and they force you to throw out something you really want

 

[AlexN]

thanks again alex...
i guess i have to buy a scale...

another question about cost....
so after posting fees...
what percentage do you have to give ebay and what percentage do you have to give paypal?...what's your net profit?...

is it better to post clothing flat or on figure...?...

I really don't have exact answers on the percentages. It's certainly not enough to make me really care.

To answer your second question, unless the clothes look really good on the figure, definitely just do flat. Just think about sites like YOOX and Bluefly. The stuff looks awful on the mannequins. Plus it'll be more of a hassle for you.

Edit: If you can find runway pics of stuff you're selling, definitely put those in there. That'll make a big difference. Runway pics + laying flat =

 

[Orchide]

really?...why?...
what if it's summer stuff?...
i mean...summer stuff is always cheaper than winter stuff anyway i guess...

i figured i'd sell stuff that is sort of trendy right now..
like some wedges and some wood jewelry, stuff like that...
it won't be as popular by august...so i have to do it now!!...

then by august maybe i will have more of a reputation so i can sell the higher end stuff....no?...

thanks for the input secondly...
i thought on-figure would be better myself...

*but then i tried it on and my friend was like...
'why are you selling that...it's so cute...!'...
just what i DIDN"T need to hear...

well, go for it but don't be disappointed if you get less than you may have thought. if money isn't such an issue and you want practice and ratings, don't wait.
Summer is always kinda dead on Ebay- it is why Ebay is pushing listing sales and what not right now. I have had Holly Harp and Comme des Garcons pieces go for peanuts and I didn't have a reserve so I learned a lesson with that last summer. My sister who is a very experienced Ebayer then explained to me about the summer thing and said never to put anything up then for sale. Summer is the time to buy !
Anyway, I need the money when I sell so I will be waiting til end of July to list anything else.
I also have friends who are models wear my stuff I sell and I style them. I use a dress form about 25% of the time.
Its best if you can to always have at least 9 things on for sale at all times to build clientele and traffic for you as a seller.
I like for my auctions to end on the west coast in the early to mid evening so that people in NYC may still be on. I prefer Sun, Mon and Tues. closings.
I would never have something end on a holiday weekend or on Fri or Sat.
More photos rather than less is better and measurements save you time with questions you will get asked.

 

[TheSoCalledPrep]

Quimby and Drexl gave some great advice...

I'll input mine:

-- most important thing in a listing is PHOTOS. make sure you take several quality photos showing the whole item, the tags, and some detail. Upload them to a photobucket type account and then use the HTML tag <img src="http://photobucker/whatever"> to link to them. This way, you don't need to pay eBay's 15 cents per pic thing

-- Grasp basic HTML concepts. It helps. Thinks like <br>, images, links, and fonts, really improve a listing

-- When selling clothing, INCLUDE MEASUREMENTS. It helps buyers, makes them more interested, and cuts down on post-sale complaints

-- Don't use gallery... =)

-- The most eBay traffic is on Saturday nights, Friday nights coming in second
-- The most auction viewings occur in the latter part of the ad
-- What does that tell you? List really late on Saturday night...

-- Keywords are about as equally important as the photos. Don't waste space with WOW and stuff.

Good title: SAM & LIBBY Ballet Bow Flats Shoes -sz 7.5 - PUNK 80s
Bad title: SAM & LIBBY Ballet Flats - size 7 1/2 - Very cute!

A good title has lots of keywords that people will SEARCH for... rarely will they find your item by browsing... one of the most searched for words on ebay is SEXY Vintage gets lots of hits... so do "big" names like Gucci and Louis Vuitton... think trends... softie should be good at this...

 

[AlexN]

so do "big" names like Gucci and Louis Vuitton...

Read my first post. This is a big no-no.

Even if eBay doesn't end your listing for rules violation, people who are looking for Gucci on eBay are not going to care if they stumble across Issey Miyake.

 

[TheSoCalledPrep]

I know you're not supposed to just throw Gucci in the title.. I was just trying to get across the point that, the numbers of people searching for LV and that junk are far great than CDG or Ann Dem, even though that stuff is getting a great following on there... 224,382 people queried Gucci in April, as opposed to 5,399 for Comme...

Even Balenciaga isn't as huge as Prada and other names popularized by rap culture..

But anyway, my point was make sure you have searchable keywords that pertain to your item

 

[AlexN]

But anyway, my point was make sure you have searchable keywords that pertain to your item

Oh, I gotcha. Sorry.

 

[snowqueen]

really?...why?...
what if it's summer stuff?...
i mean...summer stuff is always cheaper than winter stuff anyway i guess...

lots of people will be away for the summer or busy. not inside on the pc as much.
Best time to sell is holiday season around december etc. people have lots of gifts to buy, parties to go to so they buy clothes etc.

Putting words like boho, emo etc. in title gets more hits (i generally find ne ways)

Ive sold links to websites on ebay getting upto £25 for something that cost me nill. so ebay is full of people with too much time and money on their hands that will buy anything you just need to get the wording right.

Buy using paypal you can get payment quick and easier and it will appeal to more people. people generally trust it more then people who paypal then people who just exsept checks. paypal comes with insurance you see.

you can pay extra to make your heading bold, or at the tops of the list.

You can put items up for 1,3,5,or 10 days. I generally find the shorter ones go for less.

as for posting costs i normally charge what the post office charge plus 25 % so if the post office charged me £1 id charge the ebayer £1.25.

If you charge to much for pstage it will put people off.

Try to appeal to as many people as possible.Make it clear what your selling, when you exspect payment, etc. so then people cant turn around and be like you promised me this etc.

Only say what is true dont lie about items as it will come back to haunt you. Just stick to the truth.

Im am rubbish on computers and i picked it up in a day, you seem pritty good on computers so you'll have no trouble picking it up !!

good luck selling things

 

[snowqueen]

http://sell.ebay.com/sell?ssPageName=h:h:syi:US

alll your questions are answered

 

[vintage_princess]

Actually I dont have a problem with selling things during the Summer, I think that during the Summer its the best time to sell sandals and people love to buy Birkenstocks for example just before they go on holiday. Im sure its the same for skirts and other clothes people want to buy for the Summer.

One of the best times to list an item is when it finishes at a decent hour, not like 4am when most people are asleep

I prefer someone to model the clothes so I can see how it looks when worn.

 

[softgrey]

omg...you guys are amazing...
thanks so much for the tips and encouragement...

i admit that i am imtimidated and i don't know anything about this image shack stuff, etc...
so i still have a ways to go...
but you guys are helping feel more confident about the whole thing...
i had a look around last night for a bit and it's starting to make more
sense now...

but all your tips are extrememly useful...
prep=thanks so much for the title examples...
that's the kind of stuff i need...
ebay 101 for dummies......

if you think of anything else guys...please please let me know...
i took some pics and i may post a few just to get some advice and see if you guys think these are ok ...

prep-when you say 'don't use gallery'...what does that mean please?...
tiamaria..i like the tip about shipping costs +25%...thanks!
i will check out the link you provided...

 

[snowqueen]

wow u pushed my karma up ***

tiamaria..i like the tip about shipping costs +25%...thanks!
i will check out the link you provided...

dont worry about it anytime thanks xXx

 

[i_<3_chanel]

i'm so clueless abt ebay !

 

[fashionyork]

its sunday and sunny in nyc i cant be online, but just found this thread, will definately come back here alter to read it all since i pretend to do the same thing and sell some of my nyc treasures hehehe

softie, nice nice idea - ahhh you're my tfspotter muse

 

[softgrey]

fashionyork....you never came back!!...

 

[.francesca]

those are all really great ideas everyone! something that i have found works for me (and sellers that i know sell a lot of items, especially clothes) is modelling the clothing yourself. if you're nervous about doing this i totally understand...some often never show their face, but sometimes when they do they seem to sell better (i have no idea why or if this is even true, or just a strange coincidence). my boyfriend sold some clothes last year and made about $1300US (not even designer stuff!) and i've done the same over the years. anyway if you feel comfortable with this it might help, or it might really just be negligible...either way, i'm sure that you'll have no problem with selling your things. i know they're beautiful.

good luck and let us all know your ebay username...

 

[sourkiwiz]

I began ebaying some stuff from my closet earlier this spring because I was running out of space, and it turned out pretty well after the first few sales. I guess good feedback from buyers plays an important role in getting sales since people tend to be reluctant in bidding on items from a seller with few feedback. I used paypal for accepting payments, and the convenient things about it is that paypal has a shipping option linked with USPS where you can just print the shipping label with a few clicks after the customer pays.

Making sure the buyers pay within a reasonable amount of days is important (there are instances where buyers bid and win the auction, but end up never paying). There's really no way to avoid that; but it may be a good idea to have your listing indicate when payment must be made by so you don't end up waiting too long for the buyer to pay (or if they never pay). Ebay allows you to report an unpaid item after 7 days of auction closing, but then you will have to relist the item and wait for it to be sold again.

 

[quimby]

I've only been a buyer on ebay, not a seller, but the advice everyone's given rings true. Things like how a high flat shipping rate would put buyers off, etc. I think part of the reason is that you want to convey that you're honest and upfront, and buyers have relatively little to go on, so reasonable shipping rates make you seem like you're not trying to run a scam. Personally, I also hate it when I have to contact the seller to find out shipping rates or measurements. It's rather troublesome, and you want to create goodwill in your ad.

One thing I've seen people write in their ads that hasn't been brought up here yet is specific instructions given for buyers with zero or negative feedback. I've seen sellers say that these buyers have to email them or else get their bid removed. I guess it's to minimize deadbeat bidders and whatnot. What do you guys think about that?