ebay advice needed

[ikojo]

I have A LOT of Grateful Dead shirts that no longer fit as well as I'd like. Well, instead of freecycling them (as I do a lot of my clothes) I think I'd rather try to sell them on ebay.

What advice can DUers offer about ebay? I've never sold anything on ebay before. I have a digital camera to take pics of the shirts but don't know of a free hosting site for my pics.

Thanks in advance for your help!


Mods...I thought I was posting in the lounge..please move this to the lounge.

Thanks!

[lies and propaganda]

1. I once was a ebay storeowner...

What you are going to find is fees, fees, fees, they do not end.
You can post a picture but no one searching GD shirts will see it unless you pay 35cents to have a 'gallery picture.' They you have to pay to have a headline, etc.
My experience sucked and I ended up paying 60 in fees and i only made one ten dollar sale.
I hope i wasnt too much of a downer.

[in_cog_ni_to]

2. Ebay can be expensive to sell on, but for t-shirts

it should be fairly cheap. Used clothing goes for dirt cheap. I sold a bunch of GAP jeans that my son had outgrown and I had to sell them for $2.00 each. It was a lot of work for that lousy sale. :( If I were you, I would sell the t-shirts in a "Lot" sale and just get it over with. One buyer, one shipping.

Go to the Ebay chat boards. There's a wealth of info there. Ask any question and you'll get an answer.

I use Andale to host my pics...they aren't free, but their ad program is easy to use and makes a great ad.

[Fridays Child]

3. Do a search of completed auctions to see if shirts like yours are selling.

Like this, for example:

http://search-completed.ebay.com/grateful-dead-tshirt-t-shirt-t-shirts_W0QQcatrefZC12QQcatrefZC6QQfisZ2QQfposZ85742QQfromZR10QQfsooZ2QQfsopZ1QQga10244Z10425QQsacatZQ2d1QQsadisZ200QQsargnZQ2d1QQsaslcZ2QQsatitleZgratefulQ20deadQ20Q28tshirtQ2aQ2cQ22tQ2dshirtQ22Q2cQ22tQ2dshirtsQ22Q29QQsbrftogZ1QQsofocusZbs

[ikojo]

4. I did that and most of the shirts I have are going for $15

or more. One is even bidding at $40. I could freecycle them but I suspect that there are some on freecycle who use it to troll for stuff to ebay (the listowner of our freecycle list has had to reprimand people for posting "for sale" items so this has caused me to suspect that not all on freecycle are in it just to keep stuff out of a landfill).

[in_cog_ni_to]

6. Are those shirts used? If so...go for it! Get what you can.

I know "I" wouldn't pay $15.00 or $40.00 for a used t-shirt, but that's just me. :)

[CAMANY]

8. Exactly

He'll be selling for pennies on the dollar. Lucky if he gets $2 per shirt.

[ikojo]

10. They are very gently used. I wash all of my clothes in

cold water and hang dry them.

[in_cog_ni_to]

11. I meant the ones for sale on Ebay now? The ones you saw selling for $15.00

to $40.00? If they are used and selling for $15.00-$40.00, I say go for it. Get what you can. It sounds to me like they're new though. Like I said before, "I" wouldn't pay that kind of $$$$$ for a used t-shirt. I would "maybe" pay that for a new one.

[Fridays Child]

9. Note that you can sort the returns starting with the highest price...

Which, in this case, shows that someone got 13 bids and nearly $40 for a less than perfect GD shirt (not too bad, at all):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=447&item=7504124541&rd=1

[MissWaverly]

5. I think e-bay is a buyer's market

the house is against you, what about posting on a Grateful dead fan-club site and ask them to pay you by check.

[CAMANY]

7. Waste of time

Don't do it. You might break even with the fees.

If you do you can use Paypal. You might want to accept money orders as well.

If you accept US Postal money orders take them to a post office to verify they are legit. A bank can't do it on the spot and weeks later they might be coming after you for the cash. TONS of money orders are fake.

Ship to confirmed paypal addresses only. Otherwise you run the risk of selling to someone who stole a credit card.

[hobbit709]

12. I sell

on Ebay all the time. I probably average $500 a week gross. Yes they have all sorts of fees but if you take time to pick the right categories, you usually do fairly well. Dead shirts would probably do better under Music Memorabilia than in any Clothing category.

[AuntieM1957]

13. Don't need a hosting site for pictures

You can upload a couple of shots directly on your auction.

I haven't listed for a while - but it used to be one free & a small fee for additional views.

If you're not familiar with html - use their free guide to help set up your listing description.

If you allow buyers to pay you via PayPal - you'll have to give a percentage of the sale to PayPal. I'd advise against taking checks, but if you do - make it clear in your listing that you're going to wait for them to clear BEFORE you ship.

Decide your terms of sale - and describe them clearly in your listing. That's the best way to avoid negative feedback and non-paying bidders.

Good Luck!

[mahina]

14. Mmmm....ebay....

My name is Mahina and I am a (reformed) ebayaholic. I had it BAD...I have a little teeny 1940's textile obsession. So I have probably the most awesome collection of 40's tablecloths you can imagine, and kitchen towels, and stuff like that. Funny because my tastes are pretty contemporary, simple clean design, but those textiles just knock me on my ass. SO ANYWAY here's what I have learned:
Set a low reserve, one that will let lots of people enter the auction. Pick a number that won't make you cry if that's all you get and do consider the fees. It might not be a bad idea to auction some of them as a lot. You never know when you are going to hit a nerve with someone who loves the one you have for sale and if a couple of folks get into a bidding war for yours, you luck out. BUT there are a lot of dead shirts on ebay, would it be cheaper to sell them at a garage sale? Just wondering...I loved grateful ed's shirts in Berkeley in the 70's. Judging from a wuick look at the cuations the real concert shirts witht he dates are going for some bucks, 36. for one from the Greek Theater in 1981. The generics not so much. And ya, paypal is the way to go...otherwise it takes forever to get paid and it is a hassle when people don't follow through, not worth the trouble and most people on ebay have paypal accounts IMHO. Good luck aloha no

[burn the bush]

15. ebay will host one pic for you at no additional charge

it's loaded up from your computer so there is no outside hosting needed. If u want to show several pics for an auction, ebay charges for additional pics. You can however host them on one of those free pic hosting sites and put the url in your description. You will need to look up the correct html wording (located on ebay) but for a pic you add something like (img srce = the url} Ebay will show you.

start your auctions at 9.99 instead of the 14.99 yo hope to get. That will make your listing fee only 30 cents. You can also start at .99 which gets more attention but then you are risking not getting the price you want for it. You could list it at .99 with a reserve of 15.00. the reserve cost is 1.00 but if it sells for that price, you don't have to pay it.

I agree with the other poster that you are more likely to get to your buyers by listing in the memorabilia, rock areas rather than clothing for these particular sites.

If you pack it up and can list the cost to ship in the description, i think that helps get more buyers.

Good luck to you
Go ahead and give it a shot.
are these recent dead shirts or actual 60's shirts?