Anyone have any tips for selling a Thinkpad on E-Bay??

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SaberX · #1 Post by **SaberX** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 4:16 pm

I never sold anything on e-bay befor,just bought stuff.
I have herd of hijacking and scams.I just want to know what to look out for.

I'm going to lower the price on the 600X i have to $95.00 shipped but if it dont sell here i'm going to try and put it on e-bay.

#2 Post by **ryengineer** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 10:08 pm

Just make a strong password and use a virus/spy/malware free computer to access your account.

Look out for Nigerian scammers who apparently like laptops and other electronics very much. Accept payment from Paypal verified users but give other options like Money Order to those with respectable feedbacks.

Lastly always check your paypal account to verify the transfer of payment before you ship anything. E-cheque takes some days to get cleared before it goes into your account.

I am sure someone else here will give you more better advice.

teetee · #3 Post by **teetee** » Fri Jun 22, 2007 11:47 pm

I sold two of my Thinkpad 240x for around $300/each on eBay about two months ago. The only two things I think will raise the final price are being honest and attaching lots of close-up photos of the laptop you are selling onto the auction page.

Whenever I sell stuff like laptops, I always choose to only sihp to USA and Canada. Also I cancel bids that has less than five feedbacks and I only accept Paypal payment. Although those measurements certainly decrease the bidder count but I am better off to get the transaction done than being cheated.

eBay took lots of commission out of my earning though. Too bad I can't find a place that has a healthy bidding/feedback system with free of charge to sell my stuff.

compnerd4 · #4 Post by **compnerd4** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:10 pm

Only let people with +1 feedback! And tell them they need an account thats not less then 30 days old! so if they have a

dont let them bid!

#5 Post by **jdhurst** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 2:29 pm

I am a top-rate buyer on eBay although very infrequent. I usually make contact with sellers to ensure (from my buying perspective) that the seller is worth dealing with. Just make sure you are willing to entertain bidder questions. ... JDH

skitty4gzus · #6 Post by **skitty4gzus** » Sat Jun 23, 2007 11:50 pm

good advice for first time ebayer! Plainly list shipping and payment options in the correct section towards the bottom. I had a guy a couple weeks ago bid and win my auction at the last second and he lived in Canada, where in my auction it plainly said only ships to U.S. If i had not listed that in my auction i could have been out a lot of shipping money. Also, dont get tricky or sly with your wording and what not on your listing. If something happens and the buyer wants to take it to paypal on you, you will have the listing to back up what you sold!!! I bought an item once that was claimed to be perfect shape, and when i got it it was broken. Well in his auction you could tell he accidentally typed he had a typo. it said "seller IS responsible for lost or broken items in shipping" So he emailed me telling me it worked fine when he sent it.... If he would have typed his listing correctly it would have been his word against mine, but instead he ended up being responsible. Oh, another thing, more people inherently from ebay seem to be out in the west so when you start your auction delay the start time for like 8:30 or 9:00 PST so it ends at a time where the most people can bid on it.

#7 Post by **jdhurst** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 2:36 pm

skitty4gzus wrote:<snip> he lived in Canada, where in my auction it plainly said only ships to U.S. If i had not listed that in my auction i could have been out a lot of shipping money. <snip>

With respect, it is very easy to ship outside the US, and you need not lose a dime.
... JDH

#8 Post by **tomh009** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 2:41 pm

... and allowing shipment to Canada can increase your potential audience 10-20%. And, yes, us Canadians are even willing to pay the extra shipping costs!

qviri · #9 Post by **qviri** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 3:28 pm

tomh009 wrote:And, yes, us Canadians are even willing to pay the extra shipping costs!

Just don't make it $30 more than US48, because really, that's not fooling anyone.

#10 Post by **Harryc** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 4:20 pm

I've been stating the same terms in my auctions for years, and it has worked so far -

"I reserve the right to cancel the bids of any EBayer with one or more negative feedback. Payment is due within 7 calendar days of auction end, or this auction will be forfeited. Non-CC Paypal preferred. If you use Credit Card-Paypal, you will be charged 3% of your total bid. USPS money orders only accepted. If you pay by USPS money order, your item will ship after the MO clears my bank, generally within 10 business days."

skitty4gzus · #11 Post by **skitty4gzus** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:13 pm

i have nothing against shipping outside the us. the problem is i listed the shipping costs for priority mail inside us. 2 day shipping like priority to canada will be quite a bit more than inside the us. i would have been out the difference in those 2 costs.

#12 Post by **tomh009** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:44 pm

If the Canadian buyer was trying to get it for the US shipping cost, he was being unreasonable and I have no issues at all in refusing to complete the transaction.

#13 Post by **jdhurst** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:49 pm

@skitty: I don't think you are getting what we are trying to say. Charge people the shipping costs. They do not belong to you, and so you aren't out.

With respect, it is thinking like this that has a plethora of US sellers ignoring the world market place and saying "if it isn't the US of A, we plead ignorance". US Vendors need to understand there is a Global economy. The rest of the world pretty much already does.
... JDH

skitty4gzus · #14 Post by **skitty4gzus** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 7:55 pm

with all due respect JD i get it, i honestly dont think you understand or are getting what im saying at all. thank you for the moral lesson, but i can charge people whatever i feel like charging for shipping and if they dont like it they should just not bid. how can anyone factor in the cost it is to me to take time out of my day and gas in my car and packaging for their product. its just that simple; if you dont like the shipping costs, dont bid, and dont complain about it. FWIW i charge very reasonable shipping costs and sometimes i have upgraded people to priority for nothing because it ended up being cheaper than expected.

#15 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 9:36 pm

skitty4gzus wrote:I had a guy a couple weeks ago bid and win my auction at the last second and he lived in Canada, where in my auction it plainly said only ships to U.S. If i had not listed that in my auction i could have been out a lot of shipping money.

skitty4gzus wrote:i can charge people whatever i feel like charging for shipping and if they dont like it they should just not bid. how can anyone factor in the cost it is to me to take time out of my day and gas in my car and packaging for their product. its just that simple; if you dont like the shipping costs, dont bid, and dont complain about it.

Of course, you are free to do what you want, but it seems to me that you are contradicting yourself. First you say: "it plainly said only ships to U.S.". Then you say: "if you dont like the shipping costs, dont bid, and dont complain about it.". In your first statement, you give no option to buyers outside of the U.S.. In your second statement you imply that the buyer only needs to pay the added costs to you for you to ship outside the U.S..

This seems simple enough to me. If shipping costs are the only factor involved, simply state in your auction that: "For shipments outside the U.S., email me for shipping costs to your location prior to the auction's close."

skitty4gzus · #16 Post by **skitty4gzus** » Sun Jun 24, 2007 10:32 pm

this is a mess not worth the time it takes to clean it up, but i never contradicted myself.

Temetka · #17 Post by **Temetka** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 12:04 am

It seems like this:

He will only ship to CONUS ... AND... he will charge whatever he feels is right for his shipping costs.

#18 Post by **KristianJ** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 1:08 am

skitty4gzus wrote:with all due respect JD i get it, i honestly dont think you understand or are getting what im saying at all. thank you for the moral lesson, but i can charge people whatever i feel like charging for shipping and if they dont like it they should just not bid. how can anyone factor in the cost it is to me to take time out of my day and gas in my car and packaging for their product. its just that simple; if you dont like the shipping costs, dont bid, and dont complain about it. FWIW i charge very reasonable shipping costs and sometimes i have upgraded people to priority for nothing because it ended up being cheaper than expected.

Which is fair enough - I'll dismiss auctions that seem to have exorbitant shipping costs unless I deem the item to be below what I think the value is, in which case I make an exception. Put simply, as skitty said, if the rate is too high in your eyes, don't bother bidding.

The way I've done it for my laptop eBay sales is that if people want a shipping quote they can ask for one via the question system, and I will give them a cost that includes the postage price plus a few dollars to cover handling and other costs. I make it abundantly clear in the listing that this is how I operate, and that at the end of the auction I will calculate the postage. If I decide to go with a flat rate across Australia, I'll make it as reasonable as I can and if the actual postage cost is lower, I'll either upgrade the postage to an express rate or refund the difference.

Rick Aguinaldo · #19 Post by **Rick Aguinaldo** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 4:41 am

compnerd4 wrote:Only let people with +1 feedback! And tell them they need an account thats not less then 30 days old! so if they have a
dont let them bid!

Hmmm... do not be too harsh on Mr. Johnny Come-lately. Remember everyone was a

before.

#20 Post by **KristianJ** » Mon Jun 25, 2007 5:59 am

Rick Aguinaldo wrote: Hmmm... do not be too harsh on Mr. Johnny Come-lately. Remember everyone was a before.

With more expensive items I'm comfortable with a restriction on members that haven't got a certain amount of feedback or are new. I'd rather restrict my audience to trustworthy people rather than risk several hundred dollars, although Second Chance sort of alleviates some of the risk. It's horses for courses though and everyone will have their different view points on that particular aspect.

#21 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:35 am

Just wondering what the OP is thinking, we have not heard from him since starting this thread...

Because of ignorance of a number of US sellers on international shipping costs (they come up with absolute fantasy-prices) and also their unwillingness to ship outside USA, I have missed out on a number of very good items.
I am just not willing to be ripped off because the seller is too lazy to get the proper info.
Those who DO get their act together, do it right.
I bought a TP from a dealer in California, who shipped it to Ireland for US$43,- incl. insurance. Expertly packed, it arrived in top-condition.

Robbyrobot · #22 Post by **Robbyrobot** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 2:34 am

@RealBlackStuff:

"I bought a TP from a dealer in California, who shipped it to Ireland for US$43,- incl. insurance. Expertly packed, it arrived in top-condition."

At that price it should.

This is a basic and apparently insurmountable problem for those of us in Europe: the shipping charges from sellers in the USA are generally prohibitive except for VERY expensive items.

That's why I (Germany) generally don't even bother looking at offers from the States, even though the goods and prices are often quite attractive. I might add that there's the same problem between the UK and the Continent, and even within the EU (Austria to Germany). In many cases, the shipping charges are higher than the cost of an item.

#23 Post by **tomh009** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 4:40 am

Robbyrobot wrote:This is a basic and apparently insurmountable problem for those of us in Europe: the shipping charges from sellers in the USA are generally prohibitive except for VERY expensive items.

That's why I (Germany) generally don't even bother looking at offers from the States, even though the goods and prices are often quite attractive. I might add that there's the same problem between the UK and the Continent, and even within the EU (Austria to Germany). In many cases, the shipping charges are higher than the cost of an item.

On the flip side, most sellers on ebay.de will not ship outside Germany, or certainly not outside Europe. I've spent some time searching through ebay.de coming up empty with all the sellers shipping only within Germany.

Robbyrobot · #24 Post by **Robbyrobot** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:04 am

@tomh009

"On the flip side, most sellers on ebay.de will not ship outside Germany, or certainly not outside Europe. I've spent some time searching through ebay.de coming up empty with all the sellers shipping only within Germany."

You're 100% right on that, and unfortunately this problem is worldwide. Shipping from Germany to the USA is no cheaper than vice-versa and may even be more expensive. I know, because I often send packages to my sister in Ohio.

There's also the problem of money transfer when someone in the EU buys outside, or someone from the States buys in the EU. People mainly use checks in the States - but cashing a check from a foreign bank costs an arm and a leg in Germany. And people in the EU mainly pay by direct bank account transfers, something that is unknown for private persons in the States (and rare even in the case of companies).

So if you go outside your own country - even inside the EU - you automatically have a good deal more hassle than if you stay inside, and thus the price differential for any specific item must be very considerable indeed to make it interesting enough to buy outside your own country.

Such a pity, but that's the present situation... one can only hope for improvement.

#25 Post by **KristianJ** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 5:17 am

Goes without saying, but it's so much better when sellers don't just copy a typical list of specifications and not add anything of original note. Sometimes it can go in the buyers favour, but only if they ask questions.

I cite this auction as an example (which I ended up winning through Buy It Now), where generic info has been copied and pasted. No info on accessories, no pictures except for a stock photo that I'm sure we've seen heaps of times. All I wanted to know was the model number and some pics to get an idea of the condition, and that enabled me to find out how inaccurate the pasted info was (and how much better a machine it actually was). Add the fact that it came with a Port Replicator and bag, and my detective work paid off immensely.

Sadly though it can be the other way around, so that's why it's imperative that you say as much as you can. After all, your customers are only going to be able to go by your pics and listing details.

#26 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:42 am

I've been using PayPal since about 2000, no problems getting eBay stuff from worldwide.
Currently the strong Euro is very much in our favour (1Euro=ca. US$1.35).
But I'll be glad to enjoy lower prices from September onwards, when I'll be living in the USA.

Robbyrobot · #27 Post by **Robbyrobot** » Wed Jun 27, 2007 10:27 am

@RealBlackStuff:

"I've been using PayPal since about 2000, no problems getting eBay stuff from worldwide"

PayPal has a bad reputation for holding up and blocking funds in Europe. I still haven't dared to register.

"Currently the strong Euro is very much in our favour (1Euro=ca. US$1.35)."

A real pity. I'd prefer a simple 1:1 parity, to make things easier.

"But I'll be glad to enjoy lower prices from September onwards, when I'll be living in the USA."

Depend on whether you're earning Dollars or Euro...

Anyone have any tips for selling a Thinkpad on E-Bay??

Anyone have any tips for selling a Thinkpad on E-Bay??

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