Getting Rid Of Stuff To Good To Chuck. Selling Stuff On Ebay - What A Nightmare

Discussion in 'Taylor's Tittle-Tattle - General Banter' started by AndrewH63, Nov 28, 2022.

  1. AndrewH63

    AndrewH63 Reservist

    From all the aggravation of filling in the details and taking photographs, to the worst part of all. Yes it’s trying to get the labels, packaging. Then the killer question “will you post to Ireland”. Sorting international parcel rate, complex customs numbers to discover.

    All because someone said you will get more for your stuff than at a car boot sale. Which is true, having just done one of those.

    Is it really worth it? I am beginning to question it all really. It’s not the money in our case. It’s just wanting to see stuff we don’t want find a new purpose. From functioning electrical stuff, to unopened DVDs, etc. Charity shops, car boot sales, and now eBay. It all seems a lot of hassle.

    is it best just to keep it all in the loft or take it to the Household waste site in Allum Lane?
     
    iamofwfc likes this.
  2. sydney_horn

    sydney_horn Squad Player

    If it's not about the money then Olio is a good option.

    Basically it's about recycling/sharing the stuff that you don't want/need with people that do want/need it. Just agree a time and leave it outside for the new owner to pick up. Easy as that.

    Much better than sending it to the landfill!
     
    AndrewH63 and Smudger like this.
  3. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    Local Facebook groups are marginally less hassle than eBay these days. Though I thought eBay covered international postage themselves these days and you just have to send the item to their UK centre for onward distribution?
     
  4. Bwood_Horn

    Bwood_Horn Squad Player

    Be warned: the 'local' FB groups are a scammers paradise. We 'nearly' got done with the sale of an electronic drum kit.

    If the ebay items are bulky they have their own problems with getting the 'right' photos for a 'possible buyer' (and that's before the endless questions on shipping not collection). I've had to sell a 'few' of these (bought new and son grew out of them) and they went for a 'song' (compared to the original purchase price).
     
  5. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    Had similar issues with EBay when I moved house not long ago, had a load of stuff I wanted shifting. The ones that wind me up are the ones that want the item yesterday, if I buy this item can you get it to me by tomorrow? Well no, I have no control over the courier/postal system so why would I offer such a guarantee? The deductions on eBay are also pretty extortionate
     
  6. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    Facebook's definitely got it's fair share of scammers and idiots but eBay's not a particularly friendly place for sellers these days, what with all the fees and the way the company always backs up the buyer.

    It certainly depends what you're selling and how wide an audience you think you need to attract a sale. We've got rid of loads of our kids stuff through Facebook I'm pretty sure would never have sold on eBay - including an old mattress someone paid £10 for...! Biggest issue there is timewasters. There's a never-ending stream of "can you deliver the item" requests from people who live two towns away or people who've just suffered the loss of a parent/grandparent/dog/cat/fish/nail who believe you should halve your asking prince as a result.
     
    hornmeister likes this.
  7. Teide1

    Teide1 Squad Player

    Ebay is good for either items that go straight in the post box, ie football programmes or items you can take to your local sorting office after having printed the postage. It becomes easier the more you do it and get familar with it! Anyone want to ask a question send me a pm
     
  8. Filbert

    Filbert Leicester supporting bloke

    Glad you didn’t get snared.
     
    Cthulhu, K9 Hornet, lendal and 4 others like this.
  9. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    Ba dum tish.
     
  10. Otter

    Otter Gambling industry insider

    Yes, I sold a bulky item to someone in Italy earlier this year, you just charge the postage to the distribution centre in Lichfield and they handle the rest including customs charges with the buyer, it was simpler than I thought.

    Regarding the OP, my parents moved house this year downsizing and moving from Bushey to Dorset, I helped my dad with a couple of car boot sales and selling stuff on eBay. You soon realise that things they spent good money on decades ago is utterly worthless because there really isn't a market for it.
     
    AndrewH63 likes this.
  11. Since63

    Since63 Squad Player

    Cymbal-ic of modern society, I'm afraid.
     
  12. Since63

    Since63 Squad Player

    We sold quite a lot of stuff via the local FB 'Things for Sale in XXXX Area' specifying COLLECTION ONLY. No real hassles, but even then we got people asking 'if I add £2 onto the price can you courier it to me'? A polite question of 'which part of COLLECTION ONLY do you not understand?' soon got rid of them.

    Stuff that didn't sell we took to a charity shop.
     
    UEA_Hornet and Otter like this.
  13. Diamond

    Diamond First Team

    Last time we moved house I got all of the stuff we could sell, did a car boot one sunny morning, anything that didn't sell went straight to the dump on the way home. Less money than you'll get via ebay or FaceBook but a thousand times less hassle and a nice chat with loads of interesting people.

    Bit late for a car boot now though.
     
  14. Lloyd

    Lloyd Squad Player

    I've given up taking things to charity shops - they're all so bloody ungrateful and the miserable old bags that work in them look so pained when you drop stuff off. This isn't ideal as Mrs Lloyd is constantly ordering clothes, furniture and other sh1te from the internet, which in the past I have sneaked out and dumped at Help the Aged, Sue Ryder etc but now our house is overflowing with scented candles, rugs, useless gadgets, 'this season's must have' hats, coats, bags, shoes and countless other items of assorted tat. I'm tempted to have a bonfire with it all
     
  15. Since63

    Since63 Squad Player

    Bonfire of the Inanities?
     
    lendal and Lloyd like this.
  16. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    It's just a charity Lloyd, not a personal promise to you...
     
    Lloyd likes this.
  17. Teide1

    Teide1 Squad Player

    I’m sure lots of our wives bought plates once a month from Danbury Mint or some other similar company for good money years ago only now to find your children don’t want them, and as soon as we are departed they will be going the same way!
    Porcelain Plates
    Porcelain Bells
    Metal model cars
    Thimbles
    Dolls
    CD’s
    Horse brasses
    Cats this that and the other, the list is endless!
    You name it some company has made money out of making people believe they needed it!
     
  18. Since63

    Since63 Squad Player

    Needed or wanted?
     
  19. I e given up on eBay selling. Just done some house renovations and had a few bits so thought I'd chuck them on.

    Got a svathing review from someone when I cancelled a sale if something for 99p. 99 bloody pence and they wrote a long negative review that put my overall rating right down as I don't sell a lot so didn't have much legacy reviews to boost it.

    Facebook was much better for me. None of the scams mentioned and most happy to pay close to the price with a bit of friendly negotiation.

    Other than that,the tip is only 10 minutes away so I've been quite brutal and just dumped a load off there. For the sake of £10 for a TV cabinet, it's just not worth the effort and I don't want these things hanging around the house for weeks!
     
  20. Eastcoastorn

    Eastcoastorn First Year Pro

    After taking two years clearing Mums loft she now lives with us. Her house has taken a further year to empty ready to sell. As a hoarder she never threw anything away and we had all her “stuff” piled high in my garage. I have given it away mostly to charity shops and binned the rest. There are a few sentimental items that I’ve kept.
    The lesson Ive learnt is don’t buy it in the first place and instead of moving it from A to B to C just bin it.
    What a waste of energy and money.
     
  21. Keighley

    Keighley First Team

    Bit harsh that your mother was living in a loft.
     
  22. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    I used to sell quite a bit on ebay until the feedback system changed so that sellers couldn;t post negative feedback.
    Got stung a couple of times by buyers and just gave up in the end as the hassel wasn't worth it.

    It's all charity shop now. Try not to dump anything but then I'm also careful not to buy loads of tat. I have a garage which has a car in it and a loft which has the empty boxes for stuff still under warranty, a spare kitchen cupoard door and spare tiles. My thinking is if I need to put it in the loft or garage (not a car) I don't need it and I need to get rid.
    I have two neighbours. who whinge about lack of parking. One converted their garage to a storage room, the other has a garage full of crap.

    I'm guilty in owning a couple of amplifiers, DVD player, speakers which really need passing on. but that's about it for junk in Meister Manor.
     
  23. hornmeister

    hornmeister Tired

    The film Shallow Grave springs to mind.
     

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