Do you sell stuff...

[firecat]

...on Amazon, Half.com, or eBay?

Which of the venue(s) do you like, and why?

(I've sold on eBay before, which is fine, but it's a lot of work. I've heard selling media on the other two is easier.)

Comments

[nolly.livejournal.com]

I haven't sold stuff on any of them, though I've bought through both eBay and Half. There's AuctionDrop (http://www.auctiondrop.com), but the commission probably makes it less appealing for smalll items, if your goal is income rather than "get rid of it".

[firecat]

Auctiondrop appears to only accept items that are likely to sell for $50 or more.

Main goal is to get rid of it, but would like some income too. (If it were just to get rid of it, I'd give it to charity.)

[nolly.livejournal.com]

Ah; I hadn't looked that close. (Just noticed the billboard and the building last time I was up, and thought it was an interesting idea for a business.)

[pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com]

I sell on all of them now and then -- which one you should use for a particular item totally depends on the item. Being about to pass out, I'll try to post some details/explanation sometime tomorrow.

[firecat]

Much appreciated!

[pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com]

OK, back again. Half and Amazon are very easy to sell on -- very minimal steps to enter your item, no charge for listing an item, and they put the money directly into your bank account, so you don't have to mail back and forth about payment and shipping with the customer at all. But because you can't do up a long listing that people can search for keywords, they are really only for selling things that are *known items*, where people already know exactly what they want and what it is, and will be searching by title (or author, model number, etc.). A copy of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, fine. A '60's TV-show novelization that doesn't have the name of the TV show in the title, uh uh -- you want it on eBay, where collectors can find it by searching for the name of the TV show in the your listing. Or things it makes sense to sell as a set, you want on eBay. Anything that people would be searching for by characteristics, like, say, a silver raincoat, definitely belongs on eBay.

For something like a book or a CD that you could sell on any of the three, in general the sort you should be selling on eBay are cult/specialty/collector's items that people will seek out and get in bidding wars over, or again, sets or grab bags where it makes more sense to sell them as a group. For anything else, check what the item is going for on all three sites -- often an item will be going for significantly more on one site than the others. Then you have to weigh the price difference against the shipping and the money the site gets from you. Amazon takes a bigger cut, so only list it there if it's selling for at least a couple dollars more there. Both Half and Amazon give you a shipping allowance that will more than cover your shipping expenses, so you get somee extra money that way, compared to if you were charging your eBay customers the exact actual shipping costs.

[firecat]

That's great advice, thanks!

[pyrzqxgl.livejournal.com]

One more thing -- with one pricey book that probably wasn't going to move super-quickly, I listed it on *both* half.com and Amazon. Last night it sold (for $55) on Amazon, so I deleted it from my half.com inventory.

They probably wouldn't approve of that sort of thing, but hey, twice the exposure, it doesn't cost anything to list on either/both, and as it wasn't something I expected to get snapped up immediately, I doubt there was really any chance it would get sold on both sites at the exact same time, and even if it did, I could just cancel one of the orders.

[firecat]

I've heard of other people doing that. There's nothing in the terms & conditions against it, afaik.

[bobbylevi.livejournal.com]

The amount of work involved with Ebay has always put me off.... my daughter has sold a few things for me there.... but like you I have stuff to get rid of.... I'll be interested if you find any easier online selling media.

[lizw.livejournal.com]

I sell on Amazon.co.uk. I like it because there's very little hassle involved, and books are easy to parcel up. The main reason I don't sell anywhere else is that trying to pack other objects semi-professionally seems too stressful to me.

[firecat]

"Little hassle" sounds great.

[moonvine.livejournal.com]

I like Amazon for media. Much easier, no pictures required, also you set the price and it sits there until it sells (unless it goes over 30 days, in which case you'd want to think of relisting it anyway). Also you don't pay anything unless the item actually sells.

[firecat]

Do most things sell within the 30 days?

[moonvine.livejournal.com]

Depends entirely what it is, I'm afraid. I have had things sell in one day, and things not sell in 30 days. Half.com leaves listings up indefinitely, but I have sold more things for higher prices through Amazon. Though, to be fair, I recently sold a book on half that I'd had listed over a year. You can also list things in both places at once, but would need to be very sure to delete the listing at half if you sold the item on amazon, for example.

[firecat]

That's useful info, thanks!

Amazon

[tedesson.livejournal.com]

I've sold 6 books so far on Amazon. Very easy.

I'd probably sign up for the $40/year plan $1/book if I do this more than very casually.

Nice listing tools and clear notices.

I like not worrying about what price to list something at. Amazon has great suggestions.

Re: Amazon

[firecat]

Thanks for the info!

Question needing answer.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi, I am starting my own at home business and I was wondering how I can sell stuff online at no cost to me, see I also have paypal, so what can you suggest me to do? Can you e-mail me and let me know. Thanks.

Sincerely,

Randy
KlownSoceror@yahoo.com