Everyone has heard of eBay and of course the buying and selling that occurs there. eBay is an excellent resource to finding the value of a particular item. That said, there are 2 common errors that people make when trying to get the value (what it’s worth).

The first mistake is after finding the listings of what you’re thinking about selling, sellers see the “buy it now” price posted. Many people actually will use an average of several “buy it now” postings and decide that their property (item) is also worth the “buy it now” post they saw! The reality is this: hardly ever does the “buy it now” have relevance to actual value. Think about it, a person can post any “buy it now” price they want. Doesn’t mean it will sell. All it means is that we have a starting point. That’s it!…nothing more.

For some people, it corrupts their concept of true value based on what the items are actually selling for. The “market value” is based on what something sells for not what it lists for! Sellers fall in love with their own consideration of what they think it will sell for. They, in fact, become their own best buyer. No matter what you show them that proves a different actual value many will not budge from that “buy it now“ price they saw listed.

The second most common mistake comes from the sellers who are looking for what something sold for. They can see the postings for “sold listings” but they forget to factor in the commission. That is roughly, for a lot of sellers on eBay, another 10% selling fee that eBay charges. Sellers sometimes overlook that. 10% is a hefty fee to add on. You sell something for $1000……you actually get $900.

We do a fair amount of selling on eBay. It is a door that swings both ways. But, ultimately, eBay is better for “buyers” than it is for “sellers”. That will be another posting!