Advice re selling bits

[AngusMcDoon]

90 minutes from your post to a reply that I am guessing takes them. Quick, but not the quickest.

My record is 19 minutes from forum post to taken, packed, delivery label printed and dropped off at my local parcel shop.

 

[SimbaDog]

90 minutes from your post to a reply that I am guessing takes them. Quick, but not the quickest.

My record is 19 minutes from forum post to taken, packed, delivery label printed and dropped off at my local parcel shop.

Still unsold as I haven't got the time to post them!

 

[ghostlymoron2]

I was told that you need to establish positive feedback on ebay before you get taken seriously, is that likely?

No

 

[ghostlymoron2]

Easy yes but ebay takes 15%

Basic Listing is free and I've always received the full amount paid. They make their money on add ons like reserve prices.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Still unsold as I haven't got the time to post them!

I don't think you will sell much here, or maybe anything at all, if you are not prepared to post them. It's not difficult lobbing stuff in a box, printing a label and taking it to a drop shop. Evri and Yodel are cheap and have a lot of drop shops around.

 

[KevinV]

I don't think you will sell much here, or maybe anything at all, if you are not prepared to post them. It's not difficult lobbing stuff in a box, printing a label and taking it to a drop shop. Evri and Yodel are cheap and have a lot of drop shops around.

OP read this - you're really limiting your market by not posting. Postage on the handheld vhf you're just offering would be a tenner max, and then you'd be selling to everyone on here. If you don't then the same tenner spent on fuel limits your selling range to about 20/30 miles from home - or much less if people value their time too.

 

[SimbaDog]

OP read this - you're really limiting your market by not posting. Postage on the handheld vhf you're just offering would be a tenner max, and then you'd be selling to everyone on here. If you don't then the same tenner spent on fuel limits your selling range to about 20/30 miles from home - or much less if people value their time too.

I'm sure you're right but I've had so much grief sending things by post that I'm fed up with it!
Been messed about so much it's ridiculous
I might consider posting a couple of items to an established forumite but it's got to be a worthwhile sale.
Appreciate your comments though.

 

[Poignard]

It's never been easier than it is now to post parcels within the UK and abroad. Correction: it used to be very easy to send to the EU without formalities and extra costs, but best not go into that now. ( I sense the ever-watchful eyes of the moderators' little helpers upon me)

I use Interparcel which offers a wide choice of carriers and helpful information.

https://uk.interparcel.com/

The hardest part I find is getting cardboard boxes to pack things in. My local Waitrose used to put used boxes out for customers to use but for some reason they stopped providing that useful service.

 

[Tranona]

I'm sure you're right but I've had so much grief sending things by post that I'm fed up with it!
Been messed about so much it's ridiculous
I might consider posting a couple of items to an established forumite but it's got to be a worthwhile sale.
Appreciate your comments though.

Rather than dribs and drabs, why not list a number of items in one go which might encourage potential buyers to collect. However TBH doubt anybody would make a trip to your location to collect a £30 item. If you really do want to sell then you have to be prepared to make the effort to meet buyers' needs, which are delivery, I have bought several items from ads here (2 of them from locations that could not be much further away from me and still be in the same country!) and really no problem for sellers to post or courier. Bank transfer the money to seller and wait delivery.

 

[wonkywinch]

Basic Listing is free and I've always received the full amount paid. They make their money on add ons like reserve prices.

Are you sure? Listing is free for private sellers but final valuation fees are not. If Ebay sent you the full amount for an item you sold, then you will be paying a monthly bill (via your card or bank account) for their fees on a month end invoice.

From Ebay T&C's

Listing fees​

Private sellers can list for free on eBay. After you've used your monthly allocation of 1,000 free listings (or more if you have an eBay Shop), you'll be charged 35p for each new listing created.

Learn more about how free listings work, including the terms and exclusions for those listings.

Final value fees​

You pay one final value fee for items you sell on eBay, and you don't have to worry about third party payment processing fees.

The final value fee is calculated as 12.8% of the total amount of the sale (which includes the item price, postage, taxes and any other applicable fees), plus a fixed charge of 30p per order. If the total amount of the sale is over £5,000 for a single item, you'll pay 3% for the portion of the sale price above £5,000.


For postage, I used to use a consolidator like Parcel2Go or ParcelMonkey but now I found Royal Mail rates so competitive and with free pick up, I almost always use them now. One annoying thing EBay do is charge you the 12.8% on your postage fee yet the listing process steers you towards their own services and pricing. You have to take positive action to move listings into "Buy It Now" and your own method of postage & charges. You can't mark up postage to cover the fees otherwise your buyers then sting you with lower ratings for your services.

Beware that the buyer has quite powerful rights on Ebay. I recently sold a fully operating Navionics map card, I accepted an offer from the buyer, posted it same day. Then, despite having put "no returns" in my listing, had a return request and negative feedback saying the item didn't work. I was ready for a scam but it turns out the buyer had also purchase a chart plotter from another seller described "as new", turned out it wasn't, so he returned it and then apparently had no need for the Navionics card and wanted his money back.

To preserve my 25 year 1500+ 100% positive feedback (until now), I had to refund the item and resell it, losing postage costs in the process. I had to get Ebay involved to remove the untrue negative feedback after the buyer had messaged (through Ebay) that he hadn't even taken it out of the box.

I also use Gumtree & FB Marketplace but the initial flurry of interest is always "is it still available" from worldwide scammers.

 

[doug748]

I'm sure you're right but I've had so much grief sending things by post that I'm fed up with it!
Been messed about so much it's ridiculous
I might consider posting a couple of items to an established forumite but it's got to be a worthwhile sale.
Appreciate your comments though.

I've been given the runaround as well. If you list here and, as fisherman suggested, stick it on Facebook marketplace as well, you stand a fair chance of catching most people who can collect.

I am following your items with interest, though I am at an age where I should be selling stuff not gathering more.

Books are a particular nightmare to post, last time I made about 50p per copy, possibly easier to donate to the local sailing club.

.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Postage on the handheld vhf you're just offering would be a tenner max...

Evri and Yodel are approximately £3 for up to 1kg, and £4 for up to 2kg to mainland UK non-IV postcodes. Yodel slightly cheaper but have a 60cm size limit. A handheld VHF would probably be the former weight. These are minimum prices - not much insurance, no signature, parcel shop drop off and 3 day service. Parcel shop drop off is very quick at a corner shop with almost always no queue.

Despite the poor reputation of these companies, during my recent spate of detritus disposal via the For Sale forum, nothing got lost, one parcel delayed to 4 days, but turned up. I sent just under 40 parcels and only 1 was anything like local to me. This one was still cheaper to send than travel by road for the buyer or me.

Some very small items it's cheaper to post at the post office. This is more faff as they have more limited opening hours and always have queues.

The only sale I backed out of from excess hassle was to South Africa, and that was the kerfuffle of customs clearance required and buyer address location.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

The hardest part I find is getting cardboard boxes to pack things in. My local Waitrose used to put used boxes out for customers to use but for some reason they stopped providing that useful service.

The best solution to that I have found is buy more crap and keep the boxes for reuse.