Strictly from a buyer's perspective, it sounds like you have it covered. I hope you have good luck selling your items.

Know exactly how much it will cost to ship. I would sometimes take packages to the post office or UPS ahead of time, and always used the online calculators available for an estimate.

I once listed a new in package Martha Stewart for Kmart 100% cotton sheet for 99 cents. (I bought the wrong size by accident)

I had Two people say they would NOT bid on it unless I could tell them exact shipping even though I had stated it would be the cheapest method possible in a mailing envelope. That is how people are.

Unless you're selling a large item, you don't need to invite a Craigslist person "into" your home. Meet in a mall or a place where you feel secure and bring someone with you. As for Ebay, it's very easy to do. If you don't know the provenance of an item, just state that you don't know the background or age and it is being sold "as is" Many Ebays charge more for the actual shipping to increase their profit in the event the item sells too low. I've done both and been successful, good luck.

Pal - My intent was to get cost estimate prior to listing. Not sure how to handle "destination unknown" -- maybe as yayagal suggested.

yayagal - With the cost of gas and my time, I'm not going to make arrangements to meet for potential no shows. o shows at homeare less of a problem (I always can find something to do), but I don't want strangers even coming to my house (ick).

Java, my husband sells a lot on craigslist (race car stuff). No one ever comes to our home.

After the first email contact from a potential buyer, all other contact is done by phone. His cell phone. he sets up meetings in the parking lot of a shopping center a few blocks away. He has never had a no show. Maybe because they know he has their telephone number? Always CASH only.

ML

I have not started yet but the one thing I'm going to do is a minimum price I'd allow the item to be sold for.

If you can figure out the weight/size (as packaged for shipment)of an item, Ebay has a built in calculator for figuring out shipping. A postal or kitchen scale works well for smaller items. You just have to specify shipping preferences in your seller profile. When a seller logs on, the shipping costs will show up since Ebay knows their zipcode.

When you go to ship, Ebay has a program to let you pay for and print shipping labels for both USPS and UPS. You just put the label on and drop it off.

When listing an item, be sure to state your conditions for payment, what conditions, if any, you will accept a returned item, etc. Go on Ebay and look at the terms/conditions that other sellers have, then figure out what you want to offer. These can be be saved as "inserts" so you can put them into your listings and not have to keep typing them over and over.

If you want to sell an item for a certain minimum price, you can either make the starting bid that amount, or put the minimum starting bid in, but put a "reserve price" on the item. The actual reserve price is not visible to the buyer. As a buyer, I don't like this. I'd rather know right up front what you're willing to let it go for.

Good luck with your sales.

All good stuff! I might be able to finish my first attempts this weekend. Thanks all!

I also like the make an offer button

I don't sell but I do buy some and hate the reserve, love the make an offer and buy it now options.

I too like Buy It Now and Make An Offer. Although I wasn't too fond of the buyer who made me an 'offer' of $10 on an item that I had a Buy It Now Price of $180 on. Sheesh.

Make An Offer is a nice option to me as a buyer and I've had mostly good experiences using it. I do get frustrated when a seller doesn't respond at all to my offer and just lets it expire. If you decline my offer, I completely understand, but if you let it expire, then I don't know if my offer was too low or if you aren't paying attention. It's just like in real estate, an offer isn't personal, so don't take it personally.

Except for high ticket items, I think reserves are kind of useless. Just start the bidding at the lowest level that you will take. I understand the idea that you think you might catch some bidders by listing an obviously expensive item for 99 cents, plus I think you pay different listing costs at that level, but basically, I find it a waste of my time to try and guess what you think your item is worth.

Another listing strategy that I hate is when a seller lists pieces of a set as separate auctions without a Buy It Now option. I understand the strategy is to get higher prices on the later items because a buyer has won the bids on earlier items in the set and will pay more to complete the set. However, the strategy annoys me and I refuse to even consider items listed that way.

I just read on an EBay item that the seller adds .80 to cover the buyer's confirmation that they received the item. She says that even though she has proof of mailing it, they say the item hasn't been received and therefore needs proof on the other end that the item was delivered.

I watch Marjolein Bastin items (Hallmark collectibles) and I am amazed at how much some people ask for items. I bought a set of her prints for less than $10, and now I am seeing them offered for $60. Someone else will be selling a set of her decorative plates for .99 as a starting bid and the selling price ended up being $13.00 but another seller started one plate at $13 and it went unsold. Who would bid on the one plate while the set was offered for so much less?

Also seems that the same people end up winning bids. I am sure that many are resellers and put in auto bids but give others a chance to collect things we like and can afford.
I know... if I really want it, I will keep bidding. Sometimes I do, sometimes not. That's life.

I sold both my used fridge and stove, $50 each and my old set of cookware for $25 in the same weekend on Craigslist.
Cash only, people came on time and took each item and were happy to get them. I made sure hubby was home when they came and I handled everything by email. Couldn't very well go to a parking lot with fridge hooked up so they could see it working.

sunnycottage that's hilarious (the $10 offer)...but I'm laughing with you not at you because I've had the same thing. I just refused them and moved on.
I have to say, though, even though the tide seems to be turning to buy-it-now for regular kinds of items, the truly significant pieces in the area I tend to focus on (American studio pottery) are auction only. That is, if the seller is educated and knows what s/he has. I do like that--it seems almost quaint/nostalgic now to use eBay for auctions, and they seem to be mostly what's listed on collectorsweekly--sometimes auctions with a higher buy-it-now price to end the auction early.

I've never sold on ebay, but my sons have, and they use the flat rate shipping boxes and only ship to the US. That way you don't need to weigh the items, look up rates on charts, etc. Even better, the post office will send you a supply of boxes to use for free!

Here is a link that might be useful: Order flat rate boxes

About Ebay, don't keep bidding up as you're only raising the cost. Go to Esnipe.com and register. You pay a teeny charge, then go and copy and past the number of the item and Esnipe will bid for you automatically. I always put in my highest price and generally win. I've purchased over 300 items on Ebay and have only paid 10.00 total to Esnipe for all those bids. It's is SOO worth it. BTW another Bostonian here.

Auction Stealer gives you 3 free snipes a week. I've been using it for years.