Selling on Ebay

[Jagmandave]

My uncle passed away a few years ago and I've been helping my cousin clear out his house and garage, where he had stored a lot of tools and equipment from when he owned his own shop - from the early 1900's till they tore it down in early 70's to make way for a huge hotel/retail campus.

My questions are: Does anyone have any tips for selling tools and such on Ebay? Or is there a better choice?

How do you determine a fair price on stuff that there is no history on, such as special tools?

How do you decide a reserve if you have no idea what it should sell for, and considering you don't just want to give it away?

How do you figure out shipping cost ahead of time? Anything too big to fit in one of those one price post office boxes will have to be calculated based on where it's going, right?

Will big stuff sell if not local pickup? some of these things will probably be too expensive to ship economically - will they sell at all if you specify local pick up only? Seems like you really cut your market if you do that.

If you indicate local pickup only, would it be just as likely to sell on Facebook marketplace instead, and for free?

I'd be happy to list the stuff here as I think some of it in particular would appeal to the guys who frequent this board, but the same question applies, would it sell if it's too big to ship? I'm talking mostly about large floor jacks and such, but I also have a huge chain hoist and some vises.

If I list it here will I have to put it all in one thread, rather than several threads?

I'm not making anything out of the sales, all the money is going to my cousin after my expenses, I'm just doing it to help him out and because his dad was one of my favorite uncles.....plus he needs the money and I don't - well not as much anyway.

Appreciate your thoughts.....and I need to get cracking on this, I rented a storage garage as I simply don't have room for this stuff at my house and I don't want to be paying for it for too long or there won't be any profit left.

I have sold and bought a few things on Ebay and Craigslist, so I have a rudimentary knowledge of the mechanics of how to sell stuff on there.

 

[930dreamer]

I bought my neighbors estate for tools, toolboxes and a few rooms for Ford parts. Three years have past and I still have a bunch of parts but I sold a ton of stuff too. What quantity of are you looking at. I look at eBay prices and under sell an item listed. List for international customers also.

 

[coleman10]

I would think about putting the larger items on Letgo or OfferUp instead of eBay.

For most the stuff I’ve sold as Buy Now, I pack the item and weight it, then put in the dimensions and weight and have the buyer pay the actual shipping. I used to charge an average flag rate for an item (sometimes still do, but rarely), but inevitably, someone from California or Alaska would buy it and I’d end up eating some of the postage. These days, I exclude Alaska and Hawaii if I’m paying all or part of the shipping.

As for getting the correct selling cost, google and/or see what sold eBay auctions closed at. People like free shipping so an item that lists for $30 with free shipping will sell faster than an item offered at $25 with $5 shipping. I’ve played with increasing the cost and lowering shipping and it sells. Could be a coincidence. Also, for items that are Buy Now, have patience. It could take awhile for someone to come along who will pay your asking price. If you want to just blow the stuff out, let it all go at auction and let the market and chance determine the price, but at least you’ll get rid of the stuff. I’ve had some items sit there for months before they sell. If research shows past items have sold for $10 or less, I donate it or trash it. Not worth my time to box it and get it to the post office.

 

[Jacobson]

facebook marketplace and craigslist

 

[jimmyin3D]

Research research research, spend a day finding out model numbers/brands of the items you have and figure out a ballpark price for them. From there make sure item are in the best condition they can be, whether it’s cleaning off the item or making sure all the pieces come with it.

Larger items use Craigslist, OfferUp, or LetGo. Most of the time it’s not worth shipping large items you’ll get gouged by shipping costs.

And if you have sets absolutely keep them together, and try to group similar items together they will sell faster.

eBay is excellent but there fees can add up so keep that in mind. And make sure you securely package items for shipping, nothing worse than losing a package because it broke through.

Good luck!

 

[Aileron]

Depending on how much your selling and how much money is coming in ,Ebay and Paypal may 1099 you for something like $20.000 or 200 sales. Just mentioning this since you say all the proceeds are going to someone else.

 

[snapmom]

its 20,000 AND 200

 

[lardy1]

I tried selling on eBay. I ****.

 

[seber]

Forget reserve. If there is a price you want minimum then set that as starting price. Reserves will drive people to look elsewhere. No one wants to guess what they need to pay. International shipping will drive you to the asylum, just sell USA only. Make sure you have all the packaging put together for each item that is not fixed rate. Packaging can add a lot of weight and you want to know the actual shipping weight when you list it. As said by others, if shipping is difficult, skip Ebay and use a local marketplace. There are many available.

 

[Robinson1]

I ran a fairly profitable side business flipping stuff on ebay. Tools always do well unless it's a mismatch of no name sockets or wrenches in a random lot. Craftsman goes very well as do all the tool truck brands.

As far as local pick up goes I've never listed anything that required local pickup. But I did buy a truck topper two years ago. Communicating with the seller was the biggest hassle because everything had to go through ebay and he didnt have a smart phone so it was a long wait between responses.

Give it a try Ebay can be a gold mine

 

[RKA]

Take very good pictures, clear and if there are wear points, take close ups. Take a picture of the brand and model and clean the tools if you have time. The difference between a well presented tool can be double the selling price. And make sure you don’t have a typo in the brand, model or tool type in your listing or it won’t turn up in searches.

The large stuff I have listed for local pick up on eBay. It takes longer, but once the ad is setup, there is very little work on your part. List the larger stuff on CL, offer up and Facebook if you can, but sometimes there is too much involved in dealing with some of these people. In the volume your might be talking about, you might need to be selective in what you list via these avenues.

 

[Davefr]

International shipping is easy. Just use the global shipping program. International buyers often have very deep pockets and Ebay is on the hook for the international portion of the shipping. (Seller ships to KY and Ebay does the rest.)

With few exceptions, I avoid local CL/Marketplace buyers like the plague. They're lowballers and a PIA. I always do way better on Ebay even for big stuff. Shipping large items can be easier then you think. (at least up to 150 lbs)

Use the "Golden Rule" when creating listings. Tell buyers the same things you'd like to know if you were the shopper. (the good, bad and the ugly). Don't "puff up" your listings or it'll come back to bite you.

I give buyers 30 day satisfaction guarantees. A "no return" policy is meaningless because Ebay almost always sides with the buyer so you might as well market a satisfaction guarantee to your advantage.

I don't worry about timing the end of an auction. 99% of winning bidders snipe so end time doesn't matter.

Package all your items such that they can withstand a 6' fall from a conveyor belt because they probably will.

 

[Smokeem]

I would recommend you going to a store that sell kitchen items and buy a food scale that goes up to 10-15lbs. That has been my best investment. I think mine only cost around $10. I do the same as a lot of guys and buy/sell a lot of tools on eBay. I sell mostly singles and have done fairly well. If you have sets I agree with keeping them together. I have found most wrenches up to about 1” will be able to ship first class mail, which is cheaper than priority and is just as fast. You can ship first class up to 1lbs in the US and up to 4lbs international. If you do have a lot of item that are under 1lbs buy a bunch of padded mailers. I order all mine the The Boxery on eBay. I have found for the quantity that I need at a time they have the best price. I also use the plastic mailers instead of the kraft. For heavier items my go to is the padded flat rate priority envelope. The only bad side is you have to order them from USPS (the are free) but they can take up to 2 weeks for me to get them. I haven’t found a post office in my area that has them.

Like others put as much detail in your description and title. I’ve sold many things that I have listed a little higher than others and sold before the others that were listed. I also like to use the best offer on my listings. I also do free shipping on most my fixed price listings. The only time I won’t do free shipping is if it is a large package, auction listing that starts low, or if all similar items don’t have dress shipping. I feel like some people don’t know how to use the sort feature and just look at the prices and not what shipping costs are. If you have a lot of item to list you might look into starting an eBay store. You can start at the first tier for I think $4.99 and month but you have to carry it for 1 year. That will give you up to 100 listing per month instead of the 50 without a store. It will also help you track your sales and gives you the ability to do promotions and markdowns as you see fit.


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[Jagmandave]

Wow, that is a LOT of information! Thanks to everyone who posted so far.

I know I was asking in fairly broad terms, so I appreciate how thorough the answers were.

I figure I have about 100 items to sell off, most are small enough to ship, some are unique enough that I have no idea how to price them -for example, I have three Mercury glass windshield washer bottle assemblies, probably from the 50's, new in box. They don't have to be sold to a Mercury owner but I imagine it's still a very small market for them - so how the heck do I find a price for them? Or even make one up?

I have a set of tail lights off I think a 50's Chrysler product, I have several Desoto hubcaps, stuff like that.

I also have a number of tools and shop items from the 40's and 50's.....I can put up some pics and maybe you guys can help me figure out prices. I'm not looking to make a killing off the stuff, but I would like to see a fair price for it, whatever that might be?

It's 12* and snowing here today, so it may be a few days before I can get pics up.

Thanks again for the helpful ideas!

 

[930dreamer]

Search for these exact items on ebay and see if one is listed now, that's your price range.
Are they like this one below, search this number on ebay.

283690116163

 

[Packard V8]

Thanks to the pros who took the time to share their valuable expertise. I've sold a bit on eBay and I learned a lot reading this.

OTOH, I have a friend who quit selling on eBay because of a couple of expensive bad transactions. He had two buyers who shafted him. The first claimed the item arrived missing parts. What actually happened was the buyer disassembled the item, removed the internals and sent it back as an empty housing. In the other case, the buyer claimed it never arrived. In both situations, eBay took back the $1,000+ selling price and basically forced the seller to prove the buyer was lying, which was impossible to do.

Anyone else had a similar experience?

jack vines

 

[measuredtwice]

The problem with "free" shipping is that it discourages large purchases. Most folks are smart enough to know that "free" shipping isn't really free. And they are unlikely to buy large quantities because of it. So you lose the big fish and only sell small quantities to the little fish.

Some sellers have lost several hundred dollar sales because they weren't willing to subtract out the shipping on "free" shipping items so that I could make a large purchase. Some of those sellers are still trying to sell the same stuff years later.

By far the worst problem on Ebay is poor photos. There's a lot of stuff that I would like to buy but can't because the seller doesn't take good photos and I can't clearly see the condition.

 

[M6erfan]

Thanks to the pros who took the time to share their valuable expertise. I've sold a bit on eBay and I learned a lot reading this.

OTOH, I have a friend who quit selling on eBay because of a couple of expensive bad transactions. He had two buyers who shafted him. The first claimed the item arrived missing parts. What actually happened was the buyer disassembled the item, removed the internals and sent it back as an empty housing. In the other case, the buyer claimed it never arrived. In both situations, eBay took back the $1,000+ selling price and basically forced the seller to prove the buyer was lying, which was impossible to do.

Anyone else had a similar experience?

jack vines

This happened to me once.

Years ago I sold a set of ADS 400 bookshelf speakers on ebay. They were mint in the box, with all the OEM mounting brackets, packaging, and paperwork, pretty rare being complete and in that condition. The buyer took the grills off mine (presumably because they were mint and rare) and claimed that they were dented and rusted when he received them and demanded his money back. It was a fight but in the end eBay sided with me and the new owner got nothing. I felt like I dodged a bullet on that one. So yeah, shady buyers will 'part out' items sometimes, especially on rare and hard to find items.

Buying on eBay is just as bad. Seems like >50% of stuff I buy is **** with 'hidden' issues that the buyer doesn't disclose. Ask tons of questions and if the seller avoids answering or is shady I just skip it, not worth the hassle.

 

[bigtiger]

It used to be buyer beware on ebay... Totally opposite now, so many scam buyers around that it drove away lots of small time sellers. Now only big sellers are there and others who haven't been bit yet. Its now seller beware because ebay, paypal have made it 100% proof for scammers to get away with it and sellers out of luck. Ebay, paypal will 90% side with buyers side.. Big sellers can absorb the lost but not your average seller.

The end of ebay and amazon is near for small time sellers as scammers have turned it into a business for them.



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[Farmall450]

Yes, sell on ebay.

No, don't worry about reserves and if you're going to make money or just give it away. If it has a value, it will sell, and sell well on ebay. Yes, only sell shippable stuff there. Heavy and hard to ship stuff will sell as well on facebook and craigslist, in fact better than ebay and local pickup.

You can sell some stuff on here, but only if it's highly sought after and you sell for a price that is less than ebay plus most guys want it discounted by at least the ebay fees below that. It will sell slow, be patient and wait a few days before you give up and put it on ebay. Or, if you're not trying to offer it to enthusiast here first, just put it on ebay and be done with it.

I've sold over $250,000 on ebay. I sell most stuff now at a fixed price, but I'm selling mundane stuff for the most part. Once you have a substantial amount of feedback, you'll do much better with auctions, at least for the more desirable stuff. If it's something you're absolutely sure will sell (desirable, and lots of current sales completed), then start it on Thursday between 7:00 and 8:00 PM pacific time, to run 10 days so that it ends Sunday night. the 7 to 8 means it will be between 10 and 11 at the east coast, and earlier than that as you go west. That will capture 90% of the market. The 10 day time period insures it will be seen on 2 weekends.

Highly desirable stuff, I'd start at 99 cents and let it go on auction. You'll get 120% overall of what you would at fixed price, for desirable stuff. A few will go low, and a few will go incredibly high, and on average you'll do well.

Standard stuff, or hard to sell, set a decent fixed price and let it go for 30 days. If it doesn't sell, drop the price, or don't relist for 30 days and then try again.

Look up what ebay charges you for shipping, and set your shipping price at that plus 15%, as ebay and paypal will both charge you fees on the cost of shipping.

If you absolutely want to lose money on no items, set your starting price at $5.99 so that you at least cover your listing and final value and paypal fees. That doesn't generate as much interest as 99 cents, but still works fine.

If you list here, I'd recommend individual items or like groups. Nothing more irritating than having 30 unrelated things for sale in one ad, 2 of them in the title, and then having to edit as they sell and have the ad title become irrelevant.

Selling on ebay is a real chore. You need to set up a system, and stick with it. I set aside 10 to 20 items to sell. I take pictures of them, and download the pictures to my computer. Then, take the items one by one, write and ad, attach the pictures, list and then move the pictures to a separate folder. Put the item in a "listed" box. When you get all the items listed you have separated, put them on a shelf, well organized, so you can find them to answer questions and to ship when they sell.

When things do sell, go in one at a time, pack it, print the label, and get it ready to ship. Don't do more than one at once, or eventually you'll switch labels and have to go through a whole bunch of effort to straighten it out with your buyers.

Pack every item the day it is paid for, and ship the next day, without fail. Use flat rate boxes to your advantage. Pack well, and use a lot of clear tape to reinforce the boxes. I also use fiberglass strapping tape on real heavy stuff. Several rows, all around the box, all directions. Go to an appliance store and ask them to save you a couple of refrigerator boxes full of bubble wrap and foam. Use it liberally to make sure stuff is well padded. Fill every box tight so stuff can't move, if it can move it will hammer the box apart.

Good Luck!

I have sold a similar amount and this is excellent advise. Sadly shipping costs on the rise are the biggest snaffoo.

 

[Davefr]

In the other case, the buyer claimed it never arrived. In both situations, eBay took back the $1,000+ selling price and basically forced the seller to prove the buyer was lying, which was impossible to do.

Anyone else had a similar experience?

jack vines

I don't see how a seller could ever loose an "item not rec'd" case as long as they met the Ebay rules for electronic tracking and possibly signature. (which would be required for a $1000 transaction)

 

[slowtwitch73]

It's like everything else in life.. you need to be 95% savvy and 5% lucky. Some folks can't help but have bad 'ripoff experiences'... ebay or elsewhere. I've had 99% good luck on Ebay over 20 years.. the times I've gotten the shaft were were either 'shame on me' or unavoidable. The feedback system does a fair job of weeding out aholes.

Watch your shipping, and the buyer holds all the cards always. make your listing as jerk proof as possible, so if things go upside down you have the best possible footing.

Having said that, the vast majority of my experiences have been positive.. even shocked at how honest some folks are.

 

[Davefr]

It's like everything else in life.. you need to be 95% savvy and 5% lucky. Some folks can't help but have bad 'ripoff experiences'... ebay or elsewhere. I've had 99% good luck on Ebay over 20 years.. the times I've gotten the shaft were were either 'shame on me' or unavoidable. The feedback system does a fair job of weeding out aholes.

Watch your shipping, and the buyer holds all the cards always. make your listing as jerk proof as possible, so if things go upside down you have the best possible footing.

Having said that, the vast majority of my experiences have been positive.. even shocked at how honest some folks are.

^^^I agree with you 100%.

 

[four.cycle]

Thanks to all of you who have offered your tips here.

 

[jd_1138]

Just be professional about it. Buy a digital scale, gather packing materials like boxes, bubble wrap, peanuts, tape so you're not running around like a madman when something sells. Also packing the auction items up, weighing it will allow you to enter in the dimensions/weight into the ebay form.

I just do pure auctions -- no reserve, starts at 1 cent, as I am too cheap to pay the extra fees for reserve prices and larger starting bids. Usually the stuff goes for more money than I thought it would. I'd offer a s/h discount if people buy more than one item.

Also, be sure to indicate you allow free local pickup, as people not having to pay for shipping might be willing to bid up the prices. And that's less boxes you need to pack up.

Also stock up on priority and flat rate boxes which might be a better value if the items can fit in it.

 

[Rickster]

You need to become an expert in shipping. Shipping costs can screw you over if you’re not careful. Go on line to USPS.com and check out and order all the flat rate boxes. Make sure your sale tools fit in which flat rate boxes/padded mailer and charge accordingly. Also learn about first class weight limits and Regional Boxes and their costs/limitations. Get to know the shipping label procedures and costs for both PayPal and USPS on line. Good luck!

 

[jimmyin3D]

It used to be buyer beware on ebay... Totally opposite now, so many scam buyers around that it drove away lots of small time sellers. Now only big sellers are there and others who haven't been bit yet. Its now seller beware because ebay, paypal have made it 100% proof for scammers to get away with it and sellers out of luck. Ebay, paypal will 90% side with buyers side.. Big sellers can absorb the lost but not your average seller.

The end of ebay and amazon is near for small time sellers as scammers have turned it into a business for them.



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Yes its definitely seller beware, lots of scammers abusing the system. I’ve had a buyer try to say a SO wrench set I sold them was different from the one they received, they sent back a mixup of craftsman wrenches and the like. eBay sided with me maybe because my seller rating is pretty good, but others have not been so lucky. Its frustrating having to deal with ppl like that.

I have sold a similar amount and this is excellent advise. Sadly shipping costs on the rise are the biggest snaffoo.

Yes shipping costs add up quick. That was one of the first mistakes I made when I first started selling on eBay, I didn’t factor in those costs. I have a system now of anything under 13oz goes first class, anything over that flat rate and larger or heavier items go ups.

 

[Davefr]

I have a system now of anything under 13oz goes first class, anything over that flat rate and larger or heavier items go ups.

FYI, It's now 16 oz or under can go first class.

One more suggestion is to treat Ebay as a business. Just like any other business, there will be loss/shrinkage/shipping damage/bad customers/etc.

It should be a tiny percentage and it's simply the cost of doing business that should be factored into your business model. Just act professional if and when that happens and don't get emotional.

 

[jgromada]

Probably a good idea to think about what might fit in flat rate size boxes of various sizes

 

[jimmyin3D]

Probably a good idea to think about what might fit in flat rate size boxes of various sizes

Yes and take advantage of all the flat rate offerings. Padded flat rate $8, legal flat rate envelope 15 inch length $7.50, and they have two sizes of medium flat rate boxes and two large boxes with different dimensions.

It’s best to weight out what you have and see which size option is best from there.

 

[Ign]

Get on your USPS account NOW (today!) and order a bunch of the Regional Rate A & B boxes.

They can be considerably more affordable than flat rate. Flat rate only makes sense for really heavy stuff.

You'll appreciate having all the options

 

[DGersic]

Thanks to the pros who took the time to share their valuable expertise. I've sold a bit on eBay and I learned a lot reading this.

OTOH, I have a friend who quit selling on eBay because of a couple of expensive bad transactions. He had two buyers who shafted him. The first claimed the item arrived missing parts. What actually happened was the buyer disassembled the item, removed the internals and sent it back as an empty housing. In the other case, the buyer claimed it never arrived. In both situations, eBay took back the $1,000+ selling price and basically forced the seller to prove the buyer was lying, which was impossible to do.

Anyone else had a similar experience?

jack vines

Ship with tracking. For something $1000+, I’d ship with tracking and signature required.

I sold a Lokar shifter a couple of years ago. Sent USPS flat rate, with tracking. Delivered to the buyers apartment building, left sitting by the mailbox.

Buyer later says it never arrived. Did not contact me, just opened an eBay dispute. Says he’s handicapped and only checks the mail once a week.

eBay dispute resolved in my favour as soon as I provided the USPS tracking info and proof of delivery.

I don’t know if the guy was telling the truth or trying to scam me out of the $50 he paid for the shifter. If he’s telling the truth, I kinda feel bad for him, but that he immediately went for the dispute / never arrived / give me my money back option, without even asking me about it first kinda rubbed me the wrong way. And, by doing so, he set the process in motion, leaving me no other option.

Somebody returning an empty carcass and claiming not to, that’s going to be hard to prove. There are crooks out there. I’ve sold some stuff on eBay going back a lot of years, and that hasn’t happened to me.



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[yrly]

Take any and all all necessary precautions and word everything accordingly in the auction.

If you start listing expensive stuff create a separate bank account to dump the PayPal into. Back the PayPal account with a prepaid visa card on PayPal then (or use a soon expiring credit card, request a new number after setting it up etc). Immediately withdraw the money from PayPal before even shipping (though as a new seller you can’t do this, but once you have sufficient feedback it’s not an issue). If the buyer tries to scam you PayPal can’t recover the funds. They can overdraft the account at which case if you kept printouts of your terms of the auction you can dispute withdrawal with your bank directly or the ding on your credit report if the bank closes your checking account and doesn’t agree with you.

I’m not gonna say do this over trivial stuff but if you get into multi thousand dollar items it’s worth taking extra precaution. Obviously this would be a last resort if PayPal didn’t side with you, however if the buyer acts scammy, you have everything documented, and you have good feedback you’re usually OK. I’ve won multiple disputes against scam buyers. This is how I have my PayPal set up. Separate bank account with $5 minimum to prevent service fees.

 

[coleman10]

For the power tools I’ve sold, I take a quick video of it working before I pack it up. If the buyer comes back and says it doesn’t work, you have proof that it does. Take a pick of the serial number in case they try to switch it on you.

 

[58Yeoman]

When you're shopping at Menards or the grocery store, and they're stocking the shelves, ask if you can have some of the boxes that will be discarded. I've never been refused, and those boxes come in handy when the PO supplied boxes are the wrong size, or you need to ship first class or use FedEx or UPS.

 

[Jagmandave]

Great info and ideas, thanks to everyone who posted!

 

[JiminAZ]

Also when researching prices, you can go to the advanced search and search closed auctions. Figure out what the item has SOLD for, not the wishful pricing of dreamers.

 

[Dh3256]

If the buyer tries to scam you PayPal can’t recover the funds.

They can report you to the credit bureaus and send you to collections. They can also sue.

 

[BFBOB]

I do buy and sell on eBay and it certainly has many good points.
In the case of an estate, though, things may be different. When my mother died, my sister and I simply could not deal with her belongings for several reasons. We had no choice but to hire a professional estate sale company. It turned out to be the best thing we could possibly have done. They put more money in our pockets than I expected, even after paying their 40% (!) commission, and they left the house EMPTY.

If you have the time and want to maximize the money, by all means do it yourself. eBay is good, and all the other ways of selling have their strong points. there's a lot of good advice in this thread, but the best I can give you is to think hard about how much your time is worth.

 

[BFBOB]

Also when researching prices, you can go to the advanced search and searchSOLD auctions. Figure out what the item has SOLD for, not the wishful pricing of dreamers.

Fixed it for ya - a Closed auction may or may not have sold.