okay i have been getting rid of stuff via craigslist, goodwill, freecycle etc.. and now we are down to stuff that is probably best sold on a site like ebay -collectibles....  i am looking for advice from anyone who sells on ebay... any tips or pointers out there i should consider?

Look on the e-bay website and review the seller tutorials to learn the basics and some tips developed by power sellers. Sign up for PayPal and only accept PayPal payments. Money Orders are OK but can be counterfeit. Only accept money orders for items of low value. Always setup your ads so that the buyer pays for shipping and handling. Charge for packaging materials, insurance and postage. You can pre-determine these costs by boxing up the items you have for sale weighing them and then use the E-bay shipping fee caculator in your ad. Also now that the Post Office has the new flat fee mailers and boxes if your items fit the criteria you can show the flat fee shipping costs. I once sold a plastic train for a dollar and by the time the buyer paid for shipping and handling the total was $7.00. Be wary of buyers that do not have a rating (new buyers) or low rating. E-Bay has a rating system for buyers and sellers, the ratings are added by E-Bay users so it's a good indication of how trustworthy someone is. Use the automated response system for sellers. This automatically notifies both the buyer and seller of the status of the auction, post auction and shipping process. Before this system was put in place it would take a minimum of 5 e-mails to process the sale and shipping of an item. The automated system will save time and frustration. If you have some expensive items to sell, consider using an escrow service to coordinate the sale. The escrow service won't release the item to the buyer until both the seller and buyer agree all is OK. You can locate escrow services through the e-bay seller support pages. Again pay attention to the ratings of the escrow service. Try not to meet with a buyer....do everything by mail or e-mail or over the phone. There have been robberies and attacks with face to face meets. Pay attention to the way E-Bay charges to list items. If you list with a high starting bid, you'll pay a higher fee to e-bay. Same with setting reserve prices. Look for tips on how to list the prices to save on listing fees and commission. You might be able to pick up some books or CDs produced by E-Bay power sellers for low cost at second hand bookstore, on e-bay or at a garage sale. These great step by step instruction on how to get the best bang for your buck. Make sure you add photos in you ad. The photos need to be good quality and reflect the true condition of your item. Be truthful in your item description....if it's dented, scratched or worn don't say it's just like new. It's a nightmare to resolve a dispute with a buyer once they receive an item and then claim it wasn't like what was described. Plus you'll receive a negative rating and that will stop some buyers from even looking at your ads. If you have the original box, mention it in the ad. Buyers want items that are as close to the condition when new as possible. The original box in good condition will add to the sale price. These are just a few tips I've learned over the years. Due to the economy don't expect too much. I've been looking at E-Bay during the past year or so and I don't see bids on many of the items people used to go wild over. Good Luck getting rid of the rest of your stuff.

excellent tips and thanks... i was a bit worried about putting stuff up that no one bids on and all i end up with is bills from ebay and still have the stuff...

The Bear II has given you very good advice. You would do well to follow all of it.


Be prepared to not get as much $$$ for your stuff as it is worth. I did think of one other tip.

We found that if we had something to sell that was similar or identical to something selling well on eBay that we would do VERY well if we would list it before the other listing expired. Can't tell you why, but it always seemed to work for us.

All great tips everyone.  We started doing Ebay some years ago.  Started when I (Rod) married a super great gal (Georgia) with a 6K foot Bungalow in Albany Or.  She had the space for the family and so she became the "storage" space for her family.  People passed away and so--eventually wanted to get rid of the stuff left.  We have sold about 500 items on ebay. 
I'm Not trying to sell anything here just want to give you an example-we are gr_betterdays (betterdays for our the son we lost in Iraq), for listings that have and have not worked in the past.  Feel free to bring our past EbayStuff up and copy anything you would like to use.  We do not have an Ebay Store, however, are wanting to generate some income when we get on the road with ya all.  (in about a year or so)

Also, big stuff, heavy stuff, stuff difficult to ship---Craigslist is great.  Most of the rest of the info below you can use on Craigslist also.

My 2 bits.  Ebay Gold Bits that is 
Sign up with Ebay for an account.
Sign up with PayPal.  We also only take PayPal.  The other ways of paying take more time and effort for us.
Sort your stuff and pick out what you think is special.
1st go on Ebay and do an Advanced Search (top right) to see if listing it is worth your time and money.  Do a search for completed listings.  View the past related listings of others (red--did not sell--green---sold)  to see if people have bought your item (or close to what you have) = IS IT worth your time and costs to take pictures+ follow up + ship etc.  Lots of time and effort is involved when you are selling your stuff on Ebay (early on I've listed many things that I thought were awesome and no body wanted it--it finally went to the Tacoma Mission).  I've found that many times, if you still pay have to pay taxes, general stuff is more valuable to you, as a legal tax deduction from Goodwill, a shelter etc.  **I always find a listing that sold (in green) and try to figure out why it sold--learned from success.  **If you don't find your item, you will need to go on the net to see what it is (for your Ebay listing description) and try to get an idea of what it is worth. 
YES, take great---great--close up pictures (sss) with a digital camera--in sunlight if you can.  Buyer has to "feel""smell""touch""handle" from all angles what you are listing.--I agree, make sure you pay the 35 cents to have your listing pictured when buyers do a search for your item.  Buyers search for something and read listings just from the pictures of listings.  Will your listing "catch their eye".  How is it different from the millions listed?  Get them to opening it up and read it.  If they are interested, the rest will follow.  If you need to, put a ruler beside your listing to give buyers a sense of it's size etc.
Title of your listing: You want buyers to open and look at what you are listing---put it all in caps, include various words so a buyers search will bring up your listing.  Georgia sits and puts beads on socks for the grand kids (soon to be 15).  We have listed one extra pair of socks today.  Title Ex: "BEADED LOW CUT NO SHOW BEAD SOCKS NON SMOKE NEW L@@@k".  Currently there are 166,000 sock listings on Ebay.  There were over 1.4 million  bead listings.  Our title included Beaded and Bead because the computer didn't bring up our listing, for beads, if we just put beaded.  You want people to notice your listing out of millions.  **Make sureeee your spelling is correct.  The Ebay seach function brings up listings or doesn't bring them up in a search due to spelling. 
99% of the time we use auction listings that start bids at .99cents.  The market (generally) will pay you what it is worth--if it's worth anything--if you have listed it correctly.  Remember there are millions of buyers on Ebay each day.  Also, you want competition to come into play.  If several people are interested,  they will get into a bidding war.  This is good for you.  I like listing 7 days---Saturday to Saturday ~10 am Pacific time.  Sunday to Sunday, if you like, however, ending 3 pm Pacific (people are back from church).  This way people are able to bid, real time, on your item until it ends.
Make your listing personal.  First write a good-detailed description (size, color, title, etc) about the item.  Then tell something about yourself, where the item came from, WHY (very important) you are listing the item.  "I have a couple of these...", "I'm upgrading to..." "Don't need anymore..." ect.    "Hi everyone.  I'm just about ready to retire and go on the road with my fifth wheel.  Need to downsize and gather a little money to make it all happen.  Thank you for helping. Hope you enjoy this.  Take care.  Georgia and Rod."  If you read our current listing you will get a sense of what I'm sharing here.
Provide awesome customer service = treat others like you want to be treated and better. 99% of businesses today don't give you anything!  Answer their questions fast.  Treat others good.  Write a Thank You note to include in their package. Ship within a day or two.  Do what is right and what you promise in your listing.  I (Rod) worked for Sears 30 years ago when "The Customer is Always Right"
Always give feed back when your buyer pays.  Always....
Shipping.  Ummm, this is a complex answer.  GEN:  Try, if you can, to offer free shipping--this will bring a lot more lookers to your item--generally you will get higher bids for your item which will pay for your shipping costs.  Try not to offer it internationally (expensive and complex) unless you have experience.  If you have a lot of odd items-sizes- to sell, you will have to be creative with boxes, wrapping, etc.  I've done some very creative things in the past with shipping .  **Don't try to make a profit on shipping, yet--- you don't want shipping to eat up what's left after all your costs.  Costs of you listing (Ebay, PayPal) will be around 26%.  Focus on getting it to your buyer undamaged and as fast as you can.
Communication:  Over communicate.  Email--"thank you for buying."  "Am sending today..""tracking number is ..."" hope you enjoy""thanks again".
If you are going to use Ebay, on a long term basis, to help fund your RVing.  Reputation IS EVERYTHING.  Get a few neg feed backsfrom your buyers and you will find it is very difficult to make a profit to use for RVing.  Over deliver.  Over communicate.  Ship fast.  Even, if in the end, you loose money, think and treat it as is if you made a million.  Always do what is right and true.  ****If I over deliver on the front end, the back end problems will be few. 
Our belief is that God will provide and that people are honest and good.  Our view is that we all want to do what is right.  Over the years, we've sold 500, or so, of Georgia's items and yes--- there have been a very few buyers who have been difficult.  None, have ripped us off.  Our experience has been very good and plan to carry it on when we are on the road.

One has to enjoy the process to get rid of general stuff on Ebay.

Well maybe more than two bits worth.  Wish you good luck with Ebay and if I or Georgia can be of any help, please don't hesitate to ask.   Love sharing our experience with you and appreciate you all so much. 

Just spent 3 days getting rid of 15 years of stuff in our basement---paper STUFF--legal STUFF we don't need anymore.  Starting to get ready.  Great feeling everyone to start getting rid of the STUFF that has drain our life energy.  Joseph Campbell had it right.

Take care all.  Going into.....the.....basement to shred.  See Yaaaaaaaaaa.
Rod and Georgia 


-- Edited by RodandGeorgia on Friday 27th of August 2010 09:07:19 AM

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Thank you for the information Cindy.  Looked at your store and Etsy.  Learned something also.  Have bookmarked your store.  Great pictures!  Looks like another avenue to help us be full time.  Take care.  Rod and Georgia

1986 Ford Taurus
RVP2B