Curtains and ebay

never used ebay but have sold stuff on my local gumtree and friday ad site..

I have just looked up gumtree and it looks as though it is run by ebay!

It's very easy to sell on eBay. If you are already an eBay buyer and have PayPal it's even easier. If you have a smart phone or tablet with camera it takes about 5 mins to list an item. Take some good quality photos of your curtains preferably while they are hanging up. Make sure you have the exact dimensions and description, make/ colour/ pattern/ fabric/ lined or not/ make sure if there are any flaws you describe these honestly and take a photo. You need to decide how you will send them or do you just want collection in person? you need to estimate the cost of postage - heavier items I would send with someone like Hermes who pick up from your house and are usually a bit cheaper. Decide on the minimum you think is worth selling the item. If you just want to get rid you can start the auction at 99p, if you think it's not worth the hassle of selling for less than say, £20 you can start the auction with that. I am always selling little bits and pieces on eBay and have a healthy balance in my PayPal account. If you start with a low reserve you can often find the bidding goes up quicker than if you start higher, if that makes sense.

Thanks for all that advice suzie - I have only ever used the paypal account to buy things. How do you extract money that is credited to your Paypal a/c when you sell something?

You can let it sit in your paypal account as a credit , so when you buy something with paypal it will come out of that, or it is easily transferred to your current account that they already have details of.
if you go to eBay and click "sell an item" it takes you through step by step of how to list.

Luckygirl I have sold curtains on ebay. Make sure they are clean/cleaned and not faded along the edges. Take a lot of close up and distance photos; showing headinga and hem inside and out.

Calculate weight of parcel and postage costs before you offer them. I used MyHermes, but made sure I had reasonable insurance and thats it.

If they do not sell first time, keep relisting until they do. I had to relist three times, but then got a really good price for the ones I sold.

I have sold quite a few things on eBay.
1) weigh your item carefully. Then calculate postage and packing.With curtains I would also offer buyer collect
2) Take quite a few really good photographs. Don't forget to show any defects, fading, marks etc.
3) list accurate measurements.
4) describe the article honestly
Then log in, chose Selling, and you are guided all the way from there.

Good luck

Thanks! I will give it a go once we are moved in (and our phone line and internet are connected - 10 days after we move in). It will salve my conscience.

If all else fails give them to a charity shop.