offers or ebay?

dude_moose · Post by **dude_moose** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 6:37 pm

I'm thinking of entertaining offers on my cels, and since I've never done this before, I just wanted to get some general advice/opinions.

When you sell cels/sketches, do you prefer eBay or putting your gallery up for offers?

As far as offers go, if you get more than one hit on a particular item, how do you work this? Give the first priority, the one with the higher offer, or do a silent auction type thing?

klet · Post by **klet** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:09 pm

I for one hate offers, so I always put a price on anything I want to sell. Each price is based off of what I paid for the item.

Ebay is kind of a crap shoot--a lot of times, you won't get the money that the cel is worth, and other times you'll get a lot for it.

You can always do offers first and Ebay second if you're desperate. Glancing through your gallery, it looks like you have some stuff that people on Beta would want, so you'd probably get some bites.

As far as multiply offers from the same person, I'd run kind of a silent auction-type thing--that is, as long as you haven't accepted an offer already.

Baakay · Post by **Baakay** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:58 pm

What she said! ^

Offers are evil. You always end up either insulting the owner because the offer is so low, or obtaining the item for waaaay too much than you might otherwise have been able to get it for.

But. eBay and PayPal will stick it to you from every direction $$$$$$$$ and so forth, so there you go. I think Klet nailed it.

wELCOME cONSUMER · Post by **wELCOME cONSUMER** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 9:18 pm

I tried to take offers on a cel recently and nothing came of it. I ended up posting it on eBay and made a nice profit.

I would've probably given in for less if someone had offered, but people tend to shy away from offers. I really don't know why either, even tho I'm guilty of this myself.

I feel most people, myself included, don't know the market well enough and don't want to insult the seller or waste their time. Communicating back and forth is fine with me but not for some, I suppose.

Based upon my recent experience, I would recommend eBay.

duotrouble · Post by **duotrouble** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 9:57 pm

I've tried the offer thing a few times. And while I did make some sales, I don't think it's worth it. And I've tried the straight out pricing too. I think people just keep thinking it will always be there so they don't have to buy today or tomorrow or the next day. I'll probably always do ebay from now on. Just remember when pricing your opening bids to make the amounts something you can live with if your cel only sells for the opening bid.

kizu · Post by **kizu** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 11:59 pm

I think you can also do a reserve price if you want to start low.

I've seen some people do a buy it now with "best offer" option too.

Moop · Post by **Moop** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:48 am

I guess I'm really odd. I just finished my first offer period and was very happy with the outcome; no one offered ridiculously high compared to what I had paid, so I didn't feel guilty accepting, and a few offers were a little low, but I certainly wasn't upset or insulted. The best part is that my lovelies are going to Beta members, so I'll know just where to visit them.

Though I've sold there often, I'm not a big eBay fan. Either you have to price low and hope that everything gets enough bids to make worthwhile sales, or you have to pay a lot to list everything at a minimum that you can live with. Then there are the 'final value' fees, the PayPal fees... and the possibility that you get stuck with a deadbeat buyer or one who tries a PayPal scam. All in all, I found this experience far superior to all of that!

I'd definitely recommend at least trying an offer period first, then moving on to eBay if necessary.

majinuub · Post by **majinuub** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:01 pm

I agree with what Klet said. Try the offers period 1st, then ebay if there are no bites.

Remi · Post by **Remi** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:12 pm

Moop wrote:I guess I'm really odd. I just finished my first offer period and was very happy with the outcome; no one offered ridiculously high compared to what I had paid, so I didn't feel guilty accepting, and a few offers were a little low, but I certainly wasn't upset or insulted. The best part is that my lovelies are going to Beta members, so I'll know just where to visit them.

Though I've sold there often, I'm not a big eBay fan. Either you have to price low and hope that everything gets enough bids to make worthwhile sales, or you have to pay a lot to list everything at a minimum that you can live with. Then there are the 'final value' fees, the PayPal fees... and the possibility that you get stuck with a deadbeat buyer or one who tries a PayPal scam. All in all, I found this experience far superior to all of that!

I'd definitely recommend at least trying an offer period first, then moving on to eBay if necessary.

Ditto. I agree with literally everything Moop said, almost word for word.

I was very pleased with the outcome of my offer period, and aside from a couple people who made rather large offers which were accepted and have since vanished, everything went fairly smoothly. Even in both of those cases, I was made aware of extenuating circumstances so I am hopeful they will come through in the end.

When the transaction occurs through some degree of cmutual familiarity, like these Beta Boards, you have a tendency to have more faith in the people you are dealing with. I was comfortable enough to let one person work out a payment plan with me on a cel they just really wanted that will having them sending me payments all the way through July! That's pretty far away, but I trust it will be fine. I would never make that kind of arrangement with someone I randomly met on eBay.

So I agree... try an offer period and see how it works out. Worst case scenario you don't hear a single offer that sounds appealing and in that case you can always try eBay then. Nothing to lose!

Good luck, whatever you decide to do!

Remi ^_^