My First eBay Auctions!

[Flaming_Telepath]

Guys, thanks for all the input and advice over the last week or so. I've been a PITA with all my questions, I know, but finally you can see the fruits of your labours...

 

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQgotopageZ1QQsassZgwentleafQQsosortorderZ1QQsosortpropertyZ1

 

Any comments/feedback on the layout, content, scans, etc. will be gratefully accepted. Any bids will be even more gratefully accepted!

[DiceX]

Too much

Get to the point.

If I wanted to read, I'd go back to school.

Put all that stuff on an "about me" page.

People are there to bid, not read.

 

Nice size scan. That goes a long way when I'm bidding.

[Flaming_Telepath]

Are you saying you might need to go back to school?

 

Seriously, I was a bit uncomfortable with all the text, myself, but I was attempting to...

 

(a) Answer half the questions I'm going to get before I got them, and...

(b) Make people feel as comfortable as possible, thus encouraging them to make a bid.

 

The master plan was to run a number of auctions, run up the positive seller feedbacks, and then drop 60% of the text.

 

What I think I'll do, though, is edit down the text for next week's listings. See what I can say in less words and identify what I don't need to say at all.

 

And thanks for the feedback!

[uclapeterg]

I really don't mind all the text. I think your sincerity and honesty really come through and I think that's important as a first time seller.

 

So I think you should stick with gradually discreasing the text amount, but wait until you made a couple of sales first.

[DiceX]

I really don't mind all the text. I think your sincerity and honesty really come through and I think that's important as a first time seller.

 

So I think you should stick with gradually discreasing the text amount, but wait until you made a couple of sales first.

 

No more honest and sincere than any other seller on eBay.

I'm sure you can't count the number of times you've received a grossly overgraded book by someone touting "I have 35+ years of experience in comic grading ", or the like.

 

Perhaps I just expect it on eBay, but I could care less of all the blather. If I buy and the seller can grade, I buy again.

I'm not saying that FT is not being honest in his message.

But I wouldn't believe that any more than I would believe the guy that's selling the books he found in his attic that belonged to his dearly departed great step granddad.

 

FT, I am not saying anything against your ability as a seller. I've seen the testimonials from other people on these boards that support you.

I'm just saying it's not necessary to put all the extra text on your auction.

Show them what you have, tell them about it, and let them bid.

 

I wish you nothing less than the best of luck!

[rob_react]

I would move the most important information, the description of the book itself, to the top. Other than that, good stuff.

[rob_react]

No more honest and sincere than any other seller on eBay.

I'm sure you can't count the number of times you've received a grossly overgraded book by someone touting "I have 35+ years of experience in comic grading ", or the like.

 

One thing to keep in mind is- many people would actually recognize FT's name from CBM, so at least in his case there's a real chance that people would give him more of a chance than they might someone else making the same claim. Just a thought.

[Flaming_Telepath]

That is a bloody good idea!

 

OK, consider it done for the next batch of listings.

[comicmankev]

Nice scans

 

I still can't beleive you've been buying for so long and never sold on Ebay

[DiceX]

I would move the most important information, the description of the book itself, to the top. Other than that, good stuff.

 

Yep. That would solve it.

That way you get the information about the book, then can read the other if you want. You don't have to hunt for the information.

 

This will give you the best of both worlds.

[all4comics]

Real nice scans.... But your openning bids are kind of high... You should sell some "lost leaders" thats with....no reserve and starting at $1; to show your accurate grading and honest service + Good luck on your auctions by the way

[Flaming_Telepath]

Thanks for the best wishes and the feedback.

 

I was sort of stuck with the pricing on these. I didn't want a reserve (as I personally hate the things), but I couldn't list low value books either, as I'm based in the UK and nobody would bid due to the fact that shipping would end up costing more than their $5.99 book!

 

I was therefore left with little alternative other than to list higher ticket books that I have some money tied up in. I would have preferred taking a bath on some sub-$10 books and building the feedback, but I didn't figure I'd attract too much interest in the main market, the US.

 

I know that the ASM #40 is only about $80 short of guide ('cause it really is a very strong VF), but the other opening bids have been set anywhere between 50-60% of Guide. Is this too high?

[Flaming_Telepath]

 

Thanks, Peter!

[uclapeterg]

I can personally vouch for FT! Great grader!

[JohnBull]

I'm not sure I'd have felt obliged to point out that my 344 positive feedbacks were all from buying and none from selling. You don't usually mention all your worst habits on a first date.

 

It is text heavy, but some people like that. As has been mentioned, get the important details to the top.

 

The reserve/starting price debate is difficult. You probably are best off protecting your investment to start with and see how these sales go.

 

Is 5.0pm PDT too early to finish? I try and finish auctions around 6.30 to 8.30. In this country, a lot of people leave work around 5.0, so that's a bit of a vacuum time (earlier and you get the work crowd, later and you get the home crowd). I don't know what the US is like for these sort of things. I also don't know how to factor in the time zone differential from East to West over there.

[tth2]

Is 5.0pm PDT too early to finish? I try and finish auctions around 6.30 to 8.30. In this country, a lot of people leave work around 5.0, so that's a bit of a vacuum time (earlier and you get the work crowd, later and you get the home crowd). I don't know what the US is like for these sort of things. I also don't know how to factor in the time zone differential from East to West over there.

 

East Coast is 3 hours ahead of West Coast, so it would finish at 8 pm EST, which is okay in terms of catching folks on the east coast, but perhaps not the optimum time for left coast-ers, as Gary pointed out. I've personally found that ending auctions at 11 pm or so EST (8 pm PST) seems to work pretty well.

[Flaming_Telepath]

Yeah, this was tough to decide. As it's a Sunday, the work thing doesn't factor in as much as it would usually and I was trying to go for the best of everything. It's probably optimum time for East Coast, sort of OK for West Coast and not too much of a stretch for buyers in the UK.

 

However, Turkey and Greece are screwed...

[JohnBull]

Yeah, this was tough to decide. As it's a Sunday, the work thing doesn't factor in as much as it would usually and I was trying to go for the best of everything. It's probably optimum time for East Coast, sort of OK for West Coast and not too much of a stretch for buyers in the UK.

 

However, Turkey and Greece are screwed...

 

I remember talking to John Pires once when he said that he was intending to end his next auction on a Sunday, something he had never done before and was slightly wary about. In the end, I think he shelved the idea and carried on mid-week.

 

I never end on Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Obviously most comic buyers are nerds, but I have to assume that some of them have a life (occasionally).

[Flaming_Telepath]

John's been ending the auctions on a Sunday for about two years now....

 

It's also the biggest night of the week on eBay, with usually 250% more books closing.

 

I'm hoping there's a good reason for that.

[JohnBull]

John's been ending the auctions on a Sunday for about two years now....

 

It's also the biggest night of the week on eBay, with usually 250% more books closing.

 

I'm hoping there's a good reason for that.

 

I've won items from everyone of John's auctions for about the last 5 years, so I should probably have noticed that.

 

I had no idea it was a big ebay night. Price received is a better indicator than volume, but 250% is quite a big figure. I wonder if that's because all the small sellers have more time to list on Sunday's and everything cycles on a 7 day basis?

 

Good luck anyway.