# Ebay tips for newbies!!!



## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Here's a bunch of tips for the seller...and anyone else contemplating Ebay. Nothing solid here, just my observations.

Don't flood the market! Higher dollar stuff needs to be listed one or two pieces at a time (for similar items). Too much of a good thing spreads the bids out between pieces and will likely sell for less. High dollar stuff will sell decent all year, but during tax return time more folks have money to burn.

There is window of opportunity open from now (February 1st) through mid March or April 1st. Folks getting their tax returns will allow the mid level collectors spare change to play with, so better run of the mill stuff should sell pretty decent through this period.

Plan on listing about 30 mixed items in a week, on 7 day auctions. List 20 of them on Sunday. List 5 more on Friday, and 5 more still on Saturday. There are guys who only scope out "new listings" and may not have seen your Sunday listings. Make sure you cross reference your other listings in every listing you put up. This way the guys who see your Friday or Saturday night stuff know there's stuff ending in a day or so. It will bring more traffic to your stuff!

Take advantage of Ebay shipping! You'll get a discount on postal rates and you get free tracking! It saves me about 1.25 per box!! Also come up with a combined shipping rate. It also helps with Ebay seller protection because you have everything needed to cover your butt. Bring the boxes to the post office with the postage paid, and have them scan every box. Keep the receipt! It's your proof that you mailed them!

I use regular paper for labels.Whether you have a laser printer or not, cover the entire label with tape. I fold the paper between the zip code and the bar code. You can tape over the bar code, but try not to have any wrinkles in the tape. Make sure your label's ink doesn't run or worse get ripped off if it gets wet. It should print 4" wide, and about 6" long. Keep the other part of the printing for your records.

Plan on buying boxes. Dumpster diving to save .33 cents per mailing doesn't make sense! U-line usually has fresh new boxes at your door in a day or two. The cheapest is a 4X4X4 box which fits 4-5 cars easily. New boxes are stronger. Old dumpster boxes may have gotten wet and will crush easily. I pad my boxes top and bottom with plastic grocery bags, and wrap each piece with strips of small bubble wrap (walmart... buy the biggest roll).

http://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/...rrugated-Boxes

Wamart sells lots of brands of tape. Duck tape 4" rolls cost a buck a pop. Get the corresponding dispenser. Just beware Duck brand is a pain to work with. Get used to manually sticking the end of the tape after cutting to the holders or you'll spend the next 10 minutes getting the end of the tape back off the roll! That brand of tape loves to roll backwards after cutting.

Keep your shipping costs reasonable. A new box costs 19 cents. Buying 100 (4 bundles of 25) adds about .17 cents each for shipping. The more boxes you buy, the cheaper they are. If you buy 200 boxes at a clip, a new box for every shipment = .25 cents.

Clear pictures of your item always help. The more, the better. All 4 sides, top, bottom, chassis off showing the inside and top of the chassis. Good lighting and a macro setting make a huge difference. Be honest in your description! The real collectors will be turned off by what they can see vs what you're trying to hide. This will also aid you in your feedback and help eliminate returns.

When you take your pictures, weed out the crappy ones before making your listings. Compare multiples (may camera like to double shoot sometimes). Write down a list of each item as you go through your pictures. Try not to photograph similar colored cars back to back. It helps keep the wrong car off the listing (if you accidentally add an extra picture to the listing of a blue car and a red car's picture shows up you'll see it instantly).

You've taken your pictures, now look at the whole album (of that day's pix) and get the numbers. My camera has each picture numbered in sequence, ie 100_3999. The next picture will be 100_4000. Hover your cursor over each picture and that one's number should show up. Write down the span of numbers for each item on your list.

When adding pictures to your listing, I use the classic uploader, click the standard option, and then click browse. Then depending on your camera brand find your pix. Mine are under shared documents, Kodak, and then the date. You should see all your numbers on your list in numerical order.

Maybe it's just my software, or maybe it's Ebay's, but I find the pix load in a slightly off order. The first you click will be second, and the last you click will be first. If you hold your control button (bottom left on your keyboard) you can click all the pictures listed for the item. Then click upload and all your chosen pix will be brought into the listing.


For odd sized stuff like intersections, RR Xings, etc, getting used boxes for those makes sense. Regular track doesn't sell very well. 15" straights, 6" 1/8 curves, and service road and junction turnoffs are about the only exception.

To insure or not to insure? That's up to you. I've been selling on the Bay for almost a year now. I've had zero boxes show up damaged. Things do happen though. Pick a dollar value that is the most you would be comfortable losing should something happen. Insure everything that sells above that cost. I usually charge 3.00 shipping for items I feel will sell below 50.00. I charge 5.00 for items I know will sell above that price.

When I combine shipping, if the total value of the box goes above 50.00 the combined rate is 5.00. This gives you the insurance cost in the shipping charge. Insurance is an option on the automated print yourself postage. For really high dollar stuff, send it priority mail. They seem to take better care of the priority stuff, and they give you up to 100.00. You do have to click the insurance option if you print yourself. BEWARE EBAY"S INSURANCE!!!! Not only is it triple the price of USPS insurance, it is also not good for every state you may ship to. Specify USPS insurance in the drop down!!!

US only, or international? US only for me. Yes, there are more potential bidders if you ship international, but the headaches are much higher. Ebay has a 3rd party set up, where you ship your parcels to a distribution center for international sales. It is still your responsibility to know which countries allow or don't allow what you're selling in. Make sure when you open the Ebay account that you change your settings in your account if you don't want the hassles. It takes 72 hours for the setting to take effect. Also, on the exclusions list, check off every option (except PO Boxes since you ship USPS). North America doesn't mean the US. It means Canada and Mexico.

I usually make one listing that has all the info I want as far as shipping terms, exclusions, no international shipping, etc. I then use the "Sell similar" option to list my next item. It saves a lot of bull. Just change the description in the listing title and in the body of the listing. Fix the price and go!

Also, there is an option to schedule a listing time. I like to bunch my listings about 3 minutes apart. This way, if you have buyers hooked on your stuff, they have enough time to jump from listing to listing. My stuff ends between 9:00-10:00 PM eastern time. Scheduling is free to me since I've been selling so long. It might add .10 cents to a listing, but having the captive audience is worth it.

If you find this list helpful and want to print it out..... right click on the post number on this thread (right above my join date/location top right of this post) and open in a new tab. Click the new tab (if it doesn't open on it's own) and right click on the page. You can save it as a down load, and then open it in your "recent documents" and print it.

If anyone wants to add to this, feel free!!!:wave:


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## GoodwrenchIntim (Feb 22, 2005)

:thumbsup:


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## sethndaddy (Dec 4, 2004)

If your buying boxes from uline, get your bubble wrap from them too. They are large rolls, but they are twice as cheap as anything anywhere (walmart and home cheapo).


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

Nice info

thanks


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## partspig (Mar 12, 2003)

slotcarman12078 said:


> I use regular paper for labels.Whether you have a laser printer or not, cover the entire label with tape. I fold the paper between the zip code and the bar code. You can tape over the bar code, but try not to have any wrinkles in the tape.


The following is copied directly from a label that I printed last week; 

1. Adhere the shipping label to the package. A self-adhesive label is recommended. If tape or glue is used, DO NOT TAPE OVER BARCODE. Be sure all edges are secure.


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## TexMexSu (Mar 24, 2012)

If you are not afraid of the boogie man be sure and state.....


*Local pick is OK.
*

Which I follow with something like....... "Local pick up will save you shipping costs, email for details."

This not only saves you shipping hassles but also PayPal fees as chances are it will be a cash sale. Not to condone outside of ebay sales but I have heard that it happens.


We have been buying/selling and even trading on ebay for better than 15 years. This encompasses somewhere better than 6,000 transactions, many of which took place face to face. 

To date ZERO have been anything short of perfect. (person to person that is)


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

partspig said:


> The following is copied directly from a label that I printed last week;
> 
> 1. Adhere the shipping label to the package. A self-adhesive label is recommended. If tape or glue is used, DO NOT TAPE OVER BARCODE. Be sure all edges are secure.


And this is from all 5 of the folks who work the counter at my post office: "It is okay to cover the tracking part of the label with clear tape as long as it isn't excessively wrinkled." 

I've been covering them for 11 months worth of Ebay sales without one lost package, missed scan, etc. That's roughly 650 boxes shipped that way.If you're lucky enough to have a laser printer, you probably don't have to worry about the ink getting wet and running into a blurred mess. If you have an ink jet like I do, it's a different story. Protecting the integrity of the address and the bar code trumps a possible missed scan.


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## Dyno Dom (May 26, 2007)

I used to completely tape over the entire shipping label, but a few PO clerks from different offices suggested to have bar code exposed.


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

I guess it depends on who you talk to. Like I said, I was told to after walking into the PO on a rainy day and seeing what a couple of rain drops did to the bar code. I guess it all boils down to what you have for a printer. A few raindrops made about 1/4 to 1/3 of the top of the bar code completely unusable. Had I held the box differently, the whole thing would have been wiped. Laser printed stuff isn't vulnerable like ink jet is.


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## Bubba 123 (Sep 10, 2010)

partspig said:


> The following is copied directly from a label that I printed last week;
> 
> 1. Adhere the shipping label to the package. A self-adhesive label is recommended. If tape or glue is used, DO NOT TAPE OVER BARCODE. Be sure all edges are secure.


from my Ebay; "Bubba's Slot Car Emporium" days....
I was told by pay pal that w/ PP said, is 100% correct, on DO NOT TAPE over barcode(s)..

Bubba 123 :wave:

not fueling, just stating w/ they wanted me 2 Do :-? 
got 2 realize...that w/ about 5 years ago 2


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## vansmack2 (Feb 9, 2012)

I have been taping over barcodes for years without any problems. I am very careful to not have any wrinkles over the barcode area though.


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## [email protected] (Jan 31, 2010)

Link only a credit card with your paypal account, not your debit card from a checking account. 

Start auctions for 7 days Sunday evening or 5 day auctions for Tuesday evening. You get 30% more views ending auctions on a Sunday evening around 10pm-11pm eastern. 

Be sure to hang on to all paperwork for 6 months. Keep in mind they can do a chargeback with their credit card even though time has passed for a refund from Ebay. 

Do not keep money in Paypal!!!! 

Contact all buyers after you get notice the item is received by them to make sure all is ok. Your best option is to handle issues before Ebay gets involved.


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## brownie374 (Nov 21, 2007)

If you know anybody that belongs to costco they have clear shipping tape that is thicker than most and cheaper too,but of course you have to buy like 10 rolls.And on boxes I used to buy all my boxes from uline but I now buy the same boxes on ebay for less money.


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Thanks brownie!! I never thought of looking on the bay for boxes!! 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-4x4x4-C...713?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item461a59f0e9

Cheap with free shipping to boot! :woohoo:


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

No argument that Ebay says not to cover the bar code. That's why I didn't when I first started selling on Ebay. it wasn't until that first rainy day that my label got wet and started running that I was told it's okay to tape over the bar code. Ebay doesn't care if the package makes it to the final destination or not. They still get their money. I would rather risk a parcel missing a scan somewhere along the line than not being deliverable because the paper soaked up water on it's journey and the tracking code or address wasn't legible. 

The only issue I've ever had with an Ebay mailing was the mailman scanned an item for it's "out for delivery" status but waited until the next day to actually deliver it. That happened a couple of times, and I blame a lazy mail carrier for taking the parcel but neglecting to actually deliver it until the next day. 

The most important scans happen at the P.O. when you drop off the box, and when the mail man scans it at it's destination. If there was an issue taping it over, you'd know it at the P.O. when you drop off your parcel.


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## GT40 (Jan 18, 2014)

slotcarman
Great information well done
Thanks for the write up.:thumbsup:

gt40


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

get yourself an ultra violet pen and mark everything you sell in an inconspicuous place with a secret mark that can only be seen under a black light.


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

alpink said:


> get yourself an ultra violet pen and mark everything you sell in an inconspicuous place with a secret mark that can only be seen under a black light.


:thumbsup::thumbsup: RM


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