Selling on eBay

[j-dawg]

I've got a cell phone to get rid of and nobody is even making offers on Craigslist. I really don't want this phone; it's completely useless to me as I have another phone and this one is locked to AT&T anyway. The prices on eBay are actually better than I was expecting so it's not too bad.

But at the same time, I've only just opened a new eBay account so I have zero feedback, and I've never sold anything on eBay before so I'm not entirely sure of how it's done.

What are the risks of being a first-time seller for something like a cell phone? What are the chances that I get some jerk who does a chargeback? I've heard you guys complaining about selling on eBay recently so I'm a bit worried.

Alternatively, if any of you needs a Motorola Razr V3xx...

[rkawakami]

Way before I considered selling anything, I bought a bunch of stuff. That way the feedback history and score was in place. Sure, it's all buyer-related information, but as many people on eBay just look at the feedback percentage value, it may not matter that much.

When I sold my first item on eBay, I started out "cheap" (MMC memory cards). After a couple of those sales I put up a $300 portable scanner. Back then, eBay didn't have any rules about restrictions on PayPal payments. I stated in my auction that I would only accept non-credit card funded payments. Purpose was two-fold: 1) since I have a personal PayPal account, I wouldn't be charged any fees and 2) no credit card chargeback could occur. eBay has since implemented the rule that a seller must accept ALL PayPal sources for funds. And now they're doing away with checks and money orders....

For your particular deal, I'd say that if you can afford to wait a few weeks before selling that Razr, buy some small items and get that 100% feedback rating. Once you decide to sell the phone you could structure the sale as "local pickup only". In a sense, that would make it no different than craigslist (besides the eBay fees); you could meet the seller in person if you already were going to do that for a CL sale. You'd also have a better chance at tracking down your neighborhood jerk if things went wrong .

edit: And here's some uses for a "spare" phone...

- donate it
- keep it in your car for emergencies; 911 can always be dialed even without an active SIM chip

edit: fixed typo

[Temetka]

It also doubles as a great portable address book.

Alternatively you could try listing it in the market place here.

What do you want for the phone anyway?

[NorrisCell]

When I switched to a new selling account a couple years back, I used to print out my seller ID on paper and include it in the phone shots. I also made sure I detailed why it was done in the description. Other than building up feedback buying things, there are no sure fire ways to get people to trust you. The last V3xx I sold sat on CL for over a month before I found a buyer. UMTS or not, people are finally growing tired of the design, which is a shame. The V3xx is one of the most solid Motorola phones in a while.

Hell, if the price is right, I might even buy it. (Just what I need, another phone)

[j-dawg]

Hey, good idea NorrisCell, I might just add that info to the auction to be clear about it.

I'm looking for eighty-ish or more, plus shipping. I figured I'd try listing it on the 'Bay since prices really are considerably higher than I'd expected...models that are noted as used and with some cosmetic damage are getting prices I'd probably take, though those are from big eBay outfitters. I put it up for $60 to start with as a five-day auction; hopefully someone will find having photos of the actual phone instead of stock photos reassuring. Probably I'm being overly optimistic, but it's worth a shot. Since I put a high starting price, I'm not really expecting any bids until the last day or two of the auction, if ever, but I wanted to list it ASAP and make sure I'd be able to mail it on the weekend or next Monday. For anyone who's interested, it's item #27028126406, or if you want to buy it directly you could just PM me and I'll take the auction down.

But this isn't really the place for that. Any tips on packing the item? I have the original box, but I was planning to wrap the phone and charger in bubble anyway, because stuff gets bounced around in transit. What sort of container should I put the box in? I got a good bubble mailer that fits the entire box, but there's a lot of loose space. How do I keep the box itself from sliding around in the mailer and potentially damaging the phone? Would some packing tape holding the box down work, or perhaps folding over the excess?

[jargoone]

But this isn't really the place for that. Any tips on packing the item? I have the original box, but I was planning to wrap the phone and charger in bubble anyway, because stuff gets bounced around in transit. What sort of container should I put the box in? I got a good bubble mailer that fits the entire box, but there's a lot of loose space. How do I keep the box itself from sliding around in the mailer and potentially damaging the phone? Would some packing tape holding the box down work, or perhaps folding over the excess?

Put everything in the original box, and put that in another larger box. Fill the excess space with peanuts, bubble wrap, those "air pillows", or even wadded up newspaper. I have a giant stash of packing material that I save just for this reason.

BTW, I use USPS Priority for all but the most pricey items (e.g. laptops). Free boxes, free pickup, discounted shipping, and you can print your own labels at home. PayPal makes it even easier by filling in all the information and charging it right to your account. Good stuff.