OT: questions about ebay

I'm going to be auctioning off about 30+ cds on ebay soon and I have a few questions for the vets here. I haven't sold much on ebay so i'm pretty much a novice when it comes to selling.

1. Is paypal ripoff proof? Any tips to improve my chances of not getting ripped off?

2. What's a good and cheap type of mail to use for international buyers? What was the price for registered mail the last time you used it.

3. Is auctiva really free and is it easy to use?

4. Ebay takes money from me for each sale, but is it from my final sale price or my starting bid?

Any good advice is welcome.

I can help with questions 1 and 4.

PayPal is not ripoff proof, but its close. My wife has sold thousands of items on eBay, and she's used PayPal for over 5 years. There's never been a problem.

Ebay takes two fees for each listing. The first is a listing fee, usually pretty cheap. Then, they take a final value fee, if the item has sold. Its a percentage of the sale price. If you don't sell the item, all you pay is the listing fee. If you sell it, you pay both.

1. Not completely but it is pretty safe. I've used it since it started and only had one problem and it was handled quickly and I was not out any money. Some tips for staying safe: limit what countries you will send to, restrict bidding by 0 or negative feedback bidders, wait a couple days to send to make sure payment isn't flagged

2. If you are just selling cds I wouldn't worry to much, it should be about $4-$5 to send a CD almost anywhere. i use priority international for large items.

3. never heard of it.

4. Starting fee and final value fee. How much it ends up being depends on what you start it at and with what listing options and final price. Reserves can end up being expensive so for items $20 and under if I want $20 for it I just start it at $20. Bidding will start later and be less frequent but the fee will be smaller.

As a seller, your biggest "must-do" on Paypal is to keep the receipt showing you mailed the package to that person's zip code. If you do not save the receipt, anyone can claim non-receipt, and you won't win. It happened to me. Even though eBay owns Paypal, Paypal has rules that negate what you put in your eBay auction. If you tell people that lost merchandise is not your problem, unless they pay for trackable S&H, that doesn't matter if you use Paypal. I learned that lesson. Not everyone is a thief, though, but they're out there. Just save your receipts.

Also, not only does eBay take a small percentage of your sale price, Paypal takes a small percentage for any transactions that go through its service. Both understandable, of course, as it shouldn't be free, but a lot of people get pissed about it.

You should PM SAXON; he can probably answer any question you have. I just won an auction from him and he seems like a serious seller; he's uses one of those companies that interacts with eBay and Paypal during checkout.

2) I'm usually happy if it's $5 (if the seller lives in US or Japan, Australia ... -- overseas). Registered was usually $10.

sovdat wrote:

2) I'm usually happy if it's $5 (if the seller lives in US or Japan, Australia ... -- overseas). Registered was usually $10.

S&H is a pain. I usually check online and then quote an international seller. But when I got to mail it, I'm always paying more, or sometimes less. It's ridiculous. I can't figure it out. It cost me like $8 to ship a CD to Greece, but like $4 to ship a CD to Slovenia (did you get that CD yet?).

sovdat wrote:

2) I'm usually happy if it's $5 (if the seller lives in US or Japan, Australia ... -- overseas). Registered was usually $10.

With what people charge for shipping on ebay you are lucky to only pay $5 bucks if you live in the same state let alone the same country.

firestar wrote:

sovdat wrote:

2) I'm usually happy if it's $5 (if the seller lives in US or Japan, Australia ... -- overseas). Registered was usually $10.

With what people charge for shipping on ebay you are lucky to only pay $5 bucks if you live in the same state let alone the same country.

The DVD sellers are the worst. DVD starting bid: $2.99. SWEET! DVD S&H cost: $8.99. !&^%* @$%#!

Eyesore wrote:

firestar wrote:

sovdat wrote:

2) I'm usually happy if it's $5 (if the seller lives in US or Japan, Australia ... -- overseas). Registered was usually $10.

With what people charge for shipping on ebay you are lucky to only pay $5 bucks if you live in the same state let alone the same country.

The DVD sellers are the worst. DVD starting bid: $2.99. SWEET! DVD S&H cost: $8.99. !&^%* @$%#!

If I see outrageous s&h charges, I generally don't bid. I think there are no fees on shipping charges (hence the bloated prices),but I could be wrong

its a product of how ebay calculates charges. Ebay, as far as I know, doesnt include shipping and handling into final sale charges. Its pretty common now for people to have a low bid price and large shipping charge. Those sellers dont see many bids but end of getting the price they are asking but duck higher ebay fees...

I generally know what the end, lasers edge, sentinel steel charge for cds/shipping so if a seller is really outrageous i pass thme over.

I personally try to charge as little as possible for shipping. I find it really attracts more buyers that way and bids follow. If your worried about losing money on international shipping just put in the auction that shipping to be determined by location. you will get questions on how much it is to ship to a certain country but you can weigh your package and get a general price on the post office website.

Alex

Charge a flat rate for international buyers. Like 10 bucks.

Eyesore wrote:

sovdat wrote:

2) I'm usually happy if it's $5 (if the seller lives in US or Japan, Australia ... -- overseas). Registered was usually $10.

S&H is a pain. I usually check online and then quote an international seller. But when I got to mail it, I'm always paying more, or sometimes less. It's ridiculous. I can't figure it out. It cost me like $8 to ship a CD to Greece, but like $4 to ship a CD to Slovenia (did you get that CD yet?).

www.usps.com has online calculator to any destination in the world.

Also good thingto keep in mind isthat registration is a flat fee of $10.15 on top on actual shipping cost (yes USPS are rip offs when it comes down to registration ) and in most cases it would be easier, securer, faster (and cheaper) instead of sending registered airmail to ship Express EMS.