First time ebay please help?

[Sarah]

When I send off clothes how do I send them and don't just say in the post what do I actually do for example do I put them in an envalope and send them in the post box or go in to the post office and if I do what do I say and will I have to pay to send them off

[James]

Wrap them in brown paper or something like a black bag, secure it with tape then print the address on it or on paper then tape it, to it. When you arrive at the post office which yes you will have to, ask to post it to 1st or 2nd class how ever much is right for the amount the buyer has paid or whatever you specified in the ebay listing, then the parcel will be weighed and posted be sure to get a receipt with the postal code printed on it or send recorded delivery to be safe, you can also send it via parcel force from the post office, if you ask the postal employee they will give you all your options.

[Angela]

Hi

When you have sold clothes on ebay to send them in the post make sure you wrap them and tape them up well. Put in a carrier bag then you could either put in a brown envelope or use strong clear plastic or strong black bin bag cut up plus brown packaging tape. If you use brown paper make sure it is strong and use loads of brown packaging tape or better still use strong plastic to wrap up and tape. Using just brown paper is not that good as it can rip in the post. Always put your address on the back ie From, then your address on a sticky label and sellotape it on to be sure. Put the buyers address on the front with To, on it and tape on. You will find the buyers address on Order details on ebay and on the Paypal website transaction. You need to link your debit or credit card to Paypal and ebay as ebay take fees ie listing fees and final value fees. Ebay will automatically take their fees after about a month if you don't want to pay straight away as a one off payment. Paypal charge 3.4% plus 20p per transaction as a seller. To buy things through Paypal it is free.

You would need to take your parcels to the post office to post and get proof of delivery receipt. I would definately recommend you post with signed for delivery. You will get a number on the receipt which is a good idea to put on the ebay transaction where it asks for this under sold, tracking number. It costs a bit more but it is proof for you that the buyer receives the item. You need to have proof that an item has been received incase the buyer says it hasn't as unfortunately some buyers out there are not honest. Ebay needs you to have proof incase of any problems.

Once posted you need to click on item and mark as dispatched. Then e-mail the seller to let them know it has been posted, it is a good idea to say please leave feedback once you have received and the you will do the same. Sellers can only leave good feedback. Buyers can leave good, neutral or negative feedback. When buyers leave feedback they have to fill in a star rating for communication,, postage cost etc.

With regard to the cost of postage when you list an item you should weigh it on say your kitchen scales then add a bit more weight for packaging. Go onto Royal Mail postage calculator website and work out the cost plus signed for cost, size of parcel ie small or medium as price varies for size and if you want to send 1st or 2nd class. Once you have worked out the price next add on a bit more say £1 or so for packaging which will help towards your fees (it doesn't cover all the fees as you are not allowed to account for fees, petrol, your time only packaging). Put in the total amount you have worked out by postage cost on the selling page. Buyers pay the p+p that you have put on your listing. You can resuse jiffy bag envelopes you may already have to save having to buy some. It is probably best to account a bit more on the starting price to cover yourself. Ebay do free listing sometimes which will save the listing costs, just get final listing fees and Paypal then. Paypal fees are deducted at the same time you receive the money from the buyer for each transaction.

You can list items for free at .99p but because of fees you will end up with less than that. If you under estimate on postage by mistake you can't ask the buyer for more money it just means you lose out more so be careful.

If you want to get a certain amount for an item either list it at that or you can start lower but set a reserve price, it costs a bit more to add this (maybe adding a bit more to cover fees if you want to).

If you are selling bigger items then use bubble wrap and brown boxes plus brown packaging tape. Parcel2go is a very good website with couriers like myHermes that do a very good 2 day service. The couriers are a lot cheaper than Parcel Force Royal Mail. Plus myHermes charge 85p + VAT for signed for - proof for you that item has been delivered and received. You just need sizes and weight of parcel to get quotes. With myHermes they do a drop off at some shops (makes it a few pence cheaper) maybe local to you to save waiting in for the courier to collect.

Hope this helps.