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Well, I have finally entered 1995.
I have posted my first eBay item. It's the BF's old shelf system from when he was a bachelor. He wanted to throw the thing out, but I just couldn't let him give up a perfectly good CD player. So naturally, it's been gathering dust in the closet for nearly two years.
I'd never bought or sold anything on eBay before because I'd never had much cause to. But mostly, what kept me away is my aversion to dealing with people I don't know. I'm still uncomfortable with the idea of shipping something to a stranger. What if they're dissatisfied? What if they for some reason don't receive it in the allotted time? What if they want a refund? What if they try to screw me? I don't like having to worry about those things.
No one's bid on it yet. I wonder if I'm asking too much. Someone please bid on it. Uh oh, I'm already more than a buck in the hole. This is like gambling. I'd like to at least make back what I spent.
Current mood: Paranoid
Update: I've since posted a second item, which was a freebie given to me from someone at work.
I have yet another freebie WWE wrestling book that I know will sell, and I was just about to post it before I canceled. It was just published; I searched eBay and no one else is selling it. But I'm afraid the WWE will find out who is hawking all their freebies and cut off my friend who's receiving them from the company. Guess I better hold off for now.
Replies: 3 shoutouts
And I don't want to have to buy anything... Ugh.
Posted by Huffy @ 04/21/2003 11:37 PM EST
Cool. Thanks for all the help and tips. I actually LOWERED the price of the stereo but I guess I should go even lower.
I also see that there are 13 page views on the Hardy Boyz book. So people are looking at it but no one is biting. Maybe I should make that cheaper, too.
Posted by Huffy @ 04/21/2003 10:47 PM EST
Couple of pointers:
1) Bidders may be less likely to bid on auctions sponsored by a newbie with a zero feedback rating. You might wanna build up a small amount of positive feedback to establish your credibility. (You can do that by *winning* a bunch of auctions for cheap stuff.)
2) Your starting bids feel a little on the high side for what are generic items. Don't go into this hoping to get back what you paid for the items originally. Start the bidding low and hope that the items are valuable enough to push the final price past what you paid.
Lots of bidders are lazy -- items are attractive when the current price is low; if the starting bid plus shipping passes their invisible threshold, they'll be more likely to ignore it.
Try to remember that even if you get a small amount of money, it's more than you'd get for just donating the thing to charity or tossing it out.
Posted by ~ @ 04/21/2003 06:10 PM EST