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BlondheartI am wondering how many people really do well and enjoy selling on ebay?
I have to tell ya, I am confused....well confused and dissapointed really. I have had my ebay account since Jan of 1999. In that time I've bought a little over 100 things. I've never really sold much of anything until recently.
For me, when I win an auction I pay promptly. ESPECIALLY if the auction ends while I am sitting there watching it end. It's just the responsible thing to do, and the item comes all that much sooner when you pay!
Ok so I decided a couple weeks ago to go ahead and try selling a few bears since I have been workin on this website, and I thought it would be a way to get my feet wet on the net. I marked them for opening bids at about 1/3 what I would sell them for retail because as painful as that is, I understand that ebay is a process. Selling on the net regardless how many years you've been in the business is like moving to another country and starting over where no one knows you. I studied it and I had a plan of action. What I didn't count on was that people aren't always......well lets just say they don't always do things the straightforward way that I do.
Last week a woman got the bear I was selling in a sniper bid at the last moment of the auction. So after that auction I put up another bear with a low opening bid and this time I added a buy it now price as well. I had no sooner put the auction up and she bid on the second bear within minutes. The first auction was specified for a 48 hour payment grace period. Being new to ebay and still caught up in it, I looked at her feedback. Most of it was very positive. But in the past she apparently flaked off on paying for a few items, but hadn't for a very long time so I wasn't worried, but I still had some nagging doubts about this for some reason. She had as many feedback items for selling as she had for buying. So being nosey I went to see what she was buying.....she was buying lots of bears. Being even more nosey I went to see what she was selling.....she was selling lots of bears....the same bears for the most part that she was buying. Now I don't want to judge, maybe she is a compulsive buyer and gets buyers remorse and sells them to make up for it. Or maybe she has limited space and rotates her purchases, or maybe she is just selling them to profit on our hard work. Even if that's the case, I set the low opening price so there is nothing really wrong with her doing that, even if it is kind of annoying.
So two days came and went and she didn't pay for the first auction. Now I would have given her a few more days but I just had "bad vibes" about this whole thing for some reason. So I sent her a polite little note to gently remind her that the payment period had come and gone.
The next afternoon, I get up and check my e-mail and sure enough she has paid for the auction she won. She ALSO canceled her bid on the second bear three days into it so it reset back to the original price and relisted the buy now price, pretty much ruining the auction in my opinion, it still has a day to go so we will see. She never sent any mail, never explained why, nothin......I contacted ebay and they said her reasoning was that she bid the wrong price. I said yeah but don't you have to rebid right away to fix it, (cause I meant to bid 20.00 on something once and accidentally bid 2000.00, and it states that right when you do it you have to fix it or you get in trouble for fraudulent bidding) and why did it take her three days to realize her error? They said they are going to investigate it. No real harm has been done as long as she doesn't try to get her money back from paypal on the first auction for some inexplicable reason.
But it has left a sour taste about selling on ebay since I was so new to that part of it, and since the bears are already going for such a low price. I am just curious about other people's experiences and if you love or hate ebay and why?
Apple Dumpling DesignsHi Kelly,
I think a lot of us have a love/hate relationship with Ebay. It's a great venue in many ways and wonderful avenue for putting your bears right out there for collectors who choose that method of buying BUT it takes a lot of time and consist exposure to start really building a collector base (of which I'm terrible about.) I know we've talked about that a lot in the past here on TT. Even those who have had a really good following and then for whatever reason have needed to take break have commented about having to rebuild again.
But there is the crap, for lack of a better word, that goes with Ebay...the non-paying bidders, the auction hi-jackers, the auctions that start hours after they should, the list goes on...it simply is not a perfect setup no matter how hard Ebay would like you to believe it is.
Many artist set a reserve on their bears. You might consider doing that and see how that works for you. I certainly wouldn't undersell yourself because you won't be happy in the end and it's not worth selling your hard work for less than you value it.
Good Luck with Ebay Kelly...I love it...and I simply HATE it at times. (Ebay not your work... 
)
Shantell
Ruby Mountain BearsWe all pretty much have those sad stories from ebay. The best auction I ever had was won by someone who never paid for it. It was very disappointing.
Jane Perala Designs Ltd.Yes, unfortunately, I think all of us who have sold on Ebay have had things like that happen. I am almost sure I know who you are talking about. It can be very depressing, and unfortunately not a lot we can do about it, except just what you did by contacting Ebay.
For this very reason, I have been giving a long hard look at Ebay, and I'm really considering not listing there any more. I may just make a selection of bears, and every few weeks do a new "show" on my web site, and also go back to selling to shops. I'll have to make the decision in the next couple of weeks. Do I, don't I, do I, don't I - I feel like I am pulling off daisy petals. :crackup:
Hobart BearsHi Kelly.
I'm a bit newer here @ TT but I too have wondered about the joys of selling through ebay. My bears and dogs have never really done very well on ebay. I sold about 1/2 of what I have listed and have only listed 2 bears recently and neither sold. I did clean out some patterns I haven't needed and some nice mohair I knew I wouldn't use and those all sold pretty good, and thankfully without any problems. I must say it is a bit of work, the listing, the fee's involved, the shipping (now there's a nightmare). My bears are in a low price range to start with as I have not won awards, I don't have a website or customer base, and I have only been in a few shows, no one knows who I am (or maybe they don't like what I offer) and I don't want to just give them away, so ebay is a hard place to deal with.
I have sold to friends mostly and I aways give them a better deal and it is almost always an order, not something I already have made up.
I have noticed the Bid4bears and thought I might check into that.
I wish you the best of luck if you stick with ebay, I have a show coming up in Ann Arbor, last year it ended early because there were no collectors to purchase items the last hour of the show, I'm hoping for all the venders this year that it is a better show.
Karen
Hi Kelly
I encourage you to try bid4bears. It works the same as e-bay but much more user friendly and the fees are less The traffic to the site is naturally not as great but there are also a lot less bears for those to bid on who do visit the site
url www.northcountryteddybears.com click on bid4bears and have a peek
Hugs
Gail
BlondheartWhat kind of sad commentary is it that we all have these stories? Does the anonymity of the net really give people lisence to just "screw us over" because they don't have to look us in the eye when they say they will buy our work. I don't understand people who treat us as if we are not real merchants. I am the same in person as I am online, if I commit to buy something on ebay or anywhere else for that matter, I do it! I just don't roll any other way, but straight forward!
Perhaps we need to rent a van and gather a posse and start hunting these people down and smackin them....... 
BlondheartThe good news is the auction got a bid at the very end, so I guess it all worked out. I am still not sure about ebay.
(Sorry for the double post)
