eBay Auction Listings

I've been wondering, how many viewers/watchers on average do you guys get on a coin-related auction? I just want to compare how I am doing against the average. Sorry if this is the wrong section for this post to go in - didn't think it would belong in the "Auction Listings" section, since it's all listings for actual auctions.

 

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I find that it depends on how much I start the listing at. If I start a $200 item at $0.99 with free shipping and the bidding doesn't take off right away, then I get a lot of watchers. (20+)

If I list it at a higher price, or if the bidding gets off to an early start, then I don't get as many. (<5)

 

Are your numbers for a 7-day/10-day auction? Are they from near the end of the auctions or overall? Thanks for the information.

 

Also, for shipping coins, what should I write down for the shipping note descriptions for the contents of the box? I am worried that if I write down something like "Coins" or "Silver/Gold", that it might get stolen or "lost" during delivery.

 

I wouldnt write anything. Just write 'metal' if they force you to write something.

 

I seem to get my watchers early on. So if I get 20 watchers on an auction, chances are good that most of them added it to their watch list shortly after being listed.

As for shipping, the last few times I've shipped through USPS, they haven't asked for a description. UPS seems to want a description, and I have listed them as "refined metals" in the past. I notice Provident Metals ships their coins from "Provident Machine Bearings". I wonder what they give as a description if anyone asks.

 

How are you shipping?
USPS has never asked what is in my package, nor has there ever
been a place where I had to enter a description of its contents.

 

Via USPS. I was thinking of sending off the heavier items with the "flat rate" mailing option, and the rest with regular boxes... but if I do that, the boxes (should I have to purchase them) will add to my shipping expense, so I'm thinking I should maybe just use the flat rate option for most/all the packages? I have a $3.99 fee listed for shipping my packages, but I'm pretty sure that will pay for less than half of the total shipping fees (with boxes + packaging material) for the vast majority of my auctions. It seems most people are discouraged from even considering bidding due to the shipping fees alone, so I tried to keep it low.

As you can obviously tell, I am not well experienced in shipping things off for eBay. Shipping personal items to family/friends is not the same because I could care less what the fees will be, but this is for-profit shipping, so I have to learn all the options available.

Thanks for the info and help guys.

 

Most bidders take shipping into consideration when calculating what an item costs.

I've watched similiar items close and it's fairly consistent. An item that is worth about $50 will usually sell for around $50 total. Be it $50 with free shipping, or $40 with $10 shipping. Considering that FeeBay charges fees on the entire amount, it doesn't really matter what you put for shipping, especially on the type of items you're listing where each auction will likely close for a few hundred dollars.

 

The small flat rate box is $5.15 postage. As the size goes up, so does the postage. You really should know your shipping costs before selling on ebay. Info here: https://www.usps.com/.
You can also print and pay for shipping labels on the USPS web site as well as ebay and paypal.

 

"Stamped Metal Disk" is a nice description

 

I didn't know that eBay will charge a fee I collect specifically for shipping! I thought at least that would be tax-free, otherwise I would've just had free shipping for all the auctions! That's ridiculous if true.

 

It came about when people were selling things for $1 with $99 shipping to avoid FeeBay's final value fees.

What I don't like is that they changed it to a blanket policy that even applies to calculated shipping costs. :rollling:

 

Just remember, always charge enough for shipping to cover your costs. You can always refund them a buck or 2 if you don't feel right making money on shipping.

 

Except that, as previous posters have already pointed out, buyers tend to bid based on total cost, not pre-shipping cost. If you raise shipping $2, most people will just reduce their maximum bid by that amount.

Also, if you charge significantly more than actual postage, people will ding your star rating for "reasonable shipping costs" -- and sometimes even leave neutral or negative feedback.

With eBay's current policies, it's hard to make a case for anything other than "free shipping".

 

Wouldn't it depend on the desirablity of the coin? I have only listed things I don't want, and others don't want them either. If I listed the things I want, I know more people would be interested and would watch them unless I tried to over charge which many people tried to do on Ebay.

 

I'm not selling many coins. Staying mostly within the free listing limit. Start price is the price I'm willing to sell for, so it's ranging from $25 till $100 per coin. If have at least one watcher there is 60-70% chance I'll sell the coin. That's from my last 6 months of selling on eBay.

 

Buddycat, I think it's ok to have an opine regarding how sellers should structure their auctions with respect to shipping costs. However, I don't think it's ok to impose your opine on sellers via leaving neutral or negative feedback after you've purchased an item from a seller who has clearly posted shipping costs. Do the math, then bid.. or don't... but if you do bid, then don't buck the terms of the auction post-purchase. That's kinda like trying to jimmy down TT's or HA's buyers premium after you've purchased a coin from them imo.