eBay Experiences?

[Pasture Mix]

Hi all,

I've found some odd horsey bits that I never seem to use. They're sat in boxes, taking up my storage space & being wasted, which seems a shame. I need to have a proper clear out & tidy up in there, so I was thinking of gathering a bunch of stuff I don't use & selling it on eBay. It'll be clearly advertised as second hand & cleaned up as best I can before it's photographed & listed. I'll try to give as much info as possible in the description & have had a few tips from my eBay-savvy Dad so as not to get caught out by annoying/dodgy buyers. I'm not after much for it; enough to cover postage, listing fees & a little on top for my time - mostly I just want it out of my hair. So, what I want to know is:

Those of you who have sold horsey stuff on eBay before, how many problems have you had?
Do people tend to pick fault upon receiving the items to try to get a refund?
Or are the people buying second hand fairly sensible & accepting that the stuff won't be in perfect condition?
Any advice appreciated

Your choice of wine & choccies for all those who bothered to read

 

[Pasture Mix]

Bump.. Can anyone tell me what kind of experiences they've had? Good or bad? *Puppy-dog eyes*

 

[HBM1]

Not sold on ebay..but if you have bits n pieces why not see about a car boot sale? May be less hassle and you'd keep more of the money.

 

[tinap]

I've never had any bad experiences from selling old horsey stuff on ebay.As long as your descriptions & photos show any faults you should be fine. I did have a complaint selling something on facebook. Woman claimed it didn't fit even though I gave accurate measurements. I didn't have to refund but I told her I would give a full refund including return postage as long as she didn't return with Royal Mail - I didn't hear a thing after that!

I would recommend PayPal only as a payment option though xx

 

[Hot_Toddy7]

I have sold on eBay, and whilst most of the time everything goes smoothly, you do get the occasional asshat who will kick off about anything!
On the whole, it's Ok though, I've got a few bits on at the moment. I find things either sell really well and go for a lot more than expected, or they sell for next to nothing!

 

[glamourpuss]

I've sold a few things on EBay & as yet haven't had a problem.
List clearly, stating ALL faults...I probably over egg this but it's better than them coming back wanting partial refunds.
List all measurements clearly in listing, they can't then come back trying to get refunds because it wasn't as described.
Clear photos & lots of them
Keep listings clear, paragraphs, check for typos & no text speak - if you look professional buyers will treat you professionally.

 

[KRjumpjump]

I've bought and sold lots of horsie things on ebay and never had any complaints. Only thing I've been annoyed about was spending £22 on a saddlecloth that had only been used 'once' and when it arrived it absolutley stank. Wish I'd sent it back or complained now, but at the time I couldn't be bothered!
Jackets and named polo shirts like Joules tend to sell really well.

 

[Pasture Mix]

Brilliant, thanks guys! I will be putting as much detail as I can think of in the description, as I can see that would be the biggest area I could fall down on.
Did think about the car boot, but if I'm honest, I don't really have the time.. If I sell on eBay, I can collect the stuff together, clean it, weight it & calculate the cost to post, write a description at list it at my leisure.. I can have things collected by courier from work, which will make life easier, but thanks for the suggestion
I am expecting the odd hiccup & am more than willing to defend myself but you've all made me feel a bit better that it shouldn't be difficult to sell every item
Will definitely be taking the PayPal only advice - I can see that cutting out a lot of problems!
Thanks guys

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

No problems here with buying or selling

 

[Sukistokes2]

I have sold a few things, mostly great and no problems.

Had one problem, with a bit. Buyer said it was bent. When I sent it it was fine. As the seller I didn't have a leg to stand on. I offered to buy it back but she wanted money off, this I did just to be fair even though there was nothing wrong with it. She than wrote a terrible comment about me.

however... it has not stopped me selling.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

I've bought & sold on ebay many times & rarely have any issues with buyers or sellers but you will always get someone who wants something for nothing.

Basically be very honest when you describe what you're selling. If there is a defect/repair or similar then mention it. If it's new say so, if it's used say so. If you have been honest then you should minimise the chance of a problem.

Almost as important as the description is the cost of p+p. Charge the correct price, you can work out the price on line. For heavier items don't use royal mail as they are too expensive. You can sent heavier items much cheaper by using companies like:
http://www.collectplus.co.uk/

Many buyers are annoyed when someone charges £4.00 p+p & when it arrives it's wrapped in a bit of dustbin liner & there is a stamp on it for £1.30p. This is the way you get bad feedback left.

Deal with people as you would want to be dealt with yourself.

 

[chaps89]

Never had a problem on ebay before but have always been totally honest with descriptions & photos to cover my own back & sent everything via special delivery (insured for a certain amount that way)
However last lot of stuff I sold was via a horsey facebook page, could have sold most of it two or three times over, no fees like paypal, no haggling over price, no hassle of getting to the post office to post it, sorted.

 

[*Maddy&Occhi*]

I think it all really does depend on the buyer. I've always had positive experiences with selling items on ebay. Just make sure you're very honest- state if there's wear and tear, or if an item is a little grubby (and attach with it pictures). And make sure the items are boxed well (take pictures of this for your own record too, just incase a buyer tries to return and uses an excuse of poor packaging).

I have to admit that I actually was a bad seller once . Sold a saddle and left dad in charge to box it up for me and to send off via post office (I usually do this myself, and usually do it very well, but left Dad in charge on this occassion as he owed me a favour ) ...well, dad thought it was acceptable to send said saddle in an extremely small box (with the saddle flaps bent inwards, with no bubble wrap) . I had no idea he did this until buyer contacted me and said because the saddle was poorly shipped, it had caused damage- she attached pictures of the damage and of course wanted a return. I accepted straight away and apologised! ...dad was in the dog house after that

Sounds as if you've covered everything anyway.

Good luck

 

[mandwhy]

I have bought and sold quite a lot and no problems here either, just make sure you take good pictures and describe accurately including any faults. I include lots of measurements generally so people know something will be right.

I did sell a ring that I measured and got the wrong size, so having inadvertently misdescribed it I had to take it back and refund postage plus pay for postage back, what a palarver but my fault entirely!

I find people miss obvious things like if advertising a comfort bridle, take a picture of the headpiece and padded areas, just a distant shot hung on a door is kind of unhelpful, although you have to pay for more pictures.

Oh and try to make your auctions end at a sensible time, about 7 or 8 in the evening, especially Sunday evening seem to be times a lot of people are looking.

 

[mandwhy]

Also I think you can get better prices on facebook groups/preloved and no fees, but no protection either. People will generally buy a rug in fair condition for 20 quid minimum even if old and needs cleaning, then more depending on brand and type etc.

 

[weebarney]

Don't what ever you do give a buyer money off if they complain, it's totally against eBay buyer rules for them to demand a partial refund, they either keep it or pay out if their own pocket to return it.
I have mostly had good experience on eBay as a buyer and seller, only once had bother when selling a saddle, sometimes people want something like brand new when they are only paying 10% of what it would have cost originally .

 

[Pasture Mix]

Wow, thanks for all the advice! Think I'm pretty well covered now!
Will take all of this into account when writing my descriptions/taking pictures
I'll be sticking with eBay tbh, as I want the protection & security of both eBay & PayPal - my life is hectic enough without having to deal with non-payers & problems by myself.. But I don't think I'll go wrong now with all this advice
Thankyou very much everyone xxx

 

[Vanha12]

Love buying, hate selling. Find it a pain although most horsey things have been ok - when I was selling baby stuff people were a total nightmare!

 

[nixxyz]

Please make sure you always send it recorded if its something you dont mind loosing. I learned the hard way and had to refund the buyer as the breastplate apparently never arrived :/ So i was out of pocket money wise and lost the breastplate too

 

[Zero00000]

Sold my ideal saddle on ebay, sold within an hour buy it now price at £350, Used a courier to delivery to them, apart from them not being happy with the length of delivery (it went Kent to Scotland) all was good!

Clear description, photos of any damage no matter how little (some of these buyers are rather petty!) inc photos of measurements if you can, this clears up any concerns over size ect.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

OP, use eBay by all means if that's what you prefer, its a useful site. But don't fall for the hype! As a seller you have almost no protection of any kind. You have better protection by selling things on sites that are not bound by eBay or paypal rules. All the protection you need on those sites is making sure you have the money before posting the goods. EBay and paypal are far more hassle when it comes to idiot buyers and the possibility of being scammed.

 

[Pasture Mix]

Please make sure you always send it recorded if its something you dont mind loosing. I learned the hard way and had to refund the buyer as the breastplate apparently never arrived :/ So i was out of pocket money wise and lost the breastplate too

I have to send parcels quite often for work, so I've found a good online company that collects from you & delivers to your customer for a price you can calculate beforehand So that shouldn't be a problem, but thanks for the heads-up - I'm not going to be charging that much for the stuff I'm selling in the first place.. I don't then want to lose what I do get!

I think after everyone's help I'm fairly well-prepared. I'm going to list everything just as Buy It Now rather than auction, so if someone wants it, that's what they pay for it - end of.

Now I just need to give myself a kick up the backside to actually tidy my storage area & find all these items out..

 

[FfionWinnie]

Preloved I think. Its free and the way it is set up to show local things first is really handy.

 

[Sarah20]

I always use EBay to buy & sell. Like everyone says just be accurate with the description - like a tiny mark here and there etc and you won't have any problems.
I recently sold my saddle on there to a top international rider - so many people use it to buy and sell

 

[Highlands]

Love buying, hate selling. Find it a pain although most horsey things have been ok - when I was selling baby stuff people were a total nightmare!

Totally agree

eBay is expensive to sell on, they take a large cut of profit. Preloved all the way!

 

[Hippona]

I recently sold my saddle on there to a top international rider - so many people use it to buy and sell

Oooh .....do namedrop