Ebay Selling

Hi Guys

I'm a newbie here so hopefully this won't sound too crazy! Selling on Ebay seems like a viable option for people who live in America/Australia or somewhere close but if you live in New Zealand like I do - wouldn't the postage cost be too big/take too long for anyone wanting to buy a product off a New Zealand seller?

Thank you

Hi Henrich,

The additional postage cost will certainly make you less competitive unless:

(a) You sell something small and lightweight
(b) You find an ultra niche market
(c) You sell something that allows you to make a feature of the fact it's all the way from the land of the long white cloud!

Have you tried selling on the NZ auction site TradeMe?

There are a lot of successful new zealand eBayers I have come across. Don't think selling internationally won't make you money, 50% of my sales are from overseas buyers and I know another big sellers who has 70% overseas sales.

Just find the right product and give the buyer the best service possible. You might also want to consider using some form of tracking when you ship, as if the buyer claims they didn't get the item, you still might have to give paypal your money back.

Hey Guys

Thanks for the replies, both were informative and encouraging. I will take on board what has been said and will have to check out Link hidden: Login to view.

Thanks again

I sell a lot of stuff from Australia to N.Z. through TradeMe. But I only sell stuff which will pack less than 2cm thick. That way I can send it as a 'large letter' for AUD2.70 in most cases. The parcel charges are ridiculous. Tracking missing packages is also a problem as the only way is to register or insure, and that costs about 20% extra on the things I sell.

I would concur with the previous poster that TradeMe is your real option to get going at this.

I would get onto TradeMe and also Ioffer.com if you can and stay away from eBay with those types of products.

The shipping rates aren't flexible at all it seems, and you need to be able to charge the appropriate shipping rate.

Lets say all you're doing is selling DVDs like beat decided to do. Well, make sure all the keywords are in the shopping directories like Shopzilla and Froogle Product Search. Then make sure the buyers go to your I offer or TradeMe / Craigslist listing, and do simple barter rules negotiation.

All you want to do is sell your DVDs at barely below retail, but charge a shipping rate of around $8 AUD or $10 AUD to the other regions. If it was a bigger parcel, $16 AUD is preferable. Sure, you don't want to scare buyers away with a bad shipping cost but you ALSO don't want to waste any time or lose your product's value.

Thus ADJUST the shipping cost as needed, direct sell it or put it on the auction block up at TradeMe new zealand so you get the exact cost and shipping is no issue.

Hey guys,

Not sure if someone has already asked this, but I was wondering if there is a strategy to the free shipping option on ebay? Are sellers really offering it for free or is it just a marketing technique to add the shipping fee in with the price?


Thanks

No one sells anything to deliberately loose money, anything offered for free is always loaded at the front end.

Re selling DVDs on Trademe. Please be aware that Trademe disallows the sale of any DVD movies that don't have the NZ classification sticker. If you list DVDs without the sticker, your listings will be removed. I also sell on Trademe from Australia and if you have the product people want, they will happily pay the shipping cost so long as you charge the actual cost and don't try to profit from the shipping.

I was wondering if anyone has a preference on listing products with short videos vs pictures in listings?

Would never suggest substituting still for video in a listing, however a video in combination with good stills can be effective, especially if it is a demonstration of it item working.

Would never suggest substituting still for video in a listing, however a video in combination with good stills can be effective, especially if it is a demonstration of it item working.

Yes that is a great idea. I was thinking of at least having 1 or 2 pictures and then having a video version of the different angels of the product to give the buyer as much content as possible on the item. Thanks for your input!