Model Railroading > Selling on eBay

I have some HO models that want to sell. would
like some input of selling on eBay,advantage and
disvantage.......

Thanks

JLSeale

Advantages:
*Wide audience

Disadvantages:
*May not get your desired price unless you set a high minimum or a buy it now.
*If you do those, item may not sell. High eBay and Paypal fees. Near 10% for eBay and 10% for Paypal.
*Having to deal with possible deadbeat bidders or unhappy bidders.

I originally sold some of my unneeded models on consignement at my LHS until he decided it wasn't "worth it" to do this. At that point I bit the bullet and learned how to use Ebay and created an account about 7 or 8 years ago. This worked fairly well, I sold quite a few things and had no problems. Since that time I found other ways to sell my items, and usually that was through the Yahoo Groups email lists I was a member of - the Rio Grande email list and more recently I joined HOInterchange (formerly HOYardSale). Since I quit using Ebay, I have read that they have significantly increased the fee's you pay to advertise and sell.

Main Ebay advantage:

-very wide exposure of your items, basically nation wide and even overseas depending on how people search.
-rating system which works fairly well to reward good buyers and sellers and to flag the problem people.
-probably faster results in sales but I haven't done a study of this

Main Ebay disadvanage:

-costs associated with advertising and selling are significant (I am not up on the current cost structures so others can provide more specific feedback).


Alternatives:

You can offer items for sale on email lists such as railroad specific special interest groups like I have with D&RGW, or you can join HOInterchange and advertise there. I have sold quite a bit of stuff in the past on my D&RGW list, which most of those things were of interest in some way to D&RGW modelers fyi. I still do that but in the last 3 years I have gotten very little response, which may be due to the more limited subscribers there together with the down turn in the economy. I've since joined the HOInterchange (HO only) to offer up items there - it is fairly easy to use and the rules are not terribly cumbersome to follow and I have managed to sell a fair number of items since I started a few months back, and found a few things I needed as well.

I have been an E-Bayer for almost 12 years. Although I find the fee structure annoyingly high (as stated earlier it works out to about 15-20% with PayPal added (which is the only means of payment you may accept for model railroad items, other than a "merchant gateway" credit card presence (i.e. no checks or MO's)), you just cannot find better exposure for your items anywhere else. I have shipped thousands of items to the USA and many foreign countries with few problems.

If you would like some more pointers/tips and a link to my listings, PM me.

Tom Yagerhofer
Crescent Station

Go to the Yahoo group HO Swap

You also have to overcharge on postage because eBay not only takes 9% on the purchase price, but 9% on the postage. Not a big deal if the item price is many times the postage price. But if you are selling items in the $5 to $10 range, a 9% hit on postage would be a huge bite. I have found PayPal to be around 4%, so the total bite is 13%. I am happy if I can recover 88% to 90% of the selling price.

For items that are fairly common, I prefer to use HO Interchange or other yahoo groups. However, when I'm selling something that's hard to come by, I'll go with eBay and let people fight over it. The fees can be annoying, but for the ability to get two or more people bidding up an item, its worth it. What people are willing to pay for things is often much higher than the price that I'd set for it on a fixed-price site.

- Jeff Carlson

icancmp193 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have been an E-Bayer for almost 12 years.
> Although I find the fee structure annoyingly high
> (as stated earlier it works out to about 15-20%
> with PayPal added (which is the only means of
> payment you may accept for model railroad items,
> other than a "merchant gateway" credit card
> presence (i.e. no checks or MO's)), you just
> cannot find better exposure for your items
> anywhere else. I have shipped thousands of items
> to the USA and many foreign countries with few
> problems.
>
> If you would like some more pointers/tips and a
> link to my listings, PM me.
>
> Tom Yagerhofer
> Crescent Station

Tom is an excellent seller on ebay. Great prices and service. I am a repeat customer.

Unfortunately, for the best overall exposure to the widest audience eBay is your best bet. eBid.net is another choice (not affiliated with eBay in any way) but the exposure just isn't there.

If you want to sell in your local area, try Kijiji (non-auction subsidiary of eBay, but free/no fee listings):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kijiji



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/12 17:49 by TheCurator.

I would suggest giving HOInterchange a try too. It has worked fairly well for me - see how it goes. If you have to drop back and punt, try Ebay later.

BlackWidow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You also have to overcharge on postage because
> eBay not only takes 9% on the purchase price, but
> 9% on the postage.

Which can be blamed squarely on sellers who artificially inflated shipping to avoid paying Final Value fees on the sale price.

Compared to a "standard" auction house, the combined eBay/Paypal fee is still far less considering the larger exposure your listings get.

Some things to avoid ... Too short a listing (avoid 1 and 3 day auctions, they don't give people enough time to find your listing), and too high an opening bid.

Figure out the least amount of money you are willing to accept (even if it is at a loss, not all items are going to appreciate in value) and start your bids there.

If you have a high demand item, don't give in to the temptation to list it during the middle of a bidding frenzy on another listing for the same item. You will only deflate the value of your item (as well as the existing listing). If you have a high demand (scarce) item, hold your listing until the current one ends. Let its final value determine the market for your item. It's all about supply and demand ... and flooding the market kills demand, and prices.

bioyans Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BlackWidow Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> Which can be blamed squarely on sellers who
> artificially inflated shipping to avoid paying
> Final Value fees on the sale price.

Indeed!! I was looking to purchase a few parts to rebuild an older Rivarossi Big Boy. The parts were listed at $9.95 'Buy It Now', but the shipping was over $35.00! That was for each part!

Notwithstanding my earlier comments about the fees, my experience has also been very positive. In fact, it has changed the way I obtain stuff for the hobby. I am no longer hesitant to purchase items that might not fit in on my layout. If I purchase something I turn out not to like, I can unload it on eBay, usually getting at least 60 to 70 cents on the dollar for it. Sometimes more than I paid for it, especially if it is limited edition and no longer available. I posted several months ago about selling horn hook couplers and plastic wheels and getting well over $200 for that stuff, which I consider junk, but others consider useful. It is amazing what people will buy.

The 20% total for both eBay and Paypal is about right for the usual selling options. Those of us that have used eBay for a few years now know that its been steadily raising its fees. One wonders if this will continue. It would seem it would price itself out of the market if it goes any higher. But it is coming up with other gimmicks to make more money including a buy now, pay later credit plan, etc.