eBay, the good old days

[Ally]

I just acquired about 200 antique books from a relative who doesn't want to store them anymore. They said I could sell them and keep the money. There are some first editions and collectors books. They suggested Abebooks or EBay. I trying to gear myself up for this task. Do you pay income taxes on sales?

 

[Yarnstormer]

I just acquired about 200 antique books from a relative who doesn't want to store them anymore. They said I could sell them and keep the money. There are some first editions and collectors books. They suggested Abebooks or EBay. I trying to gear myself up for this task. Do you pay income taxes on sales?

It’s my understanding that if you are selling your personal items you do not have to pay income taxes. I’m sure that is only up to a point.
If you are buying with the intent to sell then it you would need to pay taxes. There may be a forgiveness number there as well.

In my case the book-sale money goes into a trust for my daughter created when her father passed so they are not taxed.

Paypal reports volume of $20k and up I believe or 10,000 transactions? Can’t recall, it was a high number I’m not likely to meet.

Bookingselling is tedious. Condition is everything and you have to describe well and take clear photos. Even then, sometimes final prices just don’t make sense. I did sell a comic book for $400 tho! I’ll sell as long as I can stand to then I’ll probably donate or contact a bookseller.

 

[Katsmeow]

I joined eBay in 1998. There were a few years there when I was a big seller, mostly selling collectible cards as well as paperback books (mostly books that were no longer in print that fit into a niche where people really wanted them and had no other source). That was mostly before Paypal and the beginning of Paypal.

Back then, as a seller you really had to do everything from scratch. Listing now is way easier. But, I got leery of it with the changes because of the fear of getting scammed by buyers. That wasn't an issue with a $2 item but I was concerned about $200 items.

For the last several years I haven't used it much. I have bought a few things, mostly stuff that I knew exactly what I wanted but it was no longer made and so hard to find.

Overall, for most items I think prices are lower than they used to be. Too much competition. The paperback book where maybe one would come up over few months is now 2 or 3 up all the time. So, the prices aren't very good. I see a lot of things that just never sell. As a buyer for some common items -- that is items currently made -- the eBay prices aren't necessarily good.

I don't sell on there any more because it just isn't worth the hassle.

 

[DrRoy]

Our biggest problem with Ebay in recent years is that they are all in on the side of buyers in a dispute. We sold a point and shoot camera that worked perfectly, and posted several shots from it as examples, plus an image of the view screen of the camera while turned on. The buyer claimed that it would not focus, and wanted to return it. We resisted the return, and went back and forth with Ebay showing how the camera does focus, but they forced us to take the return, and to pay the shipping both ways. We felt that at the very least, if the buyer did not want the camera, he should pay the shipping, but no. When we got the camera back, it was still working perfectly and we relisted it to a happy buyer. So sellers, be aware. At least it shows that one is quite safe as a buyer.

 

[Midpack]

Our biggest problem with Ebay in recent years is that they are all in on the side of buyers in a dispute. We sold a point and shoot camera that worked perfectly, and posted several shots from it as examples, plus an image of the view screen of the camera while turned on. The buyer claimed that it would not focus, and wanted to return it. We resisted the return, and went back and forth with Ebay showing how the camera does focus, but they forced us to take the return, and to pay the shipping both ways. We felt that at the very least, if the buyer did not want the camera, he should pay the shipping, but no. When we got the camera back, it was still working perfectly and we relisted it to a happy buyer. So sellers, be aware. At least it shows that one is quite safe as a buyer.

We had a similar experience. Sold a Delta 12" Power Planer for about $200 that had almost no use, in like new condition, packaged in the original packaging with custom fit styrofoam inserts. Everything seemed to be fine, and then 30 days after the buyer received it, he says it was damaged in shipment and he wants a refund. When I asked him why he was discovering an issue a month later he told me when it arrived he just put it in the garage without opening the box . I was suspicious but I offered to refund half his money and eBay/PayPal told me that was more than fair.

About two weeks later, the planer shows up on my doorstep, it is indeed damaged and it appears it's been dropped and hit on one corner of the base, though the packaging including the styrofoam is still completely intact. A day after I receive the planer, PayPal refunds the buyer full amount including shipping from my account. I call PayPal and they say they have no choice now that he's returned the planer to me. eBay at least waives the sellers fees. I suspect the buyer dropped the planer, sometime after removing it from the box, and then claimed it was broken in shipment - but no way to prove.

I also sold a $500 vintage Leica camera to a buyer in Hong Kong. Only to find out that there was no tracking, though when I dug deeper they reported they left the package on his doorstep. Found out there is no tracking at all in many foreign countries, and if a package is lost (or claimed lost) you have no recourse other than a full refund. And you'll never know if the buyer got the package or not. So while it worked out OK for me once, I don't allow international shipping anymore...

 

[athena53]

So while it worked out OK for me once, I don't allow international shipping anymore...

Yeah, it's a PITA. I did one international shipment where the postage e-Bay calculated was insufficient compared to what it was actually going to cost. Buyer agreed to pay the difference via PayPal after getting the shipment. He/she never did, of course. That was my last international shipment.

 

[easysurfer]

Ebay/Paypal surely favors the buyer. I guess they tilt the scales in the buyer's favor to avoid any thought that ebay tries to rip off buyers.

I've only sold things here and there and never received a bad feedback or anyone issuing a complaint. Okay, hope that didn't just jinx me. I did make some selling mistakes but ended up eating the costs myself.

Oh... I just put in a snipe bid for a used computer tower. Probably won't win, but offer too good to not even try .

 

[sengsational]

Now that eBay has gotten more commercial and has more things that are "buy it now", it's a good place to go for things that don't get free shipping on Amazon. Yes, I know, Prime members get free shipping. I don't pay for Prime. There's plenty of $20 items that on Amazon would be $26 with shipping, whereas they're $20 on eBay.

Back in the early days, when almost everything was an auction, it was kind of entertaining to bid. I haven't participated in a "bid" buy in a long time...everything is "buy it now" lately. I used to use an "auction sniper" application; put in snipes against a bunch of auctions which are scheduled to trigger just seconds before each auction ends. If one snipe succeeded, the rest of the scheduled snipes would get cancelled. So I'd sit down, set up a bunch of snipes, and forget about it. Easy! Often I'd get a "steal" deal on something. Often I'd get nothing too, but it was entertaining. Nowadays, there's nothing on eBay worth sniping because they're all professional sellers...no "steals" to be had.

 

[travelover]

Now that eBay has gotten more commercial and has more things that are "buy it now", it's a good place to go for things that don't get free shipping on Amazon. Yes, I know, Prime members get free shipping. I don't pay for Prime. There's plenty of $20 items that on Amazon would be $26 with shipping, whereas they're $20 on eBay.
...........

I do this, too. Shop Amazon, read the reviews and buy it on eBay if it is cheaper with shipping. Sometimes it is the same retailer on both Amazon and eBay with different prices and shipping costs.

 

[easysurfer]

I too shop/compare on some things between Amazon and ebay. For example, I stocked up on some plastic hard drive cases (over the years, have plenty of extra hard drives laying around). At Amazon, they were about $6 each. At ebay about half the price. Ebay's came from China so delivery took weeks. But saved me about $30. Plus, I was in no rush.

I like to snipe bid. Not only do my bid don't get placed til near auction end, but also if I change my mind before then, I can withdraw the bid as it never really happened yet til the end.

 

[Midpack]

To complete my whining, I’ve found many buyers don’t leave feedback. That was always considered an essential part of eBay, a way for buyers to know which sellers they could trust based on the sellers track record. I always leave the buyer positive feedback as soon as they pay, before I ship. And I track their shipment and email them when it’s reported delivered (example below) to 1) alert them it’s on their front porch in case they haven’t noticed and 2) to politely encourage feedback. I don’t badger them after that, but it’s disappointing when they don’t leave feedback when we do all we can to make the transaction a good one (price, communication, packaging, etc.). At least half our buyers these days don’t communicate at all, where almost all used to.

[/rant]

USPS is showing the package we sent was delivered. If there are any questions or concerns about the item or transaction, I hope you’ll contact us. If all is well, we’d very much appreciate positive feedback on eBay. It helps sellers, and buyers.

Thanks again for your purchase!”

 

[COcheesehead]

I get only about a third of my buyers to leave feedback, but I am OK with that. I have over 1500 transactions with perfect feedback. Buyers can tell from that data that I am excellent to deal with. As far as providing tracking, that is built into eBay’s system now. As long as I use their site to generate the label, it automatically populates the tracking and sends the buyer an email when it is delivered.

 

[easysurfer]

Now that eBay has gotten more commercial and has more things that are "buy it now", it's a good place to go for things that don't get free shipping on Amazon. Yes, I know, Prime members get free shipping. I don't pay for Prime. There's plenty of $20 items that on Amazon would be $26 with shipping, whereas they're $20 on eBay.

Back in the early days, when almost everything was an auction, it was kind of entertaining to bid. I haven't participated in a "bid" buy in a long time...everything is "buy it now" lately. I used to use an "auction sniper" application; put in snipes against a bunch of auctions which are scheduled to trigger just seconds before each auction ends. If one snipe succeeded, the rest of the scheduled snipes would get cancelled. So I'd sit down, set up a bunch of snipes, and forget about it. Easy! Often I'd get a "steal" deal on something. Often I'd get nothing too, but it was entertaining. Nowadays, there's nothing on eBay worth sniping because they're all professional sellers...no "steals" to be had.

I like to snipe bid. One other positive is that makes me have to decide my final offer and not nudge up and keep increasing. Sure, I can do that and change my snipe bid, but that would be self-defeating.

At this moment, I snipe bidded on a computer tower. Hoping to snag a good deal. But don't think I will as with 2 hrs left, a $10 more increase would bump my bid off as not the highest. Oh well, wasn't meant to be then.

 

[Midpack]

I’ll spare the details but we just got hosed for $100+ by a buyer, nothing we can do to dispute it. We did everything we could throughout the transaction, and she outright lied in her refund request to eBay. So we’re probably done with eBay. There are other ways these days. We made almost $5,000 on eBay in the good old days, but no more...