How to get MAX prices on auction sites...

Hi,

Prompted by an answer to another Q, here is a guide:

Hiya,

Up until three years ago I spent much time selling & buying on fleabay, I sold about 600-800 lenses in that time. I almost always got far higher prices than others selling the same items. This is how...

My own rules for getting the max price possible via ebay:

1. A photo item, particularly a more 'desirable' one MUST have excellent photos on the listing (90% do not...including photo items on ebay) even many serious amateur photographers have little idea how to shoot small studio work.

Here is a link to how I shoot small studio items (for free) scroll down the thread to my posts which explain how to do it, with a later post by me to show a photo of my small free daylight 'studio' set up.

link: http://photo.net/canon-fd-camera-forum/00OVKc

2. When selling lenses, have four shots on the listing: Show a full view from the side of the lens, a shot of the front & rear glass and a fourth shot showing the full package on auction...ie with box, paperwork, caps, hood etc.

3. Always have a low start price, 95% of my auctions had a 99p start with no reserve. The others had low start with reserve.

4. Never have higher start prices, never do BIN's. Avoid reserves IF possible.

5. Always have a full, honest & detailed description. If the listing description clearly shows you know what you are talking about, buyers will trust to buy from you. Do not though, go overboard.

List all the items included in the sale, list caps, hoods, box, manual etc, and say if any items are non branded, OEM or 3rd party items.

6. Always sell worldwide. I always did, I got anywhere from 20-100% more than UK listings.

7. Always have a full, simple and VERY clear list of p+p prices to all destinations. I had a small table with UK, EU & worldwide prices.

8. Have a hard thought about how buyers will search for your item, think of all the potential words and combinations of words they may use...then make sure your title line reflects these possible searches...this is critical and 90% of ebay sellers fail to do this. They simply have a title which describes the item simply and do not think how buyers may search.

For example, you may put 'Minolta 24mm lens' or 'Minolta 24/2.8' or 'Minolta 24mm f2.8 for MD & MC mount' or 'Minolta 24/2.8 MD & MC mount - Near MINT & Scarce'

9. Always highlight a MINT or Nr MINT item. In the title line and the description. Be very honest here though. The proper meaning of 'mint' is 100% as new. Some lens sellers say 'mint lens' if it just is somewhere near, or if just the optics are mint. Be clear of the condition of the barrel, the optics both front & rear, of the inside of the lens (any haze, dust etc) be clear about any oil on the blades etc etc.

10. NEVER, NEVER USE CAPS ON ALL THE TIME...Not for description or title....it makes it far harder to read and says you are lazy. Also use proper paragraphs, use caps where correct. People notice correct grammar and correct layout of text.

11. Use the full characters available in the title box. If a lens is now scarce or boxed etc the say so! I always paid a little extra and used the extra title line ebay allow you, it used to cost 35p...I always used it with scarce/boxed items and it always paid off.

12. Make it clear exactly what mount the lens is and which system it is fully compatible with. Many buyers will just expect any Minolta lens to work on any Minolta camera. Specify it will not work fully with AF mount minolta's etc.

If it is likely/possible to use with adaptors say so and describe any functions lost....ie A/F metering etc. Many buyers are clueless about this. Be clear it does not however come with an adaptor. (many lenses are now used on other cameras & mounts, so your listing should take account of this)

Good luck, cheers Steve.M. (Bongonut on fleabay)

cheers Steve

Thanks for the tip. Several things here I already do, but some are worth trying, especially the four photos thing.

I forgot another rule...

I always did 10 day auctions, starting on a Thursday, then you have two complete weekends for people to see the listings and it ends on a Sunday, which gives the max potential bidders at home, or able to be home.

When I sold worldwide I also tried to take time zones into consideration, so as to time the end of the auction so the max bidders worldwide had chance to be able to be present when the auction ended.

Steve
Did you ever have any problems with oversea sales.I have sold a couple of lenses to oversea buyers,but am always worried until they receive them

Hi Roy,

There are many people who moan of issues with overseas sales. In my approx 1700+ ebay sales, I sold to something like 40 countries. I only had three real problems (ignoring the tiny easily solved ones)...and all three of the problem buyers were in the London area. I never had any big problems with a single overseas buyer.

Some people would say I was lucky...but I think it is possible to easily minimise potential issues from overseas bidders. Things like listing countries you WILL not ship to and having very clear overseas p+p rates which also explain what type of service is used...with approx time scales of delivery etc.

From what I saw on ebay many of the sellers who have many issues with overseas bidders are ones who have poor and not very clear listings...and poor communications.

This went on all my listings:

I WILL NOT SHIP to, OR accept bids from: CHINA, RUSSIA, former Russian states, MEXICO, INDONESIA, NIGERIA or anywhere in AFRICA or MIDDLE EAST, so please do not ASK!

Communication is key with overseas buyers. I always sent an invoice within 48 hrs (with covering email). I always sent an email after I shipped.

Examples below:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi,

Thanks for your fast payment, your item shipped today, Saturday 15/08/09.

Please note, I have no control at all over shipping times….we are both in the hands of the postal services.

EU/Europe: Shipping normally takes from 2-3 days to as long as 2 weeks, depending on destination. If the item has not arrived within 14 days, please check with your local post service first & then mail me. NOTE: shipping to FRANCE and ITALY often takes longer for some reason.

USA/Aus/rest of world: Shipping takes anywhere from 4-7 days to as long as 3 weeks, depending on destination. If the item has not arrived within 21 days, please first check with your local post service & then mail me.

Thanks Steve.M.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I always spent plenty of time packing carefully. I often double checked overseas bidders addresses. I never shipped to an alternate address, ie bidders brother, friend etc. I always put two of my printed return address lables on every parcel, covered with clear tape so it could not come off or be easily altered.

I always taped all corners and edges of parcels. IMO many of the sellers who have problems are often ones who pack poorly and label items poorly.
I always used printed address labels, never hand wrtten ones. I always put clear tape over all address labels.

This is the clear p+p table I used:

SHIPPING & HANDLING COST :
COUNTRIES METHOD OF SHIPPING COST OF SHIPPING Approx delivery time
UNITED KINGDOM Royal Mail £10.00
1-2 Days
EUROPE Royal Mail Airmail
£15.00 3-7 Days
USA & CANADA Royal Mail Airmail
£20.00 5-14 days
REST OF THE WORLD Royal Mail Airmail
£20.00 7-14 Days
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

(much better on the listings and in full colour)

When I sent an invoice for payment, I always sent an email also as below:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi,

Thanks for your bid! Please send £30.50 GBP using PAYPAL (please NO echeques).
When I have a fully cleared payment, I ship as soon as possible and will e-mail you when the item ships.

PAYPAL ECHEQUES delay shipping from 1-3 weeks!..due to paypal taking 10-21 days to clear them.

Cheers Steve.M.
(ship cost is for ‘SIGNED FOR’ priority airmail, with insurance)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is an example of my last listings (it is not showing properly due to this forum having limitations):

B+W 77mm F-PRO FARBVERLAUF GRAU 50% (GREY GRAD FILTER) - Made in Germany.

The B+W German made filters are possibly the best filters you can buy. Brass metal mounts to prevent binding and top quality Schott glass (Carl Zeiss). In a rotating mount, just like polar filters, so you can move the line of the graduation to the orientation of the photo. Very useful with landscape work.

This is one of the latest F-PRO filters.

Condition: BRAND NEW, in case, unused.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Payment:
UK: UK Bank Cheque / UK postal order in GBP sterling, or Paypal.
EU / International: PAYPAL ONLY, in UK GBP sterling.

Please note, I only ship items AFTER payment to me has FULLY CLEARED into my account. If you send an E-Cheque via paypal, do be aware they often take 7-10 WORKING days to clear and have been known to take up to 21 DAYS to clear.

The ebay link below explains the situation with E-Cheques:

http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/PayPal-eCheque-Payment-Pending-Uncleared_W0QQugidZ1000...

Shipping/Postage/packing:

UK: Royal Mail, 1st class recorded (smaller & lower value items), Special Delivery (signed for) for Lenses, cameras & higher value items.
EU / International: Royal Mail, small packet airmail (lower value items), International SIGNED FOR priority airmail (higher value items)

P+P: Please note, I do have to add a small amount to cover packing & consumables, such as bubble wrap, jiffy bags, tape, labels etc. I also often use custom made double wall extra strong boxes for high value items (these cost £1 - £1.50 EACH) I do also recycle as much as possible; packing, some boxes, carboard etc for environmental reasons.

EU / International Bids:
Welcome from: the Western EU, USA, Canada, Japan, S.Korea, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand.

Sorry, but I do not ship to: China, Russia, Mexico, Latvia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Slovakia, South America, NIGERIA, INDONESIA, Estonia, Thailand, Ukraine.

Auction Winner: Please WAIT for my invoice BEFORE paying to ensure you pay the correct p+p. Please contact me within 3 days and FULL PAYMENT WITHIN 7 DAYS. (Please note It may take me up to 48 hours to send invoice after auction end)

P+P / SHIPPING & HANDLING COST :
COUNTRIES METHOD OF SHIPPING COST OF SHIPPING Approx delivery time
UK Royal Mail £3.00
1-2 Days
EU/ Europe Royal Mail Airmail

£4.50 3-7 Days

USA & CANADA Royal Mail Airmail

£5.50 5-14 days

REST OF THE WORLD Royal Mail Airmail

£5.50 7-14 Days


FAQ's

What are the expected shipping times?:

The payment must clear fully into my a/c first. Due to Mon-Fri work, I can only usually get to a post office to send items on Saturdays, although I do try very hard to ship faster if possible. The ship time is then fully in the hands of the Royal Mail in the UK, the overseas postal service and the customs services in the receiving country. The times on the table above are very approximate.

Any p+p discount for buying more than one item?

Yes, IF possible. I do try hard to combine postage, although it is not always possible (with especially large, heavy or delicate items it can be impossible)

Will I have to pay customs fees/ import charges?:

EU: NO, none.

Rest Of World: YES, possibly. You must check with your own countries customs service to check any fees you may have to pay when the item arrives.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About Me: I am a former professional advertising / commercial studio photographer, but now just a humble amateur, I am not a dealer, I just sell my own items, which are always very well looked after & stored properly.

If you have ANY doubts about anything, please just email me VIA the 'ask seller a question' link, BEFORE YOU BID (Any direct emails to my email a/c are deleted as spam) Thanks for looking, Steve.M.

Out of interest, what have you got against the Middle East? Probably the least crime-prone area in the whole world.

Even Africa - outside Nigeria and a handful of other places - probably isn't quite as dark as it's cracked up to be. Though you're unlikely to be getting many bids from there, unless it's from people like me. I never had any problems with parcels to Tanzania, Ethiopia and Kenya. Though I never got any camera stuff (other than filters from HK) there - noone would send them.

BTW I hope Sri Lanka's somewhere you will ship to, as I've found the parcel system to be excellent for both sending and receiving.

Thanks steve

Excellent

I have to agree with Mhuni that you have excluded lots of places that pose no threat to postal deliveries. For example, I have sent lots of things to the Russian Federation with no problems or delays.

Hiya,

The lists of countries on my listings were not 100% 'set in stone' and certainly were not exhaustive....it was always meant to be a guide. It is totally impossible to list all the countries that I would ship to, I just mentioned the few that were most likely to generate bidders on my items....a full list would make the listing five pages long!

The list of countries I would not ship to are not neccessarlly ones that I consider 'criminal', 'dodgy' or 'pose a threat'...a rather dark wording John!

I composed the list of countries not shipped to mainly based on those with dubious postal systems, OR long delivery times, OR ones that the Royal Mail will not cover for more than £250. The lists never were based on crime stats or possibility of crime.

In fact, try reading the lists that the Royal Mail produce for overseas parcels, most are covered with up to £500 insurance with Royal mail, but some are only up to £250, so presumably the Royal mail prefer some countries to others as regards risk.

Out of interest I did ship to Sri Lanka on a couple of occasions. The 'Middle East' was an error and corrected on later listings. It should have said 'Far East'...excepting the specific ones in the 'ship to list'.

In fact, the two countries that seemed to have the most obvious dubious postal services were France & Italy...both from personal experience and that of many others.

" I have sent lots of things to the Russian Federation with no problems or delays"

John, I excluded Russia after dealing with three Russian sellers, all of whom were awkward to varying degrees. I also had requests to sell to Russia (from direct emails from bidders) all of whom had zero or very low f/back and sometimes wanted items of high value sent to 'a friend' or 'a brother' etc..often in London (allegedly)...any requests like that resulted in a "sorry but the answer is no"

........hence I excluded Russia, as I didnt see it as any great loss anyway.

cheers Steve.M.

After the sound advice on here I just constructed a listing for one of my lenses (and borrowed some of Steve's p&p and invoice words - thanks!)

Here's the listing - if I've missed anything obvious perhaps you could ask questions via ebay so the answer goes into the listing...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Minolta-MC-MD-W-Rokkor-24mm-2-8-classic-wide-prime-lens-/3...

Just a thought - generally I find 10 day listsings a bit off-putting as it is just too long to wait. 7 days seems more equitable.

Can't think of anything you've particularly missed!

Good point John, that's just because I won't be around next Monday, but I wanted to get the listing up. Gives the searches longer to find it as well. This is a learning curve!

Something else to bear in mind is taking a note of the serial numbers of anything you send out - to avoid unscrupulous people returning already broken items.

Certainly is. When I was out in Dubai I once remember walking through the streets at around 4am after being to a nightclub. I saw a pickup truck parked outside a shop with about 20 boxed brand new TVs sitting on it. The shop was closed and no one was around.

Had that been in the UK those TVs wouldn't have lasted 30 minutes never mind still being there in the morning.