ebay miscellaneous question post..

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justybug
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ebay miscellaneous question post..

Post by justybug » Sun Dec 12, 2004 3:33 pm

hi everyone. i'm a bit confused. i just finished up around 50 auctions for some standard type mtg auctions, and am severely disappointed in the results. granted, i didn't offer up anything stunning, but i do think i learned some valuable lessons.
first off, this post is mainly to get some feedback from other members, preferably those that have had or currently do get the results they want from ebay, or other auction sites. what works for you? what doesn't? how critical is your ending times, pictures, descriptive text, etc.. i'm not asking anyone to give up trade secrets, but i've sold a bit of stuff (non-mtg), have decent refs (98 - 100% positive and counting.), and i just don't get some of the prices my auctions closed at. i didn't set reserves, have reasonable shipping. i'm thinking i just offered the wrong stuff at the wrong time, and there's not much to be done about that. oh well..
anyway, any suggestions would be appreciated. also, for US sellers, what is reasonable for shipping to EU, and what kind of times should i expect for delivery to them? i've done a few international trades here and on MOTL, and haven't had issues, but never for Ebay.
if anyone else has any other questions, feel free to tag along.
thanks in advance!
justin
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Muldoon
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Re: ebay miscellaneous question post..

Post by Muldoon » Sun Dec 12, 2004 4:49 pm

For EU shipping times, one week should be about right :) Sometimes as low as 4 days, sometimes as much as 14... But usually a week.
Reasonable shipping, well usually the letters i get are stamped .80, 1.20, 1.60, 1.80...  Plus cost for toploader and bubble envelope, still an average of ~$2 for a few singles.
Selling singles on eBay is something i've never dared getting into yet, I don't like the fact that i might be practically giving some cards away ;) I guess you had bad luck, and also you may have sold "too common" stuff.
I try to sell my stuff privately instead, fetching some rather sick prices ;) But eBay is quicker and less work I guess...
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Gryfalia
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Re: ebay miscellaneous question post..

Post by Gryfalia » Sun Dec 12, 2004 7:38 pm

On unexciting cards, the final value is almost 100% dependant on luck, unless you do something silly (which it doesn't sound like you did).  Did 2 of the people who want it happen to see it?

But for normal stuff there are usually so many items running at the same time that they get lost in the mix.  I always run my auctions on Sunday night, for the record, and I rarely use a reserve.  My shipping isn't cheap ($2.00 in the US), but I ship it stinkin well..;-)  (and I do combine..hehe)

But my feedback is pretty high (473 with one neg from 4 years ago, which was irrelevant..grrr), and I get lots of repeat buyers, so that helps.

Of course, I expect normal cards to get iffy bidding and rarer cards to do very well..

Gryfalia
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psrex
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Re: ebay miscellaneous question post..

Post by psrex » Sun Dec 12, 2004 10:28 pm

I should revise this slightly, as it's doesn't completely reflect all of my thinking with regard to Ebay auctions (and some of the prices are off), but it's still very close to what I believe to be the best approach to selling regular cards on Ebay.  Items that are rare (misprints, Summer, etc.) should likely go to auction instead of following my advice about 'buy it now', unless you are very confident in your pricing.

http://www.augsburg.edu/~dawsons/intere ... lling.html

justybug
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Re: ebay miscellaneous question post..

Post by justybug » Mon Dec 13, 2004 3:19 am

i tend to agree with your post gryf, too many of the same common T2 type auctions. i think i'll be running pics from now on, and posting smaller batches. i also think i'd probably have better luck posting a sale for some specific things here, and more mundane stuff on motl. i was hoping to leverage a bunch of filler crap into some christmas funds, and for the majority it worked out, but the whole "give away" risk... sheesh. that bites. oh well. i needed some extra refs, and anyone that picked up cheap cheap cards should leave a pretty good one..right? ::)
also, does anyone notice a difference in results with the posting length for the auction? i ran a bunch of these as 3 day auctions because i wanted them to end with some other stuff i had up, i think this may have hurt the results.
HUNTING UNGLUED/UNHINGED ARTIST PROOFS - PLEASE HELP!!
email me for details..send your trade offers!
Misprints, sketches, pictures!!
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MrFantazy

Re: ebay miscellaneous question post..

Post by MrFantazy » Sun Dec 19, 2004 11:55 pm

Ebay Feedback--
600+ 100%

Heres what I can tell you for what it's worth  ;)

During the week, it is best if your auctions are put up and end in the morning (8am-10am).

Weekends do better around 11am-1pm  and the again in the evening 7pm-10pm

7 day auctions are better, the more time it is up the more people will see your items. The highest percentage of hits I get are on Monday and the most purchases are split between Saturday and Sunday.

As for BIN, I find the best thing to do is decide what I would be very happy getting and set that as the BIN then also allow auctions on it.

As for common stuff, it is often better to "batch" it up and sell it as a collection/lot. Playsets tend to get more per card then singles. I stay away from the whole "repack" thing, as most of them seem rather shady at best, and I do well enough without selling like that.

Be very honest about the items, none of that "dual" lands that actually mean pain lands. Be very hard about any grading you give, in my opinion it is best to actually grade it one down from what I think it is. On one hand, I made a little less early on, but between my reputation from repeat buyers, and the " better then described" feedback, it has more then paid for itself.
On commons and uncommons playsets a representing image is fine, with a "cards range from grade x to grade z". Rarer items should have an actual scan/pic.

Get all the keywords you can in the title and actual description I.E. elf, elves, green, mana, creature, Tempest ect. avoid using your title space for words like WOW, LOOK ect. no one uses these as search terms!

Do your homework, search for similar things that have sold, look at the auctions, compare what the differance is between why one sold for $5 and the other for $10.

What is the sellers rating and feedback score?- Higher will usually always do better.

What is different between the listings? Ending days and times, pictures, gallery pic, etc.


If you are going to be doing Ebay alot ( as in mutiple auctions every week ) the basic ebay store is well worth it. There are some tricks there too but I'm getting long winded here so.....
Hope that helps..

Shawn

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sylvanstu
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Re: ebay miscellaneous question post..

Post by sylvanstu » Mon Dec 20, 2004 1:27 am

I find this time of the year is more of abuying time. Sell after christmas when the kids get all their christmas money. i been selling on ebay for 7 years i have different accounts for different things i sell and for buying also.sometimes that 1 bad rating will hurt and i abandon that account.I personally avoid or research bad ratings when buying. i never use reserve's i always strart my auctions at a dollar.i never sell the same card at the same time. always combine shipping.it might make the difference in a bigger sale or not. It does with me when i'm buying.go to office max get a large qyantity of buble envolopes cheap and get top loaders and sleeves mention this is how you ship. you can ask a little more for shipping to cover the cost.

just my 2 cents worth
Collector of one of each Armageddon printed.

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