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Very informative Tommy, Julie, and Steven, thanks! Kinda quiet here today so let me add a random recent selection of my sales (unfortunately all bread and butter low dollar):
Part of a police belt lot with accessories I picked up from a thrift shop, this Bianchi pistol magazine pouch did not take long to sell at $20 plus shipping. This is a generic item but specialized police gear is subject to federal export controls. Usually eBay will prevent you from listing if you’ve got international shipping enabled, but even if an item sneaks through, if it sells foreign and you use GSP, the folks in Kentucky will cancel the sale and send it back to you.
This Murano Glass Key Ring was a hostess gift to us from friends who don’t bring wine. Sigh. Sold for $20 plus shipping. $20 will definitely get me a nice Chianti. (Goes well with liver and fava beans, I hear.)
This set of Jordanian basic parachutist wings (military insignia) took about a year to sell for $23 plus shipping. Militaria is a very active eBay category and stuff does sell, but collectors are very price sensitive and I was definitely pushing the envelope with my price on this one.
This NWT Italian leather Dopp kit was a yard sale find for a couple of bucks. Lots of interest but it took six months to sell at $35 plus shipping.
Picked up for a couple bucks on the last day of an estate sale, this 70’s 12V Power Supply was still sealed in plastic but had been out in the garage obviously for years. The cardboard box inside the shrink wrap showed swelling so there was certainly the chance that it was a mess inside. I held my breath that it wouldn’t be returned but buyer was happy so all was well. It went for $30 plus shipping. It’s used for operating a mobile CB radio on household power.
I’ve had this shark business card holder for years. It used to sit on my desk at the law office. It sold for $24 plus shipping.
I never get tired of cats trolling dogs.
Good tips. I also have seen auctioneers nail regulars in the US but it’s true a novice probably doesn’t really have to worry about it. In the US a practical reason for standing in the back is to see where the bids are coming from. To make sure you’re not being shilled or run up.
I enjoy watching auctions, though. The Brits invented auctions before we were even a country and it’s quite an art there. I once watched a butcher at an outdoor flea market in East London (I think it was Brick Lane – early ‘90s) put on a show like a carnival barker, auctioning single packs of meat out of a big trailer to a gathering crowd. That was a real hoot.
James, the idea of a regular job being somewhere you feel you cannot go is NOT ridiculous. The worst day scavenging can still be better than the best day at a job. We hear you.
Many years ago I was a full time musician. The pay was crap and it got to the point for me where every gig was worst than the last. I was going to college part time as a music major and flunking. After one particular performance test the instructor advised me that I might want to rethink my choice of career. (Actually I had been playing pretty steady gigs since 8th grade and wasn’t really that bad.) But it wasn’t long after that I decided I could not play “Feelings” ever again so I went and enlisted in the Army. For the training I signed up for they couldn’t take me for a couple months, so they put me in the delayed entry program. I quit gigging. I was also picking on the side but had to dump what inventory I had fast because I couldn’t take it to basic training. I still had to eat and pay rent for couple months. So I worked for a temp agency. I cleaned out warehouses, unloaded rail cars full of new tires, was a runner for an industrial equipment auction, etc. It didn’t pay very much but it cleared my head and it was different every day. They were crappy jobs but every day I could say to myself that whatever I was doing, I’d probably be doing something different tomorrow, or at least in a day or two. It didn’t feel as stifling to me as a regular job and it served its purpose for a short time.
Even better though, I will second others’ recommendations to branch out in sourcing. Personally I find very little to sell at thrift stores and estate sales.
Yeah well I hate to say it but that rep may be on to something. I don’t think same day shipping works very well even without holidays involved. I found that I got random late shipping dings that were simply not valid (my label print, 1st USPS scan, and delivery were ALL within standards, and no holidays or weekends involved) and when I’d call the CSRs couldn’t explain it. “We’ll check on it and call you back”, they’d say.
After a couple times (with no call backs, of course) I switched back to 1 day ‘cause I like my TRS status and would like to keep it. No more late shipments.
There are some great auctions in New England, lots of old stuff coming out of the woodwork! Sure, they can be intimidating. You’ve got to make up your mind to go to one but the first time you go, do not buy ANYTHING. Don’t even get a bidding number (unless you just want to learn that process; sometimes deposits are required etc). The pressure is off so just look through the stuff then stand up in back or to the side (if you can) and watch the action. Watch the bidders and the auctioneer and get a feel for the rhythm and how different bidders operate. Keep your hands in your pockets. Obviously there are common elements but every auction house and every auctioneer is different. Then hang around for check out and see how that is run.
Then if the auction is worth going back to (and you’ll learn that some are not) you’ll be prepared and confident to give it a go. If it’s not worth going back to, at least there was the entertainment value.
Ebay arbitrage is a great winter activity. (I do it all year.) I think the key to success is sticking with niches you know well because you’re looking for value in items that others miss. Stuff goes for cheap on eBay every day, even in very active categories.
Shipsaver insurance covers art but it caps out at $2500 if you use USPS Priority Mail; less for other methods. I think it costs $1 per $100 of value. I’ve used it for higher value items since shortly after it came available but have never had to make a claim.
One more thing I forgot to mention, I also make it a condition for the buyer to do feedback if they want to do Local Pickup (which is only by special request).
Sure in theory they could still screw you but I think it’s a deterrent. The main reason I do it though is to have them check the box that it arrived on time so it does not screw up my shipping and delivery time service metrics since I’m TRS.
Ebay says you have to opt into Guaranteed Delivery. Go to: Account Settings > Site Preferences > eBay Guaranteed Delivery Setting. Click “Show,” then “Edit” to see if you’re already in it. Only same-day or 1 day handling, shipping carrier stated (cannot use generic terms), and items with a postal code location are eligible, and even those won’t always show Guaranteed. It’s item by item, and some buyers won’t see it if they’re too far away. I also find that you won’t get Guaranteed Delivery on Smartpost.
There are also some subtleties of setting it up and activating it for certain or all items depending on how you ship. More explanation can be found at https://pages.ebay.com/seller-center/shipping/ebay-guaranteed-delivery.html and a video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Xq9eQTyx0
Good show today! About Craigslist being local, I have had people who are not local purchase things from me to be shipped and they actually were not scammers. To find national posts, use advanced search in Google for your desired keywords and only site craigslist.org. It’s not perfect, especially since Craigslist sellers are not good with titles, but it’s pretty good. I don’t know if this would work for Facebook groups.
I am constantly fiddling with the shipping on my heavier items to try and find the best shipping to show as default! It is maddening. It does change all the time, and USPS Priority is much cheaper to closer destinations than the “economy” methods. At the moment, for the bigger/heavier items I have found FedEx Ground / Home to always be at least a dollar or two cheaper than Smartpost, and FedEx Ground / Home will give you a Guaranteed Delivery date (more on that above).
I do what your caller said regarding offers in order to force immediate payment. Most of my items are not Best Offer so I’ll just get an email, so I’ll lower the price and reply like the caller said. If they are best offer, I just decline the offer, as you said. It’s a little more work but I sometimes travel and lengthen handling times so I cannot have an offer hanging out there with a one-day handling and then have them pull the trigger while I’m away (because you cannot change anything in a listing with an open offer).
Ditto re Inglewood’s experience, a couple times as seller. Also had it happen to me as a buyer, which was really weird since the item actually showed up.
When it has happened to me, the item listing got scrubbed from everywhere but sometimes a Google search would pull it up due to page caching, I guess.
Yes. You do need a different primary email address for each account.
Letter Track Pro advertises specifically that it provides tracking for letters and “large envelopes, flats, and bubble mailers.” Have you contacted them about your experience?
I think precautions vary depending on personal preferences and situations. Sometimes I’ve taken cash at the house if I was comfortable with that. Other times the buyer showed up with a cashier check and if I agreed with their price, I went with them to their bank to get it cashed before handing over anything.
Good advice above regarding knowing DMV requirements and what gets signed and filled in / doesn’t get signed and filled in on the title (some blanks are only for dealer transfers, loans, etc), whether a notary is required, specific bill of sale form, etc. beforehand to avoid wasting time with a clueless buyer. Many states will have the required documents in pdfs on their DMV website that you can print out.
Occasionally I’ve had problems with flaky time-wasters who want to give you a small “deposit” to hold the car. They continue to shop around and may or may not be back, or they’re unrealistic about their chances of coming up with the full purchase price. But there are legit buyers who are waiting for a paycheck or something. Only hold the car for a substantial sum, and write it up on a bill of sale as a non-refundable down payment on the purchase price for which X is owed in cash by a certain date.
Pay attention to the odometer statement – in some states the title just wants the seller to state that it’s correct to the best of their knowledge which is fine, but other states the choice is either warranting that the mileage is correct or just that the odometer says so and so but seller does not know the actual mileage. In that case you don’t want to warrant it is right unless you’re sure it is.
And make sure your bill of sale at least says the car is sold AS IS, WHERE IS, WITH ALL FAULTS, AND NO WARRANTIES EXPRESS OR IMPLIED in all caps. A bill of sale is not just for the buyer from you, they need to sign it too and you get a copy. RocketLawyer has a good bill of sale form if there is not a required state form.
I’ve never sold on FB but I have on Craigslist and that attracts many attempted scams. Not sure if FB has the same problem but if someone is not local and they start talking as if they’re going to buy it without even seeing the car, assume the worst.
Great letter! I love the way he describes eBay’s Marketplace as a “strategically valuable asset that has weathered prolonged, self-inflicted misexecution.” Besides the surveys of buyers and sellers they ran, the guy’s mother has sold jewelry on eBay for a decade. Sounds like maybe he’s been getting an earful from her.
