Selling Computer items on Ebay

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macrules34

Active Member
Mar 18, 2016
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I have bought off eBay before but have never sold anything on it. I’m curious if you have to use their shipping calculater or can it be that they need to contact you for a quote? How do you deal with shipping? I know that there are fees from eBay and PayPal and have looked into those.

Thankyou
 

pricklypunter

Well-Known Member
Nov 10, 2015
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I'm sure everyone has their own way of doing things, but I always package and weigh any items that I sell after taking lots of photos etc. I obtain my own domestic shipping quotes based on size/ weight of the package or volumetric weight if it's a larger item, and that's what I place in the shipping details. I always allow folks to arrange their own shipping, or personally collect the item if they wish to do so, and encourage folks to contact me for a firm quote should they be interested in the item. I usually give folks several shipping options using both national postal services and trusted couriers :)

Ebay hosts forums where the community discuss all aspects of selling at length, I suggest you go spend some time reading through some of the advice and experiences from the larger sellers to get a better idea of what's involved. Above all else, make sure that both you as the seller and your buyer know exactly what is being sold, so accurate descriptions and good quality photos in your listing are essential, what condition it is in before being shipped and exactly all costs involved with the transaction. The more upfront you are with your buyers, the less trouble you will have if something does go wrong with the sale. It's all too easy to under sell something, only to find you just cost yourself money when you add up all the fees and associated costs of getting the item to the buyer, so make sure you know what's going on :)
 

BLinux

cat lover server enthusiast
Jul 7, 2016
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depends on what you're shipping and you need to spend some time doing your own research on the options. ebay's system does make it pretty easy to handle shipping, but there are many options. for small items, it's pretty straight forward and you can use their calculator by entering weight and dimensions. for larger items, or heavier items, it gets more complicated. Also, if you're selling in quantity, their quantity calculator is often wrong, so be cautious about that.

another thing to keep in mind is, i would NOT sell a single high value item on ebay if you're not a business. eBay always sides with the buyer and there's a lot of fraud that goes on in eBay. a friend of mine sold a collectable Lego set he had from many years ago. he needed some cash so he decided to sell it since it was selling on eBay for a good price. the buyer claims he received a box with filler and no lego set and opened a dispute; eBay sided with the buyer and my friend was out of his collectable Lego set and had to refund the buyer and was also out the shipping costs. as a business, if you're selling many of the same product, you can probably take the loss as a cost of doing business, but if you're selling your collectables from your attic that you only have 1 of, it's probably not a great place to do that sort of thing.

also, regarding fees... there are ways to reduce your fees. if you've got a lot of things to sell, opening up an ebay store may work in your favor. opening an ebay store automatically reduces your fees, but you pay a monthly fee to maintain the store. so you have to work out if your savings in reduced fees will be more or less than the cost of maintaining the ebay store. if you sell a lot, it usually works out to open the store. once you've sold quite a few things and have a good rating, you can also get additional discounts.
 
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Terry Kennedy

Well-Known Member
Jun 25, 2015
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www.glaver.org
I have bought off eBay before but have never sold anything on it. I’m curious if you have to use their shipping calculater or can it be that they need to contact you for a quote? How do you deal with shipping? I know that there are fees from eBay and PayPal and have looked into those.
Not related to shipping costs, but you may want to read my blog entries:

A few words of advice for used equipment sellers
A few more words of advice for used equipment sellers
 
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Joel

Active Member
Jan 30, 2015
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another thing to keep in mind is, i would NOT sell a single high value item on ebay if you're not a business. eBay always sides with the buyer and there's a lot of fraud that goes on in eBay. a friend of mine sold a collectable Lego set he had from many years ago. he needed some cash so he decided to sell it since it was selling on eBay for a good price. the buyer claims he received a box with filler and no lego set and opened a dispute; eBay sided with the buyer and my friend was out of his collectable Lego set and had to refund the buyer and was also out the shipping costs. as a business, if you're selling many of the same product, you can probably take the loss as a cost of doing business, but if you're selling your collectables from your attic that you only have 1 of, it's probably not a great place to do that sort of thing.
Absolutely true. I had this happen to me once with a $1500 MBP I sold on Amazon. The buyer claimed the box was ripped open and left on their doorstep, but fortunately I was able to get a copy of their signature from USPS. Resolved in my favor.

Since then I've been extremely careful to always use signature confirmation and insurance for the full purchase amount, no matter what service I use. I hope the fact that I now loudly proclaim that I use such features on eBay auctions sends the scammers to greener pastures elsewhere.