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So I wanted to update this post, I know no one responded to it but still. So I found out that both of the items I thought were lost actually arrived. For some reason the post office will ping pong a item back and forth sometimes, I’ve had them do this with priority before… Item going from SC to NY goes to CA first? Anyway the boots I shipped arrived a day late but the customer left positive feedback so that’s a plus.
The other item that was lost finally arrived 10 days after I refunded the customer. It’s been like a month since then and I only checked because it’s still an item eBay considers eligible for unpaid item case even tho it was just a refund from a open case… Anyway I saw it had been delivered so I messaged the buyer and they said they wanted to keep it so I politely asked if they would consider paying for just the item and not shipping because it took so long and she agreed right away. She said that she had asked ebay how to pay for the item a while ago once she received it but they did not get back with her. So I send her a Paypal invoice…
That being said the only problem I have with Smartpost now is claims, they won’t back up a claim unless they say it was broken, if it arrives broken or the post office has the item they won’t cover it. I am using shipsaver on fragile items so I’m going to see how that works out next time I have a claim.
Thanks for taking a look guys. I know I have seen this before, I think I even sold something with this mark I just can’t find it heh.
It’s a silver plated tray. I will try to get a better picture. It’s just one of those marks that’s not very deep so it’s hard to read anyway.
Lol,
I will say I don’t like to sell to people who leave bad feedback but I also don’t like to buy from people who I might have to fight with if there is a problem with the item I am buying. That’s a crazy policy, and honestly one that might get deleted from their postings once eBay is finished with all their return policy restructuring.
I don’t see the point in writing up a legal document for your eBay listing when it’s going to hold no water against eBay’s own policy.
No notification. Just noticed I had extra items in my unsold listing box and was missing around 100 listings on my total.
I had to call on the next day to get my case closed this last week, item approved for return on Friday, called the following Friday and the rep asked me to call back Monday (hah). I called Saturday and got the case closed.
I have only ever had one customer successfully return an item and she didn’t even use the label I provided she just paid at the post office but she returned it same day it got approved so I got it within a week anyway.
I have no fear of the 30 day return policy because I think almost everyone is to lazy to actually return the item.
I was able to add 90 items to this… mostly artwork and hats but I’ll take it… I have had some success selling using it for items with multi-quantities so I’m all for more chances to sell things even if eBay wants another 5%+.
I think eBay does have the potential for a race to the bottom but only with people who are trying to unload items very quickly. I want items to sell every day but I don’t want them to sell so cheaply so that it’s not worth my time to pack them. When I do research you can tell the market for some items is saturated and has been run down but I just try to avoid those markets.
As a example, I got a stack of 25 Blu Rays a while ago and I figured they would be worth about $10 and I could make about 7$ after fees. Nope this market as well as more recent generations of video games has been driven down by how easy they are to sell, all you need is 2-3 pictures and a poly mailer and you can unload all your movies or games for $5 each. After cost of buying, shipping materials and fees I am only making about $2 each, I’m still selling them because it’s money, and I did price mine at the high end of the spectrum but its not worth it to only sell in that catagory all the time.
I do have to revisit items to see if my pricing is out of line with the market but if you did look at the definition of race to the bottom it’s about a deteriorating process and if I can’t turn 1$ into $100 but I can turn it into $50 I honestly am not going to complain. Most everything loses value over time, yes some things become collectable or scares so price goes up. But guess what, we are always making more stuff so in 20 years the crap we made now will be vintage!
As far as the spending time on eBay meaning more sales. I know what you mean cause when I am looking at my app or searching eBay or first start listing I will sometimes get a sale but I know it’s just a coincidence. Weekend sales are the same. Honestly a lot of people get paid on Friday so Friday Saturday and Sundays always tend to be more active overall for me then anything else. I think Tues-Thursday being dead some weeks as no one has money atm for the stuff I have online.
Listing more items is the only real way to generate more sales as your odds of making a sale go up with every item you list. It’s just odds and the factors are:
1) Item being listed
2) Price of Item
3) Item condition
4) Buyer searching for exact item
5) Buyer having money for item
6) Buyers desire to spend money on itemI can’t tell you how many items I watch and item on eBay with the intention of buying but I forget or never doing it, the first 4 steps of that equation are there but sometimes I don’t have the money or I just don’t have the desire to spend the money on that item now. That’s why I have items with 15 watchers for months but a shirt I listed a year ago sells before it, someone just checked off all the marks to make that sale happen.
I just wanna give a funny story about Starbucks mugs. I was at a friends house during Thanksgiving and I was listing mugs I had already took photos of and had measured so they were easy to list without having them on hand. While I was doing this I was enjoying a cup of coffee out of a Starbucks mug. While doing some research for pricing I saw the mug I was drinking out of on the side bar for $299. I almost spit coffee on my laptop. Turns out it was a old mug that they had sold at their original Seattle store a while ago, my friend had gotten it as a gift from another friend who visited Seattle at the time. She kept the mug but it was a fun story to tell and she said “Well at least I know if I ever need $300 bucks I got it in my cubbard”.
Research is the best tool for mugs tho, Id say type in coffee mug in ebay do a sold listing search and move the min price up to where you want it to be and see what cool mugs are selling. I bought a box of mugs at a estate sale a while ago and got 2-3 $30+ mugs, most of the rest were only worth $5.
Week February 6 – March 4, 2017
Total Items in Store: 1025
Items Sold: 30
Cost of Items Sold: $18
Total Sales: $473.77
Highest Price Sold: $55.99 (OG-107 Heavy Military Coat)
Average Price Sold: $15.79
Returns: 1
Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
Number of items listed this week: 88Another great week here. I finally got past the 1000 item mark! I had a lot of low dollar sales this week as I ran a sale though the end of the month to clear out items under 12.99, so on the 28th I sold about 5 items for less than $10 each but a sale is a sale and its space cleared for more inventory.
One return this week, buyer said a belt was not the size that I measured it to be so I just approved him to return the item, I’m worried because this buyer has left a decent amount of negative feedback in the past, I’m interested to see if I did measure the belt wrong or if the buyer will even ship it back (approved it Friday 5 mins after he requested the return and have not heard anything).
Taxes! Oh I can not wait… I am in the market for a tax person atm. I got kinda screwed at my current job in that department. I was sold on being a subcontractor because I would make more money but I did not understand the tax part, I have always just had a W2 every year and handed it to H&R block and got a refund check so I’m gonna be honest when I say I have not filed taxes since 2015… This is gonna be a hard truth for me as I go into eBay full time but I am going to find a tax person who will do their best to limit the damage I am going to be taking from the IRS.
I’m interested in that one tax guy that yall interviewed a while ago, I think you mentioned him on your last podcast and said all he does is taxes for people selling online. I do see the benefit of having someone local tho since you can just go meet with them, sign off on stuff and they can answer questions throughout the year and not just at tax time.
I’ve had neutral feedback a long time ago from a customer who ordered something and it did not fit and waited a long time (like 3 months) to leave feedback, to that I just replied to the feedback that we offer returns on all items and would love to work this out, never heard back from that one but I also never tried to fight it.
With negative feedback I have been lucky so far, on another account I had a problem with the products I was selling not being up to par and got two negative and a neutral feedback, got the negatives changed once I was able to refund the buyer but the neutral stayed.
On my main account I just had one removed from a new eBayer who though he reached out to me but didn’t and had a broken item, I called eBay and they just asked me to work it out with the buyer, it took a few days but I got it revised. It is funny when you have hundreds of positive feedback about how fast something shipped or how I communicated great and then have one that says the opposite. I think people look at that and think “well that’s out of character for him”.
There is a seller on eBay I follow who has 6-10 negative feedback and they are all the same “item smells like smoke” and he always replies in the most harsh way possible about how items are from thrift and estates and his “disclaimer” at the bottom says this. This guy I would not buy from because I can see he does not care about the items he is selling.
I think your best bet is to try and contact the buyer, if they won’t get back with you then I’d reply to the negative and let future customers know your policy and if you have time call eBay after you waited a week and see what they will do. I think as long as you do the right stuff on your end you can get it removed.
Mine has gone up but I think it has to do with me adding 300+ items in inventory over the course of February. There is that drop on the 24th of January that I saw, dropped off 1000 impressions.
I don’t wanna get political but it could have been because of all the news going on with the inauguration and the executive orders being passed… people stop buying when they get scared or confused. Lot of people protesting and stuff maybe they are the same ones who buy cool vintage clothes on eBay? Just another Theory for you =D
Thanks everyone, that clears that up… wonder if the knife is in one of these other boxes from that table lot…
I think you may be right, that inner plate was throwing me off because it had a hole in it but I guess it’s so you can lift it out or fill the bottom with cold/hot water. The design is weird, it’s also so small 5″ across… maybe it was for single deserts or something, sounds super fancy!
