eBay is the leading internet source for finding hunting items--Guns are NOT ALLOWED-- that one might want to purchase. You might also have something that you no longer want and wish to sell. For everything that is good, there is usually something that you had just as soon missed.
Buyers usually have the advantage in buying, but there are a couple of gottachas. Items can be sold under 3 different categories. They are using the auction, fixed price which is sold as soon as you bid, and then the stores. In the case of the fixed price and store items, you must be very aware of the shipping cost. Many times, the shipping costs will be excessive to make up for a lower price on the item as to make the total price not as good a deal as the selling price may make it sound.
One of the things that makes eBay so successful is that it has a feedback system. This allows both the seller and buyer provide a ranking as to the other's performance. The most common ratings are positive, neutral, or negative. The system is far from perfect but overall does a fair job of letting you know about a buyer or seller. [Once a feeddback is left, it cannot be changed. One of my negative feedbacks was left when a buyer made a mistake and left someone else feedback for me. Another problem with the feedback system is that a non-paying buyer can leave a seller negative feedback, even though they have failed to pay for an item.]
In case of an auction, savvy buyers won't place a bid on an item until just before it is to close. If you bid early, then the probability of someone else placing a higher bid goes up. Again, be sure to check the shipping costs to see the total of what the item will cost.
From a buyer's perspective, eBay has a very powerful capability in its search function. The quickest way you see if something that you are looking for is available on eBay, then do a search for that item in simple terms.
If you are wanting to be a seller on eBay, there are a couple of things that you MUST be aware of. First, every item that you put onto eBay requires that you pay an insertion fee. These fees vary depending on the starting value of the item. If you want more than one picture, there is another fee. If you want to set a reserve, there is another fee, and so on and on. So, selling on eBay requires you to pay to list items. If the item doesn't sell, they have just collected from you for the listing. [It's a good idea to do a search to see if someone else is selling an item like the one you are planning on listing to see what you are competing against.]
When the item sells, there is a selling fee. These vary depending on the sales price of the item sold. The most accurate way of determining the fees is to go the the eBay website and check the fees since they change-[Usually increase]- from time to time.
If there are multiple bids on an item, then you can usually send a second chance offer to one of the bidders if you have more than one of the items being sold. It has been my experience that a very low percentage of the second chance offers are accepted. If the item sells on the second chance offer, there is only a selling fee charged.
The other part of the game is that of using paypal to pay for various items. Paypal, which is owned by eBay, has 2 different kinds of accounts(really more than 2, but 2 are the most common]. A personal account can receive and send money and do various functions such as send funds to your bank account. It CANNOT receive credit or debit card payments. It also have a monthly limit of receiving and amount of money that can be withdrawn per month. Since many buyers pay with credit cards, then most users have the premium account that will do all the functions of the personal account, but will also accept credit and debit card payments. The BAD thing is that paypal take a percentage of EVERY payment received whether it is from a paypal account with funds in it or if it is a credit or debit card payment
So, if you look at the total picture, it may cost you 4% or so to list an item on eBay. If it sells, then it will probably cost you another 5% or so. Then, it it is paid for using paypal, then you can add another 4% or so for the paypal charge if you have a premium account. If doing the math, the cost of selling can be from 10 to 15 percent.
I personally use eBay for many of my knife sales along with selling items that we have that are not longer needed, i.e. college text books. To see what I am selling on eBay, try to see what user cowboy2glm has listed, or do a search for forschner products and check the listings under the cowboy2glm handle. Because of the fees charged by eBay, I also welcome direct inquiries about any item that I have listed.
I would recommend trying
eBay if you are not a current user. However,
I'd also recommend taking it slow if you are wanting to sell on eBay
until you fully realize the game of fees that are incurred. If you
are sure an item will sell, then you almost have to add at least 10% overhead to the selling price
to realize what you want for the item.