I finally submitted to eBay and PayPal's Oath of Fealty and reactivated my accounts.

As we get a little closer to actually moving I need to sell a small mountain of crap little household items and such. Maybe some vehicles and parts.

eBay works a little different than it used to and I could spend a lot of time there trying to find out to make things work. I am hoping people here can share some experience.

Ten day auctions don't seem to want to work for me. Reading over there it may actually be a software bug.

Today there was a new user agreement. I don't want to read it. I am sure it sucks.

The buyer protection seems to apply only if you ship with a tracking number. If you ship USPS do you have to use priority mail (or something higher) to be protected?

Sellers can't leave bad feedback on dishonest buyers any more. They can however post their phone, email, and address online on a (non-EBay) "bad buyer" site if circumstances warrant.

I know a guy who sells high dollar clothes on Ebay, and he was telling me something about this a few weeks ago.

He ships almost everything USPS Priority Mail because it includes $50 worth of insurance and a tracking number. It also gets anywhere in about three days or less.

A flat rate box is $12.50 or so and you can pack up to, I think, 60 pounds in it. You will need to check on this; I am going by what I think he told me.

Almost everything he sells ($3,500 suits, $4,000 sports coats) will fit into one of these boxes.

He is rather casual about it since it is more like his hobby and not a job. He started out selling his own clothes and now he picks them up at estate sales, from friends, etc...

He said Ebay is sort of strict about shipping in less than three days, and he said on August 20th everything is supposed to change again but I wasn't paying much attention to that part.

In his previous life he was a Lawyer, but he got tired of reading contracts and listing to Actors whining about their Agents. I don't think he is making a lot of money, but he is having a lot of fun and he has plenty of money.

Shipping in < 3 days doesn't mean delivery in under three days, just that the item gets in the mail. And there's easily "slack" since you can generate a shipping label and # on day, dumping it off at a post office the next day.

I occasionally sell parts. The fees are high, e.g., 14%: Ebay is 10% and PayPal is 3.9%. Overall, I perfer to sell MB parts on the forums, but I float MB parts on Ebay without going onto the forums when I see certain parts selling on Ebay. Ebay customer service is actually top notch IMO. I had to call them twice and I got exceptional service both times. One call dealt with a non-paying customer and the other time dealt with the fees assessed on the monthly billing statements. Both issues quickly taken care of and the folks I spoke to were friendly and very competent. I like the counter at the bottom of the solicitation since you can see the traffic looking at your part (sort of like the forum's views). I use it only in a targeted sense and not a shotgun approach.

USPS

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- When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

I don't know how long it has been since you last sold on eBay, so I'll point out here that the "final value fee" now applies not only to the sale price of the item, but also to any shipping and handling costs that the seller charges the buyer. Depending on the sort of items one is selling, that can make the fees a lot higher.

I do a lot of business on eBay. I find most of the time the "fees" are pushing 20%. Once you open up a store the rates lower. Once you become a top rated seller, the rates drop a bit more. Still a small price to pay for the kind of exposure it gets you. The buyer protection program basically strips the seller of all of their rights. The customer is always right. Always. I have had to chalk up a few sales to avoid tarnishing my top rated seller status.

There is no other website that can put your stuff in front of so many people. If you ever want to talk to eBay, the wait is 5 mins or less, and you are talking to an American.

As long as you describe your item correctly, and deliver what you promise, it will always be a positive experience. (Well, 99% of the time).

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Eugene

10 E63 AMG
93 300te 4matic
07 BMW X3
14 Ford F-150 Fx2

I still sell now and then. I find the listing procedure much more streamlined than it used to be. The fees are high indeed, but I generally get a better price than I'd get on Craigslist and don't have to deal with all the dlpshlts. The one thing I really don't like is sellers not being able to neg bum buyers.

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting