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Selling something; Amazon? Ebay? Or CraigsList?

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Home Point Real Estate DRE # 01492725

Selling something; Amazon? Ebay? Or CraigsList?

We have been disposing of a lot of personal property. Much of it quality. Other than estate sales about every 2 weeks we have been selling stuff on line. The 3 main sites to sell something are Amazon, Ebay, and Craigslist. So what are the ups and downs of each:

Craigslist: It is free. This is the only one that does not cost you a dime. The down side is it is best with local buyers only. I was able to sell some great high ticket items that were too big to ship reasonably for a good price. However, people will not travel that far to get mid range or more economical items.

Amazon: There is no up front listing fee; you only pay for what you sell. If you are selling more than 40 items per month you might consider a professional account with a monthly fee. I really like to put items here that I think deserve a good price, but I know it is going to take the right buyer. It takes longer to get your funds from Amazon than ebay, but there is no monthly cap on cash transfers to your bank.

Ebay: People bid up items and therefore you have a good chance of getting a better price on quality items that are in demand. The down side is there are fees to list, although they often have free listing periods. They have a low monthly limit on how many items you can list, but this is easily raised. There is a monthly limit on bank transfers from PayPal, but you can pay to have a check sent to you or get a PayPal debit card.

 

I am still learning so please leave your hints on selling at these sites.

Gene owns Home Point Real Estate; located in Brentwood Ca and providing service to the East Contra Costa County Communities of Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Antioch, Pittsburg and beyond. Give us call regarding Buying a Home, Selling a Home, or Real Estate Investing. Want to learn more?  

Fred Griffin Florida Real Estate
Fred Griffin Real Estate - Tallahassee, FL
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker

Gene, I did over 3000 transactions on eBay in the early 2000's.   It was good then.   But the fees, and the PayPal only, pushed me away from the site.

Amazon - I have purchased things there, never sold.

CraigsList - every site has scammers, but for whatever reason I get more of them from CL than anywhere else.  The usual "I have seen the photos and there is no need for further inspection, I will wire funds to you and send a courier to pick up the item, etc. etc."  I did recently sell an automobile with a blown engine on CL, I got full price in a week.  So the site works.

Jul 31, 2014 05:58 AM