Most of us use moving home as an excuse to declutter. Instead of filling up your bins, you can actually turn this into an opportunity to make a little extra cash by selling off your unwanted items. Although it’s not the only option, eBay remains the most popular choice for this. There are several things you can do to increase your chances of getting the best possible price on eBay, many of which also apply to other sites such as Gumtree.
Listing Title
When people search on eBay, you title is the first thing they will see. In fact, if you don’t include the right words, they might not see your listing at all. It’s important therefore to include the exact name of the item you are trying to sell so as many people as possible can find it. You should also include any particularly relevant information, such as whether the item is new or used, the brand name and any other positive attributes e.g. ‘with original packing’, ‘unopened’ or ‘comes with all original accessories’.
Photos
Having good quality photos can make a massive difference to the price you get, so make sure to portray your sale items the best way you can. Pick a spot with a neutral background and plenty of natural light to make your goods look as attractive as possible. Take photos from several different angles and make sure to get clear photos of any damage to the item so people know exactly what they are getting. Fail to do this and you could end up being forced to refund them and hurt your user rating. eBay allows you to load up to 12 photos for free, so don’t be stingy!
Description
You should be as detailed as possible here, including all of the useful information you couldn’t fit into the title. Make sure not to forget details such as model numbers and exact dimensions of the item. If there is anything particularly rare or unusual about the item, or if it is no longer available in shops, this can all help to push up the price.
User Rating
One stumbling block for first time eBayers can be their user rating. When you start out, you will have a neutral user rating, neither good nor bad. Unfortunately you are unlikely to get the best prices for your old stuff if you don’t have a healthy number of positive ratings from other users. This is because people will be less likely to trust you if they have no evidence of your reliability, so fewer people will bid and those that do won’t want to risk bidding as much on a seller who may not deliver.
You can build your seller rating by selling smaller, low value items first before moving onto the big stuff, meaning you will be less likely to lose as much money. You can also build your rating by buying stuff, just as long as you pay promptly!
Pick your time
Many buyers wait until the last moments of an auction to try and swoop in with a higher bid. This means if you time the auction to end at 4am on a Wednesday, you are likely to get far fewer bids than if the auction ends at 6pm on a Sunday. This is because Sunday is generally the busiest day of the week on eBay so there are likely to be more people watching the auction and waiting to get in a last minute bid.
Don’t forget…
eBay takes 10% of the final sale price of your item, including postage. This still applies, even if the item is listed for free. If the buyer uses Paypal they will also take an extra 3.4% of the total sale price as well as 20p per sale. Although eBay requires all sellers to offer Paypal as a payment option, you can specify that you would prefer payment in the form of cash or a cheque for pick-up only sales. That way, you’ll get to keep more of the overall sale value for yourself!
The real key to making any move as quick and efficient as possible is to choose a reliable, professional firm of moves to help you. Intransit has been helping people move through the South West and beyond for over 18 years, so if you need a removals company you can rely on, please get in touch. Call Intransit today on 01225 759200 or send us an email for a quick response.
