Selling Antiques on Ebay

If you have bought or sold antiques on Ebay, or any other internet auction site, you may well have mixed feelings about the outcome.It's not quite the same as buying or selling tee-shirts or mobile phones; these are fairly predictable as to what you will get when your parcel arrives.With antiques it is sometimes difficult to buy an object without 'handling' it, this is especially the case with regard to condition as the 'feel' of an old object often relates much to the potential purchaser.In my time selling antiques on ebay, and shipping worldwide from the UK, I have gradually improved my procedures with regard to how I sell and how I ship. A few of these basic tips are as follows:Always describe an item as accurately as possible, INCLUDING any minor damage, nibbles, cracks etc etc.Much better to give the buyer an honest description, warts and all.Otherwise, expect at least a demand for a refund or reduction in price and, at worst, negative feedback.Negative feedback is to be avoided at all costs, better to offer full refunds.Nothing puts off a prospective buyer of antiques quicker than negative feedback re the condition of an item.Always pack items as if they were about to enter a war zone.Better to invest in a few rolls of bubble wrap and polystyrene chips rather than have your Ming vase arrive in twenty five seperate pieces.Good wrapping will also get you hyperbole filled positive feedback-antiques buyers like nothing better than to know their shipper cares about their item!Beware of shipping costs!One of the first antique items I ever sold on ebay was a Staffordshire flatback. I sold it for about £25 more than I paid for it to a buyer in the USA. Wow, I was over the moon, all that money for a few minutes work.. I proudly took my parcel to the Post Office to be shipped to America. My bubble was well and truly burst when the counter clerk demanded £36 postage. When I recovered my senses I told her I'd only accounted for £14 as I'd weighed the item before listing and worked it out using the Post Office tariff. Sorry she said, your parcel weighs over 2 kilos and that's the price for shipping. So, my £25 was almost wiped out completely. The moral of the story? Always weigh your item accurately INCLUDING packaging before stating the shipping costs on your listing and don't go over 2 kilos in weight-unless you've informed your bidders beforehand that they will have to remortgage their house to pay the shipping costs.

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