Advice For Selling On Ebay?

I see on the usps website where I can order a pad of tracking labels https://store.usps.com/store/browse...d=P_LABEL400, but not what types of mailings I can use them on.
Priority Mail? (presumably)
First-class packages? (seemingly)
First-class letters? (probably not)

Yes.




Yes.




No. You might be able to slip it by depending on your local USPS branch and their attention to detail, but 1st class letters do not currently come with tracking.

Additionally, these tracking labels can also be used for Media Mail.

One thing to be wary of: Many postal clerks are SO used to printing out tracking labels, that unless you are vigilant, they might print out new tracking labels and stick them over the one you used, rather than scanning the tracking label you affixed.

This is problematic if you already input your tracking information into PayPal or ebay, as that number would not show any activity, thus leaving you vulnerable to an INR claim.

Zenzy,

Am I satisfied with what I got for the revenue stamp? Yes. Of course I would have liked more, but, since I already have one in my collection, it was just a useless piece of paper. I hope whoever got it enjoys having it. What makes me unhappy is when nobody bids.

I am offering things at auction with a starting bid of 10% of CV, or less. People are selling same items Buy It Now for 50% CV or more.

So far, I've sold and shipped all of two items. Will keep trying. And maybe learning.

Don

Well, I'm a big time ebay seller. I've sold five items for a total of $13.30. Many thanks to all of you who have offered advice.

Question: For those of you who have more experience than I, which is just about everybody; What portion of your offerings sell after a week? For me it's 25%, maybe less. I get five of six viewers, maybe a watcher, but all too often no bids.

Don

Others' opinions will vary, but in my opinion unless you are a well-established seller, auctions are a complete crapshoot.

The ebay landscape has changed drastically since I started in 1998. Back then there were no fixed-price listings. Everything was auctioned, and that type of buyer experience (waiting until auction end to know whether you won and how much you spent) was the norm. Fast forward to today, and ebay is far less of an auction site than it is a shopping/negotiation site. Depending on the category, upwards of 90% of the listings are fixed price or fixed price with best offer.

The buyer of today is more used to making a buying decision NOW, knowing their costs immediately, paying, and moving on to the next hunt/purchase. Waiting up to 10 days to know whether you obtained the item, potentially tying up funds or forgoing other items that come up in the interim is NOT what many buyers like to do.

I have just over 8,000 feedback on ebay, split almost exactly 50-50 as buyer versus seller, so I "sit on both sides of the table" so to speak. Personally, I spend the vast majority of my buying time searching fixed price listings for exactly the above reasons. My auction bidding is reserved for exceptional items or potential windfalls, not normal everyday shopping practices, because I absolutely hate being in limbo for 5-10 days. That's a personal preference, but there are many out there like me.

Getting back on topic, auction listings, viewer traffic, and participation, is WAY down from years ago. This is great for buyers, but not so much for sellers. Running auctions is a major risk if you have a certain amount you need to recoup. Starting auctions at $0.99 is a big risk for a low-feedback seller, depending on the quality of your listings. I would recommend starting items at a figure closer to the amount you need to get rather than $0.99. It mitigates some of the downside risk.

Another problem with auctions is timing, in several respects:

1. With a 7-10 day window, you are at the mercy of who is actually browsing and bidding during that period. If your item is highly specialized or esoteric, that is potentially a losing proposition if the buyer(s) you need aren't active that week. Remember, with an auction you need at least TWO interested bidders. One won't do.

2. Annual timing. Historically, summer months are an awful traffic period for ebay, as people are out doing other things, on vacation, kids (or grandkids) out of school, etc. May through August is the worst time for auction listings.

Personally, I made the switch from auctions to having an ebay store with fixed price listings almost 10 years ago and haven't looked back. I may not get "moon money" when two bidiots start duking it out over an item, but I am minimizing my downside risk. With an auction, the buyers decide what an item sells for. With a fixed price/best offer listing, the seller makes that decision. Different sellers will have different levels of risk tolerance. Mine is low, so I opt for fixed price.

Many sellers use both methods, a core inventory of fixed price listings, and then some weekly auctions to help drive traffic to their fixed price listings. I personally don't do it that often unless I really want to clear out some low-level inventory, as IMO auctions are a lot more work than fixed price listings.

Good luck!

I'll reiterate revenuecollector's comments about auction vs. fixed price. You'll probably be better off with fixed price listings, possibly with a best offer option. They'll take longer to sell (and still might not sell at all), but you won't have to worry about parting with a $100 stamp for $1, for example. New sellers simply get a small fraction of the eyeballs of larger, established sellers, and buyers are often leery of new sellers as well, depressing bidding prices further.

Also be sure to use any appropriate key words in your titles so more people find your listing. "US Scott 371" is sufficient for someone searching for that particular stamp, but if you also have pertinent words like "imperforate", "Alaska-Yukon" "Seward" and "1909" in the title, you might also catch people looking for imperfs or Alaska History, etc. You want topical collectors to be able to find your listing as well. You want to use as much of the allotted space for your title as you can.

Thanks, Revenue and Artful. Your comments seem quite insightful. As a buyer, I prefer auctions. I have gotten decent stamps at fair prices from "buy it now" sellers, but the real bargains have been from auctions. But I can see that some people would not want to wait. I just posted a C24 airmail for a fixed price of $5.00.

I am rather enjoying this whole process, although I am certainly happy that this is not the way I put bread on the table.

Thanks so much for your advice.

Don

I prefer an auction over a Buy It Now because it allows an item to be sold at a higher price. All it takes is two buyers to raise the sale.
Use a fixed shipping rate in your own country.
Use a calculated shipping rate for worldwide. Always take into account the weight of your item and the container in which you are shipping. I've seen fewer sales for one seller because of the increased international shipping rates.
Good luck!