Another promotion for free auction listings at any price has once again begun on eBay. This promotion is 100 free listings per month until January 7. eBay seems to be moving towards free auctions all the time, as people have predicted. I'm sure that they have figured out that people like me refuse to list anything unless the listing is free.
I have listed some more books in my continuing quest to knock down the number of extra books that I have. I listed some Black Stallion, Nancy Drew, and Trixie Belden books. I will list more books at various times between now and January 7 as I feel like it.
Books for Sale
5 comments:
Jennifer,
Re: Ebay, I just checked my husband's seldom used ebay email acct and it prompted me to come here. First of all, he got emails approx. 2 days apart stating that they'd "lifted the payments hold" on his paypal acct (which he hasn't used in a year) and then that they'd instituted a hold policy on the acct. Huh? The acct had ZERO activity during this time, so the hold lift and the reinstatement of the hold were unrelated to activity.
Then I went to ebay to check his acct and realized that he has stellar ratings there despite not using the acct (which has only about 60 feedbacks) in forever. Then I checked my own acct. (which has over 1000 seller feedbacks and has been active for 10 years now) and discovered that I can't even SEE the seller dashboard on that acct. Nor was I invited to do the ebay bucks thing, but my husband's fairly new acct was.
I just find it so odd that my long-standing acct, which has ZERO negatives over 10 years seems to have fewer privileges than the new, rarely used acct of my husband. My acct. didn't have any low DSRs or anything either.
I can't help feeling like ebay is looking to cater more to new sellers but I can't come up with a reason why?
Any thoughts?
It jives with my observations. I felt like when I created my new account that I got much higher views. I decided to list again on my old account because I would like to try to build the DSRs back up.
I think my efforts are futile, though, because I recently had a buyer leave me another low DSR. You can find that one because I left a response to that buyer's feedback on purpose so people could find it.
I also sold some more books to someone buying to resell who likes to leave me low DSRs to knock me down. I assume I will get low DSRs from her when she gets around to leaving feedback. I'd like to block her or confront her, but I think it would make the situation worse. I will take my low DSRs and lick my wounds in private.
So, I find eBay to be a horrible place to sell nowadays. Have you seen the CEO's message on the main page about how buyers can be protected from bad transactions?
Most of what I just mentioned has little to do with what you mentioned, but it all connects with how people are not having good experiences on eBay.
I wonder if anyone has helpful advice for me and my recently re-discovered collection of ten "vintage" Nancy Drew books. Eight of them are among the first 18, Gosset & Dunlap editions from the '30's. They have been stored in Texas (dry) and I dare not take them back to Missouri (wet) as I know they will mold in short order. I know some may have some value to collectors, but I do not have the time to pursue figuring it all out. E-Bay? Bonanza? Sell them all together so they get a good home?
If you want to get rid of them fast, place them in one lot on eBay. Make sure you have a good photo of the books so that potential buyers can see what you have. So long as you price the books reasonably, you should have no trouble selling them.
To Red: I'd add, and I think Jennifer would agree, that since you don't know the value of your books, you should definitely put them on ebay as an auction - do not use "Buy It Now". If you provide a good description of what you have, along with good pictures (the most important thing), bidders, who are aware of their appropriate values, will bid accordingly.
Another piece of advice is this: DO NOT end the auction early and sell to anyone who contacts you and offers to buy your books either off ebay or with a "Buy It Now". Their offer may sound great, but if this happens, chances are you have some desirable books and the person who is wanting to buy outside the auction process is counting on your ignorance to get the books at a cheaper price than they are worth. For desirable/ valuable books, most of the bids, and the highest bids, come in the last few *seconds* of the auction, so if you end it early, you won't get the highest bid.
Having said all this, realize that this advice will help you get what the books are worth, but the books you have may not be very valuable at all. The copyright date in Nancy Drew books does not indicate the year they were printed. There were books printed in the 70's that have a 1930's copyright date. If you are willing to just put a few minutes into it, read the page called "Nancy Drew - A Guide to the Grosset & Dunlap Editions" on Jennifer's website - it will help you get an idea of where your books really fall as far as age goes.
Another thing to remember is that condition is very important. Be sure to note any significant flaws in your description. I have shied away from Texas auctions due to having a problem in the past. I bought books that were described as "like new", and although they didn't have much wear, they had insect damage to the pages that couldn't be seen in the pictures and greatly effected their value.
I hope this information is helpful to you. Good luck!
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