It has been long since the last post about selling used items on ebay.in. In the meanwhile, I have to sell few other used items. Selling through olx.in was not getting traction and I finally decided to list them on ebay.in.

The money you get vs the time investment – does – raise question whether it is worth it – to sell used items through olx or ebay. Monetarily – It may not be worth it if your per hour time cost is anywhere more than INR 1k and item worth is less than say 2-3k. but sometime you do things – just for fun or want someone else to “use” the thing rather than give it to kabadi and dispose it off. I have to do that for couple of old things that I had listed on olx but not getting traction. e.g. old furniture – give it to our service staff. old chair – give to our maid. old glass top center table – did sell through olx after numerous phone calls from people enquiring but not coming to collect it.

When we are at the topic – few things about listing items on olx.in. These helped me get traction on selling them or avoid getting spam calls that have very low likelihood to sell.

1. Assert in the listing that serious buyer will get marginal bargain and they can come down to see the item. Don’t call to bargain.
2. Sometimes – the area name – selected for the listing is not very known; you can get spam calls from all over the city checking about the location of the item. solution – Clarified the address/location in the listing details. Also mentioned that if you are not from the nearby <this location>, transport cost may not make it viable purchase for you.
3. Also added additional cash discount over the listing price for the buyers taking the item before <date>

Coming back to ebay, I have been able to sell some of the used books through ebay. These were primarily motivated from the fact that someone else can read it as long as I can get the courier cost from the buyer. Few notes about this:

1. Shipping through speedpost – india post – was good for the books. It cost in the range of 70-100 if the book is not very bulky and go in a green large side envelope weighing < 500gm. I need to purchase the envelope from the stationary shop. It has internal cotton thing – between the paper to make the envelope little more robust.
2. For local (same city) – even DTDC – works out cheaper. It cost 70/- and if you have relationship with your local franchise – he comes to collect the package from home.
3. For bulkier book, I need to pack with the cartoon cover and brown tape.
4. There is a nice bookcrossing.com site. You can use this site to track your book journey. I had marked one of the book with their id (BCID)

I have also sold – used broadband modem, external hard disk through ebay. If the electronic item is not outdated – there are takers for the item on ebay. You need to price it competitively.

Before closing – Few notes about DTDC:

1. I got one franchise to courier my packages couple of times; now, he entertains to come home to collect package.
2. Insurance adds to the shipping cost. I have taken it for items costing > 1k. Shipping cost then goes in range of 200 for items in <= 500gm range.
3. Festival time may not be right time to ship through the courier. I have faced twice delayed delivery around Rakhi time.
4. Local shipping cost 70/- minimum. If the item is collect at home, it works better than speed post service.
5. I have been overall happy with DTDC service.

Have you also sold your used items on ebay? How was your experience?