First time seller

[gaymackay08]

Hello,

I’ve been a member for over ten years but only as a buyer, I’m considering selling an item I just have a couple questions I could not really seem to find answered. Sorry if I missed it.

I am able to “list for free” It says it the ebay app under “selling” so my question is if I put an item on buy it now or best offer and it does not end up selling.. am I stuck with any fees from ebay for removing the listing and trying to sell down a different avenue?

Thanks to anyone who sees this!

[reallynicestamps]

Short answer: No Fees on unsold items.

Long answer.

Fixed Price listings that do not sell would not generate any fees, unless the seller opted for some of the fairly useless upgrades (Bold, designer templates, etc.)

The options will not be refunded.

Best Offer is a free option. Be sure to set your parameters (high /low) to avoid the annoyance of lowballers and hagglers.

Buy It Now is an option on Auctions, although many confuse it with Fixed Price. If the Auction fails to find a buyer (and most don't sell or only have one bidder) the option is not charged. Reserve, which ignores bids that are not high enough for the seller, is charged at 10% (variable by category of the reserve price.

This means you can open an Auction at $10 with a Reserve of $200, and end up after brisk bidding with a high bid of $199, item unsold and fees of $19.90.

With Buy It Now, you could set the same BIN of $200, but the first bid will cancel the BIN and the high bidder wins. If that is the only bidder, and his bid was $200, you will never know and he will win at $10.

So.

Fixed Price/Immediate Payment Required with Best Offer enabled, would be the way to go.

[gaymackay08]

Wow thanks for the prompt reply, the item is worth over $5000, so that is why I was concerned with any “hidden” fees, if it doesn’t sell.. because there are high fees if it does sell lol.

My plan was to have a fixed price, sorry for confusing you with buy it now. I’ve never been a fan of auctions.

Thanks again!

[reallynicestamps]

Ooh with that value, please consider selling locally.

I'm sure you are aware that new sellers are targets for many scammers.

And honest buyers are leery of newbies selling high value items.

Is there a guitar store in your area?  (I looked at your feedback and extrapolated from your purchases. ) (Be very afraid. Mwah hah hah hahhhhh!)

[gaymackay08]

I have tried selling locally, it’s almost not a guitar but good guess haha.

What sort of scam are you talking about regarding new sellers?

One last question before I make a decision: if a buyer sends an offer, then I accept, and consequently pay final fees etc/PayPals cut... then it turns out to be a scam
And there is no buyer, what happens to the seller?

Thanks again everyone for replying

[gaymackay08]

**Also** not a guitar

[ricarmic]

I've been selling here for more than 20 years, and I would be nervous selling something of that sized value (and I use 3 levels of insurance).

I would very much NOT recommend your first sale be something worth this much.

If you do really still want to sell, I recommend spending a few hours searching these threads through all the problems folks have experienced with sale problems. That will help educate you as to what to watch out for, there are a lot of things can go wrong, and most of the time you will lose out.

I hope things go well for you however you choose to approach this...

[gaymackay08]

I’m realizing there is no way to prove a scammer wrong nor is there a way to prove what they say they get in the mail, this is very frustrating, only because it is a collectible card.

I definitely want to avoid any scam as I have even been burned trying to BUY a cell phone in the past.

Perhaps I’ll start with things that aren’t worth as much, I don’t have a lot invested in the card just would be nice to list since the prices have gone up exponentially this year. Not having it graded is the only problem.

Thanks guys for all your advice. I went in thinking positive as I’m genuine and know a lot of real collectors would love to have this, and last thing in my mind is to scam anyone. Sometimes it helps to think like them so we don’t get burned in the first place!

[reallynicestamps]

The first scam is the fake email telling you that you have been paid and should ship immediately.

Then there is the email from a scammer telling you that he is the buyer and that you should ship to a different address.

Then there is the request that you text the scammer.

And the request for your Paypal ID.

And the gift card scams.

And the "my friend will pick it up and here is an extra payment for you to give him a gift card for his trouble"

And those are before you even ship.

I'm more involved in the stamp world, but there are B&M auction houses that -- for a fee-- will handle the entire transaction.

EBay doesn't like it when we mention other auction houses like Bonham and Butterfield or Goldin. 

[ricarmic]

If it is a card, sports or otherwise that has a value over $5,000 it would be very much worth your while to get it graded.

A graded card will guarantee its authenticity and opinion of grade and will realize a higher realization regardless of how you choose to sell it.

You selling it yourself (esp as a first time seller) provides none of these things, someone buying it will not pay anywhere near market because they're gambling about the condition and the authenticity.

It is hard to predict how long the COVID price bubble will last, you're going to miss the Xmas rush now anyway, and people are usually still recovering from holiday bills till late January, so that might give you time to get it graded and ready for late January?

[ypdc_dennis · Accepted solution]

Starting with a $5000 item, means you will probably bump your head on ebay's selling limits for new sellers. https://www.ebay.ca/help/selling/listings/selling-limits?id=4107

PayPal may also have restrictions on how quickly you can use your sale money.

For an offer you plan to accept, make a counteroffer (even if you use the same value).  This will keep your listing active until the Buyer accepts -- instead of the listing ending immediately and you waiting (the buyer who made the offer might not be online for awhile).

If an offer is accepted, but the buyer does not pay, you will have to open an unpaid case in the Resolution Centre to get your ebay final value fees refunded.

...

Check to see what similar items are selling for on ebay. The advanced search allows you to look at items that sold in the last 30 days -- it gives a look at actual sale prices versus asking prices.

For a new seller, I would recommend starting with something of less value (something you can afford to lose is best) to get the wheels moving, before ramping up to something of high value.

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