Bill_TN wrote:So gang? Any tips on how to go about this? First auction.
![:confused: :confused:](./images/smilies/confused.gif)
For selling items that are valuable but not that common, I favor a fixed price listing using Buy-It-Now (BIN), maybe with a Best Offer option, and set the auction time for "until it sells". That way it won't sell too low if there's only a few bidders. The Best Offer (BO) option lets you set a higher price and still get some interest, but also signals you know the price is high. You can ignore offers below $xx if you start getting a lot of BO lowball offers, so that the buyer gets a message right away it is too low, which encourages them to bid again higher.
Be careful to point out everything that's missing or broken and don't over-hype the good parts. Provide pics of all issues. Better for it to not sell than to have to deal with a refund to a cranky buyer. (But we all know you're a very accommodating dude, Bill ;-) I always say "Ask any questions
before bidding" because some folks tend to impulse buy and then start asking a series of questions and then get buyer's remorse and say they don't want it. If you do have to do a refund, do it through ebay not PayPal, so that ebay automatically refunds their fees too.
Ebay will let you edit the listing until someone bids, so check it and edit if needed right when you list it. For example, you would need to Reject a pending lowball BO before you can edit the listing.
I always ship using the ebay shipping tool and pay for insurance thru eBay's 3rd party (ShipCover?), costs about $1.50 per $100. I've had to file claims 3 times and it was pretty easy and quick (~1-2 weeks), compared to horror stories I've heard about months of arguing with USPS over lost or damaged packages. And always pack well because most shippers seem to throw things around and my packages often arrive with serious dents and/or smashed badly. Use lotsa bubble wrap. (BTW Shawn is the Zen Master at packing
If you're a newbie with PayPal, they may hold your $$ until the item gets delivered or if the buyer disputes something, so just be ready for some delays.
Good Luck!