Advice for a first time ebay seller.

[tubatom91]

I'm looking to a trumpet on Ebay soon but I've never really used Ebay other than buying a few small items. Just looking for some advice on how to get my money out of it and not get screwed on the deal. Any help is appreciated.

[Michael Bush]

Requiring a PayPal account to bid eliminates almost all non-paying bidders. No doubt it also produces a few non-bidding payers, but it's worth it to me. Without doing this, getting paid at the end is a crap shoot.

I also find it best to open with a low minimum bid, with a reserve only if I am going to be seriously stuck if I don't get what I'm hoping for, but preferably no reserve. A low opening bid usually gets bidders involved. Using a high opening bid as a de facto minimum feels safe to the seller but discourages bidders even more than a reserve does. If you want to get a high final bid, you've got to risk losing money. The key is to gather a nice sized pool of bidders. (A lot of high quality pictures and a substantial description helps with this also.)

[PMeuph]

Look at the fees that eBay charges. Be sure to take into account the final value fees and the extra shipping fees. In other words you have to add several dollars to the actual cost of shipping and handling if you don't want to lose out.

Because of postage time, don't ship internationally unless the buyer is willing to pay lots for shipping.

Have you tried a local sale first. While it might not be as appealing as there is a smaller market, a local sale using free advertising and accepting only cash might be a better option.

Just my $0.02.

[Tom Coffey]

In any venue, good clear pictures sell horns. Probably the most important thing.

[tubatom91]

The horn sold in under two hours, what the hell do I do now? FWIW the funds are in my paypal account so is it safe to ship it now?

[Michael Bush]

Yes, it's safe. Pack it well and ship it. I don't know nothin' about shipping no trumpet, though.

[bort]

The horn sold in under two hours, what the hell do I do now? FWIW the funds are in my paypal account so is it safe to ship it now?

Ship it the hell to the buyer!