Sold my first item on ebay - anything to be cautious about?

Good luck with the sticker shock when you see APs prices.

homer911 wrote: »

I've just sold my first item on ebay, an expensive, heavy book. Is there anything I need to be careful about, either before shipping or in terms of the shipping?

Send it registered mail to the address PayPal is telling. Under no circumstances don't send it to anywhere else.

Irishphotodesk wrote: »

Make sure you receive the money into your account and you have access to it BEFORE posting it.

Send with tracked postage which requires a signature to accept, so you have proof it arrives.

If its their first sale the funds will probably be held by paypal untill the item is delivered

Deleted User wrote: »

Good for you ! I remember selling a lot on eBay but the p&p was a huge deterrent especially in Ireland as were Ebay and PayPal charges.
But it’s fun

I sell things on eBay occasionally. It's hard to compete sometimes with UK sellers with the very high postage costs here. An Post charges €15 for a parcel that would cost UK sellers £3 with Hermes. Royal Mail is significantly cheaper than An Post as well.

I've started using UPS for anything bigger than books/DVDs. They're often cheaper than An Post and they're much faster and it's insured. I used to use Parcel Motel/Nightline for bigger items but I find UPS cheaper (mostly) and faster. They also collect from your house for free which is very handy.


In terms of advise for the OP, send it by a tracked delivery method since it's expensive. I usually take the risk with standard post on items below €20/€30 as it's not economical to sell them otherwise. Don't limit yourself to An Post for large/expensive items. Try couriers like UPS, DHL, GLS, Nightline.