eBay sellers come in all shapes and sizes. The long term sellers with spotless feedback tend to be great communicators. Pick one that sells a lot of bike stuff, rather than a generic picker that just happened to find a bike or a frame in a storage locker or garage sale. If what they are selling is all over the map, thats a sign. If they are not a top rated seller, thats another sign.
eBay's system tends to punish sellers who do a mediocre job. They won't last very long, and eBay can ban them at any time, sometimes for life. So the pressure is on for sellers to improve their service.
Check how long the seller has been selling on eBay, one year? two years? twenty years? Check their feedback as a seller (ignore their feedback as a buyer).
The great news is eBay almost always sides with the BUYER, sellers are an afterthought. So it should be a much safer transaction than say buying a shipped item off FB marketplace. There are so many scams on FB marketplace right now, its caveat emptor.
And +10 above. I sell on eBay to all 50 states and other countries as well. eBay charges California buyers California sales tax. Only buyers that pay NC sales tax live in NC. Where I live has no bearing on the sales tax. And then there is the pesky 1099. I've been getting one for several years, but for those that have tried to stay under the threshold, the rules in 2022 have changed. Sell $600 in gross proceeds or more, and you will be getting a 1099. And those that sell here and use PayPal, same rule applies. And gross proceeds will include what you charge in shipping. So it doesn't take much to reach $600.
100% of my sales on eBay are Buy It Now. Why? Because I had so many slow/no payers on auctions. If sellers price stuff too high, their items don't sell. Sellers can ask any price they want but most buyers don't fall for it. Its pretty easy to research actual prices paid, not asked for.
+10 on fees. In person auctions here take 30% or MORE. And for that fee you get the local market of people that happen to show up. Meanwhile, despite all the fees involved, I continue to pay less than 15% to eBay to get access to a global marketplace. Its all about weighing what access to a global marketplace is worth to you compared to what it costs you to access that market. FWIW, I sell a lot of sporting goods items at a local consignment shop. Similar to the situation above, I only get the local market of people that walk into their store. Cost? 50%. Thats right, they take HALF of every sale. Needless to say, if the item is worthy of selling on eBay, off it goes. I'd rather pay 15% to access a global market than 50% to access the local market. So why bother? It tends to be a bunch of $5 to $15 items, not worth the hassle of taking pictures, writing an ad, waiting for a buyer, shipping the item, and so on.
Last edited by wrk101; 05-10-22 at 08:55 PM.