Chucking stuff out

Having spent a lot of time chucking stuff out of my parents house the last few weeks, I wish they had asked me to do it gradually over the previous few years ...

Ebay them. They are collectors items

been there, done that, got the T shirt!

eBay is a frustrating experience.....

1. the ad listing tool is SLOW to respond to the typing of text and options selections

1. if you start at 99p, it will go for not much more than 99p and below its true worth (loads of flippers out there on eBay)

2. If you price the starting bid at a realistic level to reflect the value of the item, no one bids.

1. The listing auto relists if no one bids up to 7 times. You can see lots of view and loads of atchers but no one bids.... there seems to be a psychological game going on where th epossible buyers are waiting for you to lower the starting bid before they will consider pouncing and then at that point you're close to being at no 2.

2. People seem to think the seller should pay for P&P or should be far less than the real cost, plus eBay charge you 15% commission on the postage. So even sending an audio cassette via Evri is 2.87, add on the

1. people do not read the listings properly! I had some china for sale and I said I cannot post this china as all teh couriers exclude these from compensation so I stated collection only and please do not ask me how much the P&P is...... cue loads of emails asking for P&P. Another time I had a vintage heavy and big church organ for sale.... also stated collection only. I had emails from Tanzania, Germany, and Chile. One person was so persistent I basically told him if you want it that badly you sort out the collection, customs and import taxes. To my amazement, he did so so the organ went to Tanzania via a shipping container.

2. Read the small print regarding items you send insured. I sent a TV and it was damaged in transit. the courier refused to pay compo as TV's was excluded from their compensation scheme. Luckily for me, the buyer I refunded out of my pocket sent me the ring doorbell video and it showed the TV set toppling off the trolly while being pushed by the driver. I appealed the rejeection of compensation by attaching the ring video and then I got a refund of the TV value and postage costs!

Yes, ebay is a hassle. But another option is to find someone who is selling similar and ask him if he wants to buy the lot.

I have had a problem with a very few of your posts since TB 115.3.2 (unadulterated in 64 bit Windows 10). As can be seen above, a followup from you shows here with the content of the message to which you replied. Otherwise look OK: see 3 screengrabs in link below.

Anyone any ideas please as to what I've buggered?

I tried that with a crate worth of brand new unused blank audio cassettes still sealed in their wrappers..... there are some shops on eBay that sell these... contacted them all, no one was interested!

It all sold in ones and 2 to collectors up and down the UK. so Royal mail had to deal with over 200 small packages going in at 98p a pop (the weight came in to just under 100g and less than 2.5 cm thick)

I remember going to electronic/radio auctions in the 1990s and even then no bids on items such as this. The auctioneers even offered them to the first bidder at 10p as it meant that someone else had to take them away from the premises.

Only got PTFE cables left and and bipolar transistors.

P.S. When one considers the NMW is now £10.42 per hour:

It takes time to craft a good quality eBay listing, deal with emails, deal with the winning bid in packing up, weighing buying postage, taking to local shop via the cost of car fuel, insurance tax, car maintenance, depreciation etc etc

it gets to the point where if the profit you make on eBay divided by the total time spent becomes less than the NMW, you might be better off slinging it in the local tip as that is probably quicker, cheaper, less labour intensive and less hassle..... but at the moral angst against this not being grren or respecting the reuse, recycle and reduce principles......

Very strange, the copy in my sent items, and the copy of my own article received back from NIN look as I'd expect with Sysadmin's text quoted and my reply below, nothing odd about the headers.

I have been tinkering with font settings to try to reproduce problems other users are reporting about TB v115 and fonts, but can't see that should affect anything.

Similarly can't think of anything you could have done at your end to make it behave that way ... Anyone else seeing that on my messages?

Have you tried quit and re-start TB?

Or try right clicking uk.d-i-y, then properties and repair folder, it still has the bug where you get two download dialogs, I answer one and cancel the other.

If you watched Retro Workshop on Yesterday, the chap who actually did the repairs may be interested in old / vintage components.

If nothing else, at least they would be used, rather than going to land fill.

I have a good stock of components etc but not really ‘vintage’ stuff.

Ham radio rallies are the place to get rid of things. The capacitors, not so much as they may be dried out, but mains transformers certainly as well as obsolete transistors or even valves. Brian

I just list everything with fixed prices and leave there until it sells. Some does, some doesn't, eventually I'll clear out that which doesn't. Price to include 'free' postage, as eBay will charge fees in that either way. I think most people want to click 'buy now' and have the purchase done, rather than messing with auctions.

When I have a pile of stuff to clear, I search for the sold prices. If they're enough to make it worth my while I list it, if I don't it's either off to the tip or repurposed for something scrap propose like robbing them for parts.

If clearing in a hurry, I suppose you're mostly relying on saved searches for items people are looking for: more likely for branded power tools, less for random boxes of screws. I might be tempted to batch more things into 'job lots' so you don't have to do as much individual listing and packaging. At least with an auction you've got a definite sale or not by a deadline, with a Buy It Now you may not. If you price the auction start based on the how much hassle shipping is to you, either it sells for break even hassle or more, or it doesn't sell in which case no hassle expended (apart from listing, and don't list anything with sold prices less than is worth your while). If it doesn't sell, to the tip it goes.

Theo

Thanks for the suggestions. In the end unsubscribe and subscribe anew gave me the messages correctly. I've no idea what I did. Or if the wind was north-northwest.

I find the time taken in taking good detailed photos**, cropping them, writing a listing with all the high detail like dimensions, history, condition, known faults, werighing and measuring to work out postage costs etv takes far longer than simply printing the packing slip, address label, wrapping up item and taking it to the local shop that accepts yodel, inpost or evri or the local post office.

Problem with job lot is the P&P gets pushed up...

I think it's possible to over-describe items. Write a couple of sentences of what it is, any faults that need to be described to cover yourself, and the photos tell the rest of the story. If the item isn't particularly valuable it doesn't need a life history. On the mobile app they don't even show you the description by default.

I agree the listing process is a bit annoying, so I tend to collect items and have a listing session occasionally.

If it's worth it, people will pay the P&P - or give them a pickup option as well. Once you're into serious parcel territory the uplift from say 5kg to

I take photos on the phone, create a listing in the ebay app, add the photos to it, and then open the draft listing on the website to complete it. I find it's quicker to crop/rotate the photos on the ebay app than do it on the web.

If I had a tablet then I could take photos on that, scan barcodes and do everything in that one app, which would make things quicker. (Big minus for the official Amazon Seller app, which doesn't work on tablets).

Theo

If the last resort has been reached, don't forget Freecycle, or more informally, leaving it at the edge of your property on non-bin days. My son acquired a child car seat in good condition from a neighbour over the road from him having done this.

OK, fewer takers with specialist bits, but still possibly someone local on Freecycle.

I find if I don't provide enough detail, I get emails like oh what colour is the case (even when its clear from the photos!) and even asking for dimensions even when there is a ruler in the photos!

I once put a LED floodlight on and I wrote in the text and headline that it emits GREEN LIGHT and had a grey metal case. I also included a photo of the LED floodlight being lit up against a white wall showing it emits green light,

I had someone bid on it... then got an email asking can I confirm the metal case is green?(!)

I replied with the description and photos shows that it emits green light and that it was a grey metal case....

He replied with Oh, I thought it emits white light and had a green case, its not what I am looking for and asked to withdraw his bid....

Also if not described or details/photos are ambiguous, some recievers then engages in an email convo saying its not as described or its not what they thought it was, asking for a refund. I then say ok, post the item back first... they then say oh I've decided to keep it now!

I find with the phone and app, the screen is too small, the keyboard is too small and the touch sensitive screen hard to work with so I find it easier to do the listing on a proper 46 inch monitor, full size keyboard, proper mouse and Microsoft ClipChamp

That you for that suggestion, I do have an Apple iPad as it happens :-)

If the amazon seller app works on iOS (iPhone) or on android, then it should work on a iOS or Android tablet surely (such as a chromepad?)

It can be well worth waiting for one of the regular "reduced fee" periods.

Chris