E bay 'tricks'?

Capri

Put a painting on ebay, lots of views but no takers - priced it at 2k as I paid 700 about 20 years ago.

Talking to a friend and they said something about pricing it low and waiting for the bidding to bring the price up, and another thing about 'building up credits'

Anybody come across a 'Ebay for dummies' site that I can learn from or any easy tips ?

(the first time i tried to log into ebay years ago, it didn't work for some reason, but then I got a 'demand' for E35 from an 'Inturum Justicia' debt agency - I called their bluff and they backed off :( )

BengaLover

Best tip I can give you is that you make sure you are fully aware of all ebays policies and rules before selling - they keep moving the goalposts all the time, and if you dont keep up to date then you can easily make a mistake that will cost you money.
Building up credits is just establishing your reputation as a seller, you can only do this with time, there really is no shortcut to doing this.
I was with ebay pretty much since day one, but left it as a seller in favour of selling on Adverts.ie - you could give this a try, no fees or charges.

Judgement Day

Have you bought or sold much on eBay previously? If not, you would be lucky to sell something that expensive with little or no feedback. What was the painting - was it by a well known artist? There are a number of books about trading on eBay but really it depends on the painting you're selling - if it's collectable and correctly priced it will usually sell.

allthedoyles

1. Make sure you know the rules for sellers before listing on eBay.

2. Take one or more pictures of your item in a well-lit area. Effective pictures that are sharp and bright will help sell your item.

3. Choose the most specific category available to help buyers find your item.

4. Help buyers find your listing with a title that is clear, complete, and descriptive. Say exactly what the item is even if the title repeats the category name and include details such as brand, product name, size or artist. Imagine you are the buyer .

5. Plan your pricing strategy. Search completed eBay listings. You can also visit online shops that sell similar items to help you choose a starting price for fixed price or auction-style listing, and decide whether you'd like to set a reserve price.

6. Offer PayPal as a payment method.

7. Ensure that you attract the right buyers for your item by selecting buyer requirements

8 Check the buyer's Feedback profile, including detailed Feedback comments from other sellers.

9. Be sure that your contact information and email address are correct and up to date. Check your personal information to make sure it is correct.

10. Providing great service is key to your selling success.

11. Accurately describe the condition, size, and quality of the item

12. Promptly send the item with appropriate packaging after payment has been received

13. Respond promptly to questions from buyers

Capri

Thanks for all that, will take it on board

rubadub

Capri wrote: »

pricing it low and waiting for the bidding to bring the price up,

You run the risk of having it end on a really low price then. You can set a reserve price or an opening bid. People can just keep bidding with slowly rising increments to discover your reserve price, this increases your bid count which some buyers view as a good sign "others are bidding so he must be OK".

I would much prefer to use adverts, especially something like a painting.

Yamanoto

OP, did you price your painting @ €2k based on something tangible, other than paying £700 20 years ago?

If the painting is from a collectible artist, you should seek the opinion of an auction house.

http://www.google.ie/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ie=UTF-8&ion=1#hl=en&gs_nf=1&cp=24&gs_id=7&xhr=t&q=fine+art+auction+ireland&pf=p&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&oq=fine+art+aucti

Judgement Day

Full listing/contact details etc. for all auction houses on the island of Ireland here: http://collectireland.wordpress.com/auctions-2/