Every Seller and Buyer are different... and every Item to sell... is well, you know the drill....

All that being said...

The Corvette Forum is kind of a community. Some of us know each other, some are virtual friends only, others, you can't stand to see the sight of their Avatar.

But we are a community nonetheless.

While I know some of you claim you haven't had luck buying/selling here...

I always find it strange, that some of the same folks that won't hesitate to come here looking for ASAP advice on how to fix their carb, restore a wiper motor, find out which Hondorus Maroon paint is best etc ...
OR Ironically, post to find the VALUE of a Car/part they intend on selling.....

Won't give that same COMMUNITY first crack at their stuff.... I belong to MANY different forums, and its not JUST this one, but a interesting phenomena nonetheless.

The other thing that irks me is when (some) folks do list an item here, but they put a $200 part up for $250 plus shipping. Then they'll get all indignant that they can't sell anything here and list it on CL or on eBay for $175....
minus paypal/listing/selling fees on eBay, they get $150 for the part.
I mean really, sometimes the difference in price is less than a round of beers that I would gladly pay for If we all every got together in the flesh... and hell, I am a cheapskate!

How many times have you seen a car listed here for $45K, and then see same car posted on CL for LESS than that?

Yes, eBay usually brings you in a bit more... maybe because your average eBayer NEEDS/is desperate for that part RIGHT NOW!
Your Average Forum Community member, you know, the ones that have:
followed your build
gave you timely advice
laughed along with you at your posts
mourned with you over the loss of a friend...

maybe they are just a bit more of a bargain hunter....

Like you.

 

Excellently put Reyfan !

 

For me the biggest reason for going the ebay route is that i do not know what to ask for the parts. Here on the forum we are required to list a price.So parts where I know the value I list here and have great success with the sales. I have received great advice from this thread thank you all.

 

Be honest and provide lots of details about what you are selling. Make sure to answer all of the questions.

The hardest thing is figuring out shipping and finding the correct size box.

 

Get yourself a good postal weigh scale (don't use a bathroom scale-not accurate), tape measure, a large roll of bubble wrap, old news papers, a roll of kraft brown paper, clear wrapping tape from a shipping supply source like www.uline.com
All the empty boxes from your grocery store-you do them a favour by taking the boxes.

Here is what I do:
1. Clean your item(s) and drain all liquids.
2. Take some good clear, sharp pictures from all sides.
3. Find all the information on item(s) - size, part number, condition of item(s).
4. Wrap item(s) in bubble wrap and old news papers, (plastic popcorn is too messy for me).
5. Put item(s) inside appropriate sized box.
6. Wrap box with kraft brown paper.
7. Tape up box.
8. Measure box.
9. Put return address on box, (put on shipping address after item(s) sold).
10. Weigh box and get shipping costs from: www.usps.com
or: www.ups.com or: other courier (eg: www.fedex.com).
11. Post on Ebay (Ebay shipping rates are pretty close to post office and couriers).
12. Be prompt in shipping item(s) after payment received and get a parcel tracking number.

 

bare in mind that in many cases as a new seller on ebay you will be the focus of much fraud.

this is a statistic that is much ignored by ebay/paypal.

the predator's will come out of the wood work after you and pull every shinnannigan you can think of to separate you from your part and money. Much of it entertaining but very frustrating to a newbie.

I have attempted to sell through classified adds on many forums and in almost every case the first contact resulted in fraud or attempted fraud.

Also, it is critical to ship properly anything you sell. which means shipping and handleing are two separate fees. And shipping alone does not include insurance.

Make it very clear that you will only shipp the goods when you have recieved full payment and not before.

Dont use wrapping paper of any kind. it gets torn off easily. Also firmly attach a "To" and "From" label to the part itself so that if the packaging and the part are separated the ownership of the part can still be determined.

 

I found out that Ebay buyers complain if you charge for packaging. I always tell the buyers about extra charges like insurance. Never had a complaint about me using kraft paper (the kind and thickness in bags from a grocery store). Shipping a box that is not properly wrapped, taped up and addressed is unacceptable to me.

 

As a retired UPS driver,do NOT wrap the outside of the box with paper.It can get torn off easily and there goes the shipping label.Which means suddenly there is no idea where the package is going to or came from.No strings around the boxes,they just get caught on other things in the system and things get damaged.

 

Ok. I will follow that through. My boxes are taped up with heavy gauge 2" wide cello tape, sometimes I use fiberglass tape (tape goes all around the length, width, and girth of box). Never have used string (and never will). What about oversize packages, when I have to join 2 boxes together? Sent (2) 65-67 shifter consoles in a glued spliced box to a guy in Hawaii a couple of weeks ago. Will email him and ask about the package condition.

PS: In my school days in Manhattan, NY, I used to work part time for UPS loading trucks and conveyor bins.

 

Well.I have sold the pile of vette parts to another forum member.So after the holiday I will try out ebay for the rest armed with all of the great advice that I have gotten here. Thanks to all of you

 

Thank You

USPS says the same thing.....No wrapping paper.