Things are tough and I need to liquidate some of my collection and need advice,

thecatspajamas · #1 12-09-2011, 02:51 PM

Dan's right in that if you're listing top-notch items, they will do well regardless. My caveat about the lower prices for eBay auctions (as opposed to fixed price) was with the understanding that the top-notch stuff was going to the auction house(s) and you were selling the leftovers on eBay.

As for the listing fees, depending on what kind of store "subscription" you have, the listing fee is a flat fee of a few cents, regardless of the asking price of the item. If you don't want to fool with a store subscription, you can always get up to 50 free auction listings per month (again, regardless of the starting price) and if you watch the announcements page (http://announcements.ebay.com/) they have a "free listing" day usually every week or two, though you'll have to be sure you follow whatever guidelines they have that week to qualify for the free listings.

slidekellyslide · #2 12-09-2011, 05:00 PM

If you're noticing a lot of 5 days auctions listed the last few days it's because ebay had free listings for 5 day or less auctions. Up to 5,000 items. Those days are always good days to list items that you are not sure will sell.

btcarfagno · #3 12-09-2011, 06:07 PM

And if you need some money right away ask the auction house for an advance. REA does this frequently. You might get around 40% of what the items are expected to fetch.

Tom C

blaze422 · #4 12-09-2011, 07:22 PM

Thanks for the free listing link...I will look for it again, when the dust clears.
It appears from what I'm hearing, my plan should be
REA
Shop around with consignment auctions. Would still appreciate opinions. I'm thinking in this order...SCP, Legendary and then Lelands and then Hunt.
Free ebay listings and then what doesn't sell....ebay store.

If I understand the free listing promotion...there is no problem with listings having a reasonable but high opening price listing...and there is no obligation...fee...if the items are not relisted.

thecatspajamas · #5 12-09-2011, 07:37 PM

Correct on the free listing promotion. At least on all of the recent ones they have done, it doesn't matter what your starting price is, so you can basically treat it as a 7-day (or 5-day, depending on the fine print) fixed price listing if you want. They do change up the terms a little each time though, either limiting the number of free listings, or making it for specific durations of listings, etc. Just make sure you read everything. But you're right in that, if it doesn't sell, there is no cost to you. That only applies to the basic listing though, so if you do any add-ons (10-day listing, reserve, etc) they will tack those fees on, so just be sure to read what is included in the freebie before diving in.

drc · #6 12-09-2011, 08:14 PM

For auctions, it used to be that eBay would charge a higher insertion fee the high you minimum bid-- and it could get expensive, especially when things didn't sell. That's no longer the case-- it's a lot flat rate. So you can list items on eBay with a reasonable min bid without being charged a lot upfront. They recently changed their format in that respect. Though they charge more if things sell. So there's nothing that says you can't put up something on eBay with a risk-saving $99 min bid (or whatever amount) if you wish.

thecatspajamas · #7 12-09-2011, 08:41 PM

drc,
That's only true for AUCTIONS if you're using your 50 free listings or if there is a promotional rate that day. Other times, you will pay $1.00 per item to list an auction starting at $99.00 (as opposed to $0.10 per listing for items starting at 99 cents).

FIXED PRICE listings are the same flat rate which varies depending on your store subscription level, not the price of the item.

If you're just doing free auction listings, the starting price doesn't matter as long as you're sticking to the guidelines. If you've used up your free listings or are doing something else though (like starting on a different day, listing for different durations, etc) you'll wind up paying the fees.

Just want to make sure nobody gets stuck paying more to eBay than they have to. I figure I pay more than enough for all of us