Ebay sellers thread (other platforms too)

[disneysteve]

Pro-tip when buying items from eBay, before buying the item add it to your watchlist for a day or 2 before buying the item and the seller might send you a discounted offer, then buy the item at the discounted price. As a seller, I never used to send the buyers offers when they added it to their watchlist but now I will send offers as well.

Absolutely. I send offers on my items every chance I get. I purposely list my items for 10-15% more than I want to leave room for those offers. Buyers love to think they’re getting a bargain even if they really aren’t.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Not sold yet but my 1st marketplace listing almost sold today. Listed this ebike on eBay, Craiglist, Offer Up, and marketplace. I see the advantages of selling on marketplace would be no eBay commissions/fees. And when negotiating I learned on Pawn Stars Rick Harrison said never to go first.

[disneysteve]

Selling on Marketplace is an exercise in frustration. I do it but I hate it. It’s not unusual for me to get 40 or 50 “is this available?” messages with no follow through after I respond. Then there will be at least 3 or 4 and sometimes more people who say they want it, set up a time to come for it, never show up, and don’t respond to any further messages.

I’ve stopped doing meet ups because of this. If you want it, you come to my house to get it so I’m not wasting my time sitting somewhere waiting for you. And unless it’s a big item, it will be on the front step. Take it and put the cash in the mailbox. So far, that has worked beautifully and nobody has ripped me off and it’s kept me from wasting time.

[ua_guy]

Absolutely. I send offers on my items every chance I get. I purposely list my items for 10-15% more than I want to leave room for those offers. Buyers love to think they’re getting a bargain even if they really aren’t.

As a buyer on eBay I've noticed this trend. It started when seemingly everything I looked at was either extremely heavily watched, or a bunch of people already had it in their cart.

Sure enough, if you do that and look at the item a couple of times, I guess you folks as the sellers can send out offers to the top watchers/viewers, or who has it in their cart and is ready to buy. And of course guys like me who carry a phone and monitor my work and personal email accounts often, we see the offer almost as soon as it gets sent out. I've snagged a few good deals that way.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Good to know about the marketplace buyers who are not serious buyers so I can try to avoid wasting my time. Craigslist used to be worse with scammers. I would get numerous texts asking me for some kind of code, or asking me to ship the item, etc.

[disneysteve]

As a buyer on eBay I've noticed this trend. It started when seemingly everything I looked at was either extremely heavily watched, or a bunch of people already had it in their cart.

Sure enough, if you do that and look at the item a couple of times, I guess you folks as the sellers can send out offers to the top watchers/viewers, or who has it in their cart and is ready to buy. And of course guys like me who carry a phone and monitor my work and personal email accounts often, we see the offer almost as soon as it gets sent out. I've snagged a few good deals that way.

ebay notifies us when we have items eligible to send out offers. It's not up to us who we send them to and we actually don't know who we're sending them to. It's a blind process. It could be someone who viewed the item, someone watching the item, or someone who has the item in their cart. It's similar to how other retail sites work. If you put a couple of items in your cart and then leave the site, you'll sometimes get an email offering you free shipping or 15% off. My wife plays that game all the time.

Many sellers also have the Best Offer feature on their listings so customers can make an offer. It may or may not get accepted or the seller may send a counter-offer. I sell a lot of items from offers I send and those sent to me by buyers.

[jenn_jenn]

Selling on Marketplace is an exercise in frustration. I do it but I hate it. It’s not unusual for me to get 40 or 50 “is this available?” messages with no follow through after I respond. Then there will be at least 3 or 4 and sometimes more people who say they want it, set up a time to come for it, never show up, and don’t respond to any further messages.

I’ve stopped doing meet ups because of this. If you want it, you come to my house to get it so I’m not wasting my time sitting somewhere waiting for you. And unless it’s a big item, it will be on the front step. Take it and put the cash in the mailbox. So far, that has worked beautifully and nobody has ripped me off and it’s kept me from wasting time.

I agree with you! If I sell or giveaway anything was on Marketplace, it is going on my front porch only.

With that said, wanted to add that sometimes the “Is it available messages?” are accidents bc FB has this as an auto message that is easy to accidentally hit. I have done it myself.

I put in my listings that I won’t respond to “Is this available?” messages and to let me know a time they’re available to pickup. Keeps my sanity on Marketplace.

[disneysteve]

The ebay podcast that I listen to (and have appeared on twice) had a young guy on this week. He's 30. He started selling on ebay to make some extra money when he was in college. After he graduated, he got a traditional job but kept selling also. Two years ago, he dropped to part time at his job and started doing ebay full time. He did 75K in sales in 2022 and 100K in 2023 and is still growing. I have no doubt that in another year or two, he'll ditch the "regular" job because he'll be grossing 200K online and just make that his only job. He'll certainly be able to afford to buy his own health insurance and can set up a retirement plan if he hasn't already.

I haven't finished the episode yet but he did say that about 80% of what he sells is clothing, sourced from thrift shops and yard sales.

The potential is unlimited and there's virtually no barrier to entry. This is something that pretty much anybody can do quite easily if they want to.

[QuarterMillionMan]

$100,000 in sales, but how much in profit? If 50% pretty good. If 75% or $75,000 in profit that's extraordinary.

As for my ebike on market place, no other "is it still available," messages. Wait an Offer up person just messaged me if I would take $280, which I would take it but I will counter maybe $325 first to see if the person might bite the bait.

[disneysteve]

$100,000 in sales, but how much in profit? If 50% pretty good. If 75% or $75,000 in profit that's extraordinary.

He didn't mention his net. Personally I run about 60% net I think so if his is similar, that puts him somewhere above 60K this year and he still has a part time "regular" job which also provides his health insurance. He went from 75K gross to 100K gross in a year. I have no doubt that he'll grow that more as he continues. I'm guessing 120-130K this year from what he said.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Question to those who would leave an item on your porch, let's say you sold an ebike like I'm selling for $380. Would you leave an expensive item like this on your porch? No way would I leave it on my porch (if I had a porch but I live in an apartment complex so moot point for me).

[disneysteve]

Question to those who would leave an item on your porch, let's say you sold an ebike like I'm selling for $380. Would you leave an expensive item like this on your porch?

Of course not. For that, I'd meet them when they arrived. But I'd still do it at my house, not at some offsite location where I'd be sitting waiting for them.

I sold some china recently for $115. I met the woman and then helped her pack it up and carry it out to her car. I wasn't leaving that just sitting on the step.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Here's a better pic. I think I may have scared off Este...... (I haven't heard back from Este).

[QuarterMillionMan]

Este said he'll (or she'll) think about it. Este lives in San Fernando valley and far from me. I would deliver the 40 miles away from me if I had a guaranteed payment such as Zelle or Cash app but Este doesn't seem serious so like the rest of you here mentioned, I don't want to waste my time on unmotivated buyers.

[disneysteve]

Another way that FBMP is frustrating at times. A few days ago someone listed a Noritake china teapot for $5. I checked and could sell it to Replacements for $36. After postage, my profit would be about $21 on the $5 purchase which isn't bad at all. I messaged the woman and specifically asked if it was in good shape with no chips or cracks. She replied and said it was in "perfect condition". She isn't super close to me but I made a point of being in her area yesterday after an estate sale and thrift shop visit. I get there and her son hands me the teapot. I quickly discover a big chip on the end of the spout. No thanks, I'll pass. How she thought she could pass that off as perfect condition I have no idea.