Ebay

At least the post office is better than DHL... Up until I was laid off last month I worked for a business that ordered live butterflies from all over the world. Usually we would get our order is about 2-3 days of transit time. Anything much longer than that would get bad since the butterflies start to emerge in about 5 days and would die if not unpacked by then.

One vendor shipped DHL and the route went from the Philippines to San Francisco to Cincinnati to me. This took 48 hours almost every time. One shipment though went Phillippines to Hong Kong to Miami, to Cincinnati, to New York, to Cincinnati, to New York, to Cincinnati, to New York, to Cincinnati, to Hong Kong, back to Cincinnati and then to me. Took almost two weeks instead of two days. Lost over 99% of the shipment I think 2 out of multiple hundreds survived. Turns out the computer code for Hong Kong is one letter off from the code for my city and someone at DHL entered the code into the computer wrong twice.

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Originally Posted by GeorgeB

So, if I understand you correctly, if I use ebay.com shopping process, they will unfreeze up to $15 that I can use towards shipping correct

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Yes, you can access up to 15.00 for shipping cost, but you have to do it with ebay or paypal.

Ok. First, I wouldn't try to sell your cards unless they have been "graded". It costs money to do so and I would only do it with high value cards. You will not get the full value otherwise.

Second, this eBay hold thing is bs. Totally a deterent for honest sellers. You work your butt off for money you can't have right away. Around 1/2 of my customers leave feedback and I sell to around 500 customers per month. It's a good thing that I've been selling since before the hold policy cause I would be pretty pissed if I had to wait 21 days to get my money.

Third, get a business Paypal account. They take you more seriously that way. I have a Paypal debit card so my money is ALWAYS accessable. Business Paypal is still free.

Fourth, as stated, never ship until you have the money! If you are shipping by printing labels from eBay you are automatically covered by the "seller protection policy". That's because you get free delivery conformation that way. Also, that's why the tracking info takes so long to show up. It's not actually "tracking" info. If the package is lost in transit, no info is given. Only once it is delivered. (makes no sence since obviously they are scanning it along the way). IIRC you must ship Priority for up to date tracking. I, on the other hand, ship blindly with just a regular stamp. It's about $500 less a month for me to ship that way. This is only because I sell low value items that I produce myself. If someone wants to be a scumbag and say they didn't receive it, I just ship another. It's really just the cost of the stamp for me.

eBay is a buyers world, but you can't even compete with the visibilty your items get elsewhere. It's been my primary source of income for the last 3 years and I really have no complaints. If I ever call in with a problem they are super nice and helpful since I'm a powerseller. (I made powerseller within the first 3 months.)

George, of there's anything else you need to know feel free to ask me.

Mike

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Originally Posted by scrap lap

Ok. First, I wouldn't try to sell your cards unless they have been "graded". It costs money to do so and I would only do it with high value cards. You will not get the full value otherwise.

Second, this eBay hold thing is bs. Totally a deterent for honest sellers. You work your butt off for money you can't have right away. Around 1/2 of my customers leave feedback and I sell to around 500 customers per month. It's a good thing that I've been selling since before the hold policy cause I would be pretty pissed if I had to wait 21 days to get my money.

Third, get a business Paypal account. They take you more seriously that way. I have a Paypal debit card so my money is ALWAYS accessable. Business Paypal is still free.

Fourth, as stated, never ship until you have the money! If you are shipping by printing labels from eBay you are automatically covered by the "seller protection policy". That's because you get free delivery conformation that way. Also, that's why the tracking info takes so long to show up. It's not actually "tracking" info. If the package is lost in transit, no info is given. Only once it is delivered. (makes no sence since obviously they are scanning it along the way). IIRC you must ship Priority for up to date tracking. I, on the other hand, ship blindly with just a regular stamp. It's about $500 less a month for me to ship that way. This is only because I sell low value items that I produce myself. If someone wants to be a scumbag and say they didn't receive it, I just ship another. It's really just the cost of the stamp for me.

eBay is a buyers world, but you can't even compete with the visibilty your items get elsewhere. It's been my primary source of income for the last 3 years and I really have no complaints. If I ever call in with a problem they are super nice and helpful since I'm a powerseller. (I made powerseller within the first 3 months.)

George, of there's anything else you need to know feel free to ask me.

Mike

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Thanks for all the information.

I do have some connections that would be kind enough and take a look at the probably 2,000 or so cards that I have. There is a mixture of everything.

I got a huge collection of cards from a guy in my town, who simply just wanted them gone. Knew nothing about them, but the fact that his kids collected them, and they were all grown.

I have noticed at least 6 or 7 complete teams in the boxes. Yes, there is duplicates, but none the less, there is COMPLETE teams. Just don't ask me which ones, because unlike most guys and girl, I am not into sports.

None the less, years back I went to a "ebay store" in my town to sell a few items (non baseball stuff), and they simply looked each item up on ebay, to see what they were seller for, and sold my items for a bit less.

I have looked a few up on ebay, and other sites that will show you a prestine card and then tell you what it be worth in todays condition.

Of course, I do no have the time to sift through 1,500 to 2,000 cards all at once, but I do know that most are not worth squat, except for a yard sale.

But the ones that are worth maybe a bit more, I will try ebay and see about the luck, maybe.

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Originally Posted by GeorgeB

I have had the same issue. Unfortunately, only works when the employees are not to lazy and actually scan the packages

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We have to scan the packages. If we dont we geting written up and can be fired for it. The problem is not the employees. Its the system the USPS baught to do the scanning. they Scanners do not update live like the UPS scanner do. They get put into a cradle at the end of the day and downloaded to the mainframe every night. The mainframe then has to process the millions of scans it recieves every day from the scanners. This is done in a 4 to 6 hour window everyday. So the mainframe gets very overwhelmed if you ask me. Not a smart way of doing it but thats the government for you.

If you pick out a few and look them up on E-bay, do not go by what people are asking for them. Always hit the "completed listings" button to see what things actually end up selling for.

This holds true for anything on E-bay.

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Originally Posted by PartTimeScrapper

We have to scan the packages. If we dont we geting written up and can be fired for it. The problem is not the employees. Its the system the USPS baught to do the scanning. they Scanners do not update live like the UPS scanner do. They get put into a cradle at the end of the day and downloaded to the mainframe every night. The mainframe then has to process the millions of scans it recieves every day from the scanners. This is done in a 4 to 6 hour window everyday. So the mainframe gets very overwhelmed if you ask me. Not a smart way of doing it but thats the government for you.

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I was just giving you a hard time. I know the USPS like the UPS is strict on their policies like that.

I have found that sometimes the Tracking info is more complete and updates quicker on the USPS website then it is if you just click the tracking link on the completed add under MyEbay. As far as shipping preferences I use Priority Mail (print postage at home and drop in bulk box) if I can find a box/envelope for my purpose, everything else goes Fedex 3 day Ground. I print everything up at home and just drop it off at a location down the street no waiting.

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Originally Posted by PartTimeScrapper

We have to scan the packages. If we dont we geting written up and can be fired for it. The problem is not the employees. Its the system the USPS baught to do the scanning. they Scanners do not update live like the UPS scanner do. They get put into a cradle at the end of the day and downloaded to the mainframe every night. The mainframe then has to process the millions of scans it recieves every day from the scanners. This is done in a 4 to 6 hour window everyday. So the mainframe gets very overwhelmed if you ask me. Not a smart way of doing it but thats the government for you.

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I figured it was something like that. I'm guessing UPS uses a wireless system that updates in real time.

Ack. I am derailing the thread. Sorry.