My Collections option, need advice.

[ewiltzen]

I am helping an artist set up an eBay gallery sale. She has 68 paintings to sell, using her own mailing list to direct customers, so need to attract new customers. 

Q: I saw the MY COLLECTIONS option and wondering if this is a good way to go for selling her paintings OR to set up an eBay STORE,

We will have reserve prices and variable shipping costs.

We are located in Canada, and will ship to US and Canada only.

It will be a one time thing, one day only. 

Q: Is it possible to make it private at all? 

Any help  and advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks Beth 🙂

[pjcdn2005]

I saw the MY COLLECTIONS option and wondering if this is a good way to go for selling her paintings OR to set up an eBay STORE,

Items aren't bought directly from collections, they just link to the item listing in ebay. But you can list items without having a store.

We will have reserve prices and variable shipping costs.

By reserve prices do you mean that you are listing each item at a fixed price? Or,  are you listing them as auctions with a low starting price and a reserve price? In the second scenario the item wouldn't actually be sold unless someone bid  high enough to meet the reserve. But adding a reserve price to an auction is expensive and many people won't bid if there is a reserve so it isn't a good idea in most cases.

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/sell/fees.html

It will be a one time thing, one day only. 

Why just one day?  Few people may see the listings in one day as it can take a few hours for a listing to be shown in search. You can't do a Fixed Price listing for one day so you would have to do auctions and there is now a $1 surcharge to list 1 and 3 day auctions. If you really want to do auctions I would suggest 7 or 10 day auctions.

To be honest, it would be best to sell a few inexpensive items here before trying to list a bunch of items at one time so that you can see how things work. Also make sure that you read the user agreement for ebay and paypal. Also read seller information that ebay has on the site and also read the Money Back Guarantee. There is definitely a learning curve for selling here.

I can't remember if there are rules on putting your customer on a mailing list without them requesting you to do so but I'm sure that others here will be able to tell you.

[femmefan1946]

At least three bad ideas here.

We will have reserve prices

Buyers HATE hidden reserves and will backbutton if you use them.

Reserves cost extra in fees. You pay for the Reserve option whether the item sells or not.

Your opening price is a sort of Reserve, in that no one can bid less.

and variable shipping costs.

What do you think this means?

If you allow the buyer to dictate the method of shipping, she will pick the lowest cost and expect the highest service.

Choose the shipping method that best protects you.

Basically that means a service that includes tracking, to preclude fake Item Not Received claims.

Insurance is less important, since your packaging should be thorough enough to protect the item from damage.

If what you mean is Calculated Shipping, that is definitely a useful option for shipping art. Choose the service (Regular/ Expedited/ ExpressPost) carefully.

It will be a one time thing, one day only. 

Dumb idea.

It takes up to 24 hours for your listing to 'index' and appear on eBay. This means your 'one day' auction may actually be less than an hour.

You pay extra for one and three day listings.

Use the seven day listing.

You will get the most views on Day One and Day Seven. Most of your bids will come from those viewers on Day Seven. Actually Day Six Hour 23.

Q: Is it possible to make it private at all? 

Yes.

The Site Map at the bottom of this page tells you how.

Don't do it.

What are you trying to hide with the Private Auction?

Your bidders IDs will be masked in any case. Only you and the bidder will be able to identify her, during or after the auction.

I would strongly advise you not to 'help' your friend until you actually have some idea of what you are doing.

Do some buying to get your feedback up.

Feedback is a measure of trust. Low feedback sellers are a target of opportunity for scammers.

The experience of buying on eBay will also give you an idea of how your future customers will think of your listings and service.

[lucitabby]

Don't use "Reserve Price" -  list at the lowest price you are willing to accept.  Bidders can't be bothered with a mystery price.

Don't list for one day (unless you would prefer to fail).  List auction for 7 days or fixed price for 30 days.

Research similar paintings for sale on ebay so you can know what the competition is.

Good luck.

[pierrelebel]

"She has 68 paintings to sell"

Paintings by original artists are not that easy to sell on eBay for good prices.

What price range are you looking at?  $100 to $300 ?  $300 to $1,000?  over $1,000?

If your friend really wants to list on eBay, first thing to do is spend $20 for one month and open an eBay store.  Then list the paintings at fixed price (not auction).

After 29 days she will know if there is interest in her art on eBay or not.

If the experiment was successful, continue with the store; if not cancel the store and she will have no further obligations.

Good Luck.

PS - My sister-in-law (cspwc) who is a well known artist (she has a painting hanging at Windsor Castle after delivering it to Prince Charles personally  a few years ago) looked into eBay and decided to continue selling through established galleries (where the owners get 40% to 50% commission).  Basically, 50% or 60% of $1,000 is $500 or $600, much better than having unsold listings or selling at auction and getting $100 or $200 on a good day on eBay while paying only 10% commission.

[rose-dee]

I agree with all the posters above, and would add that eBay is not a pool you want to jump into without learning how to swim well first.  To extend the metaphor, you could find yourself in very deep and dangerous waters pretty quickly, even over one sale. 

Artwork is notoriously difficult to price correctly and difficult to ship.  You will need to set up shipping options that protect your friend and her pieces, and they will be expensive.  Offering free shipping is a possibility if you know that demand will be good and prices sufficient to cover the shipping costs. 

Experimenting with a store on a one-month basis is one possibility, as is selling through a local gallery, but there is another.  Find an experienced seller of artwork on eBay (preferably one with an eBay store), if you can find one in your geographic area and see if they would be willing to enter into a consignment arrangement.  At least your friend would be benefiting from the experience and reputation of an established seller, and the seller might like to have a new line of items to offer.  As a new seller on eBay, going it on your own, you're likely to be far more subject to scams and fraud than someone who has been in this business for years.  

If you do decide to try this on your own, take very seriously the advice given by the others here, and follow it.  Personally I would sell at fixed price, not auction, with a store, for one month only and see how much interest there is.  All you will have lost is the $19.95 for the store fee (whatever you do, don't take an annual store subscription if you're only planning on selling a limited number of items).  

I'd probably be tempted to offer free shipping, but do your homework and see what other sellers of original paintings are doing.  Variable shipping costs, if you're referring to flat rate shipping, is a mistake.  You will need, for your friend's sake, to have tracking and insurance.

You can use "Collections" to draw attention and drive some traffic to your listings, but that's all they are good for.