I buy off ebay now and then but have never sold. I've got some stuff that seems prime for selling there. Any concerns? What do I need to watch for? My 1st items put up I've gotten 5 different people asking about shipping to Taiwan, Australia, Croatia, Canada and South Africa. Should I be worried about selling out of the USA? What about low feedback totals? All good but low counts. The taiwan guy has only 1 feedback.

Selling $250 worth of car parts, not Miata applicable.

 

I always state that I do not ship out side the US. But that is me, a co-worker has shipped all over the world without issue. Shipping out side the US is a pain, and costly. Make sure you get enough to cover the shipping, you can easly get screwed quick. My rule of thumb is 10 or more feedback with 100% positive.

 

Cueball I have two ebay accounts one with over 1000 feedback and a powerseller rating and an account I use for buying everyonce and awhile. My brother lives in Tokyo and makes a good living selling mostly USA high end guitars back to the USA and all over the world on Ebay. I know a little bit about ebay and selling high priced Items is what I an trying to say.

As long as you ship to a confirmed paypal address you are going to be fine. Most scammers are not trying to get a $200 or so worth of used car parts. I would not worry about low feedback but if you are really worried and the person really wants the part just have them do a bank transfer I used to do that all the with International buyers that did not have a confirmed paypal address. Bank Transfers are really common overseas and most people dont think twice about sending them like they would here. What quite a few people here in the USA dont realize is that by not selling to International buyers lots of times they are selling items for 1/2 what they could get on the International market. I have made quite a bit of $ selling to International buyers and getting maybe $350 more on a $1200 item simply because most people are to scared to ship overseas not for any real reason just because they heard through the grapvine that it might not be safe. I can tell you it is safe.

Any questions about how to ship overseas let me know it is real simple and painless.

Hope some of that helps.

 

Paypal.

In general, they seem to be somewhat biased towards the seller insofar as transaction disputes are concerned, should it come to that. Not an official policy I gather, just the impression I get. Makes sense, as sellers are the ones who pay the fees and keep 'em in business.

I'm not a regular seller, but I have from time to time used eBay to unload surplus gear (mostly classic computers) and I have two ground rules. First, as Qckslvr stated, is US sales only, as this makes shipping easier, eliminates dealing with customs (foreign buyers always want you to falsify the paperwork to avoid paying import duty) and tends to inherently avoid a certain class of customers. The second is that payment is by Palpal only, shipping to confirmed addresses only.

 

Oh Joe brings up a good point about customs paper work. I put in what ever value the buyer wants. However if it is less then the selling value I let them know that I can not ship it insured and shipping as at their own risk. 98% of my international buyers have me ship that way and they dont have a problem with that at all they understand and that is what they are used to.

Some sellers get uptight about filling out a customs form with a lower value then their item sold for I think thats is just due to not fully understanding the process. Customs in France lets say is not going to have you arrested here in the USA because they believe the value is not correct they can only ask the buyer for a recipet showing the purchase price. Worst case they will send it back to you and the buyer will then pay for you to ship back again and then it will most likely get through unchallenged the second time. I have had this happen once before out maybe 500 high priced items shipped overseas with very low values. You pack well and ship USPS express mail insured and your risk of problems I would say is around 1-2% I would argue chances of sucess and no damage are better then shipping UPS or fedex here in the USA

The reason these overseas buyers are asking for a low value is so they don't get ripped off by there own countries customs on top of paying for overseas shipping. You really cant argue with them. I mean maybe if that exact same item of the same quality they purchased was also made in their country then maybe they should pay the duties but for quality USA goods like car parts and Guitars ect. some countries dont have anything close in quality to offer so why should they be forced to pay taxes on something your country can't even offer you. That is just one way of looking at it. We also do the same thing when we buy stuff out of state to save on taxes.


If you print your shipping label up online with paypal or directly with USPS the customs forms are a breeze you just put the value and what it is and thats it and just print out the labels and put them in pouch and then drop off at the post office you dont even need to wait in line.

 

Thanks for the input. Paypal only sounds like the way to go. We'll see what happens. Hopefully any customs stuff isn't a huge deal. It'll all be ebay/usps so should be ok.

Thanks again! I've got 19 people watching these calipers and the taiwan guy with a feedback of 1 says he wants to use buy it now!

 

If that guy agrees to send a bank transfer if his paypal address is not confirmed I would let him buy it now. If you have never done a bank transfer it is easy you just need your banks swift code and the account number you want the money in. You shlould aslo give some gen info like bank name, address, phone ect.

I would take his paypal payment even if it was just verified. A scammer would not have asked if he could buy it now. I have sold some of my best items for top dollar to low feedback buyers or 0 buyers. Reason being they just want the item badly and are not trying to nickle and dime you like an experience user who is just looking for the best deal even if it takes weeks to find.

 

Cueball, don't think anything of it when shipping international. Its easy as can be and as long as you have the right boxes and fill out the paper work correctly your all set.

If your using USPS get yourself the priority boxes that have the international logo on them (I think they updated them and all priority boxes have the logo now). Also don't forget the customs papers plastic envelopes. You slap that on the outside of the box, put your 3 customs documents inside of it, and leave it for the mailman to pick up. Depending on how fast your local USPS is you can even order the stuff right offline for free and have it in time.

Shipping international increases the average selling price by a HUGE percentage. I very much recommend you give it a shot. Also I have found that starting auctions at .99 with no reserve is the best way to sell. Keeps listing fees at a minimum and your going to sell it no matter what. Having a reserve is basically saying "hey bid on this, but.....I only want to sell it if you pay what i want". Sometimes my items sell for double or triple what I think they would. Not having a reserve also increases the number of watchers/bidders.

I personally always use Paypal. I don't have any issues with them selling or buying.

Feedback is important, but not major important. I've sold to people with brand new accounts with zero feedback and had no issues. I mean really, its not like your gonna ship them anything unless they pay. Only hassle with that is having to re-list and blah blah blah if they are a "non paying winner". Feedback is most important when checking out sellers IMHO.

Goodluck with the sales! I made over $1000 last month selling old legos!!