[lace] Selling on Ebay
I have a few lace items on Ebay, start with 130328047995, in case anyone is interested. Thanks, Laurie - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachnemodera...@yahoo.com
[lace] Selling on Ebay and PayPal
A big big thank you to everyone who took the time to reply to my questions. The only thing everyone agreed on was not ironing anything that had not been laundered. As far as Ebay goes; I'm having second thoughts. I've looked at all the lace and the few baby gowns that are currently on offer and very few of them have even a single bid, even with very low starting prices. They have very few old fans on offer and the bid prices aren't all that much either, but a bit more than the lace. Then I found a website of a dealer in Sussex UK, and they have three figure prices on their fans, one of which is fairly similer to one of my friend's! So, it's probably not worth the effort anyway - and that does away with the need to open a receiving money PayPal account. I'm still very reluctant to get into that - especially after Robin's comments; and although it would be 'my' account the money involved would not be mine to squander! What I've been asked to sell is a lot of fairly run-of-the-mill lace (machine and hand-made) plus a few better pieces which I'm hoping to sell privately anyway, LOTS of baby gowns, a few other assorted textiles, some beaded bags and four fans. I've spoken to the person who deals in linens and laces in the antique shop locally - she says that sales of baby gowns have reduced in the last year or so, but she did buy three from me - the one she was really interested in was actually a shorter dress for a toddler of about 18-14 months rather than for a small baby. I think she will also take quite a bit of the lace over time. One suggestion - thanks Alison - is that I take photos and put the stuff onto my own website. There wouldn't be anything to lose, I could set fixed price, and reduce it if necessary. Perhaps for the better pieces I'll go for a 'silent auction' ie bids over XXX by a specified date. As far as any non-UK buyers are concerned it would be the same as with my Threads books; a GBP cheque or take the risk of mailing cash (any major currency) which I can exchange at the local Thomas Cook. A registered letter probably costs less than getting an international cheque. The only problem with trying to sell that way is publicity. If I go down that route I'll post just one message to Arachne and hope I don't upset anyone! Brenda http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.uk/ - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Selling on ebay
it is also worth getting hold of postage rates leaflets from the post office You can also download this from the post office website. http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/home I would suggest that you don't list all the items at once as this will just flood the market - a *trickle* is a better idea ;o). Diana in Northamptonshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Selling on Ebay
Brenda, I buy and sell on Ebay (I've been taking a bit of a break on selling), so I will give you some of my opinions on your questions, mostly where I differ from those who have replied already on the list. At 12:56 PM 09/25/2005 +0100, you wrote: I realise that I'll need to open a PayPal account, (or restrict it to GBP cheques and clear the cheques before parting with the goods). I've resisted PayPal in the past for my own book sales because of the high charges - it works out at 55p on a single book or 3-07 GBP on a trade order for ten books. As a buyer, I don't even bother with auctions that do not take Paypal. There is rarely anything I need badly enough that I would go through the trouble of making a non-electronic payment. I could pay with Bidpay, but that costs me extra, and Paypal is free as a buyer. Someone on the list mentioned about not accepting credit cards through Paypal and only opening a non-credit card account. Sometime in August, they changed the rules and you may not accept Paypal on Ebay without accepting credit card payments. Therefore, there is no way to avoid the Paypal charges. As a seller, I only accept Paypal. Being in Israel, accepting checks or money orders would be too much of a hassle for me. Not worth the chance of having more customers or higher bids. Besides, I love seeing the money immediately, or almost immediately, and I love being able to ship immediately. Even though my items take about a week to get there, my buyers often claim fast shipping in the feedback. 1, The minimum reserve price with Ebay is 50 GBP. If I'm realistically hoping for about 25 GBP for an item then a reserve price is not an option. Should I therefore set the opening bid at what I consider the reserve price to be, say 20 GBP? If I set it very low and someone bids just a penny more am I obliged to sell? There are experienced sellers on Ebay, with high feedback scores, that start their auctions very low. They can do that successfully because they know that the bids will usually rise to what the item is really worth, due to their reputation. As a low feedback or new seller, you should start your bids at the lowest price you would be willing to sell at. 2, There are a lot of low value items - would it be better to put these into 'lots' ie five different lace mats, or try to sell each item individually? Postage on five is likely to be the same as postage on one, it's the packaging that costs! Items that are really only worth $1. or so each should definitely by listed in lots. Preparing a listing (photos, text, etc.) is time consuming and the low value items are not worth your time individually. The extra Ebay charges do add up, too. 3, Most of the items would benefit from laundering to freshen them up! A mammoth task, so would it harm the dresses if I iron them unlaundered in order to get a decent photo? I get the impression that most of the items you are selling are not worth a lot individually, so, again, I don't think it's worth your time to work too hard on it. You should state the condition of the item honestly, in the listing. Yellowing, stains, possibly where they are located, if you think it's important. And state that it is being sold as is. Good luck and please let us know your Ebay ID when you do start selling. Debbie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Selling on Ebay
Someone on the list mentioned about not accepting credit cards through Paypal and only opening a non-credit card account. Sometime in August, they changed the rules and you may not accept Paypal on Ebay without accepting credit card payments. Therefore, there is no way to avoid the Paypal charges. This is incorrect, in my experience. My husband continues to offer stamps on eBay to collectors, and our payment terms include PayPal with a balance or bank transfer, no credit cards. Our PayPal account remains a personal account, no fees to us, and we continue to collect on ebay sales via PayPal. Barbara Joyce Snoqualmie, WA USA - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Selling on Ebay
http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/paypal-payments.html?ssPageName=CMDV:AB There are many people still doing it, doesn't mean it's OK. Many are being turned in and having their auctions ended. If you state no credit card paypal in your auction terms, you run the risk of coming across a nasty buyer or a jealous competitor who will turn you in. At 09:21 AM 09/26/2005 -0700, Barbara Joyce wrote: Someone on the list mentioned about not accepting credit cards through Paypal and only opening a non-credit card account. Sometime in August, they changed the rules and you may not accept Paypal on Ebay without accepting credit card payments. Therefore, there is no way to avoid the Paypal charges. This is incorrect, in my experience. My husband continues to offer stamps on eBay to collectors, and our payment terms include PayPal with a balance or bank transfer, no credit cards. Our PayPal account remains a personal account, no fees to us, and we continue to collect on ebay sales via PayPal. Barbara Joyce Snoqualmie, WA USA - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Selling on Ebay
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] As a buyer, I don't even bother with auctions that do not take Paypal. There is rarely anything I need badly enough that I would go through the trouble of making a non-electronic payment. And I only do auctions now that accept checks or credit cards without PayPal. I had so much trouble with PayPal that I'm not interested in going through that any more. I don't want them having my bank or credit card info--they've been hacked. And when I was registered (and I had a hard time getting there), I got too many scammers pretending to be PayPal and asking me for bank/credit info. Then the real PayPal said my account was running out and I had to add money to it, long before that was true. I was unable to add money successfully, anyway. All in all, I had a terrible time with them and have no interest in any further association. Robin P. Los Angeles, California, USA (formerly Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Selling on Ebay
Mea Culpa, and thank you so much for bringing this to my attention! It's news to me, but we will certainly have to re-think what kind of payments we'll accept. Those credit card fees add up, and yet, as several people noted, PayPal is a very convenient method of payment for both buyers and sellers. Bummer! Barbara Joyce Snoqualmie, WA USA http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/paypal-payments.html?ssPageName=CMDV:AB There are many people still doing it, doesn't mean it's OK. Many are being turned in and having their auctions ended. If you state no credit card paypal in your auction terms, you run the risk of coming across a nasty buyer or a jealous competitor who will turn you in. At 09:21 AM 09/26/2005 -0700, Barbara Joyce wrote: Someone on the list mentioned about not accepting credit cards through Paypal and only opening a non-credit card account. Sometime in August, they changed the rules and you may not accept Paypal on Ebay without accepting credit card payments. Therefore, there is no way to avoid the Paypal charges. This is incorrect, in my experience. My husband continues to offer stamps on eBay to collectors, and our payment terms include PayPal with a balance or bank transfer, no credit cards. Our PayPal account remains a personal account, no fees to us, and we continue to collect on ebay sales via PayPal. Barbara Joyce Snoqualmie, WA USA - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Selling on Ebay
Dear Arachnes I have a friend who has asked me to help her sell her collection of baby gowns/Christening dresses, assorted pieces of lace and embroidery (nothing very spectacular), embroidered/beaded bags and a couple of fans etc. My friend is now almost blind, so unable to appreciate her collection and she could do with some extra cash so I've agreed to do the selling for her. The local antiques dealer will probably be interested in two or three baby dresses, but three dozen!! I don't want to flood the local market, so I'm thinking about Ebay. I've never bought or sold anything with Ebay before, but I know that many of you have, so any any advice would be gratefully received. I realise that I'll need to open a PayPal account, (or restrict it to GBP cheques and clear the cheques before parting with the goods). I've resisted PayPal in the past for my own book sales because of the high charges - it works out at 55p on a single book or 3-07 GBP on a trade order for ten books. The questions I still have are: 1, The minimum reserve price with Ebay is 50 GBP. If I'm realistically hoping for about 25 GBP for an item then a reserve price is not an option. Should I therefore set the opening bid at what I consider the reserve price to be, say 20 GBP? If I set it very low and someone bids just a penny more am I obliged to sell? 2, There are a lot of low value items - would it be better to put these into 'lots' ie five different lace mats, or try to sell each item individually? Postage on five is likely to be the same as postage on one, it's the packaging that costs! 3, Most of the items would benefit from laundering to freshen them up! A mammoth task, so would it harm the dresses if I iron them unlaundered in order to get a decent photo? Any advice welcomed Brenda http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.uk/ - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Selling on Ebay
Dear Brenda, We've bought and sold many times on ebay. My husband sells postage stamps to collectors, and I buy bobbin lace supplies! FWIW, here are some thoughts. Yes, you should open a PayPal account, but you do not need to open a merchant account. Personal accounts are free (while merchant accounts have fees to the seller associated with them). If you open a merchant account, you can accept credit cards. I have only a personal account. In my listings, I state clearly that I will accept personal checks in US funds, money orders including Bidpay, and cash payments through PayPal. I also state that I cannot accept credit cards, debit cards or check cards as payment. Let me explain cash payments through PayPal. Sometimes people have cash balances in their paypal accounts (these may have come to them by selling other items and receiving payment from their buyers). In other cases, people have their PayPal accounts linked to their bank account. So if they make a purchase and don't have the funds to cover it in their PayPal account, they simply select the option in the payment field to have the payment amount withdrawn directly from their bank account. Paypal is wonderful, in that it instantly converts from one currency to another. I've bought many items from vendors in the UK and Europe, and had my US dollars converted to GBP and Euros. I have never been able to figure out whether they charge a fee for this conversion, but I don't think they do. Another good reason for international buyers to pay with a bank transfer rather than a credit card (credit card companies charge the buyer at least 1% of the purchase price for making the currency conversion). BidPay is a service of Western Union, and it is great for people like me. If a purchaser wins an item and they can't pay via any of the other methods listed in the eBay listing, they can pay via BidPay http://www.bidpay.com/. With this service, anyone who has a credit card can use it for making payment. The *buyer* pays the fee (usually a couple of dollars), their credit card is charged, and BidPay mails a Western Union money order to the seller. (However, I just checked their web site, and they charge UK sellers $5 per transaction to convert to GBP, so this option might not be reasonable for you--bummer.) Please note that all the above relates to whether you will pay a fee to collect payment. Don't forget that eBay charges the seller--a small insertion fee that you will pay whether the item sells or not, plus a final value fee which is computed based on the final price for which the item sells. As for setting the price, we have never used a reserve price. I think it depresses interest in the item. Rather, we set the opening bid at the lowest price we are willing to sell the item for. Yes, if there's only one bid (which sometimes does happen), you will have to part with the item at that price. In our selling listings, we always say (as everyone else does, too) that we are willing to combine lots in order to save the purchaser postage and packaging costs. But it might still benefit you to group similar items because then you will have only one insertion fee to eBay, rather than an insertion fee for each separate item. I'm a little hesitant about encouraging you to iron the dresses unlaundered. It is my understanding that heat sets soil and stains permanently. Ironing them could thus permanently damage the items. If you are unwilling to launder them first, I would not recommend ironing them. If you have any additional questions you think I could answer, please feel free to send email. Barbara Joyce Snoqualmie, WA USA [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
