Ebay selling - Ready Reckoner Needed !!

[Krossat]

Hello there,

I have finally decided to put up an auction on Ebay for a domain. But before doing so, do i need to know any specifics? Can u share your experience on Selling at Ebay??? Some things that pop up in my mind are:

1. What is the fee they charge for selling domains?
2. Is the Fee per Sale or Per Domain???
3. Do they have an Escrow?
4. How safe is transacting via Paypal @ Ebay? They say they have a seller protection for Paypal transactions.. how does it work?
5. How successful has it been for you to sell @ Ebay?
6. What are the things one needs to be forewarned about @ Ebay Selling?

Thanks for the tips in advance
Kross

 

[Truthman]

1. WHAT IS THE FEE THEY CHARGE FOR SELLING DOMAINS? Same fees apply as for selling other goods:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html

2. IS THE FEE PER SALE OR PER DOMAIN??? A fee for listing an item, then a percentage of the final sale.


3. DO THEY HAVE AN ESCROW?
No, you can use an external escrow company for that side of the transaction. I would recommend an escrow for domains worth anything over a few hundred dollars...

4. HOW SAFE IS TRANSACTING VIA PAYPAL @ EBAY? THEY SAY THEY HAVE A SELLER PROTECTION FOR PAYPAL TRANSACTIONS.. HOW DOES IT WORK?
Depends on the amount of money involved, also you can get some idea of how reliable the buyer is by looking at their feedback score. Not sure how the seller protection works, since I never used it.

5. HOW SUCCESSFUL HAS IT BEEN FOR YOU TO SELL @ EBAY?
I have sold a few there, almost all I have listed, and was happy with the price I got.

6. WHAT ARE THE THINGS ONE NEEDS TO BE FOREWARNED ABOUT @ EBAY SELLING?
Ebay accounts do get hijacked, so use escrow.com

 

[Krossat]

Thanks for the useful info Truthman!! It is a great starter!
What do you mean by "Ebay accounts do get hijacked"? Is it that your ebay account gets broken into????
repped

 

[accent]

Seller protection does not apply to non-physical items like domain names.

Be sure to have the opening price on your names at a price you can live with. Most ebay buyers are looking for something very cheap. Many times you will get only one bid.

If you have special terms (such as requiring escrow) state them clearly in your listing. Even then many bidders will not see them. (Most questions I receive are already answered in the listing. I respond politely anyway.)

Choose the 7 day auction, unless there is a good reason otherwise. It gives buyers time to find your listing. Do not be concerned much if there are no bids early on - most bidding happens in the last minutes.

Junk names probably will not sell. Really good names (such as LLL.coms) can fetch good prices, but if you have no or little feedback there is a trust issue. Mid range ($$, $$$) names may lack bidders.

If your name does not sell and you re-list it from the unsold items part of "My eBay" and it sells the second time then the second listing fee is free (but not the final value fee). This does not work for the third time. So every second time you re-list use the "sell similar" option.

If you have a lot to sell consider an eBay store. $17 per month to list anything you want for 5 -11 cents per month. (The final value fees are higher and the exposure is less.) I find I sell things in the store that do not sell at auctions, it is a lot less work because the listings can be set to continue until I stop them or they sell and the buyers are usually more experienced, so transactions are easier with less no-pays.

The buyer gets an email from eBay when they win, and another from Paypal if they pay that way (90%+ of buyers pay by Paypal. The others usually take forever). Send the buyer an email as soon as you can thanking them and asking them for the information you need to transfer the name (if they do not send it on their own). Transfer the name as soon as you get paid and have the info needed, then email the buyer to tell them the name is in their account. Communicate with the buyer in a simple, informative and friendly manner to increase the chances of additional sales and good feedback. Often the buyer will be considerably less knowledgeable than the folks here at Namepros.

Non-paying bidders are a fact of the business. Send them a polite email every week or two, reminding them. Most will straggle in. Buyers with more than 5 feedback usually will pay eventually. Buyers with zero feedback who make no response to your emails sometimes will never pay. Sometimes you will completely give up on a buyer and be surprised when he pays, very late but there it is. This is a problem with domains with their expiration dates, but it is part of eBay. After a month or two with no response, file a non-paying buyer dispute to get your Final Value Fee back and a re-list for free. Second chance offer is another possibility if there was another bidder whose bid you want to accept, but I have had no luck the few times I tried that.

Learning patience is part of eBay, but you can sell domains there at around reseller levels.

 

[Truthman]

Another point, if you are selling higher priced domains, put a link to the ebay auction on the actual site which you are selling, or forward the domain to the ebay auction, this makes the auction a bit more trustworthy, and proves you are the actual owner of the domain.

What do you mean by "Ebay accounts do get hijacked"? Is it that your ebay account gets broken into????

Yeah, somebody takes control of the account without the knowledge of the real account holder. And can use the account to do dodgy deals.

 

[Krossat]

Thanks fro the useful info
I think i will try a couple of auctions there for starts. Your detaled info is really going to be helpful!!