Forgive me if I fail to be enthused by the likes of eBay and Amazon, huge multi-national corporations that conduct vast trade in countries like Britain and Australia, yet pay virtually no tax in those countries thanks to a labyrinthine network of holding companies and subsidiaries in tax havens. There is also the minor detail of how Amazon, in particular, treats its staff, with a cavalier regard to human rights. The likes of Amazon might be fine for the consumer, but I would prefer to do business with organisations that have some form of ethical standards.
I have heard that as well about how Amazon treats employees. A friend's daughter worked for them and was totally stressed out the whole time, apparently something to do with how they treated her, but I don't have specifics. She's not a high stress person, so it made an impression on me. Have you considered opening a shop on Bonanza? It's free to open one (called a booth), and if you 'check in' daily and collect your tokens, you can use those (10/day) to offset fees. I don't sell that much there, but I also don't promote it as much as I do my other shop. I haven't had to pay any fees in about a year, since I have used the tokens to defray fees.
I'd never heard of Bonanza - it looks like a good site, but I suspect it's a bit US-centric for my purposes. The stuff I'm interested in selling is likely to appeal much more to people in the UK, although I did manage a sale to someone in the Czech Republic. I've also had experience of knowing someone who worked, albeit briefly, for Amazon. The person concerned was at university and got a short-term job around the Christmas period to earn a bit of extra money. She said it was awful - no talking, few breaks and an inquisition if you went to the toilet for more than two minutes. Quite what anyone with a stomach bug is supposed to do, I have no idea.
Have you ever heard of VCI? I know a lot of people who sell things on there. Of course, there a bit if a risk involved, but no more than anywhere else, I think.
There are others, but none of which have the reach of eBay. Really, I have had fewer problems on eBay than I have in second-hand stores or yard sales. Whether it's a book or something else, I can usually find it on eBay and, as long as you don't get caught up in bidding wars, the costs are usually very good. Wait until the last moment of the bidding period to make a bid. When you make a bid while there are three days left, you're just inviting someone to outbid you. There's also a lot of stuff at good prices that can be had through buy-it-now options. If I really want it, I might use the buy-it-now option; otherwise, I can usually get it cheaper if I wait until the last minute and place a lower bid.
I get so impatient when I see something I want, I would probably have a stroke if I got in a a bidding war. Oh geez, and if they bid more money than I had available... I would probably freak out just a little bit. I only look for things with the "buy it now" option. Its better for my health.
The good thing is, if you don't get the item you've bid on, eBay will show you similar items that are still available. I often find deals that way.
We did get about $100, and the people are still working on selling more of the collector games. Since they were given to us, and we didn't have to do any work of selling them, we figured that anything we get is all good. I think that he had the games priced higher than collectors wanted to pay at first, because he has re-listed them several times, and the price goes down each time. Plus, he has his shipping expenses and commissions to pay to eBay; so our share is not all that much. The last time that we spoke, he said they would be sending more money once he sells a few more; so it is still possible that we will get more from them.
I have never been able to sell anything successfully on eBay, but my sister once sold some kind of leggo set that had belong to her son for about 1,000 dollars. They really needed the money because at the time she was out of work, and they had college tuition staring them in the face. So, it was a win, win for everyone. Some people are really great eBay sellers, but it all seems so involved, I would rather stick to selling locally. I have had pretty good luck with that, although no one would pay more than say 50 bucks for a leggo set around here.
Are you still using the Close5 app, @K E Gordon? I think I might try it out when I'm finished with selling these books, CDs and DVDs. I have a few things listed on the other app that haven't sold, so I might try listing those on Close5 and see what happens.
I think with eBay you have to know what is going to appeal to people, for instance, the lego set that I mentioned could have been sold on one of these online yardsale sites, but I know at least the one around here you would be hard pressed to get more than 50 or 100 dollars for the set that sold for 1,000 on eBay. I mean sellers need to know the market, and what people are buying before they attempt to use eBay I think. I have a snowboard I would like to sell on there, but I think the seller pays the shipping, unless you sell locally. I could get more money on there for it, as long as I didn't have to pay for shipping.
@Diane Lane I am not going to use that app until I get my new phone activated. It was a pain in the butt on my other phone. However, there are a number of sellers and buyers around here it seems.
Oh ok, I thought you said you'd used it. I still haven't listed anything on there, but I want to try it out. I got a lowball offer as usual on the latest thing I listed. It's listed for $40, brand new in box, sells for around $50, and I got a $15 offer. I will probably take $30 if offered, but I just ignored that guy. I'm sick of the low ball offers. I expect to bargain a little, and take less than I'm asking, but offers like that are just insulting, and I'm not going to waste any more time dealing with people like that.