Like every one else, I have listed my used items on olx.in to sell. Some of them got traction; some got sold. but some of the costly or rare items like my iRobot Roomba did not get much traction there. I had been pondering over selling it through ebay.in but was not ready enough to spend the time to understand the process.
Especially the task of shipping was not clear to me. How would I pack and ship the parcel if it is sold? I see the item come packed in the nice package when I buy items on ebay. There was no information on the net about it. I started contacting some of national courier through their phone numbers and website. This was to find out whether they assisted in safe packing the parcel.
I contacted Aramex first by registering on their website as seller. Information there was not much useful since I was not an ecommerce business as such. All I wanted to do – was ship some of the used items – that I sell through ebay. I read negative feedback on net about them as well on justdial. I contacted DTDC/DHL/Bluedart. None of them could provide assistance in packing the item. ebay would not assist in logistics unless you are a seller with volume. Eventually, It boiled down to that I have to handle the packing myself and ship through a nationalized courier.
I enquired about rates. They are really high. DTDC is around INR 130/- per kg. and add to that risk surcharge of 3% of the value of the item. DHL is even more costly. Bluedart – I did not enquire. I am also not sure if they have standard rates. I suspected that franchises have some leeway in price per kg. Two different DTDC franchises gave me different cost per kg. Since this is not a ongoing business for me, I simply picked DTDC franchise with lower price tag and did not do more research/negotiation in selecting courier.
Ebay has max shipping price per category of product you sell. I could not put more than INR 399/- for example for my product. I had two options now – increase the price of the product by expected shipping price or incur additional loss of the amount when selling the used product. I decided to incur additional loss of 1k in my case since the higher price tag will make the item less attractive for the buyer.
There is one more thing. Ebay requires you to update the shipping details once the item is sold through paisapay. There is a list of empaneled couriers in the list there. I decided to not use any other courier for two reasons – 1. The item was costly enough to not save few 100s in shipping for the cost of shipping quality. 2. For the first sell, I did not want to go out of the book for anything in ebay process.
I hand delivered the parcel – to the DTDC franchise office. On the way, I wanted to check the option of India post – express parcel. This option is lucrative as the rates on the website are quite nominal. 1) the service was not available from my nearby office. 2) India post does not allow electronic items through speed post or parcel 3) India post – Express Parcel was not on the empaneled courier list in ebay site. I dropped the idea of shipping through India Post.
Packing was one more important thing. After I received the ebay sms – that item was sold, I have to arrange for packing the item. I needed this bubble wrap paper to safe pack. Luckily I have not thrown the cartoon in which I had received the item earlier in my purchase. otherwise, I need to purchase the cartoon also. I saw on DTDC site some mention about packing solution later with different size cartoon also. but I did not need it. I went around stationary shops in local market and luckily found bubble wrap 2mtrs. I came back home and packed each item properly in the bubble wrap and placed in the original box. The product is costly product. I could not afford any damage in transit. I had the cartoon packing tape at home. I put that around the package to close all openings.
DTDC challan that is given to you – has many fine prints about risk coverage. I read them overleaf and ensured that franchise filled all items in the challan. It mentioned that the risk coverage lapses if the option that risk is covered by ‘carrier’ VS ‘owner’ is left blank or the declared value of item is left blank. I got it filled. It is also good to check with franchise whether air cargo or surface be mode of transport. He then told to me that he will try to get it through air cargo if it can be done under the price paid. You would wonder why there is no standardization about the price per kg per mode. Why the if. but that is what it was. Franchise will ship the item to the central hub (terminology used by franchise). I checked with him how he will transport. I also wondered whether the insurance covers for that leg of the transport. but I have to given in and not bother about it. He said you can start tracking the item tomorrow morning. Next day morning – I could track the item through DTDC site!
I have interacted with the buyer in the meanwhile giving him update yesterday and today. After the consignment status is available on the DTDC site, I have updated the shipment details in ebay site. Ebay site is integrated with the empaneled courier backend. It now shows inline tracking status of the item. For example – it is in transit now in Bangalore.
Ebay calls you to verify the mobile number and your registered address once you start selling the item first time. That is you become a seller also. It is good to update your registered address to your latest address. Ebay customer support has unique way to get contacted. You have to go here and then pick an category, click contact us which gives u a 1800 number and a code. You need to dial that number and key in the code followed by # sign to reach a support executive. I could not find the category for my query. In that case, I have pick an category nearest to mine. Dial the number and request the executive to transfer the call. That worked! One time the executive was very curt and not helpful. On other occasion, he was really helpful and took time to answer general queries of a first time seller – like What fees will be deducted, How payment will be remitted to my bank account? When will it come to my account?
I forgot to mention that I have setup paisapay for my seller account. That required entering some of the bank account details. It was straight forward. Other thing was listing your item – I searched for similar item on ebay and clicked link ‘sell similar item’ below it. That helped me get started. I picked the item specs from a link and put the link in the description instead of copying all the description. I explained other things that a buyer will be interested when purchasing a used products – reason for sale, condition, wear and tear to ensure full transparency, original purchase price apart from my sale pitch and good title and sub title. With that, the listing went online. It is good to change the listing duration to at least 30days for additional cost of INR 3. otherwise, the item gets delisted after 7 days.
I could see the stats of views of my listing through myebay dashboard under all selling. One other thing that interests any seller is the ebay fees. It varies it seems. What I understood is that it is around 5% for paisapay. You don’t have choice but to use paisapay if u are a new seller. There is a final value fee. This is shown when listing the item. There is additional fee of INR 3/- if u list the item for more than 7 days. You sell price will be list price – ebay fees.
Regarding remittance, I came to know the process through ebay support. That is:
- Ebay gives order of 7 days to buyer to confirm whether the item is received.
- After 7 days, he get a reminder and additional 5 days.
- If no action on buyer during this time – seller gets the paisapay payment released
- if positive action on buyer – payment is released earlier.
- remittance is done through Thursday and Monday payment cycle.
My first sale is done. Item is in transit. Payment is not received yet. Will keep you updated on the same. Did you sale a used item as individual (not ecommerce shop) on ebay? What was your experience?
Update: Buyer did not understand how to update the item receipt on ebay. That kept me waiting for the payment for some time. Eventually, buyer updated the item receipt and paisapay remittance was done. Deductions were the paisapay commission. I have to pay the selling fees separately which are presented in my ebay-> selling ->account tab.