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Thread: How to get the most out of Ebay

  1. #101
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    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    Quote Originally Posted by dahcmai View Post
    The reason is fairly simple. It's a decent amount to start caring if you lose the money or not. $50 isn't such a big deal, going above that starts getting sketchy and by $200 or so, you really don't want to have to refund it.
    Thanks dahcmai, I initially thought it was that simple. So many sellers picked $50 as the delivery confirmation tack on that I thought maybe there was something more to it. Guess not.

  2. #102
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    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    Okay so I do a bit of Ebay buying and selling. My feedback is 1295 so I'm not a massive volume seller but I do have 100% positive feedback. I've made some semi-risky transactions before to Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Russia, etc. Never had a real problem; one UK buyer sent back an empty package claiming they received it that way, one seller gave me bad feedback for questioning his shipping charges.

    Most recently, I sold a NM Candelabra to a guy in French Polynesia (Tahiti) for $185. Now the guy seems totally legit, he's got a number of purchases for relatively high dollar Magic cards from reputable Ebay sellers so I don't really have an issue with the sale. At any rate, shipping to Tahiti is kind of expensive and I want to send registered mail which has to be First Class. The buyer's in agreement that he would rather spend the whatever it is ($15?) instead of Express Mail which is like $50.

    Who knew shipping a card First Class would take over 2 months? Plus it's only tracked to the sorting facility in L.A. at which point it drops off the map. So the 45 day limit to file a complaint approaches and of course the buyer (protecting themselves) files a product not received complaint thus freezing all my Paypal funds (actually in the negative at this point) which consequently prevents me from being able to ship any of my existing auction items which amount to less than the value of the Candelabra.

    So I'm furious and I call Ebay. I ask what is to prevent the person from saying they didn't receive the item and doing a charge back? The lady is clueless and goes on about some bs policy. So I resort to calling the post office because of course I had insurance on the item. They tell me that they can open an inquiry to the French Polynesian postal authorities who will then either let us know when the package is delivered or I can request to have it sent back instead. I almost went with having it sent back but I don't want to burn the buyer if it's strictly a matter of slow mail.

    So I'm here to ask, how fucking long does it take for a letter to get to Tahiti from the US??

  3. #103
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    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    I haven't had much experience with Tahiti, but I have had one package take 3 months. That's the longest I ever had anything get tied up in customs. That was Brazil. I figure that has to be about the maximum for anywhere since that country likes to take it's time.


    That's one of the problems with sending out stuff to foreign countries. There's no good way to track packages other than that $50 option.

  4. #104

    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    Quote Originally Posted by android View Post
    Okay so I do a bit of Ebay buying and selling. My feedback is 1295 so I'm not a massive volume seller but I do have 100% positive feedback. I've made some semi-risky transactions before to Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Russia, etc. Never had a real problem; one UK buyer sent back an empty package claiming they received it that way, one seller gave me bad feedback for questioning his shipping charges.

    Most recently, I sold a NM Candelabra to a guy in French Polynesia (Tahiti) for $185. Now the guy seems totally legit, he's got a number of purchases for relatively high dollar Magic cards from reputable Ebay sellers so I don't really have an issue with the sale. At any rate, shipping to Tahiti is kind of expensive and I want to send registered mail which has to be First Class. The buyer's in agreement that he would rather spend the whatever it is ($15?) instead of Express Mail which is like $50.

    Who knew shipping a card First Class would take over 2 months? Plus it's only tracked to the sorting facility in L.A. at which point it drops off the map. So the 45 day limit to file a complaint approaches and of course the buyer (protecting themselves) files a product not received complaint thus freezing all my Paypal funds (actually in the negative at this point) which consequently prevents me from being able to ship any of my existing auction items which amount to less than the value of the Candelabra.

    So I'm furious and I call Ebay. I ask what is to prevent the person from saying they didn't receive the item and doing a charge back? The lady is clueless and goes on about some bs policy. So I resort to calling the post office because of course I had insurance on the item. They tell me that they can open an inquiry to the French Polynesian postal authorities who will then either let us know when the package is delivered or I can request to have it sent back instead. I almost went with having it sent back but I don't want to burn the buyer if it's strictly a matter of slow mail.

    So I'm here to ask, how fucking long does it take for a letter to get to Tahiti from the US??
    First: Registered mail is not trackable online, which means it provides zero protection from PayPal disputes. Since it does nothing for you, you shouldn't use it, especially in light of -

    Second: Registered mail is, by international treaty, treated separately from normal international post. This separate handling can introduce incredible delays. Two months to get somewhere where the mail route is not very efficient is not at all uncommon with registered.

    Express Mail International Envelope (EMS) is $30-35 for pretty much the whole world. Kind of steep, but that's what I offer international buyers on my listings as it's the cheapest way to send safely internationally, and I still get quite a few international buyers.

    And yes, if you don't use a shipping method that can be tracked online, the buyer can file a dispute at any time (even minutes after you dropped the package in the mail, long before they could be expected to receive it) and they'll win.
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  5. #105
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    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    Guys I'm having trouble getting deals on Ebay. Well, the auctions don't end up cheaper than online stores enough to matter. I know this is not a "how to win auctions on ebay" thread but I just want some opinions on the mindset of the bidders and how people get away with actually desirable ebay purchases.

    Last night I was bidding for 4 NM Jaces which was around 230$ at the time and there was another listing for 4 NM jaces with "buy it now" for 250$. So I place my bid at 235 with a couple hours left and start waiting. At the last 30 seconds people start increasing the bid, I increase it to 240 (which was the highest amount I would go) and then watch the auction to end at 252$. Well then I proceed to make my purchase for the other listing at 250$.

    The winner of the auction actually didn't profit from waiting and bidding and he/she could have just gone with the "buy it now" option for the other listing if he was willing to spend 250$. I was hoping to get them a little cheaper with the auction so I didn't go any further with bidding above 240$. The winning bid doesn't make any sense while there is already another listing where you can just click purchase and spend the amount of money. What's the point in people pushing the auctions this way?

    This happens to me almost all the time. The auction ends up costing as much as a straight-up purchase. How do you guys manage to win auctions with actually good deals? Doesn't make sense to me :)

  6. #106
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    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    What has happened to me when selling is if I list something buy it now, even if its trending significantly under the going rate, it will hang around for days before selling, but if I list something via auction, it would go for more than the BIN I would have listed it at.
    There have been numerous occasions where I have seen a BIN with an auction, someone bids removing the BIN option, and it sells for much more than the asking price.
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  7. #107
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    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    True from a seller's perspective. Still looks like mindless purchasing from a buyer's perspective. If the winning bidder didn't push it this hard I could have gotten the cards for 10-15$ cheaper and he would have gotten the same cards for the same price from a different seller the same night :)

  8. #108

    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    @ android

    I once had a transaction with a buyer from Tahiti. Is the buyer's name perhaps 'jltahiti'?

    He bought a Grim Tutor from me and received the item app. three weeks after I had posted it.
    (I'm from Croatia and USPS is probably light years ahead of our postal office concerning infrastructure)

  9. #109
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    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    Quote Originally Posted by oldbsturgeon View Post
    What has happened to me when selling is if I list something buy it now, even if its trending significantly under the going rate, it will hang around for days before selling, but if I list something via auction, it would go for more than the BIN I would have listed it at.
    There have been numerous occasions where I have seen a BIN with an auction, someone bids removing the BIN option, and it sells for much more than the asking price.
    This has happened to me too. I list stuff for both buy it now and auction, people go into some bidding frenzy and push the prices higher than what my buy it now was! Go me.

    I think the auctions sometimes go higher because of the back and forth competitiveness of the bidding war. Then again sometimes the buy it now rapes people who are lazy/hate bidding wars/or impatient.

  10. #110
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    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    Quote Originally Posted by joemauer View Post
    This has happened to me too. I list stuff for both buy it now and auction, people go into some bidding frenzy and push the prices higher than what my buy it now was! Go me.

    I think the auctions sometimes go higher because of the back and forth competitiveness of the bidding war. Then again sometimes the buy it now rapes people who are lazy/hate bidding wars/or impatient.
    This.

    I will admit to sometimes buying things over retail or coming damn close to it because of my bidding stubbornness. There is some sick sense of pride that comes from seeing my name as the highest bidder and have those numbers all in green in my watchlist. As soon as I get the notification that I have been outbid, even if the price is pushing my limit, I get a little upset, as if somebody is trying to bully me around. This is irrational, but when I can spend any amount of money with a single button push, sometimes irrational thinking gets the best of me.

    By the same token, I have sometimes gone into regret-overdrive and purchased using the buy-it-now price only to watch similar auctions end much lower than I paid.

    Anyways, that's my experience.

  11. #111
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    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    Yeah, simply put - people don't do their research (checking prices or even looking at available BIN prices) and they get into "bidding rage" where they HAVE TO WIN IT!1!!.

  12. #112
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    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    The secret is to save a page in your watch list of the lowest priced buy it now of the card you want. then bid right under that. When your auction ends, you either get the card you wanted cheaper or just say heck with it and realize the buy it now isn't a bad deal if people are going to bid over those. It happened a lot with Jace. Half the time, you were better off with the buy it nows.

  13. #113

    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    The best practice I can recommend is that if you have other methods available to sell your cards, use them instead of eBay. The only reason eBay is one of the primary places to purchase cards from is because it is one of the older sites for selling Magic cards. Its age has given it large customer base which is why its appealing.

    Despite this appeal, eBay disproportionately favors buyers to the point that it is discouraging to use eBay on anything but a large scale as a seller. In nearly all instances of a dispute, buyers are always given the benefit of the doubt. As a seller, this means you are at the whim of eBay's policies. There are buyers who target members selling Magic cards and attempt to game the system. As an example, individuals purchase items and then claim the item was not included in the envelope (even if you put tracking on it) and eBay will always favor the buyer, even if the seller has outstanding feedback (in this example, the buyer had zero transactions). This means they will issue the buyer a refund and you're out the item. This has not happened to me, but it did to someone in my play group recently. This is just one example of the general bias toward buyers and does not include the fees for listing and selling items.

    However, if you must use eBay, a few things I would recommend.

    First, if you would prefer to ship to only certain areas (for example, domestic buyers only), simply noting that you do not ship international will not cover your liability. If an auction ends and a buyer is in a country you do not wish to ship to, you are obligated to send to them, even if your item description indicated that you will not ship international. To add salt to the wound, the buyer is allowed to leave you negative feed back in such a situation and you cannot leave anything but positive feedback. eBay does not consider this situation as grounds for removing the feedback. The only way to remove feedback from this type event is if "eBay is provided with a valid court order requesting Feedback removal".

    In order to remedy this issue, you must take several steps to ensure that your auctions are only available to countries that you want to send to.

    1. Go into My eBay/Accounts/Site Preferences/Shipping Preferences/Exclude shipping locations from your listings. This will allow you to select regions and/countries that you would prefer to exclude shipping to. However, you're not done yet.

    2. Go into My eBay/Accounts/Site Preferences/Buyers Requirements and update your buyer requirements to "Block buyers whose primary shipping address is in a location I don't ship to".

    After you've done this, you're supposedly covered as any person who attempts to bid on an item from you will be required to have an address within your selected shipping region.

    Second, when writing your description of an item, never claim a card is in a specific condition. An example would be describing a card as Mint, NM, SP, Excellent, Very Fine, ect. The reality is your interpretation of NM is probably not the same as someone else. If you feel compelled to write something about the condition, write a detailed description but stop short of claiming a condition. Here is an example of how listing a condition can hurt you as a seller.

    Say you are selling a "NM" Polluted Delta with a Buy It Now price of $25. A buyer purchases the item, you send it, they receive it. However, a day after they receive it, they send you a message in which they claim the condition of the card is SP in their opinion, not NM. As a result, they are requesting a refund of $5. There are several "choices" that you can make as a seller. You can ignore their request and they will likely leave you negative feedback. This is undesirable because of the effect it has on your reputation as a seller and will likely deter some buyers from purchasing from you in the future. Another option is that a dispute can be opened up. However, as referenced above, eBay favors buyers so you'll end up refunding them. The reason for this is because eBay feels it is the seller's responsibility to provide a detailed description of an item. Your final option is just to refund them. None of this actions end favorable for the seller.

    I would recommend that sellers do two things to prevent this from occurring. First, include detailed scans of the front and back of the card. It costs less than 20 cents to include an extra picture and is well worth the investment (you'll understand why below). Second, in the description area, indicate that the scan is of the actual cards the buyer will receive and compel them to make assessments about the condition of the cards using the scans provided. Letting the buyers make their own determinations about condition prevents the aforementioned type of complication. Basically, you're paying 15 cents to prevent anywhere from $5 - $100 dollars being lost due to condition disputes.

    Finally, here are some general guides about selling specific types of items.

    -Do not sell small items on eBay unless you have access to an eBay store. For example, if you are selling an item for $5 with 99 cent shipping using the Buy it Now feature, you will pay $1.16 in final selling fees. This makes your gross sale $5.99 and your total expenses $2.14. If you subtract shipping, you gross $5 and pay $1.16 in fees. This means you're making less than $4 on an item that you sold for $5. This gets somewhat better on more expensive items, but think of it this way. If you believe your item is worth $5, you're getting less than 80% of what its worth after fees. (This does not include potential PayPal fees)

    -Auctions versus Buy it Now. First, do research to see how similar items are selling. Questions you should be asking:

    How much are members selling the item for on their Buy it Now option?

    What are these items selling for? Use the completed listing option to research.

    Are current Buy it Now prices comparable to what has been selling? A lot of times, there is a difference between what people are asking and what cards are selling for.

    Do I need cash, or am I willing to wait for an item to sell? Auctions can provide cash within seven days of closing (which can be a pain if they wait seven days to pay). Buy it Now items can sit for months before selling and you pay recurring fees to "relist" the items. However, Buy it Now options can include a "require immediate payment" option which is nice. The Final Value fees can also be very different depending on how much an item sells for with Auction or Buy it Now. Use the fee calculator to figure out what you are looking at paying for those fees.

    -Always include tracking on shipping. If you send an item without tracking, you are in a much worse position as a seller if a dispute comes up. Its less than a $1 and can save you hundreds of dollars.

    I hope this helps some of you out there who are considering selling on eBay. If I sound jaded, it is because eBay is really terrible and is only desirable because its largest venue to use. Providing a large venue for small scale sellers is the only real benefit to using the site. eBay does nothing to encourage or support sellers when it comes to their policies given that buyers are always favored.

    If you can arrange transactions between yourself and a buyer using PayPal, there is better seller protection available. Additionally, creating a strong relationship with local B&R stores can generate some positive results. I've worked hard to develop a good relationship with my local shop and I am able to sell my cards at shows/conventions in their case without paying commission so long as I help during the day. Additionally, I have negotiated a deal now have part of his display case for my cards. I pay him a commission of 5% of the sale price. If you can negotiate anything between 5-10%, you're getting an alright deal imho. As always, if you can negotiate cash deals, that is the best option; just make sure you invest in a fake bill marker to cover yourself.

    Good luck and happy selling!!!

  14. #114
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    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    Does anyone here use snipers for ebay?

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    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    I have used a sniper program in the past, until the 10 or so free auctions were used up. I honestly couldn't tell you which one I used either, just looked around and found the one that had the best reviews, and my friend had used it and recommended it as well.
    People that are weired out by sharing information may not want to use them as you have to give your username and password out essentially for the bot to bid for you, but I had no issue on my end.

    On another note, I'm a bit confused as to why anyone would still try and rip someone off by not sending the item. I've had no issue in years getting my refunds back for fake sellers, so I'm wondering if this can even still occur.
    Many years ago around 2004, I lost out on two different moxen and got money back but not the full amount. I bring it up as a few months ago I bought an underground sea on ebay for a buy it now of 69.99 and the seller had recent positive feedback on many auctions, but never got the card.
    On the case resolution, it indicated they were able to recover all the funds, making me believe there can still be instances where they cannot?
    Does anyone know?
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  16. #116

    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    The sniper programs are kind of useless. I've lost more auctions using them than I've ever won. The best time you can set them to bid at is somewhere between 30-60 seconds. As while you can set them to bid in the last 5-10 seconds, they always fail in doing so. Either because of program and processor reaction time, or just internet connection lag.

    If you're going to be home, you have the best chance to win if you're actually sitting there watching the auction. If you're not going to be home, just put in the maximum amount you're willing to pay before you leave. As that's what you would have paid for the item anyways. If you're going to be asleep and it ends in the middle of the night, there isn't much you can do other than bidding beforehand then either.

    ---

    As for the way Ebay/Paypal words their refund emails. I'm pretty positive it's just stated like that, but not how it actually is. I assume that when you're refunded, it comes out of some master account on their end, and not directly from the other person's account. I've been on both ends, ones where I've received the refunds and ones where I've had to give them.

    For example, I lost a case years ago for an item damaged in transit, and Paypal automatically deducted the money from my account. Leaving me with a negative balance for the full cost of the item, since I had taken the money out weeks before. Later that day, I got an email from the buyer thanking me for issuing him the refund. My account remained in the negative for another week or so until I could get up the money. Had I not, I think Paypal would have gone ahead and just taken the money straight out of my bank account, whether I had enough in there or not.

  17. #117
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    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    Have any of you used eBay to print shipping labels. I recently shipped an item to Italy and the buyer emailed me saying that they were required to pay $25 on a $100 auction. He is complaining that the label listed an invoice for his sale and I should not have done that. He said the invoice goes on the inside. However, the customs form requires you to state the amount. He refused delivery. What are my options as the seller?

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    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    I've just started to tinker with Ebay and MKM. I loathe it.

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    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    Quote Originally Posted by Bed Decks Palyer View Post
    I've just started to tinker with Ebay and MKM. I loathe it.
    So, I needed to finish my deck, and I also needed to sell the rest of my cards. The first goal is nigh ready, the second will take some time yet. I use MKM exclusively, as Ebay is one heck of an annoyance.
    What surprises me about the MKM users is how often they seem to be lacking in their intelligence department. I received orders without return address, so if the post can't reach me, there's nowhere to return the envelope. I received cards at excellent conditions at the very best, whom the seller graded as NM+ without any hesitation. I got myself Chronicles cards instead of The Dark ones. Yes, we are humans, and mistakes may happen, but this is beyond ridiculous. Either the person doesn't know anything about the MtG, or maybe it's a low-level scammer, but what I don't get is the fact that there are many ways how to check for correct edition (and manuals for correct grading), so while missing one cheap piece in a 20+ cards order is explainable, other things are not.
    I like how MKM helped me in my cause, but for every ten fine orders, there is one that completely ruins my fun.

  20. #120
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    Re: How to get the most out of Ebay

    About 15% of uninsured packages (<20€) did not arrive last year via MKM. Suspicious
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