Any ebayers here?

There was a forum or posting somewhere on DG about DGers who were also ebay sellers. Where exchanges could be done with advice, etc. I'm trying to find that location, any ideas?

I learned from ebay that there is an exchange option where you can 'buddy' with someone who will put your items on the bottom of their page and you do the same for them - gets double exposure.

Let me know if you have ideas where this forum/discussion went. Thanks,
Kathy

Well, this is news to me, Sounds interesting, I'm hoping for an answer too. We all like that double exposure for sure.

kathy

I'm an eBay buyer AND seller. My user ID is the same as in here.

The only one I saw about ebay was where we were just listing our ebay names to avoid bidding against each other. It started on the hosta forum, because several of us were bidding.

WEll, I know you can list your ebay user name here when you list your address theres a section there that asks for your user name, I've never gone there to look up anybody else's name though, I forgot about that section, my user name is listed there as well LOL


kathy

You can always add a link to your My eBay page in the links section on your DG member page. I use the same user ID at eBay.

that's a good idea gardenwife. I might do that.


My ebay name is same as my garden name too, Just makes things easier LOL

mine is different, as my username was already taken when I tried to get it at eBay :(

I'm always in competition with the "other" sarahjo80 to beat each other places. :) Good thing I beat her here, so you have the "genuine article" :)

Sarah(jo80!)

We're glad, too.

i would love to tlak to someone who sells on ebay, i am thinking of trying to sell there

I have sold a few things. It's harder than buying, I think.

I used to sell on ebay a lot. Listing prices have gone up SO much...

They sure have! I never used to include any kind of handling fee on my shipping, but I do now. I prefer to receive payments by PayPal because those who use it tend to pay quickly and be more reliable, but there's more of a percentage taken out in fees. :P

Glad I finally got back to DG to check out this forum. My id on ebay is shihtzumarley

I enjoy selling on ebay but the fees are crazy. I learned to sell low and up the shipping rate to cover expenses. I've started making pocket organizers that hang by ribbon and dow rods. All types of fabrics.

All you need to do on ebay is search the seller's ID and find items they have. We really need to get eachother's ids.

I have DG on MY EBAY page as the favorite web site.

So now we have :
kooger55
shihtzumarley
gardenwife
kbaumle
kathy_ann
half$nut
towhee19
228dorothy
Knotimpaired

Hopefully we can gather more in an easy to find location. shihtzumom was taken so I use my oldest dogs name.

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The fees are a killer, especially if you are selling stuff that is relatively expensive. I've gotten to the point where I state in my ads that I will only accept Paypal if the selling price is over a certain amount. I've gotten to the point where I don't think it is fitting that E-bay/Paypal should make more off of something than I do. (E-bay and Paypal are owned by the same company.)

I heard that the postal service is going to increase rates. Anyone know when that takes effect and what the rates will be?


My E-bay i.d. is towhee19. (Gardenwife knows I never use the same name at any two web sites.) I sell plants and seeds from about abouth April to October and random odds and ends all year.

thanks Kelli for adding your info. I've got a few things on line now but will add bunches in a couple weeks.
Kathy

PO goes to 39 cents Jan. 1 2006

UGH

I dabble in coins and things on eBay but lately it's getting hard to make a fair profit with coins. My eBay handle is half$nut.

I've sold a few things on ebay. My name is 228dorothy. I think a lot of people figured out that they could avoid some fees by selling for less and charging inflated shipping cost. Ebay figured out what was happening and raised fees to compensate. I wanted some elephant ears from a Florida seller and asked how much combined shipping would be for several items before I placed a bid. He answered that shipping cost would be the same because "That's the only way I can make any money on $3 plants". I didn't order from the old fraud.

I wish people would just be up front with their minimum price and get real with the postage. If they keep pushing it, ebay will just go up again and eventually ruin it for us all. They're playing the same game on the Lily Auction.

We are Knotimpaired on Ebay.

I started out buying but quickly started selling because we had our boats at a marina and many there did not have internet access.

I have sold airplanes, boats, harleys, BMW's, MG's, a shark jaw that sold for $4800, but that was back when it was fun.

Now I only buy. Some things are hard to get here.

Admin Note: It's fine to talk about the way eBay works or share tips with other sellers and buyers. But it's a violation of our Acceptable Use Policy to use our forums to advertise that you're an eBay seller, or to promote your eBay sales.

Accordingly, I've edited a few posts here this morning. If you have questions, let us know.

We do a little buying and selling on ebay also. User name is kooger55 as kooger was taken. I downgraded our paypal acct , Premier/Business acct, so the fees are less and only accept bank payments, not credit card payments, and under $1000.00. If u accept credit card payments, u will be automatically upgraded and charged higher fees. Then u are allowed to downgrade one time only. So on larger items, we state a $900. deposit instead of $1000. and require that the rest be bank transfer, cashier's check, money order or cash. It helps to keep the fees down.

How do you downgrade? Maybe I'm already as downgraded as you can be, but if I'm not, it sounds like I don't need to be at a higher level. The vast majority of my stuff sells for less than $10.

One of the things I started doing, and will continue doing next year, is running "True Auctions". I put one item up per week, per variety, starting at a penny with no reserve. It may sound risky, but if i"m using Ebay as an advertising tool for our web site, viewers are almost as good as bidders, as they will then din their way to our site.

The crazy part is that the sell through rates and prices have been down right silly when I run them like this, and not on just one variety. It's across the board on all of them.

Example: 8" Euphorbia on the site is $3.85 to $4.85. The median price has been 12.00, with a high of $26.00 and a low of $8.00. Started them all at a penny. I had them listed at 3.85, and would get 1 or maybe 2 bids.

I think it's the excitement of the auction that drives it up, since everyone else has gravitated to fised price listings or starting the item off at retail.

Chris

I'm an Ebayer too. My name is TheButterflyRanch there. I love to buy plants from people I know, like Buried Treasures. I've run across some great sellers and some lousy sellers. The good ones get my repeat business. Chris, I'd buy more from you, but you sell primarily tropicals and I'm moving out of them. Elephant Ears are about my only tropicals anymore. I'm completely addicted to them.

I'm in the market for gardening books right now, particularly in Garden Design/landscaping. So if any of you sell books or know of some book sellers on ebay, amazon or alibris, let me know. I know a lot about plants, but very little about design. I am hoping to expand my education through books this winter.

I'm copying your user names so I can check you guys out and try to stay out of your way when we're both seeking the same item. But you may have to knock me on the head. I tend to be greedy when it comes to plants and I may just elbow ya outta the way. Ask GardenerGail. Her ribs are often sore when we make regular plant runs to Lowes or nurseries. She has begun to fight back though, and I just don't know what I'm gonna do with her! LOL

BC

Kelli - in the teeny print on the bottom of the paypal page is a list of links. Click on the one that says Accounts and you can read the difference in accts.

Thanks, Kooger


You're right, Chris. You get a lot more interest in your auctions if you start with a super-low price.

kelli I recently sold on ebay, and at the end of the auction it cost me more than I brought in due to ebays little add on's and paypals cost. I would have been better off giving things away.

I know most of you who have posted here sound like the sellers but I used to be the buyer.... I don't buy on Ebay anymore because by the time I buy the item pay the shipping and the added "packing fees" - I can't afford it ..... Maybe Dave should start is own form of EBAY .... give Ebay a little competition.... LOL

For the information of those who have never sold, if you are selling something for 99 cents or less, you pay 25 cents for the listing fee plus x% of the final price for the selling fee. Then with Paypal, there is a 30 cent flat fee plus a y% fee on the total transaction (selling price + shipping cost). I forget exactly what the percentages are. I think it's 8-something for E-bay and 2-something for Paypal. But yes, some people really do milk the shipping cost thing. Myself, I usually add 40 cents to the actual mailing cost, mainly to cover the cost of boxes or padded envelopes.

I don't take Paypal unless the final selling price is above a certain amount. That number varies depending on the cost of postage, since Paypal fees are taken from the cost of the whole transaction (auction price + shipping). When I first started out and was trying to build up feedback points, I didn't that much if I didn't make any money or lost a few cents, but now I don't feel it is fitting for E-bay and Paypal (owned by same company) to make more money off of something than I do when I'm the one doing all the work. I know that the fees are not pure profit for E-bay, but it seems like it since I don't really see what they do besides provide space. (Dave provides space here and he doesn't charge us 25 cents for every entry we make.) I don't mind USPS making more gross income off of something than I do because they are doing something I can see. Specifying no Paypal probably limits the number of potential bidders, but if I'm not in the business to make money for E-bay. My minimum value is usually between $1.50 and $2.

I don't buy things for resale. I don't know how anyone can make any money doing that when you only have seven days to sell something. (I had tried with some inexpensive items. If I broke even, I was lucky. I considered it an experiment that didn't work out and since I hadn't spent much on it, I didn't lose much, either.) I sell my surplus plants from when I thin things and good condition odds and ends from around the house that I would normally just give to the Salvation Army.


This has been my experience.

Used household goods don't usually draw that much interest, so I start them at somewhere between 79 and 99 cents usually. If someone wants the thing, they'll pay 79 cents as easily as they'll pay 1 cent. I don't usually start anything lower than 27 cents since that is the break even point for covering the E-bay fees.

I've gotten good money for specialized engineering books. No one is interested in freshman level science and engineering books. No one is interested in health-related and self-help books. There is no interest in religious books. There has been some interest in travel books. I've gotten a small amount of money for back issues of magazines if I have a set of, say, six or more.

There is some interest in like-new clothing that is on the dressy side.

Succulent plants are popular. You can almost guarantee they're worth your while selling. I sell small ones in groups and larger ones singular. Since I'm nearly guaranteed to get a price above my Paypal fee threshold, I don't usually bother to specifiy that the price needs to be above a certain amount before I'll take Paypal. It is worth the effort to start plants from cuttings to sell after they are rooted. I ship them bareroot to save money on postage and because it is more sanitary in regard to soil disease. (There is no soil disease here that I know if and I wouldn't sell if I did, but it doesn't hurt to take precautions.) I don't think anyone would mind succulents being shipped bareroot but I let the buyers know they will be shipped that way.

Irises are sometimes worth the effort. Sold in groups, I get prices that amount to anywhere from 25 cents to a dollar per rhizome. That's a bargain for the buyer compared to what they would pay in the store, but it's not bad for me, either, since the surplus would normally just go into the compost pile. People don't seem to mind if I know the name of the variety or not. Irises sell better in large lots of 12 or 24, even if they are all the same variety, than in lots of 3, 4, or 6. I wash the irises in soapy water with bleach. I am told have sell the cleanest irises anyone has ever seen. ;-)

If possible, sell things in large quantities. Why in the world someone is going to need 200 chile pepper seeds is beyond me, but a package of 200 seeds attracts more attention that a package of 50 seeds. I've got to keep remembering, this is the U.S. - more and bigger is better. ;-) (I've always lived in the U.S. and am probably very American in my attitudes, but I find that more and bigger can actually be less because it takes up more space and that leaves me with less space for more other stuff.)

I don't sell a lot, but I sell enough stuff that I have to buy boxes. I buy boxes in bulk to save on the shipping cost. With the company I use, it is one flat rate to deliver to my house. One purchase every 8 or 9 months keeps me going. I add the cost of the box to the mailing fee. I get boxes from Papermart http://www.papermart.com/. They're located in California, so shipping to the east might be expensive, but I'm sure there are decent companies all over the place. The sizes I get are around 25 cents each. They used to have where you could get free boxes from E-bay. Maybe you still can, but I can't find it. Those boxes were too big for most of my box needs and they may have been for Priority Mail only, so I never got any of those. I have have gotten some flat rate boxes from USPS.com. They're free and are good for mailing heavy-ish things far away. I have never had to buy packaging materials like bubble wrap or styrofoam peanuts. I accumulate enough from the stuff that I buy.

If you have more than one of something, do the second chance offer if you like the lower bids. You don't have to pay a listing fee on that, just the selling fee. I've found that about 1/3 of the bidders will take you up on the offer.

If something doesn't sell the first time around, it's usually not worth relisting it.

Per hour labor, I probably don't make any more than a migrant worker, but I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't find it to be fun most of the time.

Another note on the fees: My mom is an avid ebay seller, and she was also drowning in fees. She now has an eBay store. It costs her $20/month, but the listing fees for each item are only $.03. Since she sells many small items at lower value, this has saved her a tremendous amount of money in fees. She runs just a few true "auctions" per week, and those auctions lead people to her store. She's doing fairly well now on this system. She is making about $300-400 per week just on her hobby. :)

Just another idea for those frustrated with the fees.

Sarah

Thanks for the info. In the future, when I plan on having more time and energy, that may be the way to go for me.

The downfall to that used to be your store items didn't show up during a search. Now they're listed below the regular results, which is a big plus.

Chris

Yikes...and to think I was considering doing some selling on Ebay. Guess I'll just keep bidding - can really find some unique items on there if nothing else. My id is RdAngel07

sarahjo80.... I'm glad your mom found a way for it to work for her...... I love Ebay but I'm sure it's often difficult for the sellers to keep ahead of the fees.....

Ebay is a great way to make money. The store only costs $16 a month and you can list as much as you like for 3 cents an item per month. It's great for small priced items. So a store with 100 items a month would cost about $19/month. I found that it is a lot cheaper than listing auctions. Most auctions cost a minimum of about 70 cents per auction (for items under $10), which is the listing fee along with the picture gallery. The picture gallery really helps sell the item.

Named plants sell well. Named daylilies, irises, cannas, ee's, sedums, etc fetch a much higher price than "a mix of irises."

Offering combined shipping is another great opportunity to sell more plants. People will spend more in your store if they can get a break on shipping prices.

Making your auctions pretty is also key. I won't buy from someone who uses no punctuation or capitalization. You're there to sell, so act like a salesman and create an intelligent, readable, appealing ad. It doesn't hurt to add a bit of color to your auctions as well.

And it's a good idea to invest in an online photo album and upload pics of your items for sale in the album. Then in the auction, link to those items so the picture appears in the auction. I've found that pictures hosted on an online album (like Photobucket.com - a free album) appear bigger, with more detail, than the pictures Ebay will host for you. Bigger is better in many cases so your seller can really see what you're selling. Auctions without good pictures often do not sell.

I'm a picky buyer. I won't buy from someone who sounds too pushy and has too many rules. You've seen those auctions where the "legal stuff" drags on and on. And then they have their own checkout service so they don't want you to pay immediately thru Ebay. You gotta wait around for them to send an invoice. I like to pay immediately so they can ship immediately.

And I won't buy now, and pay now, for shipping in 3 months or 6 months. I don't buy buy in the fall for spring delivery. Anything could happen and that person may not even be around come spring. And where's my money?

I love buying from the little guy or the newer seller. In most cases, they're friendlier and promptly answer any questions you have.

And I love buying from a seller who has many things I want and will combine shipping. Y'all are right. The shipping prices are high. But sellers try to recoup the shipping costs, ebay fees, and paypal fees in the shipping prices.

Some sellers try to avoid additional ebay fees by making most of their cost be their shipping price. When you sell something, Ebay charges you about 8% of the sale price, but they don't charge anything on the shipping. So if you list something for $10, you pay 80 cents when it sells. If you list it for $1, you pay 8 cents when it sells. These fees add up quickly. So some sellers get around them by selling their product for $1 with a shipping price of $50. They don't pay any commission on the shipping, so they pay 8 cents commission of 3.20 commission.

Much of my buying is garden books or plants I can't find around here. And I find lots of bargains, even with shipping. I bought some books off Half.com recently and my book order came to about $12 for several books. But shipping was $17! For all the books I got, it still amounted to less than $3 a book. And many of the sellers have their own sites and send me their business cards. So you know next time I'm shopping for more books, I'll go right back to those sellers' websites and spend my money since they'll discount shipping.

Ebay is great for sellers and buyers. But there are other auctions too, like the Yahoo auctions, lily auction, overstock.com, amazon.com and half.com (an ebay subsidiary with great book prices). I love buying online and not having to go into town and stand in line.

BC

Google is exploring going head to head with ebay. Ebay used to be a super place to collect original art from the artists themselves. But they have been promoting cheap prints instead :(

So fewer and fewer good artists are selling their original art that way. So if you collect, say, miniatures, you have to look elsewhere. It's a shame.

I collect originals of daylilies, irises and roses. I am NOT interested in a "print" squirted out of a computer printer. It's like having a real diamond or a fake...I want what the artist actually put pen or pencil to.

Guess you can tell I"m passionate about art! My garden is my outdoor art gallery...and then I have my inside one!!

Wow--will have to make a list of all the E-bayer IDs..... I have an ebay store to help offset the fees, then run a few auctions to drive viewers. It keeps the fees in line but still activity has been soooooo slow this year. Seems like I'm the only one buying! A little fabric here, a few beads there.... But a year ago I did buy a couple of key limes from a DGer in Florida..... Sorry I can't remember who, (just a little age showing up in my memory, nothing to worry about) I didn't really have a garden this past year, but am determined to gear up for the next season. I will definitely shop from the DGers when possible. Just came back to DG this past week, havent been here in over a year, forgot (again) how nice it was to read the forums and research my interests.....
eBay ID is faro-nell
Store name is Studio Be

One thing people might consider is just putting davesgarden or daves garden in their listing. Powersellers often do this to buy from other power sellers, but there's no reason it couldn't be done with DG people as well. Just put that phrase anywhere in your listing, or just put DG in your auction title, if you have room, and you'll see all sellers that put that in there's when you do that search.

Chris