EBay tips

[JackFetch]

I've got nothing but time on my hands right now since I'm not working at the moment, and I was thinking about selling my comics on EBay. I was wondering if any of you had any suggestions or tips to help me out? What is a good price guide to go by, and so forth. What is the easiest shipping method to deal with? What scams should I be on the lookout for? Anything you think might help me out would be appreciated.

[Missy]

Only accept Paypal. It's quicker than mailed checks and very secure.

I use Media Mail to ship my comics, which is less expensive than all other methods, but only items shipped within the US can be sent via MM. The upside is that it costs less, but the downside is that it could delay the package by a few days. Most buyers don't seem to mind, however.

Do not overcharge for S&H. If shipping costs $1.60 and the envelope cost $0.75, don't charge $5.00 to ship the books. Too many sellers charge an arm and a leg for shipping (I've seen S&H rates of $8.00 for one comic), and I will not buy from them. Many eBay buyers feel the same way. No one wants to pay $3.00 for a comic and then $8.00 for shipping. That's bullshit. It is okay, however, to charge a little more for S&H if you want to factor in other supplies (e.g. tape, mailing labels, etc.), the time it takes to package the item(s) and the gas it costs to get to the post office. That's understandable. Just don't over do it.

Offer shipping insurance (available through the post office) and to combine shipping. With Media Mail, it's very easy to ship several items for the same price, but after a certain weight (which you'll learn from experience) the price obviously increases. Offer to ship each additional item for and extra $0.25 to $0.50.

When it comes to pricing the comics, that's not easy. I don't use a guide, because they're out of date as soon as they're printed. And many online guides are inflated. I search for similar eBay auctions, no matter what I'm selling. For instance, before Jen and I moved, we sold off a lot of our DVDs, including My So-Called Life. I was going to post it for $35 or $40, but when I saw one set had recently sold for $250 I post ours for the same price... and it sold within an hour or two. So yeah, eBay is your best guide. (When it comes to books and DVDs, it's even easier to run searches because you can enter the ISBN and / or barcode.)

I use to auction my items, but not anymore. Now I only use the Buy It Now feature. The reason for this is simple: I'll get the price I want. If I want to sell a run of comics for $25, why would I start an auction with a $5.00 opening bid and risk not getting what I want? Sure, you can set a reserve, but that's worthless in my mind. Then again, posting items with the Buy It Now feature does negate the possibility of receiving more money than you thought you'd receive, but, to me at least, it isn't worth the headache. On top of that, with Buy It Now-listed items, there's the potential to have the comic books (or whatever) out of my house much sooner than with an auction, which has to run the full duration you listed it for.

Grade your comics honestly (nothing is truly mint), mention if they're bagged and boarded, ship items quickly, leave feedback in a timely manner and good luck!

[JackFetch]

Thanks for the tips. I finally sold my first item tonight. Only got 10 long boxes of comics to go.

Also, some dude tried to tell me he wanted the items, but couldn't do PayPal until Friday, and wanted to send a cashiers check. I ignored him because my sister's boyfriend took a cashiers check, and the FBI came knocking on their door when it turned out to be fake.