Topic: Selling on EBAY

[Svea]

i would also add 'flower' to the headline, so i would be looking for 'flower seeds' in headings, and your listing would pop up.

and what nattyem said ;)

svea

[NattyEm]

overheads go in the shipping.  come on though, people arent stupid will only cost you a normal stamp probably and an envelope from something you've received if not 30p so call postage 80p if you need to.  

[Garden Manager]

Well as i am wanting to sell more than one packet, (ie 5 in one go) i thought a small padded envelope (Price circa 30p), rather than an 'ordinary' envelope. Also postage still goes on weight  so i am half expecing the cost to be slightly more than the 28 (29?)p  for a 60g letter. Could be wrong though.

I suppose at the end of the day my 50p P and P will probable cover most of it.

Cheers!

[Garden Manager]

i would also add 'flower' to the headline, so i would be looking for 'flower seeds' in headings, and your listing would pop up.

and what nattyem said ;)

svea

So,  'Flower seeds' then instead of just 'seeds'?

[EvieB]

Ebay`s great, sold loads of stuff already and i've only been on there since the beginning of Jan ;D
My user name is evelynb2005 if you want to see what i'm selling, you have to go to `find seller or add seller in your ``my ebay`` i think.  :-\

[Kerry]

a lot of those free seeds from AG came with a RRP on them-if you put this down, as i see others have done, people may see how much they are saving.
and a sow by date, if any.
and (lastly) i wouldn't worry yet, as i've just had a look at the section they're in, and you are towards the latter end of 146 pages, surrounded by other stuff with no bids!
others are right, people tend to look at the 'ending soonest' first, and bid when there's not long left.

[Multiveg]

Just an idea - say you had 10 packets of seeds - maybe not everyone would want all those ten packets, so you could say that in this auction, you are selling any 5 of the winning bidders choice out of that 10...

[Mrs Ava]

The other thing is, you are a first time seller, so no feedback as yet.  This can put regulars off, not always, but sometimes.  It is just a matter of working out the right formula, and once you have it, I am sure you will have no bother.  The P&P does need to be reasonable and sensible.  People do compare and if you and 'Joe Bloggs' are offering similar goods, but his P&P is cheaper, well you know where the bids will be going.  I do think you need to make you ad more appealling, sell the seeds more..................

[NattyEm]

you could add nice pics of what the flowers might look like when grown too!

Tip: if you host the pics yourself and then use html to create your ad then you don't have to pay for more pictures, just one for the gallery pic if you need one!

[Yellow Petals]

Some good advice here from many members.  Natty is right, a lot of bids do usually happen in the last few minutes.  I've had things listed for 10 days before and only had them bid on right before closing so don't lose hope.

My real reasonf for posting, Richard, is to remind you that each time you revise your ad, you are charged for it, so try to save all your amendments and do them at once, else your listing is going to cost you more than your winning bid!

Sam.

[rosebud]

RICHARD can i put my tuppence in THE POUND SHOP sells  padded envelopes of all sizes for obviously £1 much cheaper than elsewhere and i think the seed size has 5/6 envelopes in.larger ones have 4  Have you a poundshop near you??.

[Kerry]

i see you sold them then? and one set for £2? not bad!

[Garden Manager]

yes i ve had my first sales. Whoopeee!

One went for 50p the other for £2.00 (plus the PandP). So not a failure after all.

i did have one problem. One buyer paid by credit card, but paypal wouldnt let me accept is as I didnt have the right account (could upgrade for a 'fee'). I then had to refuse the payment - after i had dispatched the item! Arrghhh!

Typical i thought - I'd snatched defeat from the jaws of victory (as they say).

Fortunately the other payment went through on Paypal automaticaly no problem, and the 'problem' payment has been sorted out (buyer agreed to send a cheque). But it has meant that I have had to add a note on my next sale item, requesting buyers who use paypal do not use crefit card.

Yes I have not been put off. I have put up 2 more sales, taking advantage of a special offer yesterday on listing fees. i have taken on board all i have learnt from the first attempt.

By the way i havent been charged for amendments according to my account.

[NattyEm]

You don't usually have to pay a fee to upgrade your paypal.   What happens when you upgrade is rather than payments being free (but only direct bank transfer of debit card) you pay a small fee for each transaction but it does mean that your listing will apeal to more people.  Some people add a clause that if you pay with paypal you have to add 4% to cover the charges but I'm not sure this is allowed any more.

[Garden Manager]

Just to update, things have been going well with my seed selling on EBAY. Sold loads if unwanted seed packets (still more to go)and made a reasonable amount on them (though not perhaps as much as I would have prefered). Money made will be 'reinvested' in the  garden somehow, either on a nice plant or some more seeds (this time varieties that i want).

Trouble is things seem to have ground to a halt and i seem to be 'banging my head against a brick wall' with it at the moment. For the first time a listed item failed to sell and had to be relisted (with a reduced price). Recent new listings have failed to attract interest also. I have done little different and if anything have improved my listings (I'm learning through experience!). I have even tried a 'Buy it now' on one listing just as an experiment. No joy so far.

I have a good reputation (loads of positive feedback from buyers, and the seeds being sold are not all 'common' varieties. I just cant work out what is wrong.

Here are the listings. A neutral unbiased opinion on them would be appreciated.


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=57222&item=4370996742&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=57222&item=4371035341&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=57222&item=4371319079&rd=1

[Mrs Ava]

Well the ads look good to me.  Maybe it is the time of year, you know, people have all of their seeds now and are looking more at buying pots and labels and accessories.  You may find seed selling is seasonal, from September 'til March.

[Garden Manager]

Well the ads look good to me.  Maybe it is the time of year, you know, people have all of their seeds now and are looking more at buying pots and labels and accessories.  You may find seed selling is seasonal, from September 'til March.

Hmm that is entirely possible EJ, the though had crossed my mind fleetingly.

Unfortunately i cant match such 'buyer trends'.

That said there still seems plenty of seed on sale on EBAY (which in itself may be a problem - a flooded market)

I wonder if I'd have better luck selling some of my more unusual varieties seperately? Many on EBAY seem to do this, though it could prove pricey in terms of fees and P&P.

[Multiveg]

Well done for getting some seeds sold. I have thought about selling seeds, but most of the packets have been opened (just for a dozen or so seeds!).

[Deleted]

Garden Cadet

I agree about keeping the starting price at rock bottom. i've sold quite a bit on ebay, and you often get things with no start price reaching far more than the same thing with even a modest start price.

Just had a look, and there's quite a bit of competition there for seeds. I would most definitely sell the unusual varieties separately. People may want those and not the others, and there's this psychological thing about buying something you don't necessarily want - the buyer is often happy to pay even more for something specific than when its part of a package. Very different thing entirely as an example, but I did this with a completely broken (yes, really) 12 year old camera. Sold the knackered body (with no lens either), the lens that should come with the camera, and a spare lens, all separately and got over £100!! As a package it would have been hard to shift - that psychological thing again - and I'd never have got that much.

The other two things that may or may not make a difference: I know you say new, but can you say if they're all in date. (e.g. viable to May 2007, for example). Lastly, the pic looks a bit out of focus on my PC - can you take a crisper pic so the packets can be seen clearly?

Also you can view in 'my ebay' how many 'watchers' you have. Quite often there'll be more than have yet bid and they all bid against each other in the last 15 minutes. I also buy on ebay, and never bid until the last 5 minutes, sometines waiting until the final 1 minute before I press the button!  Good luck!

[Garden Manager]

Dawn, Re: Pictures. Ive been having abit of trouble with those. Try as i might i cant seem to get them any better at the moment. the latter ones though i have tried to edit using Photosuite and HPphoto, which helps a bit. I figured as long as it gives a general idea of colours and shapes it would be better than nothing!

However i will look into improving things and perhaps using photobucket to host photos so Ican add more.

I will also have a go at selling 'specials' individualy.
i
t does though seem as if theres alot of seed being offered on EBay and not many buyers. I myself have bid for some sky-blue morning glory seeds recently. So far i have had no competition for them! Which of course is good for buying as it keeps the price down - but not so good for the seller. That said 1 bid at the opening price is better than no bits and i will happily sell at that price.

I just want the things to go  where they will be used and the resulting plants enjoyed, rather than just sitting in a packet in a box!