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Can anyone give me advice on selling things on ebay.  I have a neighbour who does fabulous paintings.  I suggested selling on ebay but she said had little knowledge of  french ebay .   Is there anyone selling on ebay U.K that give advice.  Are the postage/carraige costs expensive to U.K  

I have never used ebay so my advice is very limited.

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I have bought loads of things from E Bay, but have found it impossible to sell on E Bay  UK living as I do in France.

What I have to sell would be of little or no interest to the French & E Bay won't let me trade on the UK site because I live in France.

I start off on the UK site, but always get re directed to the French site.

I've tried the UK forums & they agree that E Bay don't like you selling on the UK site if you live in another coutry.

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I find that a bit odd. I buy loads of bits from UK so why not the other way round. We buy stuff from USA and even Hong Kong and China on the UK site!

I've just tried it and I've put an item on the UK site without any problem! Did you price it in £ or € (I used £).

At which stage are you prevented?

Sid

 

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Before you attempt to sell anything at all, it is a good idea to build up your feedback profile a bit, i.e 10+ positive. Just buy lots of small inexpensive things from different sellers, and it will quickly grow. Buyers like to think they are dealing with someone who is established and trustworthy.

When you actually get around to selling, I would wholeheartedly recommend that you download 'Turbo Lister'.

http://pages.ebay.com/turbo_lister/ 

It will save your adverts forever (otherwise you have to create a new advert each time you list), and you can still edit and adjust them as required. (A digital camera is necessary, buyers like to see what they are buying!, but even a phone pic can be used).

There is no need to feed ebay's coffers by upgrading all your adverts, with fancy gimmicks/reserve price etc - if buyers want it, they will buy it, whether it has a fancy page/larger pics or not!

By using Turbo Lister, you can also choose to sell on a particular site, i.e USA or UK, which will alter the currency automatically (make sure you know what the exchange rate is first). You have to download the extra details for the sites concerned. We often advertise just on the USA site, and there is no problem with that, but we always use TL. You can create your listings and upload to Ebay in seconds, much quicker than doing it through the Ebay sales pages.

Selling worldwide is easy, postage costs are the problem, particularly if the item is heavy, and can often put buyers off. But, if the item is special and they want it enough, it shouldn't be a sale killer.

Also, don't forget to add all your ebay/paypal costs into the price of your item, and don't be fooled into thinking that your item will always go up in value, if you advertise it for 99p - IT COULD SELL FOR 99p - too late then!  [:-))] [:(]

Don't be disheartened if your item doesn't sell first time, or second time, just make sure you keep on top of your charges, and add it to the price you want - it should sell eventually, so long as you don't outprice it's worth that is. The higher the price of the item, the more the advert costs. You often find you wont get any interest in some auctions, and yet they then fight for it in others. Depends on the activity/interest on that particular day! [8-)] More experienced buyers wont bid until the dying seconds (sniping) so it's never over until the larger lady sings! [Www]

Ebay have cheap listing days several times a year, and can dramatically cut your listing costs, so you can always wait for them to keep more of the profits. Also, ALWAYS answer questions, no matter how silly they might be, this could be your buyer, and if you don't answer them they wont have trust in you.

Good luck! - Mrs E

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[quote user="sid"]

I find that a bit odd. I buy loads of bits from UK so why not the other way round. We buy stuff from USA and even Hong Kong and China on the UK site!

I've just tried it and I've put an item on the UK site without any problem! Did you price it in £ or € (I used £).

At which stage are you prevented?

Sid

 

[/quote]

Agreed. I recently listed some stuff on ebay.co.uk even though I live in France.

Didn't sell though as postage was too high (have some Brit sit coms DVD's I was trying to sell).

I reckon it would be a good idea if there was a seperate forum on here where you could advertise what you have to sell on ebay. For example I have many UK sitcom DVDs I want to get rid of, but postage costs put people off in the UK.

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I think this sounds like a nice idea.

I for one would be interested in some old Brit sit com DVDs as hubby likes to have a lie in on a Sunday (every morning if he could get away with it!!) and watch old DVDs.

Perhaps we could list what we have for sale and then, if anyone is interested, we could get intouch by PM to find out the cost (including P&P) and take it from there. Not bidding as such as that would probably be too complicated. Also, if it was just a list of items from private members, would have thought that should be ok as far as keeping within the Forum rules.

Perhaps a Mod. would be good enough to advise.

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Hi everyone.

Thank you so much for this info.

I set up the account on the UK site....no problem

I have a Paypal account already and I have a feedback rating as a buyer.

It was when I tried to list the product, it let me get almost to the end of the listing info and then bounced me back to the French site.

I tried loads of times but all to no avail, so I asked the question on the UK e bay forum & was told that e bay do not like you living in one country and selling on another.

I will try the turbo listing though & see what happens.

I have noticed though that because I have Orange.fr internet provision, lots of sites will only let me use the French options & I'm wondering if there's a problem there.

Anyway, I'll give it another go & see what happens this time.

Many thanks

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[quote user="inkflo"]Hi everyone.

I have noticed though that because I have Orange.fr internet provision, lots of sites will only let me use the French options & I'm wondering if there's a problem there. [/quote]

Is the computer you are using a French one? I ask only because I have noticed quite a difference between how I can access sites and what info I receive from them eg google.co.uk to name but one, depending on whether I use my OH's UK bought laptop or my France sourced laptop - both are connected to the internet via orange.fr.

Sue

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"Is the computer you are using a French one? I ask only because I have noticed quite a difference between how I can access sites and what info I receive from them eg google.co.uk to name but one"

Which Google or Ebay you get is nothing to do with your PC or internet provider Sue, you choose that yourself.

However, you will find that some sites will go to a French like Paypal and Hotmail/MSN which will give you a French language page as they see where your ISP is registered.......... as do some of the spyware "viruses" that know your closest big town!!

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We have Orange/France Telecom as our internet provider, with wanadoo.fr emails, but we use Yahoo as our search engine/home page and Yahoo.co.uk email accounts. I find it useful to have more than one email account and have my wanadoo emails automatically redirected to yahoo, so they're all in one place.

As far as ebay is concerned, I've had an account since I've lived here in France (3 and a half years) and have successfully bought (from small items to cars, from UK, USA, Hong Kong) and sold (from tins of foie gras to cars, to the UK, Ireland and Germany), so it can be done. Good  luck!

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Many thanks to everyone for their help here.

I have used the Turbo Lister UK as suggested by EBaynut and it has worked perfectly. It hasn't bounced me back to the French site at all, so I am one happy bunny! (It is Easter after all!)

Lets hope I can sell something now.

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[quote user="inkflo"]While we are on the subject of E Bay & seem to have a few knowledgable folk here, can anyone tell me how they decide what to sell on E Bay UK?
[/quote]

What to sell?  [8-)]....ANYTHING, but try to make sure they are light in weight - at least LESS than 2K including packaging (it really gets expensive then!). Brit buyers will alway be looking for something a bit different that is not so easily available here.

If you are looking to trade, try searching French/France and see what comes up on the UK/USA sites. I think you will find that there is a market for anything French shabby chic/antique lace, mainly the sort of stuff you might find in a tourist shop. You can always search for what your competition is listing, and how much they are asking for.

Always choose an item/subject that you like and know about, and which interests you. Remember, you might find you don't sell it, and have to keep it!

[I] Try looking here  [:)]

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[quote user="inkflo"]While we are on the subject of E Bay & seem to have a few knowledgable folk here, can anyone tell me how they decide what to sell on E Bay UK?
[/quote]

Mr. Nectarine recently had a clear-out of his wardrobe (very reluctantly and with his arm pressed up against his back) and I pretty much put all of it on Ebay .... clothes (mostly gone), motorcycle gloves (he still has 12 pairs left), old film cameras .... you name it, I spent a day just listing stuff on Ebay.  The rest went to a charity shop locally.

There's also a 'Wanted' section on Ebay where you can see adverts from people looking for stuff, and you can post a link to what you are selling on Ebay.  I have found a couple of buyers this way.

I think if you are going to sell stuff on Ebay then HONESTY is the best policy, plus loads of photos.  Good feedback is important so buyers know to trust you, so if you are selling something with a scratch, dent, or doesn't work, then as long as you say so then the buyer isn't getting an unwelcome surprise.  Ebaynut sounds like the expert on this so anything they write, I'd listen to.  But before you throw it out, try it on Ebay.  There may be someone looking for just that thing!!

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 Honesty is most definitely the best policy - I know a French lady whose job it is to check on internet sites to make sure they comply with French regulations and this also has sometimes involved complaints regarding eBay.

The French authorities also keep an eye and if they consider you are a professional then you will have to pay business charges.

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I agree - you should

definitely give it a go. Whilst the French eBay is nowhere near as active as

the UK

site YET it is steadily growing and good stuff will always sell at the right

price. There is no question that whilst La Poste are pretty reasonably priced

for objects sent within France, Monaco and Andorra - as soon as you want to

send stuff abroad it becomes way too expensive for most foreign buyers. We have

both a website (www.ballesdegolf.fr) and an eBay.fr Boutique selling Lakeballs

(balles-de-golf) and other related equipment and we have had to move to using a

private courier for our national and international deliveries as the costs were

too dissuasive with La Poste - remember if you are registered for TVA (VAT) in

France then you have to add it to the postage costs (There is no TVA charged by

La Poste to you so this is all extra costs) whereas private firms charge you

TVA so this at least is offset. Depending on the volume of sales it might be

worth considering approaching one - we use GLS Group (www.gls-groupe.eu) - they

offer us next day in France

and 48hr in Europe. They prices in France are very competitive (when you have to

take into account TVA) and in Europe they progressively

cheaper the heavier the item.

We still do only a fraction of our business through EBay - but it serves as a

valuable shop window and it can only get better as the numbers grow!

As far as charges go - bear in mind that you will have eBay fees to pay as well as (possibly) Paypal fees too (once you have received a certain amount of money - the first few hundred is free I think). I have made a number of XL spreadsheets that allow me to see Fees, profit, TVA etc dependant on the cost, sale price etc of the object which helps from making a mistakes!

Always answer questions and send thinks quickly and well packaged (another cost to consider)

Good luck with your selling (and buying)

Jim

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Thank you for your remarks on this.

I have now managed to list some items & am eagerly waiting to see if I get any response.

The tip about the private courier was useful though as I have had a bad experience with parcels via the post in France.

Many thanks

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[quote user="whigers"]

As far as charges go - bear in mind that you will have eBay fees to pay as well as (possibly) Paypal fees too (once you have received a certain amount of money - the first few hundred is free I think).

[/quote]

 

Not sure that this is quite correct I'm afraid. You will always be charged if you accept Paypal (this can be greedy, because they also charge for the added shipping costs!)

Paypal fees

Which roughly means approx 20p (UK) per transaction, plus 4% of total amount, which includes any other total invoice costs (ie Shipping).

We generally add approx 5% to item start price to cover Paypal costs, plus listing & FVF fees.

Ebay listing & FVF fees

Bear in mind that you are no longer permitted by Ebay to add any charges to your invoice after the sale to cover these fees (you are only allowed to add 'reasonable' shipping & packaging costs), they have to be incorporated into the initial listing price.

 

 
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[quote user="ebaynut"]

[quote user="whigers"]

As far as charges go - bear in mind that you will have eBay fees to pay as well as (possibly) Paypal fees too (once you have received a certain amount of money - the first few hundred is free I think).

[/quote]

 

Not sure that this is quite correct I'm afraid. You will always be charged if you accept Paypal (this can be greedy, because they also charge for the added shipping costs!)

Paypal fees

Which roughly means approx 20p (UK) per transaction, plus 4% of total amount, which includes any other total invoice costs (ie Shipping).

We generally add approx 5% to item start price to cover Paypal costs, plus listing & FVF fees.

Ebay listing & FVF fees

Bear in mind that you are no longer permitted by Ebay to add any charges to your invoice after the sale to cover these fees (you are only allowed to add 'reasonable' shipping & packaging costs), they have to be incorporated into the initial listing price.

 

 
[/quote]

As far as I am aware - when you first open a Paypal account you have a limited amount of money recieved without paying fees as long as:

1) It is a personnal account not a professional

2) The money is sent from another Paypal account (rather than funded by a card payment)

3) The buyer and seller are in the same country

As we have obviously not had this kind of account status for some time things could have changed by now - but I am fairly sure that for someone starting out with a new PayPal account to sell for the first time on Ebay you should find this is still the case. Equally the more you turnover as a professional the lower you rates become so that the charges drop to 1/2 what you are paying at the start.

The real scam comes from the money-go-round at PayPal:

You sell some stuff and PayPal charge you a fee for receiving the money into your Paypal account.

You buy some stuff from someone else and fund it from your PayPal balance AND.... Paypal charge the seller a fee....on the same money, which has only moved on paper - and is still in the PayPal coffers earning them interest on their investments or whatever they do with the millions of £ (billions?) at any one time.

Nice work if you can get it.

Between listing fees, FVF (Final Value Fees for the unitiated - commision on sale value) and Paypal fees you can approximately deduct 9% of the total value of your sale inc shipping costs - all of which goes to Ebay/Paypal (they are one company) - Just watch one catagory of one country on Ebay for 10 Minutes and do the sums.

But it IS STILL WORTH IT - compare the exposure to Google adwords costs, or print, or direct marketing and its is still very good value and often the first people look for Cheap (good value) or hard to find items

Good luck in your sales and purchases (and always read the feedback) as from the end of next month sellers will no longer be able to give negative feedback for buyers and, with the threat of retaliatory feedback a thing of the past, buyers will feel freer to speak their mind - and evualtions will become a truer test of a sellers quality.

Jim

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Can any seasoned Ebay sellers tell me if you ever buy items from the USA to sell on Ebay France or UK please????  I am looking at the possibility of purchasing T-shirts from the states, not designer sports names, just fashion items as there seems a really good & different choice available, but need some advice on what to expect to pay by way of import duty & tax. From what I can find out so far it is better to use USPS rather than UPS or other carrier companies because of their high handling charges, but am unsure what the charges are for import duty & tax by customs. Any knowledge/advice would be welcome.

Thank-you.

Labruyere.

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My o/h buys a lot of stuff from the US (or he did until a couple of months ago when our pensions began to go down the tubes!) - mostly model railway related in his case.  The way the taxes are charged are theoretically standard, but in many cases the things just get delivered and we never get charged.  I bought $200 worth of gear from a motor manufacturer last year, and was never charged a cent, even though UPS sent me a letter outlining what I might have to pay.  On other occasions, we've had fairly substantial duty to pay, but with the state of the dollar, the stuff still worked out cheaper to buy from there.  But it has been a real lottery, in my experience.
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Hi,

 I have read(?) somewhere that you cannot have a paypal account in one country whilst living in another. Is this correct? If so are any of you receiving your monies from buyers in another format i.e. cheques etc. My account on Ebay.co.uk is set up using my Nationwide account in the UK. I believe my sellers account is too. But when I left UK last September I drew all monies from my Paypal account, and have not sold anything now for some time. Although I have the means to send cheques from buyers back to the UK, it would be long winded to say the least and it would be a while before I could send the goods because of waiting for cheques to clear. So Paypal seems to be the answer. Thing is can I still use Paypal from my Ebay uk account although I am resident in France. [8-)] 

 

tuppence

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I know I am jumping in rather late here but I'd like to reply to inkflo finding it imposs to sell on UK ebay from France. You need to quote an address in the UK and state that the products are based in the UK..use a relatives address if needed. Having said that...I have friends and family abroad, in Australia and the USA, who simply refuse to sell or buy from French or Italian ebayer's. Most often the reason is that they either never pay up or do not ship the item you have bought. Apparently France and Italy have a bad name on Ebay I have been told.

Open a UK Ebay account but you need to quote a UK address.

 

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