quick ebay Q, please..

[looobylooo]

is feed back on ebay, as a seller or a buyer, mandatory, please,
or can you choose not leave any?

thanks :o)

[follyfancier]

you can also add a follow up comment if you think you need to explain a bit more

[Old_Geezer]

It is optional, although if you don't then you leave no clue to future buyers or sellers who is worth dealing with. As a buyer I always noticed my payment was received by the seller before I received any goods to check, so it was clearly the seller's responsibility to make the first feedback. And chose not to leave them any if they couldn't be bothered to leave me any. My last purchase was a mobile handset which I have yet to be able to get unlocked, so I couldn't confirm it was ok, so no feedback has been left.

[looobylooo]

hi old geezer,
oh i always thought you had to pay before the seller posted your item off? is that not the case, no?
(ive not got too much experience with ebay, and ive only bought a few items, so far)
so if its just a straight forward purchase, without waiting to see a reviewed p&p for combined items etc, ive always gone into paypal, as soon as the auction has ended, and paid up.
plus, its mostly always me, the buyer, that leaves feedback first, as soon as ive received the goods.

thanks folly and eddie too for your contributions this morning, and to all from last night, much appreciated :o)

[Old_Geezer]

Precisely. They have the money and can leave feedback before they even send the thing you've bought. Yet so many seem to think the buyer should feedback first. Blow that for a game of soldiers.

[mazie]

Hi grasscarp. I have a load of books I'm think of selling on Amazon. Had a quick look the other day to see how to register etc...I thought I read that there is a set charge for postage and I didnt understand how that would work if you had heavy books...Is it worth doing?

[grasscarp]

Mazie, with most paperbacks it is worth doing as you can usually post it for less than the credit which is I think now £2.80. However the last heavy book I posted was £4 so the £2.80 doesnt cover it. You have to price your books accordingly so that you can make something on the sale.

[mazie]

Thanks for getting back to me and the tip grasscarp. I'm finishing work on the 1st of June, so I will spend so time looking into it, I've got 100's of the bl00dy things !

[grasscarp]

The advantage over ebay is that listing on Amazon is much quicker as the product will be already there (downside is that you can only sell what is already there). You just have to add a few words on the condition and name your price, and you can see what everyone else is charging. Amazon email you when it is sold. You ship it and then dont forget to go into the website to say it is shipped and then you will get paid.

[mazie]

how do they make the payment grasscarp. Have you manage to shift a lot of books? Just wondering if it's worth it...Having said that we are moving later in the year, so I dont know what else to do with them !

[grasscarp]

They pay the money at the middle and end of the month directly into your bank account minus their fees. I (and my daughter) have sold a huge number of books this way. I even buy books from charity shops sometimes to sell on ebay when I have checked and found them to be fetching a good price!

[mazie]

Excellent, I'm really grateful for your views on this grasscarp. The books are mostly my husbands and some speciality stuff...I noticed a second hand copy of Woodlands was fetching £39...so looks like it will be worth it. Thanks again x

[Old_Geezer]

"downside is that you can only sell what is already there"

Interesting. Then how come last time I bought (or tried to) I got the order first accepted, then next day cancelled, because they claim they didn't have the item after all ?

[grasscarp]

Old Geezer, to list a book on Amazon then that book must already be listed on the website for sale by others. (Unless you fulfill certain criteria which allows you to start a listing). Sometimes you list a book and it has been on there for a couple of years and when someone buys it you are embarassed to have to say that you cant find it. Been there. Unfortunate, but it happens. The site doesnt know you havent got it so lets the buyer think they have it. Now that Amazon makes you ship it before getting paid the buyer will not be charged for something you can no longer locate.