New Seller Trust

[Tvanho]

Just a question from a new seller:

Do you guys have any issues with buying from a new seller; one with say...less than 10 positive reviews? Does eBays policy of buyer guarantee make you comfortable to deal with any seller no matter their rating?

If the rating does matter, is there anything the seller could write in their description or information that would make you more comfortable in dealing with them?

If it wasn't obvious, this is mainly about me. Ive made a couple sales in the last week and I'm wondering if the stuff that didn't sell is because I have a low rating or if I just need to lower the price some more. Thanks for any help or input.

[chezball]

It's not you,it's the stuff you're selling.

[Johnson]

trust is kinda a non issue since ebay holds funds for new sellers and has buyer protection, 1 problem i notice w new sellers is they will get issues from buyers and not deal w them until they suffer the consequences of not doing so and get negative feedback and low DSR's

to me it is more so about the details on ebay than it is gaining trust because a majority of the time u will be dealing w new buyers


some other things i would change:

returns, even if u put no returns ebay will force u to so u might as well have it there


make sure u put teams in the title

2014 Topps Eduardo Nunez #246 Pink Bordered Parallel SP #42/50

instead:

2014 topps pink eduardo nunez #246 yankees /50 (this is the important stuff)


keep your description the same as the title, i just put "Item is a" in front of it, you'd be surprised how many buyers actually read a description, less than 5% probably


i wouldn't put anything about payment in X amount of days either that's saying u don't trust buyers when it's out of your control really, just set your unpaid item assistant to 4 days or 8 days then it opens a case, i have mine set to 8


i would also offer combined shipping and if it's cards under $5 i send them in a PWE for .99 up to 3 cards, a 2014 topps pink i wouldn't take any less than $2 for a common

[Johnson]

It's not you,it's the stuff you're selling.

most start out w total junk that will never move he has some sellable stuff listed, the more u list the more u will sell and the more u sell the more u will sell, combined shipping helps a ton especially w repeat buyers that will buy dozens of crappy cards for a dollar each that no1 else wants

[checkoutmydeals]

I wouldn't have any problem buying from you if I were in the market for those items at that price. One newbie mistake is to list the most valuable thing they've ever owned as their first listing. The most expensive unsold item I saw had an opening bid of $1.49 plus $1.99 postage.

There were clear pics of the front and back of each item. Even with 7 feedback, I wouldn't hesitate to buy from you if I wanted that item at that price. However, when adding $1.99 postage, the item is $3.48. So I'd have to really want the item. And since you only had a handful of items, I'd be unlikely to find very many additional items that I'd want to add for combined postage savings.

You may have to manage your expectations a bit. From your completed listings, I see about a 25% sell-through rate on 7-day auctions. That's not a bad rate if your customer is paying pretty much full retail when the postage is added in.

In your listing, I'd take out the part about you being a new seller. Even if you are a new seller on eBay, you want to project some level of confidence and competence. For all anyone knows, you've been selling on eBay for 18 years and your other account has 100,000 feedback. Or for all they know, you've been a professional sports card dealer for 35 years even if you are just starting out on eBay.

As someone mentioned, the part about payment is probably unnecessary. The part about only shipping to the USA is possibly relevant. But if you want to ward off international buyers, just sign up for the eBay Global Shipping Program.

[Tvanho]

It's not you,it's the stuff you're selling.

Haha, I know. Ive got my crap cards up for now, I was thinking I should build up some good seller feedback before I put up my good cards.

trust is kinda a non issue since ebay holds funds for new sellers and has buyer protection, 1 problem i notice w new sellers is they will get issues from buyers and not deal w them until they suffer the consequences of not doing so and get negative feedback and low DSR's

to me it is more so about the details on ebay than it is gaining trust because a majority of the time u will be dealing w new buyers


some other things i would change:

returns, even if u put no returns ebay will force u to so u might as well have it there


make sure u put teams in the title

2014 Topps Eduardo Nunez #246 Pink Bordered Parallel SP #42/50

instead:

2014 topps pink eduardo nunez #246 yankees /50 (this is the important stuff)


keep your description the same as the title, i just put "Item is a" in front of it, you'd be surprised how many buyers actually read a description, less than 5% probably


i wouldn't put anything about payment in X amount of days either that's saying u don't trust buyers when it's out of your control really, just set your unpaid item assistant to 4 days or 8 days then it opens a case, i have mine set to 8


i would also offer combined shipping and if it's cards under $5 i send them in a PWE for .99 up to 3 cards, a 2014 topps pink i wouldn't take any less than $2 for a common

Wow, awesome tips Johnson, I really appreciate it! So far I've just been copying random descriptions I come across. So do I put the current team or the team the player is on during that card year? Or both?

[Tvanho]

I wouldn't have any problem buying from you if I were in the market for those items at that price. One newbie mistake is to list the most valuable thing they've ever owned as their first listing. The most expensive unsold item I saw had an opening bid of $1.49 plus $1.99 postage.

There were clear pics of the front and back of each item. Even with 7 feedback, I wouldn't hesitate to buy from you if I wanted that item at that price. However, when adding $1.99 postage, the item is $3.48. So I'd have to really want the item. And since you only had a handful of items, I'd be unlikely to find very many additional items that I'd want to add for combined postage savings.

You may have to manage your expectations a bit. From your completed listings, I see about a 25% sell-through rate on 7-day auctions. That's not a bad rate if your customer is paying pretty much full retail when the postage is added in.

In your listing, I'd take out the part about you being a new seller. Even if you are a new seller on eBay, you want to project some level of confidence and competence. For all anyone knows, you've been selling on eBay for 18 years and your other account has 100,000 feedback. Or for all they know, you've been a professional sports card dealer for 35 years even if you are just starting out on eBay.

As someone mentioned, the part about payment is probably unnecessary. The part about only shipping to the USA is possibly relevant. But if you want to ward off international buyers, just sign up for the eBay Global Shipping Program.

More awesome feedback! I will definitely adjust some of my verbiage. Ive sold 6 cards for the past week, which was more than I expected, but I wasn't sure how that stacked up, so seeing that 25% is a good average helps me know what to expect. Ill be putting up a lot more once I get back from my vacation next week, so this was kind of a test run to see how it went and where I needed to go with shipping costs or prices. I feel good about my first run, and I hope I at least make enough to keep up this new addiction :D And if not, its still fun!

[glen87]

avoid overuse of "SP"

a card is not a "SP" if every card in that set is that number. i know a lot of sellers use this term, but using the score green #/6. all green cards are numbered to 6, so amukamara is technically not a "SP." it would be a SP if he was numbered to 3, and the others were numbered to 6.

[Johnson]

Haha, I know. Ive got my crap cards up for now, I was thinking I should build up some good seller feedback before I put up my good cards.

Wow, awesome tips Johnson, I really appreciate it! So far I've just been copying random descriptions I come across. So do I put the current team or the team the player is on during that card year? Or both?

remember that people w good feedback had to work w their buyers to keep it that way, this is something new sellers will find out real fast!

if u are worried about selling prices it's not an issue if u put up best offer or fixed price auctions they are basically the same thing (best offer/buy it now each cost .30 to list) many purchases on ebay are random impulse buys so anything can work as far as time/day an item ends, w auctions once u get your selling limits raised just wait for a monthly promo and u list all u want for free up to your limit whether it's 50/500/5000

it is weird but if u can keep up w who's on what team u put the current team they're on in the title, now say it's yankees and they go to a donkey team i leave it yankees

also try to stay away from listing the least popular teams because they have virtually no demand especially on lower end cards, rays jays padres rockies dbacks marlins, for cards under $2 and older i put them in 2 or 3 card lots and have more success putting them @ 1.50 or $2 more buyers search lot than for singles for cheaper stuff