Ebay: its all up to you (ebay.co.uk)

Member Name: norton501

Product:	ebay.co.uk
Date:	31/07/09 (178 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fast cash

Disadvantages: time consuming and scope for unpleasant customers ?

It took me a while to be persuaded into using ebay. As a buyer because I knew it would turn into treasure trove for me and my wild imagination... I already had a huge "Wishlist of things I know exist but cannot find anywhere" to work through, so needless to say, my first month using ebay as a buyer was very, very expensive.

My housemate soon stopped answering to door to the postman and I had to trek to the Sorting office every other day to collect small morcels I had bought late at night and were more often throw back items I hadn't been bought when I had asked Santa for them as a child.

It took me a little longer to register as a seller on ebay, which is easy to use to sell the only questions will be whether you will find it tedious to type all the information in/ list your items and answer queries from people (for instance if you work all day, are you going to be able to put the effort in in the evenings and trek to the post office with parcels in your lunchbreaks every day if they sell). The ebay fees soon add up, you have to be careful and shrewdy about if you list things as buy it now or as auction to minimise listing fees.

I only registered as a private seller to sell individual items, clothing, small bits from a spring clean etc., The drawbacks are listing and selling/ final value fees, messages from people if an item goes astray in the post or someone says it has--- there is scope for customers to be unpleasant so you have to plan for things like this and get proofs of postage and work out if you accept returns etc., But the rewards are instant- easy cash for your unwanted items.

There are enough people making a lot of money from e-bay so it all comes down to the individual and how much work you want to dedicate or put in to listing and relisting and packaging and posting and messaging people. But on the plus side, its great to buy from, a few clicks and you can have that Mr Frosty slush maker you wanted when you were 9!

Summary: It depends on how much time you want to put in