[TheForge] selling on ebay

[Mike Linn]

What I have found is that the old adage "one mans trash is another mans 
treasure" hold true for eBay

There are items Ive tried to sell locally and had no luck,  found that I 
couldnt give them away.
Put the same item on eBay and people practically fight over it.

The key is that the market is MUCH bigger.

Ive had things that Id normally throw away, but thought aww.. what the hell 
and placed it on eBay for a dollar or so..

ended up making $20 to $30 after the fees and such...

I do a lot of research, checking old auctions, researching antique store 
websites and the like.

You do best with good photos (all angles), accurate descriptions (make it 
sound like you know what your talking about), research to know what things 
might be worth, back your item with a guarantee, and trusting in the buying 
public.

Ive got a friend who makes a good bit of money going to the local flea 
markets and garage sales and buying items, then reselling them on eBay for 
a decent profit. Every so often he will hit a gem. Like when he bought a 
Pepsi sign for $12, and sold it on eBay for $800. Or the steam whistle he 
got for $60 and sold for $425. This kind of thing tends to lend credence to 
the things you see on "Antiques Roadshow"

Ive only had one 'bad' experience with eBay. A crazy guy who accused me of 
cheating him, when he hadn't even bid on the item I had for sale. Other 
than that its been all positive for me. I had a video mixer that I listed 
as 100%, it turns out that it had a bad audio channel. I refunded the guys 
money (including shipping) and in return the guy gave me a glowing review.

I ALWAYS check the feedback from anyone I plan to purchase from, and in my 
listing I indicate Paypal or MO/ Check, with the stipulation that the 
MO/check must clear BEFORE I ship anything. Ive never had a problem.

You hear a lot of horror stories about bad things happening on eBay, but I 
chalk them up to ignorant people who do not pay attention. Just like ANY 
big market place, you will have crooks and thieves, but if you take a few 
precautions you can weed them out and avoid them.

The thing I have noticed is the number of fake eBay and PayPal emails I get 
after Ive completed a sale. eBay and PayPal will NEVER email you about 
closing your account etc...I forward all such emails to the respective 
fraud teams and they attempt to shut them down.

Basically, eBay can be a great place to play around.... but do be careful...

mike


At 07:40 PM 12/4/2006, you wrote:
>What I have seen is people gather stuff from the
>"FreeCycle" B Boards in most cities and then reselling
>a lot of that stuff on eBay. Great scam if you can do
>it.


            Mike Linn
      Artist Blacksmith
          McCalla, AL
        AFC Webmaster
http://afc.abana-chapter.com

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