I'v always wondered about the fees. How much does ebay charge someone to sell something??? Is it based on the amount of the sale???

I'm glad I gave you an idea. I like selling books or magazines because they can be mailed media mail and it is so much cheaper than regular mail. I've never had a problem mailing things that way and they usually don't take much longer than the regular mail...much that I've mailed media mail is there as fast as priority! I think people are more likely to bid higher if the shipping isn't so costly. At least that's how I am when bidding.

I do have a Paypal account and love it. I also accept checks or money orders on my auctions and then just have to wait for that to arrive before mailing out the package. I've never gotten a bad check...thank goodness. One word of caution...when you open your Paypal account...if you get emails saying that there is something going on with your Paypal account and they ask you to click on a link and then ask account info...don't do it. There are so many scams where they are trying to get your credit card#'s and bank accounts. Paypal will never send an email asking you to give info or verify anything. There are also those going around claiming to be Ebay and same goes for them...just people trying to get account numbers.

Oh...one more word of advice...When putting something on an auction, for the title...make sure you have as many words in that title that will cover what people do a search on. Sometimes the title doesn't even always make sense, but it will bring more searches to your auction. For instance, if I was selling a paper craft book...I would put the name of the book and then add words like stamping, scrapbooking, origami...so people searching for one of those words would also get my auction in their search results.

Good luck! Let us know how you do! Those Elvis magazines may be a big hit!!!

I visited Ebay for a brief time this morning, my goodness, never seen so much stuff for sale. Made me kinda wonder if I really want to do this, afraid of getting lost in the midst of all they got there :eek: I know what you are saying on getting emails on Ebay and Pay Pal, I get them all the time and I don't have any account with them :( So to keep better orgainized ahead of time I have just opened up an email account to use just for the ebay auctions, that is if I still do it :) :( undecided. Will go back and familiarize myself with it more then maybe I will feel more comfortable. Thanks for the information and tips.

I sell occasionally on there now. I used to be a powerseller. Sold lots of baby clothes. SOme I did great on, some not so hot. I also have bought alot and the majority of things have been very nice........with an occasional dud!
Best thing to do for pricing is do a search on similair items like you would be selling and see how they set up their auction and if the item sold and for what. You have the search option right there on ebay, its a great resource.
Pictures and presentation is alot! And good feedback from buyers! Good feedback is a good way when you are buying too, you know if people are happy with their items they have bought. One way of starting good feedback is buying a few things first so you are not selling with 0 feedback. So it kinda gives people confidence in you, before you try to sell. Take great clear pictures of your item! Their prices have increased, not even sure what their selling prices are these days. They charge a fee for the item listing plus if you accept credit cards paypal charges for that. Most people want to use a credit card though so it helps sells to have an account that accepts them. You would just have to adjust your item price to account for fees, your cost to make a profit.
ANother suggestion I would make is have good spyware on your computer!! For years I didnt have a problem but when my account went inactive for awhile, I dont know who and how they possibly did it but my ebay account was stolen and things that were NOT mine were listed on my account. People sent money to this person too. Louis vuitton purses even, they never recieved!!!!!!!!!
I had to change my password and go thru alot to get this straightened out. My account was not effected, but it would have been if I would not have caught the activity. There ws nothing I could do for the people who sent money to the scam account. But they could take action with Ebay.
THANK GOD my paypal account was not involved!! SO have good spyware! Good luck! Its really kinda of exciting selling on there.

I think it's lots of fun. So far I've made $265 since the 12th on just random stuff that was going to go into a garage sale like books, toys, and old gifts that we had never used. It's about time I do something productive with my internet addiction!;)

I sure appreciate everyones input on this, curious on one thing if someone uses a credit card on Pay Pal and they change their mind after using it then what? How long do you wait to ship an item once pay pal lets you know?

Once you get payment, you can ship it immediately. I never had a chargeback on a credit card. Its rare for someone to do a charge back on a small ticket item anyway. Its not easy for them to just deny payment either. Myself I would not accept personal checks at all sent thru the mail. But if you want to wait for payment and dont mind you could accept money orders. If you dont want to wait for money order payments etc..........you can say I accept PAYPAL ONLY in our auction. Some people who are paying by paypal are paying with automatic deduct from their checking account, so not all of it is credit card payments anyway. These payments are very safe to take. They are backed by a credit card by the purchaser so the seller doesnt have to worry about bounced checks from paypal.
If someone is not happy with a purchase and they want to refund and you agree, you simply refund their account with that option on that particular transaction on paypal. Most sellers who offer refunds require you to ship the item back at the purchasers expense, and they do not refund the items first shipment price EITHER.
And you can simply put ALL SALES FINAL if you do not want to offer refunds. Looking at others auctions really help to see what you want to offer in your own auction.

The above is is good advice!
Ebay owns paypal now, they are that successful.
All the info you need is right there on the site...its pretty easy to understand too. With experience you learn better too.
People who charge crazy shipping do not impress me either you have to watch that when you buy something.........Look at the shipping charge! The item is not always a bargain!
Once you complete your clock, weight it and check with the post office. A nominal fee for handling is okay too. But people like close to exact shipping with maybe 1.00 or 2.00 over. They respect that alot more. Good packaging is important of course to make sure it gets there without damage! Shipping insurance for a clock being mandatory for a clock might be a good idea too! Its cheap and gets you off the hook if the itme is damaged and you packaged it with care.

I LOVE the "live help" part of eBay! I wish ALL websites would have that! It's like a personal chat with an eBay staff member who will answer all of your questions.

Yes, the live help is good - I have used it several times.

Their Dispute Console is great too....for those buyers that don't pay or whatever - it's like a "fair trade" sort of thing.

I love feedback too! It is fun to watch it get higher and higher....and I love leaving feedback for people too!

PayPal is a must (JMO)! And is super easy to start and use!

LOVE EBAY!!!!

I haven't had a non-paying bidder yet and I hope I never do! So I've never been to the dispute section yet. I've been waiting for people to leave me feedback the past couple weeks but I guess people have been lazy or just don't feel like doing it. I just want to reach 100. But at least I'm still at 100% positive fb.

Thanks everyone
 

Thanks so much for all the information you all have given me. I sure am glad I posted this question. My daughter had an account set up and she took care of it years ago for me in selling and buying, I was always thinking that I would goof up on it :) I guess it is still there, but it hasn't been used in years, I should go take a look see :) maybe since there is all real good feedback on it, that I should just go ahead and see about picking that one back up with and go forth with that one. She was going to help me this time but I told her that I needed to learn :) finely getting brave, LOL. Do they still have the thing called "About Me" ? After I sign off here I will go there and get myself familiarized with different things that you all have mentioned. Thanks again. Patti