Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Selling items on Amazon vs. eBay

I'm going to vary from my usual programming routine to post about putting an item for sale on Amazon. We all need to make money, and there's no sense having stuff hanging around the house that you never use if you could be making a few bucks on it.

I was originally going to sell on eBay, but it turns out this particular item is already offered on Amazon. So, I want need to take photos or anything. Also, Amazon apparently takes out far fewer in fees than eBay. Well, there are conflicting reports. I was convinced by the first review on this site: http://askville.amazon.com/eBay-Amazon-place-sell-stuff/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=7778359 that it works for me. Basically, I don't have to take photos or set up the description - it's already all set up. Also, this url: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=1161238 lists the steps, and it's looks less complicated than eBay.

In this case, the item being sold is an Escort 8500 X50 Radar detector. I used this while I was commuting along a speed trap plagued stretch of highway where the cops were real experts at nabbing you just at the spot where you let your guard down. I got three speeding tickets on it when I first started the commute, and it cost me thousands in insurance money over time. It was great to have. I didn't mind the false alarms or anything. But, I eventually learned the best way to avoid a speeding ticket is to just use cruise-control.

Luckily, my wife stored away the box and I still have the original packaging. She's so organized. I'm just bad at that kind of thing. It's like a miracle to have it still around after five year.

So, I want to double check and make sure it's still working. It's been in my drawer for a couple of years now, since the suction cup just stopped working. Also, I had it installed by a pro, and I'm not sure if the wire that connected it to the battery or whatever came with the original box or not. I definitely have the recharger chord that plugs into the cigarette lighter. There's no suction cup - it just stopped working.

Ok, I checked it out. It's working just fine. The minium used unit listed on Amazon is priced at $250 or so, which I think is about 1/2 of what I paid for it. Not bad. It's a great piece of technology, that for sure.

Ok, let's review the steps:

Create a Listing

Step By Step | Sell multiple copies | Shipping expectations

1

Search for the item you want to sell.

When you've found an exact match, click the "Sell yours here" button on the right-hand side of that page. Note: there can be several editions or formats of the same item--make sure you have the correct one.*

// Done!


You can also sell your item from Amazon.com's home page by clicking Sell Your Stuff on the navigation bar or from the Manage Inventory section of your Seller Account.

2 Describe the condition of your item.
Select the condition and enter any comments regarding the condition item. For example, the book has a scratched cover or moderate highlighting.

// done.

Guidelines for setting the condition.

3

Set your price and register to collect online payment from your buyer via Marketplace Payments by Amazon.
Subject to our General Pricing Rule and any minimum or maximum pricing limitations we may establish from time to time, you are responsible for setting the prices of the products you choose to offer on Amazon.com, and should take into account all applicable costs (including fees and shipping rates) when listing and pricing your items.

Read more about commissions and fees.
Read more about shipping credits.

// What's nice about setting the price is there are other units for sale you can compare with. You already know the range.

4 Select shipping method.
You can choose to ship orders to buyers yourself or use Amazon's fulfillment services to do ship for you. If you choose to do ship yourself, decide whether you want to offer expedited or international shipping. When you offer a certain shipping option, you can mail your order using any carrier and method, as long as the buyer receives their package within the time frame they chose.

If you choose to have Amazon ship orders for you, your listings will be eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping, Prime, customer service, and returns. Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) fees will apply.

// We can ship directly. I'll have to remember to check that email address everyday, though - I promised immediate shipping.

Read more about FBA.
Read more about shipping expectations below.
5
Optional: set Quantity & SKU (see below)

6

Confirm.
Review the information you have entered carefully to make sure that your listing will appear as want it to. Although you can edit certain fields in your Seller Account once your listing has been created, other fields, such as "condition," cannot be edited. If you want to change the condition, it will be necessary to close the current listing and create another.


// Done. That was ridiculously easy. Amazon is going to take about $25 for the service.

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