I think I’m going to try to sell my Copeland whistle on eBay. Since I’ve only bought things on eBay so far, I don’t know how to do it, though I imagine there are clear enough directions for it. So I’m not looking for the basics here, but if anyone has sold a whistle or other instrument and has any tips on how to price it, or on anything else, I’d be very grateful to know.
Thanks!
Carol
I’ve sold several instruments on ebay, though the following notes apply to anything, I suppose.
Go with the lowest opening price you’d be happy to accept. A higher starting bid tends to have regular buyers or watchers dismiss your item at the first.
Post really good photos, say one of the whole body and one closeup of the mouthpiece, sharp, clear, good color. Photos are very important on ebay.
Unless you are willing to endure a lot of trouble, restrict the sale to the U.S. Every problem I’ve had selling on ebay was to another country, either payment hassles, shipping fee problems, etc. And unless you charge for FedEx overseas, tracking is almost impossible. (If someone in another country really wants the item, they’ll email you anyway. You can try to determine by their email if they are a person you’ll try to deal with.)
Let the auction run its course. Folks will likely email you with an amount (for some reason, always "including shipping…) to end the auction early. In every item I’ve sold, a higher price came from letting the auction continue.
Over the years, patterns have changed somewhat on ebay. At first, bids would come along at a regular pace. Now it’s much more that you might get an early bid after a day or two, but most folks serious about buying wait until the last day, or last hour. You can usually tell what to expect like that by tracking how many people are watching the item. I’ve put up items with no bids up to the last day, with 100 folks watching, and 50 bids in the last 30 minutes.
Low starting price with a reserve.
You could offer a ‘Buy-it-Now’ I would price it slightly higher than you expect to sell it for. There is an extra fee for this.
Post a link to the maker’s website and quote the current wait time and price.
Time the sale to end on a Sunday evening… People are usually home and winding down the weekend surfing the internet.
If you are capable, good pictures and sound clips are helpful. You might reference the current retail price. About half the current retail price is a reasonable starting bid. Usually it will be bid up, however be ready for some nerves because many bidders wait until the last very last minute to enter their bids. Reserves are generally a turn off, as are very high starting prices (80% of retail or more).
Do you have feedback as a buyer? If you are new to Ebay, I strongly suggest trying to sell it here first, because not many people will bid over $100 for items from a zero feedback seller. Actually I would be tempted to lower the price and try to sell it here on board because it is less bother and it will be someone you kind of know.
Clearly list your return policy, and shipping charges. Ship it insured with deliver confirmation. International shipping is a pain, so I would limit it to this country.
If you have just one item to sell, it is probably a good idea to limit the ebay auction to the USA. However, to increase the market I wouldn’t be afraid to offer the ebay auction to Europe, Canada, Austrialia, and a few places in the Far East. So far, I haven’t had any difficulty with receiving payments or with shipping. A 2-piece low D flute can be shipped in a box that meets the air letter post category and can be shipped anywhere in the world for under $15. Payments are received by paypal or by international money order in dollars. Rather than paying for insurance with the post office, I self-insure by charging a small fee and assuming the liability. I think that this is OK for low-cost items. So far I haven’t had an international package lost or damaged. Last week I sent airmail packages to Australia, Singapore, and England. A small green customs label needs to be filled out and attached to the front of the package. It only takes me a couple of minutes to fill out the form.
Lastly, I detest auctions because it upsets me to try to outbid someone in the last five seconds of the auction. I like it to see a “buy-it-now” price with an opening bid the same as the buy-it-now price. This type of sale is really not an auction, but you can list it as such and get a greater exposure. This kind of buy-it-now price is straight-forward. You can see what the seller wants for the item, and there is no bidding against another person. There is an incentive to bid quckly if you want the item.
These are really helpful ideas! Thank you very much!
Carol
Last minute bidding (sniping) is a way of life on Ebay. It sometimes drives prices much higher than fixed priced listings. For example, I recently saw another item (not a whistle) sell for $185 buy-it-now, after being relisted when it did not sell for $195. The buyer turned it around and sold it starting at $1 no reserve and got $256 for a $50 profit after fees and shipping. The downside is that sometimes no last minute bidders show up and the item goes begging.
With only one item to sell I would not chance a $1 no reserve auction. However when there are many the average selling price is usually higher and the Ebay fees a good bit lower. Fees are a couple of percentage points higher for buy-it-now and high starting prices. If fixed price is what you prefer I think you’d be much better off just listing in here and possibly lowering the price until a buyer shows up. Any difference in price would probably be eaten up in fees.
Carol, be careful that you set your reserve price high enough that you don’t have to give away that whistle. Remember, you if your reserve is $100, but you really wanted $250, if the bidding only goes to $110, you have to sell it for that.
Figure out the fees ahead of time, because they can be more than you’d expect. I think BillChin’s suggestion of just keeping it listed here and lowering the price until someone buys it is sensible.
You have a MUCH lower chance here of having it bought by someone who will deny receiving it. If that happens, you’ll have to refund their money and you’ll be out the whistle, too.
Is Japan one of those places? I’ve mailed stuff to Japan, Germany, the Czech Republic, the UK, Canada (of course), and Ireland before with no problems at all. But I would use common sense and not mail something as valuable as a Copeland to Afghanistan, or to Iraq, for example.
As a sort of side note, even though it’s geographically close, I’ve heard horror stories about trying to mail something to or through Mexico.