Need to clean out your stash? Have an eye on some new, but pricey, yarn for a new sweater? Just need to scale back on all the clutter in your house? You could have a garage sale or donate them to a resale shop, but to get top dollar for your items, list them on Ebay and reach knitters all across the globe.
Here are some steps to selling your unneeded items and some tips to help you get a better price.
1. Take good photographs: Since the buyer can't touch and see the item close up, your photograph needs to be clear and show as much as possible. When I sold two huge lots of yarn, I organized it nicely on the floor and took photos standing up on a chair. For magazines I did the same thing. With a digital camera it's easy to take a dozen or more photos and then choose the best to include. You could take more than one photo, but there are usually insertion fees after the first one.
2. Clearly describe each item-This is especially important if you are selling a lot of items as I did. For the yarn I made a numbered list and gave the brand, fiber content, color and amount. If there was no belly band, I stated so and did my best to descibe each item as accurately as possible. (I once bought a lot of jeans that I would not have had they all been accurately described...I want to treat my customers better than I've been treated)
3. Compare competition to find a good starting bid-Spend ten minutes or so looking around at other auctions to find out the starting and selling prices to help you with this step. If you want to set a reserve price, a set price that must be met in order for you to sell, this step will help you. You can also enable the "buy now" feature which will allow someone to buy the item for a price that you set. I take a pretty basic approach to this, I always set the starting bid at 99 cents. I find I get more bidders at the beginning and then in the final days and hours, the competition between them heats up. I usually play a little game with myself, trying to guess how much an item will go for. Nearly everytime I underestimate myself. Sometimes by a lot! Wiht books and magazines that can go for media mail, I give free shipping. It's a little price for me to pay to get more bidders.
4. Answer all questions promptly- When I sell on Ebay, I list several things at once so that I can combine shipping (when applicable) and make fewer trips to the post office. Another thing that can take up time is answering questions from potential buyers. I would make it a priority to check for messages 3-4 times a day to insure that the potential buyer would become a bidder.
5. Pack well and Ship quickly- Make sure the box is taped securely, labeled correctly. For fragile items make sure that they are wrapped well and cushioned by something, even newspaper will do.Once I have several bids and am pretty sure that the item will be sold, I finish packaging the item so that all I need to do is address it to the buyer and take to the post office. If you have packages of the same size, you can just make note of thier contents in the area where the postage goes since it will be later covered up.
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