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I’m a bit confused about the question. If a country is excluded from the GSP, then an item can’t be purchased through the GSP.
When you create a listing, you would check the box “Sell internationally with the Global Shipping Program.”. Under the box, you find “Other shipping options” with a pull-down menu underneath. As long as you select “None”, a buyer from an excluded country is not able to purchase the item. They might be able to see the listing, but shouldn’t be able to buy it.
If you have something else other than “None”, then you are providing another option for an international purchase. You can chose first class, priority, etc. in somewhat the same manner as for domestic. You can also exclude or include regions or countries as needed.
Does this answer the question? If you are concerned about shipping internationally, then just select GSP and nothing else. This is what I do. Occasionally, I get a potential buyer who wants me to ship outside of the GSP. I then decide whether or not to offer them an option usually based on the country. I have refused to ship directly to South America, Russia, etc., but I have provided options for Australia and Europe.
Week of Oct 15 – 21
* Total Items in Store: 1099
* Items Sold: 22
* Cost of Items Sold: $43.20 + $0 Commission
* Total Sales: $427.86
* Highest Price Sold: $45 Johnnie Walker Emblem Wall Clock
* Average Price Sold: $19.45
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
* Number of items listed this week: 42Solid week for me. I am trying to keep sourcing down since I have such a large backlog. I will go to an auction on Thursday, but that is it.
I sold a vintage sewing stool a few weeks ago that I had listed when I had much less eBay experience. The box size I had listed for it was much too small, and the buyer was clear across the country from me. I think I made enough to cover the eBay and PayPal fees and not much more.
So, yeh, I know where you are coming from. It takes a few mistakes to get it right, but then you don’t have the time to go back through all your listings and see if there was something else you missed.
I was getting worried that we weren’t going to get a What Sold video this week. Just shows you how addicted I am to Scavenger Life!
I bought this cast iron burner thing in a lot with other brass and metal items. I think it took about a year to sell. Paid $1, sold on sale for $26:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182373574445This ticket and postcard pamphlet from the Bicentennial American Freedom train sold only an hour or so after I listed it. Paid $0.70, sold for $15.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182822746547My largest sale was 5 yards of wool crepe with matching liner, zipper, and buttons on sale for $146. This is on commission for a family friend, so my COGS is about half. She told me to price it high because wool crepe is rare and she bought it at some fancy fabric store in Maryland. I priced it at the low end of what she suggested because of how wrinkled it is.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182432933479I bought a lot of vintage mannequins via an online auction. I had bought from these people a few times before, but they don’t always offer enough photos. These were not in as good of condition as I had thought, but I still made decent money. I paid about $15 each, and the child one sold for $50 and the adult for $70. They were local pickup because I didn’t have a box long enough, so I was able to meet the buyer. The mannequins will be decorated for an exhibition starting at the end of the year. I’ll be checking art gallery’s website to see how they end up, and I might have to check it out in person!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182691778423
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182691772513I once found a site that showed a way to ship art without having a particular size box. I can’t find that link any more, so I’ll try to recreate it in words here. I don’t exactly follow her steps, and I prefer to have an actual box for the last step, but I don’t always have the correct size.
First, wrap the art in bubblewrap.
Second (and I haven’t followed this particular step), buy wallboard (I think the green wallboard used for bathrooms) and cut out a piece to cover and protect the front of your art. I forget how she attached the board to the art – maybe tape.
Third, get a large box and completely open it up flat. Wrap the art in the box, folding as needed, to make a cardboard cover. Tape it up.
Fourth, wrap it again in bubblewrap.
Fifth, wrap it again in another cardboard box and tape it up. You can also add additional packaging material here.
So, I hope this helps. You can always use two cardboard boxes if you don’t have one big enough. Also, if you have an eBay store subscription where you get the free boxes, always save the box that the boxes come in. That box is sometimes good for art.
I have an extensive stamp collection from when I was a kid as well – mostly used stamps. I belonged to a trading company where I would create booklets of duplicate stamps, and I had to write the Scott catalog value underneath. I spent hours in the library looking up prices. I suppose that should be online these days.
I can’t imagine having to look up all those values in order to list each stamp or groups of stamps. Maybe some day, although, I could start with a box of duplicates I have. I still have a large backlog and several death piles, so I can’t imagine doing that unless I decide to stop sourcing.
Mike – I’d love to see some of the items you make yourself. Do you have a photo to post or a link to share?
This sounds a bit like their valet program, but with the authentication added in.
Someone once asked me about selling some vintage gold jewelry worth a significant amount of money, and I mentioned that eBay was going to have an authentication service some time soon. I’m not sure that this would be the program I’d recommend.
Whenever I’ve had a return, the buyer was able to print a label directly through eBay. I’ve never had to buy one through the USPS. eBay will determine the label cost based on the size and weight from the original purchase.
Did the prompt say that you had to upload a label, or did it ask whether you wanted to or not?
Week of Oct 8 – 14
* Total Items in Store: 1079
* Items Sold: 17
* Cost of Items Sold: $36.34 + $73 Commission
* Total Sales: $485.34
* Highest Price Sold: $146 – 4 yds Blue wool crepe + coordinating lining & buttons
* Average Price Sold: $28.55
* Returns: 0
* Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $51.75
* Number of items listed this week: 25My highest sale was a commission. My highest non-commission sale was two mannequins to one person for $70 + $50. It was a local pickup, and I found that the mannequins will be used in an art exposition scheduled for the end of this year!
My parents were in town a little over a week ago, and they brought a huge amount of stuff. They and their friends use me as their dumping ground for things they no longer need. Not a problem! I still went to an auction on Thursday because I wanted to get out of the house. In general, though, I’m trying to not spend much on new inventory until I catch up.
Earlier in the week, my camera battery ran out of power, and I couldn’t find the other battery with the charger anywhere. So, I ordered a used OEM charger and battery for delivery this week, and then ordered a replacement brand that would be delivered earlier. So, I got the replacement on Thursday and was able to take photos on Friday. The used OEM set arrived early on Saturday, and then I found my original stuff on Sunday. I had plugged it in the guest room probably because I was using that room the last time I photographed stuff. Duh! I guess I am now triply protected against my absent-minded self.
Most of the books have multiples, and I didn’t have to take pictures. I just used Ebay’s stock photos. The only exception was the tarot card sets.
The labels have multiples. I think there were 14 different kinds.
The housewares are a mix, some with multiples and some not. For the multiples, the product is the same even if the box is messed up. I made sure to show a really beat up box and wrote that the buyer would receive a box that would be no worse than what was shown.
Yes, some of the food items are expired and some are in date. The auctioneer will say before he starts the bidding. The big buyers at these auctions have discount stores – I think mostly in NY.
The first lot I bought consisted of 13 boxes of books. They are remainders, and have a remainder mark, but are new. I bought them for the tarot card sets that I sold at great profit through the summer. There were a few other workbooks, song books, etc. that also did well. I’m left now with books that I’m mostly selling one at a time making just a few dollars each time. But, they are selling.
The second lot was boxes of labels for handmade clothing. I bought them mostly because they were so cheap – less than $9 for thousands of these labels. I thought that they would sell here and there, but not one has sold. I will list them on Esty eventually. If they don’t sell, I’m mostly out the time I spent on getting them listed.
Those two I bought at the beginning of the summer. In August, I bought my third lot, which consisted of Asian housewares. The items are new, but some of the boxes are beat up. I listed them about a month ago, and I did sell a tea cup set. I have a mishmash of items, and I think some will sell and some may end up as donations.
I just have to be more careful of what I buy at this auction. Plus I have to wait out the crowd that starts to thin out about half way through.
I’ll add one more thing to the list – it is possible to buy overstock/refused merchandise at auction for resale. One auction company near me sells this sort of stuff, and I’ve dabbled a bit in it.
I’ve done very well with one lot, not well at all with another (small investment, so no big deal), and the jury is still out on the last. I’m still interested in this auction and continuing to try out new things. I don’t know if there are similar auctions in other areas, but I can’t imagine that this one is unique.
My interesting sales of the week:
Usually I get pretty beat up copper stuff at auction, but this pretty canapé tray was unused and protected. Paid $5.75, sold for $30:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182682752456I bought this Macy’s globe in an auction box lot for $1.25, sold for $49.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182514821101My big sale of the week was a very modern looking set of stainless steel flatware, service for 16. I bought it in an online auction for about $3. Looking back at the auction listing, the contents weren’t highlighted very well, and so I got a very good deal. Sold for $149:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182481347652During the summer, I sold a number of new tarot card & book sets that I had bought at an auction. Unfortunately, they came with 13 boxes of other miscellaneous books. One way I thought to move these other books faster was to sell them in larger lots. I have had five different lots listed for about two months, and finally one sold for $26. Cost of the books is $3. I may end up donating much of the remaining ones next year.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/182693148873I was considering the 450 vs the 450 4XL and whether all I needed was the skinny labels. The 4XL is significantly more expensive. When I was doing my research, I read on one website that the skinny labels are no longer accepted by the post office for packages, only letters and flat packages. I don’t know whether that is true or not, but I opted for the 4XL based on that.
