Saturday, October 6, 2007

What would my "Buy it Now" price be?

I'm in the middle of disposing myself of just about every stupid thing I ever collected or bought in my life. I think part of the reason I held onto most of the stuff is because I never had an efficient way of getting rid of it - without throwing it in the trash. That would have been efficient, but difficult. I always think I'll "need" something or that it is some sort of commemorative item that I would be stupid to toss. So I carried them around for about 30 years until something efficient and easy came along.
And this is the thanks I get - Ebay. I have to take pictures of all this crap and make up an ad that makes it look like what I have is what you want. I've sold some old camera lenses for more than I thought they were worth and some books and CDs for much less. Maybe my ads are not attractive enough? As you could imagine, I stay away from the flowery language and exaggerated descriptions.
It's a Pearl Jam CD.
These are the songs.
This is the price.
CDs are hard to sell. I've put lots of them up for four bucks and most of the popular ones don't sell. The ones I sell are the oddballs that completests have to have - they think. They're where I was 30 years ago. Wait a while and all that junk will go up for bid again.
What galls me a little are all the fees. I find it interesting that Paypal charges a fee for a transfer, then pays you 5.21% on your account. But they make money. I realize that Ebay and Paypal are not non-profit organizations, but you have to sell a lot of cheap crap to make up for the selling fee, listing fee and Paypal fee. That's a chunk out of 4 bucks. I'd price them lower, but I think it's ridiculous to pay more to ship something than you paid for it. And by the time I got done with the fees, it's hardly worth selling it at all.
I should just throw it in the trash.

6 comments:

Kate Michele said...

CDs, DVDs and books go the best on Amazon. And you don't have to take pictures!

Firestarter5 said...

I've had an Ebay account for some time now. Never used it. Doubt I ever will. There's just something about buying something from someone from somewhere without actually holding the product in my hands beforehand.

kimmyk said...

OMG. I am such an eBay junkie. Spent two hours this morning surfing Holga cameras and electronic stethoscopes. I got my eye on two. I'll probably buy 'em by the end of the day. Love me some eBay.

We've bought two no three boats off of eBay. Great deals. Great boats. But my doctor that I work for-his wife bought a car off of eBay and sent the money via Western Union and got zinged. Five grand-gone. She shoulda asked me, but nope. Taken to the cleaners. So anyways, whatchu got for sale?

Anthony said...

Kate: Ebay lets you enter the UPC number for books and CDs, but it doesn't work all the time.

Kimmyk: I started with CDs and DVDs, since they're easy to ship. A few camera lenses and my old AE1 outfit. Now I'm trying the sports card collection. I only put up a few things at a time so I'm not running to the PO with a ton of stuff.

Ladyred said...

eBay *shivers*

Actually I've been doing the same as you, trying to unload myself of stuff I really don't need and am tired of packing and moving. I've sold a few CD's for over 5 bucks. Seems like a shitty deal considering they were double CDs, but oh well. Most are going for like 99 cents. I feel the same as you about shipping, but what can ya do? I sell a lot of books too.

Damn you got any more lenses left?!?!? Oh wait, are they for the EF hookup?

I forget about Amazon, but I put my stuff up on eBay and what doesn't go gets on Half.com.

I need to put clothing up, my oooold (meaning 80s style) stereo, yea the ones with the ginormous speakers lol, kitchen items. I have a feeling that crap is going to be hitting the goodwill. I hate all the photographing and fees, but I figure if I can get a little money for it.......I don't know if it's all worth it but makes me feel like I"m at least getting SOMEthing for it. Just a time-consuming chore to put things up.

Scoobers said...

This is exactly why I have a closet full of clothes, books and CD's destined for Ebaydom but have sat there for ages while I anxiously debate whether it's worth the trouble.
Plus, the P.O. is hell on earth.