Featured When to Say No to Ebay?

I've accumulated 17 pieces of jewelry for the sale pile, but as I purchase a couple of props for photos I'm still not sure where to list them.

I figured Ebay would be fine for a few items, but since I doubt this will stop at 17, I don't want to get sucked into the Eboo spiral.

Etsy's going the same way. I did sell something on FB to Luxembourg and that went fine, but I'm not sure how well that'd go now.

Am I good to go with Ebay for now and go elsewhere later? Or perhaps just don't touch it? Where do you all sell?

I can't remember if I've asked this before, but thanks for your thoughts! ​

 

I stopped selling on eBay because I can't trust the platform. They don't back their sellers. They also make jewelry sellers pay through the nose, especially if you Promote your listings...and you have to, if you actually want to sell something. Pretty soon, every listing will be "promoted", which means you'll be paying to tread water. Oh wait.... jewelry sellers are already there, since they ****ed up the Search close to two years ago now.

You'd honestly even be better off on Craigslist at this point.

 

Rachel is in France.

 

Aha. Well, I hope ebay.fr is less of a FUBAR than ebay.com! Y'all at least have French laws protecting you. I'm not sure what all of the alternatives are in the Eurozone. Catawiki?

 

You only get a profit on Catawiki with really desirable things, otherwise it is a huge risk. It is definitely not an alternative to Craig's list.

There is no Eurozone equivalent because the Euro currency countries all have their own selling platforms.
I don't know what the French equivalent is, overhere it would be 'Marktplaats'.

 

Sounds like home. No money.

 

I sell exclusively on eBay, an' have for ~20 years. I used to buy a lot more than sell, but quit buyin' 'cause I had enough stuff...several times over.

There are issues, agreed...but they haven't become onerous or unreasonably burdensome for me. If you play the game their way: keeping your listings factual an' straightforward; your pics numerous an' accurate; your packing for shipment adequately protective; your time to ship as short as you can regularly manage, an' its cost to your buyer contains no profit, your communications prompt an' fully responsive...you get the drift, here: in a word, up-front an' obviously a businesslike undertaking, with your buyers satisfaction plainly at the top of your priorities.

I am aware that the experience of others may vary from mine, but I know several major sellers who are reasonably content in the eBay marketplace an' have been for decades. Good luck to you!

 

I was there for 18, and the first 15 were fine. The last three? I didn't change my practices, which always went above and beyond, but it didn't help and I could smell what the Rock was cooking. It didn't smell good. Jewelry dealers were already getting a raw deal when I left.

They appear to have finally done some repairs to the Returns/disputes end of things that should have happened years ago. Too little, too late but at least someone tried. I know a lot of sellers who've bailed and at least one with a big Youtube channel who has gotten burned himself one time too many.

 

I have reasonable luck with Ebay, but there are horror stories out there.

I find that Ebay can be great for items that have a solid collector's base. If searchable by a name for example. Not so good for unmarked items (those truly get lost in the mix) unless you can positively attribute the item and put some kind of "searchable name" on it.

Not sure how France Ebay compares. I'm in the U.S.

 

In the USA, the whole GIA scheme and the bolluxed search killed browsing by buyers and thus a lot of sales for sellers. You have to have a known keyword to hang the search on, which means most unmarked pieces will get lost in the sauce. In my last year on eBoo my sales were cut in half. Time to quit while the quitting was good. I have seen nothing to make me change my mind.

 

Can you please explain those terms? Thanks, evely...

 

I haven't been full time on any platform in 25 years. What little I have sold, ebay and their buyers still react exactly as I would expect. I stayed with ebay for the ease of use - I already know how to use it! Plus, I had more than one account there for items that cannot be combined shipping. So when I return to my little hobby selling, it will be ebay. I recommend ebay with international shipping options.

 

They now automatically send any piece of gold or sterling jewelry set with a gemstone from their list and that sold for over $500 to Authentication. The authenticators are allegedly GIA trained. Nobody ever asked for this, and yet all jewelry sellers pay a jacked up FVF to pay for it. This includes sellers who only deal in costume. It slows down delivery of the product, and they've been taking lessons from the shoe authenticators in rejecting genuine pieces.

To make the authentication thing work, they royally effed up the search for ALL jewelry. Bolloxed (bollocked to some) is a more printable word for what the did. Utterly ruined would also be appropriate. Some people are better able to find items by Googling them! They have no plans to repair it. The only way around it, surprise surprise, is "Promoting" the listing, aka Danegeld/blackmail/stongarm money. And we all know what they say about what happens once Danegeld gets paid.

 

Thank you for the clarification!
I do not deal in jewelry, gemstones or gold, except that now I have 4 years-of-service award pins listed; 14K 3 with small diamonds an' 1 with a small ruby. They were my Dad's; once gone, there'll be no others.
Total of the 4 would be under $250, so I'm apparently not subject to that Authentication. I do offer sterling occasionally, but again, not jewelry.

 

It depends a bit on what you're selling, but if looking to stick within France Vinted might be worth a try? Lots of people selling jewelry there at all different price levels. Though I think prices have been historically quite low on that platform, that seems to be changing with more pros entering.

For anyone wondering what the 'French Craigslist' is, it's gotta be Leboncoin...I wouldn't use it personally, too unwieldy and terrible tech. Vinted is killing it.

Etsy is best (in my experience with high end ceramics) and you reach that international market, so important.

Good luck

 

Ebay can IMO be risky for sellers if they are not meticulous. One time I sold a $500 commercial circuit breaker through Ebay. A few weeks later, buyer opened a return and claimed that the breaker arrived defective. They posted one low resolution picture of the breaker.

Fortunately, I had taken numerous pictures of the circuit breaker as well as my packing process. I also had a report from the company that tested my breaker certifying that it was good/working. After seeing my pictures, buyer admitted that the breaker had been damaged by one of his contractors and cancelled the return. As WL said, sellers must take all care possible to avoid getting burned.

 

I think Vinted is European-wide, or at least in W. Europe, so that broadens the possibilities.
It is also in the Netherlands, I have thought of giving it a try myself.

 

Yes of course you are right AJ! I have sold to Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany on Vinted, but mostly seems to be French folks. So, it might be a good mid-way option. Only problem with Vinted is that it hugely prioritizes newer listings, so if it doesn't sell virtually immediately, you would need to re-list it, or pay to have it boosted. I've only used it to sell super-cheapies, learning pieces or things too damaged to sell. I group them up and get them gone! It's been good for that for me.

 

WOW! I haven't bought or sold any jewelry and had no idea! Thanks. I do have TOTE BOXES filled with un-searched costume joolz that I tossed in there through the years, so I will save those for last to sell off in my lifetime! I don't mind winding up with smalls and I can make LOTS of it all to sell. Hopefully there will exist a better platform for costume jewelry (and shoes) in the near future. **I didn't know about the shoes either! Sheeesh! I do still have the original boxes for shoes, wonder if this will be of help. I never advertise the original box unless I'm willing to double box the stupid box! So I have yet to list shoes... SMH

 

If the shoes sell for under $250, you escape the Authenticators. (who are also known to lose things)

You got lucky. The yahoos could have filed a chargeback and won, because sellers almost never win. That's supposed to have changed recently but I'm not holding my breath.