New to ebay

[phil on a fazer]

Need some E-bay advice

I put my first 2 items on ebay for sale. They are 2 items of clothing which i stupidly set to start bidding at 99p(why!!) i cant let them sell for under about £12...i was an idiot to strat the bidding at 99p (but it was free to do that  :rolleyes )

So....can some one i know bid on my stuff, and if he wins just not pay me? can he just leave some feed back saying he collected it and payed me rather than using PayPal. ive set payment as PayPal and delivery as 2nd class economy.

i aint got a clue what im doing  :'(

(Heads up - im going to be selling me serviced fazer shock with k-tech spring soon)

[BBROWN1664]

Next time, set a reserve. If you have no bids on it yet, you can still do it.

[limax2]

Or instead of a reserve just start it at what you will accept.
Your mate can bid and then mark as good recieved and both leave feedback. You still end up paying the ebay sold fee of course. Not really how it is meant to work but no harm done. Also if no bids in you can just withdraw it or make a change however you want. Not sure if a bid has already been made.
If your £12 is a cheap price for the item you will probably get some bids. You often find the bids come flocking in in the last few minutes and seconds.

[Panthor]

Like Limax said most bids come in at the last few seconds. For example yesterday I was watching some rst trousers that were £10 all week long then in the last 20 seconds went up to £45

[red98]

if you item already has bids you can still stop the auction as long as its not in the last 24hr 

[chaz]

it is against ebay rules to get a mate to bid on an item, but if he did bid and won it you would have to pay 10% fee plus 3.4% IF he paid through paypal. You could mark it as paid and picked up.
It's best to start at the least price you would want for the item, It's not much or you could wait until they have a free listing weekend ?

[sure2ride]

See how many watchers you'vr got, that will give you a clue as to how likely a good bid will be. Most people "snipe", i.e wait till the last few seconds to bid.

Otherwise, do what Panthor says. 

Good luck  :o

[pitternator]

do be aware that using mates to shill bid an item up is fraud!...someone did get done for this.I know what u are describing seems small potatoes, but if a disgruntled bidder feels you are doing it to bid up your item, it can lead to you being banned. Best thing is to read all the sellers notes thoroughly on ebay, stick to the rules.
Clothing wont fetch big money unless its pristine.AND DESIRABLE...... I have found boots can get good money , though rarely over half its new value. But it is ebay, and bidders can get carried away!...hence my first comment about shill bidding....

[purplebear7]

:\  Following on from the good advice above .. there are lots of 'little tricks' to learn if you want to be really
successful on eBay .. buying or selling. 
One good idea is to 'slow down' and think it all through before you put anything up for grabs .. you need a calender and a clock!

Consider when your auction will be ending .. the exact time of day and day of week. If things are going to end at .. lets say 1400 on a Sat .. most guys might be watching a bloody football match.  If it's all going to end at 1700 on a Friday .. most potential bidders will be on their way home.  Evening endings can be good, but too late if guys have gone to bed .. or are still in the pub .. and so on.

It is quite an 'iffy' kind of feeling to start an auction at 99p and then get no action for days .. stay cool .. don't panic .. watch for the number of watchers.  If someone bids a £1 early on .. it shows they are interested .. once they have a bid in you can't change things .. the deal has to go ahead .. this stops you pulling out!

All auctions end bang on the second at end of the set running time .. not thereabouts.  The Snipe system allows people to set their bids (automatically) so they go in during the final 5 or 7 seconds .. so any higher bidders have no time left to respond .. the Sniper wins  8) ! 

Never put anything up for auction if you are not going to be happy about selling it .. you might only get a few £s and once the auction ends you are committed to letting it go. 

My advice .. I'm only up in the 200/250 'green stars' level .. lots of people make a full time job living with EBay .. check their feed back, star count, shop ownership, etc.  Don't try and bend the rules .. these guys will spot it and report you.  :\

PS Edit:  Start your auction on a Ten Day setting .. in order to get two week-ends of Bidding Time in 

Good Luck    Stay Safe.  Polar Bear

[phil on a fazer]

Purplebear7: good advice thanks, once i put some things on i did start to think about when the auction ends...like will i have time to get to the post office? 

The only reason im doing this is to learn ebay and get a decent rating...that way, when i have some decent stuff to sell i know what im doing. gotta start somewhere 

Thanks

[purplebear7]

  Phil .. like most guys on here I'm glad to help when I can.   

I just did a PS Edit on my post .. re. Auction Starting Days: 

Don't worry too much about getting to the Post Office.

You can state in advance that the dispatching of goods will be done withing  X number of days and the item sent via X system .. first class, signed for (always best of course) courier .. however.  Also get the money first .. then post things!

If some 'smart arse' does come up with the old classic .. 'I never got it' .. con line and refuses to agree the payment or whatever .. you can claim for the sales price .. PayPal is part of the eBay empire .. but they charge for their services. 

So most people overload their P&P charges a bit to offset this. The P&P costs can also arguably include the time, fuel and parking cost.  However .. don't overdo it .. guys will not pay silly money for packing and postage, no sale!

Quite a few guys in here know a lot more than me about this eBay game .. gather all the info and learn as you go.

  Polar Bear

[DryRob]

Beware that having lots of watchers doesn't always get you a big sale, I sold an old bike a while back and I must have had at least 10 but the only bid came in 4 seconds before the auction end for the starting price.

[sure2ride]

Excellent advice from Purplebear
I would also add that I have had to use the Ebay resolution centre a couple of times when I have been sold misdescribed items (basically non working or hidden damage) and thy have ben really good.

[chaz]

A bit of advice when buying motorcycles (and cars) you are NOT covered even if pay via paypal, my advice would be to pay on collection, don't pay a deposit as this isn't allowed under ebay rules even though you often see ads that say you must pay xxx within xx hours of auction ending, if it's local enough go and view it and arrange to pay when you pick it up if you win it, any genuine person would be happy with that.

[Panthor]

Another tip for people to be aware of is if you list something as buyer to collect and you agree for them to arrange their own courier then you are not protected under eBay or PayPal.