Ebay auction...

I love E Bay I am always buying and selling on it. When the auction finishes e mail the winner straight away and ask them if they can collect it ASAP they will probably be eager to pick it up. Ask for payment on collection then you will not be charged any E Bay fee's.

Tegan, because I've been 'watching' your lovely suite, I've now bid for and won 2 tops.....

I think if you sell through eBay they still take their fee, but it it's cash on collection then there will be no Paypal fee.

I'm assuming it's the tartan sofa and chair, it's gorgeous.
The type of suite that looks none the less for a bit of wear - that's character.

I'd have a friend/family member make a substantial bid of at least what you would like to get for it. If no other buyer beats it then you/eBay bill your friend/buyer, they pay the invoice, and you then hand them the cash back.

I am also a watcher with interest.
Good luck - you can sort this.

You can indeed end the auction but it looks bad to do so once there are already bids made.

If Ebay catch you doing that, you'll be for the high jump. It is a shill bid and not allowed.

I don't really want anything for it;just don't want it to be wasted. It'll cost someone a lot to pick it up as it's so huge. Will probably give any money to a charity. It looks better in the photo than in real life though.

Your suite will sell, for whatever amount, Tegan! Looks like the highest bidder has maybe put an automatic bid in. The seller (you) can see if this is so, by clicking on 'show automatic bids'. As soon as one of the other bidders start bidding again, the highest bidder's amount will rise, according to the amount he's set for himself. Ebay will take a seller's fee, but you won't pay a listing fee as you gave a start price of 99p.

How much do they take?

Just checked for you, Tegan. They take 10%. This is the Final Value Fee. Because you're not charging postage or using PayPal. I see you've put that down as a payment option, but it won't apply - maybe best to have cash payment when they come to collect it? If PayPal's used, you have to pay a percentage of that, you see. So - if say, it goes for £20, you'll get £18. You'll get an eBay invoice telling you what your fees are, and when it'll come off your account.

It's going up, Tegan - have you seen?

Tizliz Ebayers don't know about this kind of bidding how can they? The bid goes through, the friend buys it and gets the bill. Ebay do not know the difference -it is not frowned on. Why should you go the trouble and put a handbag or pair of shoes in the post when only one pound was bid?

If you make point of stopping bidding then ebay will notice that. I have an excellent rating and don't want to lose it.

Most of the bids on ebay items come in a rush just before the auction finishes so whatever is being is being bid now could be twice as much or more by the time the auction finishes.

I have been buying and selling on ebay without incident for over 10 years. It is a great way of getting rid of anything from knitting wool, odd lengths of fabric to furniture. DH has just sold his very old and decrepit 'fun' car - and bought another, all on ebay.

I once sold an child's antique folding chair to a person in Japan! I've had very few problems. A few non-payers over the years, but ebay are very good with sorting that out.
DH sold a vintage motorbike! The chap came from the other side of the country with a wagon to pick it up.

I buy masses of stuff on Ebay, never had a problem that hasn't easily been resolved. I once bought an expensive table for 90p, it should have fetched £80+ , didn't have the heart to force the sale and the guy was very pleased as he was selling it for his mother and had forgotten to add a reserve. Once a bid is made it is a binding contract on both parties.

MargaretX don't underestimate the tenacity of other ebayers! If they suspect someone of shrill bidding they will follow every auction and check all the bidders. If they see a pattern they will report it. You can get away with it once or twice but not a lot. It is an auction and you will only get what someone wants to pay for it. If you want more than a £1 start the bidding higher.

Hope it finds a good home, Tegan. I'd love it if we weren't so far away.

I think it's too big as well.

From pages.ebay.co.uk/help/tutorial/sbiddingtutorial/intro2.html -

"To ensure that the eBay marketplace remains a safe and fair place to trade, buyers must have the confidence to trust the integrity of sellers. Shill Bidding damages the integrity and fairness of trading within the online marketplace and is therefore prohibited on eBay.

eBay's policy on Shill Bidding is as follows:

Shill Bidding is bidding that artificially increases an item's price or apparent desirability. Shill Bidding is prohibited on eBay.

Breaches of this policy may result in a range of actions, including:

Listing cancellation
Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings
Limits on account privileges
Loss of PowerSeller status
Account suspension
Referral to Law Enforcement"

If you don't want to put a handbag or pair of shoes in the post when only one pound was bid, then don't list them in a way that makes it possible for them to sell for only £1.

Sellers chose the starting price themselves, and the trick is to set it at the very minimum that you would be prepared to let it go at - unless it is something that you believe will be very popular and certain to reach an acceptable price. Unfortunately, used shoes, handbags and clothes are very seldom likely to make large amounts.

A word of warning regarding not setting a minimum price. I sold a book for 90p, Ok not problem, but it cost me quite a lot to post it and the Ebay commission includes the post cost, so I only made 30p, hardly worth walking to the post office for. I not add the commission to the post cost before quoting it.

But the facility is there to add the cost of postage and packing. If I put anything on ebay quoting free p&p, I always set the reserve price at p&p and round up to the nearest £. Otherwise I quote the cost of sending it..

For inexpensive lots, I have been selling lots of knitting wool and patterns recently, I quote a reserve that includes p&p and then say Free P&P. When I am selling larger more expensive items; a pair of curtains, rolls of wallpaper, to name two recent items, I quote separately for p&p

Yes just set the starting price at the minimum you think it's worth going to the post office for. If it doesn't sell you'll have to take it to the charity shop. So might as well give it a go. I quite often start auctions at 99p when I really want to get rid of something, and if it's collection only. I recently sold a vintage microscope for £22, an old wooden bedside table for 99p and a 1970s teasmade for £12 amongst many other bits and pieces. Clothes and bags can make a fair bit if they have a decent label. I sold a Ted Baker jacket that I've worn a couple of times for £25.

That is very dishonest Margaretx . If this is what you do then it won`t be long before you get found out and your account stopped (hopefully)

I sold a book for 90p, Ok not problem, but it cost me quite a lot to post it and the Ebay commission includes the post cost, so I only made 30p,
pompa I noticed that books for sale on Amazon can be as low as 1p (I recently bought a 2nd hand out of print history book for DH for 1p) but the package and posting was £2.99, which seems to be about the price charged for a small book.

Tegan It's up to £32 now! How exciting! ?

Tizliz like some other people on e.bay I've been on it for over 10 years. I would never do anything so obvious that other ebayers would notice, and all my goods start at 1 Euro( I don't live in the UK). Its not the bid
its the hidden final amount which has to be higher and it is a secret and cannot be seen by other bidders. Nor is the name and address of the buyer public at least not in Germany. I think my things are not interesting enough to cause other ebayers any headaches.

I am now on my 5 th Apple computer and 3 have come from e.bay. followed by 6 car seats for children - all with good recognised safety labels. I find that those sort of things have a fixed price anyway. Somehow the end price is always the same. My best ebay bargain I got while Germany was playing in the World Cup. I was then the only one left bidding.