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EBay madness

Marcyg

By Marcyg,
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Re6/6

Re6/6

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I regularly buy & sell on E bay & have encountered very few problems.I have sold items for less than I expected on occasions but other times I got more than I expected to get.Thats the way of auction sites.

My one problem with sellers on E bay is postage. Its not hard to find out postage costs to various countries based on weight. I'm sure you can get a price list in all post offices showing what the costs are. Apart from one particular seller who we are all familiar with I have seen sellers charge the same postage to Ireland & the other side of the world.

When I see an item I would like I work out what it is worth to me & bid accordingly. If it goes higher then that I leave it alone.What someone is prepared to pay for an item is purely down to the buyer whether they are experienced or just beginning.I just wish people would put in a little more effort when selling their items.Give proper descriptions & be a bit more realistic in their price expectations & work out the postage costs properly.Its not rocket science.

 

 

I agree with all you said Tony. Particularly about adequate and accurate description of what you're selling.

 

I recently disposed of a large number of locos from the estate of a friend's father. Many were 'old school' (Mainline, old Hornby etc..) but there was a quantity of 'collectable' Wrenn, some mint boxed. I took particular trouble in the accurate desciptions and photos so that the buyer could see exactly what they were getting, even with the 'commonplace' stuff, with honest descriptions of how they performed and, where a good return was anticipated (after research) with close up shots of any faults and blemishes.

 

Regarding postage costs, I always charged just postal cost of the packed weight by using the Royal Mail pricelist plus £1 (cost price) when any bought-in new postal cartons for higher value items where used.

 

 

The buyers seemed very satisfied with the service (very good feedback) and more importantly I realised much higher prices that was expected.

 

So the moral is be informative, describe the goods as accurately as you can, provide quality snaps (close-ups where appropriate) and the results could well be satisfactory. Mind you there are always those out there that you'll never please and I did have a couple!

 

There are those that would moan about fees etc..for both Ebay and paypal but without the use of this sort of on-line auction and the convenience of not having to constantly contact the bank regarding cheque payment (I just don't trust on-line banking I'm afraid after a scare I had a while ago), Without doing it 'properly' I would never have got the level of success realised for the estate..

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Oldddudders

Oldddudders

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At the risk of merely following in Re6/6's footsteps and saying ebay isn't as bad as sometimes painted, I must say that in nearly 300 purchases I have only been "burnt" a very few times. There are bargains to be had if you manage your bidding carefully, too - and sometimes even when you don't. A couple of weeks ago I bid in the last 15 seconds for an item in France, and got it for a few euros under the going rate here. On Sunday I bid some hours before the end of sale on a similar item in the UK, and got it for less than half the French price. I also got a refund of a % of the postage cost from the UK seller - honest chap or what?

 

Then there are the little add-ons you didn't expect. Some years ago I bought a very used pro Nikon lens at a good price, and the lenshood is inscribed with the name of the original owner - The Times! Adds value to me to know the lens has been used in Downing St or wherever in the era. Then the French item I mentioned above, from the manufacturer AS, turned up with an inscription on the box "To Monsieur X Xmas 1983" with a signature from the "S" of AS! Ok, so not quite like having Larry Goddard's signature under a coach - proud to have one of those, bought on ebay too! - but adds a certain something.

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Metr0Land

Metr0Land

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Riddles is spinning in his grave and someone's bid on this!

 

http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1423.l2649

 

At least you can't fault the descirtion. Elsewhere it might have been lised as a rare code 3 conversion:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEEDS-MODELS-L-Y-4-4-2T-TANK-LOCO-CODE-3-CONVERSION-/300482518608?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item45f6275e50

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Il Grifone

Il Grifone

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Check out http://www.ebay.co.u...item231c3db38a.

 

I seem to remember only getting a third of this asking price, but then i didn't have a tatty box for it!

 

This is one of the last made, with red plastic buffers. For some strange reason this makes this rather tatty example more desirable !!? :O Normal examples often go for around a tenner.

Edited by Il Grifone
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kevinlms

kevinlms

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worth over £6000 so says who?

 

With no interest at the starting price I think someone is a little over optimistic or is clueless.

 

Probably clueless as clearly stated in the desciption - it was her husbands hobby, after all.

 

Someone obviously got a reasonable bargain & doubtless the unwanted items will reappear properly described & photographed and most likely make a profit.

 

Some one prepared to take a gamble on what was there.

 

 

Kevin Martin

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