eBay selling

[sparky2016]

Things may lean in favor of fixed price.

There's a thread here, a lot of the recent posts are about eBay coupons. The idea is that when an eBay coupon that works pops up, a buyer gets a discount and seller gets their price, because eBay funds the coupon. Coupons seem to be easier for buyers to use on a fixed price offer. (Though they can often be used on closed auctions if the timing is right. A little more complicated.)
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=29169&start=3680

[PStone]

I think posting what knives you have for sale on eBay is kind of riding the line of trying to sell here. Just my two cents. I’d hate to see this place become full of eBay “heads ups”.

[ZMW]

I have bought and sold a few knives on ebay, I use the auction feature with no bottom price (I forgot he exact term), it is not very expensive at all. But, I would not sell a PM2 or Millie on there as people are too worried about fakes. Most other knives are fine, and make sure to demonstrate it is a leit knife and not a fake.

[TkoK83Spy]

I think posting what knives you have for sale on eBay is kind of riding the line of trying to sell here. Just my two cents. I’d hate to see this place become full of eBay “heads ups”.

I was thinking the same thing when I saw that earlier today. But, at the same time...I feel like I'd prefer someone here on the forum getting one of my knives compared to a stranger. Especially if it were a knife that's tough to get. Say there's a make an offer setting and they say "hey this is so and so from the forum" I'd probably be more apt to accept that offer.

But again, this is borderline trying to sell. Touchy subject!

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

I too was uncertain but decided the worst that can happen is Sal says ok this is no good and I would just delete it. Sal has my full permission and best wishes to look at my private messages there it can be seen no such activity is going on.

I am not trying to sell on the forum just getting feedback, I figure someone with more experience selling would say ok this model for example a M390 Paramilitary 2 should sell best as an auction or BUY it now. In the past I have had a tendency to let things go for too low of a price not knowing what does best due to such little experience selling.

Hope this sets peoples minds at ease a bit, and Sal if you want it gone just say so will be glad to delete it.

So far this has been very informative and helpful to me especially the ideas on shipping options and I do appreciate the input.

[bagsnatcher]

I forget the eBay fee structure but it's percentage based, off the final sell price.

The fee can be as high as ten percent (which is astronomical, if you really think about it).

Try Reddit as well, there's a vibrant knife enthusiast community on there (r/knives and r/knifeclub).

[PStone]

I gotcha. Still though. Even a paid membership at bf doesn’t get you that privilege. I sell quite a bit on the bay. I would love to advertise when/what I’m selling to a group of spyderco knife nuts for free.

And also FYI, since no one mentioned it, you can still offer the buy it now AND have it be an auction at the same time. I don’t do the buy it now because there are a lot of low ballers that will try and make a garbage offer and hope you accept it.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

To be perfectly honest I was trying be diplomatic but now need to just be frank.

I do not consider people on this forum to be a good source to sell to.

The reason is simple really, anyone frequenting these forums is likely far more shrewd about buying and will not offer the best price.

[MichaelScott]

This seemed like a normal eBay vrs everthing else thread until the OP listed his knives for sale then declared that was ok since he wouldn’t sell to forum members anyway.

What was the real purpose of the OP? I
Can’t help but wonder.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

This seemed like a normal eBay vrs everthing else thread until the OP listed his knives for sale then declared that was ok since he wouldn’t sell to forum members anyway.

What was the real purpose of the OP? I
Can’t help but wonder.

I never said I would not sell to forum members you really need to read a little closer and not cast your dark thinking on others.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

In the interest of keeping the original intent of the thread the list of items has been deleted.

[Sumdumguy]

In the interest of keeping the original intent of the thread the list of items has been deleted.

An honorable decision :)

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

So when it comes to the Buy it now option and you start getting the low ball bidders besides polity declining the offers how long do experienced sellers tend to wait to sell the item? For example I have had several low ball offers come in that were not bad but having just listed the items I declined them.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

In the interest of keeping the original intent of the thread the list of items has been deleted.

An honorable decision :)

Thanks the interactions here are generally good, do not want to do anything to spoil the place. It was a comment made a few back that got me thinking.

It was this comment that made sense. I’d hate to see this place become full of eBay “heads ups”.

I agree with it.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

The other thing I am wondering about is Shipping is it better to just raise the price and offer free shipping or leave it as a separate fee?

[vivi]

You could always post on www.reddit.com/r/knife_swap

No membership, no fees aside from paypal, better layout than bladeforums.

Someone here recommended this to me also. It has been a great option. I 100% recommend signing up for reddit and trying this. The people are very nice, the process is very easy, and very quick. And no fees at all. I still use eBay sometimes to sell, but my go to is the Reddit knife swap sub forum now. (You'll need an imgur account aslo, for posting pictures). Definitely give this a shot

Also, as far as eBay goes, the buy it now is the best IMHO. List it for the price you want, and lower it gradually if it's not selling in the time frame you want. As a buyer, it's nice to get an item now, and not wait days for an auction to end. Usually by that time I've found it elsewhere. And as a seller I don't like the possibility of getting less than I wanted. And if I'm gonna list an auction for what I wanted for it anyway, why not just use the buy it now?

Dave

P.s. Another member mentioned that eBay doesn't touch your shipping charge... That's not true. EBay takes a percentage of the total you get paid, shipping included (otherwise people would charge .99¢ for an item and $200 for shipping, then eBay would be boned). Look it up, they charge different amounts for the style of listing you decide on also, and the category of the item your selling. 12% for buy it now on the category that knives are in, 9 or 10 for an auction maybe. Check this website out.
https://www.dummies.com/business/online ... l-on-ebay/
It explains it well
He says that you would have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what eBay takes for a fixed price listing. And it's not far off. But I've learned that if I budget for 15% fees between eBay and PayPal, I'm right about on target, then shipping after that. I'm taking home around 80-83% after it's all done.

FYI imgur doesn't require registration. Just go to www.imgur.com/upload and upload your image(s)

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Oh now that is pretty cool. The imgur

Rereading this I am wondering if you offer shipping as based on destination and flat rate Priority mail and use ebay to purchase the postage who are they getting a piece of the action from? Seems to me like it is the post office they have the deal worked out with no?

[Pelagic]

I try to split the difference. Shipping a knife priority will essentially cost less than $10 anywhere in the continental US. I often charge 8.99 or 9.99 for USPS first class, which would cost $2-3 less than priority. But sometimes, things happen and I can't ship the item the first day or 2 after the item is purchased. If it's been 2 days, I email the buyer and tell them why I couldn't ship it, but that I'm "upgrading" them to priority. They are always fine with this, and even if I ship priority I still charged about $2 more than the actual shipping cost. This makes up for SOME of the eBay fees. I do think that there's a happy medium to your question. I do not believe a buyer who feels shipping is a tad overpriced is likely to be turned off by that. But some people value free shipping, and then again, some people subconsciously don't even count the shipping price in their head (they are attracted to the lower base price). I personally look for the whole package in an auction page. If the seller has a good rating and gives ample details in the item description that reflect honesty I'll largely ignore the shipping aspect of it. I want to know why they're selling it and I want their reason to make sense. If they don't provide this info (some people just aren't much for words), they at least should have some good pictures. I think good selling as well as buying are both intuitive as far as risk minimization is concerned.

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Thanks that is a pretty cool way of doing it, first class then if you are delayed go priority. Hmmmmm.....

[PStone]

Thank you for your gracious understanding in the previous matter, pertaining perhaps to some jealousy on my part.

If you offer free shipping, and there is a return, that means you pay shipping both ways. I typically charge $5. If it goes over I pay the difference. Usually first class. Sometimes priority on a higher value item. Also if you purchase the label through eBay/PayPal, you get a small discount. And a first class package can go up to 16oz instead of 13oz through eBay.