Is selling on eBay worth it?

[thracks]

I've got some gear for sale, and ads in the local paper and craigs list don't seem to me doing much for me. I've never tried to sell anything on eBay, nor have I bought anything there. I'm considering and attempt at getting rid of this stuff on eBay, but I'm not sure it's worth the hassle. Any advice from experienced eBay'ers?

[James Steele]

Well, my experience is that Craigslist/Local is good if you are willing to let stuff go relatively cheap. People, at least in San Diego here, are notoriously cheap when responding to Craigslist ads and you have to price stuff pretty low or be patient and repost your ad periodically and just wait for the right buyer to come along. I always prefer to BUY from Craigslist, because generally the sellers need a quick, local sale and so you can score good deals if you are check the ads several times a day and jump on deals. I bought an HD192 *AND* a PCI-424X card this way... I kid you not. For sellers, the upside is a local sale and cash quickly, but you may take a beating if you're not patient. It's also easy... no shipping hassle, etc.

On the other hand, if you're selling, eBay seems to be a better way to go, but you do pay a fee to eBay to place the listing and then a fee based on the final price when it sells. Generally the better price you can get on eBay makes up for it. eBay is especially good for unloading esoteric, unique sorts of things that only a smaller audience might want. For example, I have a MKS-30 synth module that crackles and it's gonna cost someone $250 in parts to fix. Someone on eBay might grab it. The "auction mentality" can work for you too where people get competitive. Just make sure that you indicate an accurate shipping cost, so you don't end up paying for that too.

The downside with eBay is you're gonna have to deal with packing and shipping the item which can be a hassle and cost you some time unless you pay someplace to do it. I have a UPS drop off at a Staples store nearby, so it's not so bad, but there is that part of the hassle.

[KarlSutton]

I recently sold 3 pieces of gear on ebay & I found it interesting that they all went out of the country! (Is there a demand for old 80's gear outside the US?) It is somewhat a hassle getting setup on ebay with a paypal account etc. Once you do it is easy to manage - but plan on about 6-7% of your sale going to ebay/paypal fees.

[mhschmieder]

I second what James said, with a slight variation regarding Craigslist: when posting more esoteric items, I overprice them by $50, because there is a built-in assumption of bargaining, so if you post it at the right price, you're unlikely to get that price.

For more common stuff, or for lower-priced items (under $100), it does seem that no one responds until the price goes lower. If selling similar items, I always offer a huge discount for multiple items.

My main caveats about Craigslist are to be wary of thieves who scout out places to rob later (I do not for a minute believe that my own robbery was a result of earlier Craigslist postings, but I do know people who were robbed as a result of Craigslist ads), and also the huge percentage of flakes who do not show up for an appointment nor bother to call to say they're not coming.

In that regard, the time it takes to package something for an eBay sale may be far less than the hassle of dealing with flakes and no-shows on Craigslist. But I have had mostly positive experiences with Craigslist of late -- primarily because I have only sold a few items, all of which were esoteric pieces of music gear that wouldn't attract non-professionals.

In general, an eBay auction will bring more money -- even after fees are accounted for. But there are a few cases where I know I got more off of Craigslist, because the item was so rare that the person was willing to pay an "average" eBay price vs. hold out for a low auction. A case in point was my Kawai K5000r additive synthesizer (I parted with it in favour of Cameleon 5000 soft synth).

So one thing to consider is whether your auctions are likely to bring top value on eBay or not. Mine aren't, because I do not have a PayPal business account and thus cannot accept credit card payments. Musicians are mostly broke and so don't like paying with virtual cash (whether PayPal cash transfer or money order or secured cheque). If one watches multiple items on eBay, clear patterns emerge as to which sorts of auctions and auctioners win top dollar and which ones bottom out below average. Balance that against the more direct negotiations of a Craigslist sale (if you try for direct pricing on eBay auctions very few are likely to respond and/or buy -- depending on the rarity of the item).

If you do decide to use eBay and are totally green at it, there are a couple of excellent books (even for experienced folks): eBay The Missing Manual (o'Reilly/Pogue Press), and I think a new one from Rough Guide (who started out as a budget travel publisher).

[RCory]

I've had excellent results buying and selling on eBay.

It's also a great resource for seeing what things can be bought/sold for.

[OldTimey]

My main caveats about Craigslist are to be wary of thieves who scout out places to rob later (I do not for a minute believe that my own robbery was a result of earlier Craigslist postings, but I do know people who were robbed as a result of Craigslist ads), and also the huge percentage of flakes who do not show up for an appointment nor bother to call to say they're not coming.

Flakes suck. I tried three times to sell a table on CL, and person after person would stand me up. I just hold them accountable. call them the next day and ask, "Where the heck were you, you stood me up!"

And I never let anyone i don't know too well catch a glimpse of my "glimmer" if im selling or buying a piece, i just meet folks in mall parking lots or starbucks etc. etc.

[James Steele]

Yeah... I forgot about the craiglist flake factor. The way I deal with that is not to publish my phone number. When I get an email inquiry, I give them my phone number but no directions and tell them that when they're ready to come get it, I will give them directions and only hold the item once they're on the way and then only for reasonable driving time, otherwise it's gone. You cannot HOLD items for people until they are actually enroute.

Oh yeah... and for expensive items I meet people at neutral locations. If it's some lower end gear, I have it out on the porch for them to come look at it and thus avoid any need to come into the house. I'm waiting for someone to ask to use my bathroom still... if so I may have to make up a story about a plumbing issue. I have actually met some nice people in the course of buying and selling stuff on craiglist. Usually my radar is pretty good about people.

[mhschmieder]

I follow all of those guidelines, and using gut instinct is also wise. Better safe than sorry. But be careful about mall parking lots, as we had a rash of holdups late last year from some gangs who were using Craigslist to lure people (and this was in broad daylight!).

Not that one should be overly paranoid, but it's a good idea to let someone else know where you're going, or better still, have someone accompany you. I've noticed most of my buyers come with someone, and though they're too polite to say so, it's for their own protection.

That said, I have actually formed some friendships and useful music and photography allies from Craigslist sales (especially from some of the more esoteric items). It can be a lot of fun -- especially for someone who's working most of the time and doesn't get out enough .

[OldTimey]

yeah now that i think about it, maybe parking lots aren't such a great place to meet up. A public place perhaps with people would be better. But, sometimes you can get a pretty good sense about a person by emailing phoning back and forth...

a fantastic deal i got on CL a FMR RNC + RNP, racked in a funk logic tray...for a cool 350...i met the guy in a parking lot...probably not the best idea to be hanging out there with 350 in cash, but oh well. it worked out. no gangs.

[jgest]

as long as the gear still has a user base, I have done pretty well on e-bay.
As far as craigslist goes, up here in northern CA gangs/criminals often prey on unsuspecting people trying to sell or buy musical stuff (usually easy victims). As long as there is cash or pawn value, there is a meth head awaiting a possible scam. I only meet in public places, never give out home phone#'s......

[thracks]

Thanks for all the great input. Believe it or not I just sold a mixer from a post I made at OSXAudio (aka bigbluelounge) I used PayPal to make the deal with a guy on the other side of the country. It was very easy and painless. Having recently been burglarized I am not too keen on the whole Craigs List method of inviting random strangers to my house. I guess I'll check out the eBay method.

[billf]

FYI, there are independent businesses that handle the eBay work for you. Usually you take the items to their local office, fill out a form, and once the item is sold, you give them a percentage of the sale price for the item. I've used some of these services locally, and it's saved me the hassle of shipping, monitoring auctions, and all that un-fun stuff. For me it was easier to take the gear, drop it off, and get a check a week later.

[mhschmieder]

Geesh, two Californians backing up my horror stories of parking lot set-ups and home thefts . I guess I'm being realistic vs. paranoid. But yes, you can usually get a good feel in pre-sale communication. And for those in larger cities, here's a suggestion: meet at a public transporation hub. Here in the SF Bay Area, I often do transactions at busy BART stations, in plain sight of the security guard.

As for managed sales, be aware that many of them don't promote the item very well and you could lose $150 off of average to above-average price. Case in point is "I Sold It!". I've gotten some great deals from their auctions, for rare stuff such as the Yamaha FS1r (which I may still resell this year, but not through them!). I don't know whether they just don't waste time (time=money) to research what they're selling and put it in the best light, or whether they generally take ad copy from the client and the clients don't know the gear well enough to promote it properly.

Some other egregious examples of third-party mishandling (not ethics, mind you, just incompetence), involve misspellings, improper category listing, no item details or links, and not listing alternate spellings of the product name for eBay searches to turn up (e.g. "FS1-r" without also listing as "FS1r").

I have done quite well on eBay because I personalise my ads. This is one of the strongest recommendations in o'Reilly/Pogue Press' "eBay: The Missing Manual". I do a lot of research into what I'm selling and go way beyond the marketing hype sheet, telling the potential buyers what the item will do for them, usually in the second person. This engenders trust and a warm fuzzy feeling that makes people want to bid on your item more than the one from that faceless third party reseller.

As I mentioned earlier though, payment method can take a dent out of final price. I just all depends. On rare stuff, usually not. But on more common stuff, definitely.

For Craigslist, beware especially of non-local buyers, or people who say they USED to live in your area and so feel comfortable buying from someone there, now could they please wire the money... . And BTW, they have a friend in Ireland who's having trouble with a currency exchange transaction, so it would be really helpful if you could take an excess of $1000 beyond the item's price (it's always the "item"; never a specific mention of what the ad is actually for), and then redeposit the excess in a special account in Nevada or somewhere else.

[BradLyons]

WOW, the Yamaha FS1R! That is a product I've not heard about in ages, and definitely one of the coolest modules I've ever used..... snif

[garymadi]

I've got some gear for sale, and ads in the local paper and craigs list don't seem to me doing much for me. I've never tried to sell anything on eBay, nor have I bought anything there. I'm considering and attempt at getting rid of this stuff on eBay, but I'm not sure it's worth the hassle. Any advice from experienced eBay'ers?

eBay has been a good outlet for newly obsoleted software and instruments for me.
The fess are high and Pay pal takes chunk as well but it's better than having people come to your house.