Need help in listing Weird Stuff on eBay...

Please note: Following copied from another post where it seemed to be buried, getting a welcome response from Jim T. but no others. Dan

To All,
I have recently bought several engines on eBay, no problems.

And I have been considering putting some of My Stuff up for bid; in fact I already have posted a complete set of the first three volumes of Model Builder magazine. And a child's toy, a water-propelled model rocket made in St. Petersburg, Russia.

**This is not an ad! The rocket is kinda trashy, was only put up as a test of my son's picture-taking abilities and to wade through the process without risking merchandise which may--or may not--have value. And if you have been looking for that cherished Vol. 1, Number 1 MB, you've already seen my listing.**

Also, I understand the annoyances in finding a listing that says what the engine in question is not, have no interest in doing so.

However, I do have a problem with a small, esoteric collection of pre-production, proof-of-production, and never serially produced engines I either bought outright or had commissioned in Russia.

I can, for example, list "Master" engines, specifically the "M61L" long-stroke RC Pattern two-stroke, but who has ever heard of this company? I brought in 12 units in 1992, Tom Lay bought one, so did Dave Shadel as a matter of course, a couple were sold at swap meets to people unknown to me, several were destroyed in real harsh testing and/or crashes, I have 5 or 6 pristine examples...

What do I do, how should they be listed in order to snag prospective buyers while not pulling the "It's NOT an O.S. or YS or Saito" gambit?

Serious question, as it turns out I've got pre-production VA .049s (nickel-plated; inside and out!) even GMA never knew about, a couple old-rule F2D pieces from a batch of 20 I commissioned, A freshly rebuilt STELS F2D engine, a bag of Ruskie 2.5cc glowheads, and so on. *Again, not an ad for this stuff, merely trying to illustrate what I see as a problem.*

For what it's worth, I have been figuring it might be best to string this stuff out over a month or two--I don't have the time to monitor a whole bunch of offerings--and to begin each description of an item as being "Russian produced," followed by blah, blah, blah, and then at bottom of detailed description noting that other products I will be selling will all begin, again in the 55-character opening, as "Russian produced," just to give those interested an easy, accurate way to access other products over what I hope is a finite period of time.

In advance, thanks for the help,

Just list all of them as "Dirty Dan Super Stunt OS FP 20's". The engine by which all others are judged, they should sell like Hot Cakes (smiles)

Oh man..........

"COLLECTORS MUST SEE! Russian prototype engines"

"Very rare collector Russian engines"

"From Dirty Dan's personal collection!"

"Famous modeler's prototype engines!!!"

"Super rare never before seen Russian engines!!"

Dan, I would list them as ""Unique" or "Rare" model airplane engine"". That would get the more general audience as well as the collectors.

Bigiron (a buyer not a seller) who still is sticking pins in a Voo Doo doll of you.

I appreciate the suggestions. Yes, even those delivered tongue in cheek.

Still soliciting more insight into how this eBay thing can be turned to my advantage, however.

Marvin, your comment is exactly how my reputation gets impuned. That hurts! Quit it!

And you know I love you, being one of my heroes from way back. That Rich "von" Lopez and I ran a practical joke on you for, what?, 20 years or so ought not be reason to poke me with either a stick or that Dirty Dan Doll of yours with a sharp needle.

In any case, as I lost hair from my head, the beard went gray much faster than Rich's, we don't look much alike today. Especially, I assume, following his recent, and serious, facial surgery.

I would think three words would be important "Model Airplane Engine, Engines". I doubled the last word because some people will put the singular in the search and some the plural. But a search on "Airplane", "Airplane Engine", "Model Engine", "Model Airplane Engine", and the plural of same will all bring up your listing. Then if you use words such as "rare", "unique", "one of a kind", "prototype", or whatever in your heading as well, it will become noticed. Who knows, there are people out there who pay big bucks for that unique, one of a kind, never to be produced again, engine to put in their display case.

I agree with you that something like "Not OS" is obnoxious and counter productive. If I was looking for something other than OS, I wouldn't have typed OS in my search.

Leonard,

Instead of writing the second "Engines" in a search (ala yours above), I write the phrase as "Model Airplane Engine*". The asterisk picks up the plural as well as Engineer (ing, etc.). This is a helpful hint for those who are looking for specific items that might be misspelled by the (possibly) uninformed Seller, Super Tigre is "Super Tig*", Top Flite is "Top Fli*", etc.

Edit: I apologize for the off topic post, Mr. Dirt.

Using the wording "not OS" or something similar can get your ad removed. Ebay has a rule against that type of ads and if you use it your ad will be dropped if someone reports it.

Dan,

I would list them as "Russian XYZ Engine Rare". list them with all the info you can. There are alot of fellows out there that will spend a bit of change for the odd ones. If you watch eBay much you will see some very odd engines go through the auctions that bring a pretty penny. Any paper work to go with then drives up the bids as well.

It will really help if you have the original box as well. It means alot to those of us who collect engines. If you do be sure to list it as NIB.

1) Read the eBay tutorials.
2) Write a good description.
3) Take a photo.
4) Select the proper catagory.
5) Post all to eBay.
6) Send polite answers to email inquiries. (Could be a problem.)
7) Wait about a week and collect your money.
8) Pay ebay.

Leonard is correct.
The heading should just read " AIRPLANE ENGINE"...then put all the specific info in the ad. Eventually most people who would buy it will check it out.
The more general the title, the more hits an item seems to get.

I have had good luck on e-bay. I bought a Kodak Retina IIA camera for $25. This is certainly a collector item and the one I already have takes excellent photos with its Schneider Xenon F:2 lens.

I snagged an Arden .199 spark engine on e-bay for a song!

I don't recommend e-bay unless you know what you want, and you know the approximate price.

Try a couple of your things on the classifieds here. Say how much you want and that if it doesn't sell in a couple of weeks you'll put it on eBay. That is free and honest. If you do want to sell or buy much on Ebay, get signed up with PayPal. Its free for buyers and costs a little for sellers, but you can get immediate pay and do immediate shipping. My wife is the eBay seller. I figuered her costs for taxes last year. It was 13% for eBay + PayPal. Beats the antique mall where you pay rent, business tax on your inventory, 10% of sales, and have to give discounts to dealers.

On eBay, your minimum bid should be the least you can stand to sell the item for. Don't do a reserve unless you have something really good. Buyer pays shipping and insurance, of course.

I disagree with the minimum bid, start it low like $4.99. Your insertion fee is lower and you will get the bidding started sooner. Most experienced eBay sellers will tell you that they typically get a higher final bid on items listed without a reserve and low starting bid.. Scary but it works..

My personal expierence has been that a high starting price is more of a libility than setting a reserve. If you set a reserve don't be afraid to tell what it is, if I use a reserve I usually tell what it is in the description.

If your reserve isn't met you still have the choice to sell to the highest bidder.

Also.. If you have more than one item, you can offer the second highest bidder a second like item for the same price. eBay calls this Second Chance or something like that... I once sold two identical Unimat lathes for a tidy sum like this and the bidder was tickeled to get it, saying he would have bid as high as the winner but got sniped...

I would try a heading of "Unique control line RC free flight model airplane engine" if it will all fit. If not drop 'Unique".

Sell each engine separately.

Make good pictures and offer good descriptions.

I usually list engines regardless of anticipated sale price at $9.99 with no reserve. A reserve price auction kills interest for many/most folks as does a high starting bid. It is true that I have been hammered a few times selling stuff for less than it's worth but in the long run, I believe I have come out ahead using this method. I do not use "buy it now".

Hopefully, you have a decent feedback rating which helps a lot.

A second thought. If you are selling something of interest to us C/L people, perhaps you should first list on SSW Classifieds. I would rather buy/sell on our own web site than e-bay.

The trick to selling something on ebay is the item TITLE. If your selling a control line engine then I would put the words "Control Line" in the title. Sence control line people use these engines on model airplanes I would put "Model Airplane" in the title too. Its an engine so put the word "engine" in the title. You have 21 spaces left so put the name of the engine in the TITLE lots of people do a search for a specific item by NAME.

Do NOT use the words, "No Reserve", "L@@K", "WOW", total waste of time. How many people would do a search for "NO Reserve" looking for a model airplane engine? NONE!!! How many people would do a search for "WOW" or "L@@K" when looking for a model airplane engine? NONE!!!

Once you have listed the item on ebay wait a few hours and do a search to see if you can fine it. If you can not fine your own auction noboby else can either.

Some people do searches by catagory. If you have a lot of time to waste glued to the computer monitor this is fine. It is a great way to find lots of things you would never find any other way but 95% of the people on ebay do not do catagory searches. List your item under the best catagory and hope for the best.

Do not put a reserve on your item. The trend on ebay these days is NOT to bid on any auction with a reserve because its a total waste of time the seller does not have to sell unless the reserve is met. Ebay will charge you a fee equal to selling the item at the reserve price. List the item "starting bid" price equal to the amount you actually want. If you want $50.00 for the engine then list the starting price at $50.00. If you are 100% POSITIVE the engine will sell for $50.00 or more then list the "starting bid" at $9.99 and save some money on listing FEES.

Ebay has high and low periods. It is now comming out of a low period heading into a high. Not many people like to set at the computer during nice weather. When the weather turns bad lots of people get on ebay it gives them something to do. Christmas is comming and after Thanksgiving people get in a panic to buy gifts. Be careful during the holidays there are people that will bid on several auctions hoping to win "ONE". After all the auctions they bid on ends maybe they have WON 3 auctions all the same item being sold by 3 different sellers. The buyer then picks the auction that is the best deal and will NOT pay for the other auctions that they won. Before the auction ends look at the bidders feedback to see how long they have been on ebay and how may items they have bought and sold. Look to see if they have any negative feedback for non payment. If you don't like what you see cancel the buyers bid and do block bidder. People that have been on ebay only a few weeks with a bid history of 10 or less are high risk.

I could tell you a few more things but this will do for now.

Dan,
I have bought and sold several (170+) items on eBay. I listed some ideas (yes, some tongue-in-cheek) but the point I should make is that the item description, IMO, should grab ones attention from the get-go. Most people seem to like to know the history of items. And I can not stress enough the power of a very clear, highly detailed photo (or two) Of course, ALL items should be as clean as you can get them without major overhauls. Honest descriptions can save you alot of worry. (I have always tried to point out any flaws sometimes even to the detriment of the selling price) If it has plier marks,etc., state it in your listing.
Since your particular items will most likely not be found in key word searches you would probably fair better in just appealing to those who look for the not-so-common stuff, hence the key words: rare, one of a kind, prototype, limited edition, unique, etc... Ask yourself, what hook would make me look?

I have taken a hiatus from eBay for the last several months, it stopped being fun and I had a major life changing event that required my attention, but I will probably fire back up sometime this month...

Dan, Let us know when you list the engines. I'm sure that we ALL would like to check the engines out and "Ask Seller a question", "Inquire about shipping costs", "Question how to pay for this item", "If you will combine items to save shipping costs" and so on.

Then after the barrage of questions maybe even bid! Oh yea, and then there is the "Feedback" issue.

Here is one Negative feedback that I got that I really like:

GUYS A JERK AND LAIRE BEWARE DONT TRUST NEVER HAPPY

Reply by John Jolley: Retaliatory feedback, I'm NEVER HAPPY getting ripped off. What's a LAIRE?

I've been called many things but being called a LAIRE...
I was crushed and have never been the same.

One more thing. Don't try to rip people off on shipping charges-usually referred to as shipping and "handling" charge. If you have to be compensated to put in a free box and take to the post office you deserve the low bids you are likely to get.
Model engines are about $5 priority mail to lower 48. Make insurance optional but do get the $.35 delivery confirmation as it allows tracking.
I won't bid on an auction with rip off "handling charges" and I suspect many others won't either.
Also, offer to sell worldwide-it opens another whole market. The last two engines I sold went to Europe-it's no big deal to send them and shipping charges are not too bad and are easy to calculate.

The last 4 Stunt Engines I bought came from the US. Nice Peope quick and easy.

I am now the proud owner of a Brodak Smoothie kit hopefully limping it's way from Germany.

One thing I have not understood is people who list a starting price of one penny. I recently read a partial explaination. People who are in the business of buying large lots for resale on eBay end up with a certain amount of junk which clutters up their place. So they put the items on for a penny and add a handling charge which covers their initial cost and perhaps a small profit. There are also instances where a handling charge would be justified, I suppose. A handling charge is not dishonest if stated up front, but does turn off a nimber of potential buyers.

eBay is based on an assumption of good will and good faith. That it works as well as it does says something positive about human nature. Most people are, in fact, basically honest.

Cordial thanks to all.

Even, maybe especially, those with wisecracks directed at me.

General reactions: No boxes, so no NIB listings are in my future. Truly, much of this stuff is either prototype engines or proof-of-production engines. Boxes and artwork and so on were not even in play at the time.

Hey, I found a nickel-coated, first-iteration VA .049 last night that I had completely forgotten about. No one in the U.S. ever saw this exact version as it was a prototype. And the tooling for crankcase broke.

Best of all, I came across **THE** engine which began all the interest in Ruskie-produced .049s and .061s here. It preceded the nickel-coated unit by a few months, was my first look at what they could do with general specifications. Again, this engine based upon a crankcase casting which broke well before production runs were made.

Not selling you guys anything, just funny what ya run across when digging through drawers.

Agree on the bogus shipping-and-handling charges. For $10.00 I recently bought a ABC piston/cylinder set for one of those engines I can no longer (again) talk about. Failed to check shipping charges: $7.00.

Parts came in a (nicely padded) business-sized envelope. Postage was $0.60. At least the cylinder had not been knocked out of round, my first concern.

At any rate, I appreciate the input, especially that of Gary Weaver, whom I sometimes tease mercilessly, and yet he kicked in with some really good information.

I had one of the first VA prototypes. Got it at a collecto in Dallas as I recall. Ended up trading it straight up to Mr. Seay of MAL hobbies for one of the VA Mk I that you had sold him as a package deal. I haven't even broken it in so I guess I should have kept the prototype.

>I had one of the first VA prototypes. Got it at a collecto
>in Dallas as I recall. Ended up trading it straight up to
>Mr. Seay of MAL hobbies for one of the VA Mk I that you had
>sold him as a package deal. I haven't even broken it in so
>I guess I should have kept the prototype.

Steve,

I don't think so; but maybe.

What you are calling a "prototype" might actually be a first-run engine. The cases of true prototype engines were far more delicate and elegant in area of venturi, there were two screws holding rear of split cases together instead of the one in production pieces.

Personally, I never sold prototype engines; indeed only had/have two of them. We did a whole bunch of to-destruction testing in St. Pete, thus there was never any reason to actually run/test my two engines here in the U.S.. Especially when case tooling was broken and they had to start over on this vital part.

Of course, I was dealing with Russians, and it is possible they back-doored a few engines on me.

Incidentally, that was what killed the AME .049 deal, at least as far as I was concerned. We had a contract, they tried to sell 5K units to that CS dude in China, who of course would be selling to the U.S. I heard about it--GMA had the most amazing range of contacts throughout the world--and we split the sheet.

Ronald Reagan was right: "Trust but verify." An old Russian saying, by the way, one of which Reagan knew and used on them, to our benefit.

Steve,

Upon returning from trips to Russia I would send out a mailer describing some of my experiences, some of which were very funny, and any pieces brought back for resale.

Last night I checked, and Feb. 1993 mailer offered a limited run of 25 VA .049 engines. I have N.01, I gave N.02 to GMA. They were specifically listed as "Proof-of-Tooling" engines and pricing was $75.00 per.

I can understand how a fellow might transpose "prototype" and "proof-of-tooling," especially in the early days of this engine coming to market.

But, to my knowledge, no actual prototype VA .049s engines were ever sold, certainly not in the U.S. and most certainly not by me. And as mentioned, tooling for crankcases of first design broke fairly early on in the process.

That must have been what it was. I remember that the "box" was one of your std mailing boxes with your return addresses. Had a real nice venture as I recall. Was at MAL today and he has that piece in the glass display case along with a few of his other special ones. I guess we both came out happy about the deal. I seem to remember calling you about it right after I bought it and you said that they were not the match of a MK I or that they would blow up with 50% or some such. At any rate it was not a good runner hence the trade.

Buyers don't like suprises on postage charges. List a reasonable price and you will get more bids. If people think you are trying to make a profit on postage they will not bid.

Sometimes if you have an item for sale and you don't have any idea how much shipping will be then just say, "buyer pays actual shipping costs." Then charge people a fair price. Its always best to package the item in advance and take it to the post office to get a postage estimate so you can list an exact price in the ebay ad.

I once bought a used McCoy 35 Red Head model airplane engine on ebay for about $30.00 or so and the ad said, "buyer pays actual shipping costs." After the auction the seller emailed me and said shipping will be $75.00. I emailed him back and ask why the high shipping costs? He said he wanted to be paid for his time to drive across town to Office Max and buy a box. He said he wanted to be paid for his time to package the engine in the box. He said he wanted to be paid for his time to drive to the post office and stand it line to mail the package. He said he wanted to be paid for gas mileage on his car, postage, box, package, tape, etc. I emailed the guy back and told him, "send the engine in a free box from the post office and I will pay a maximum of $8.00 for postage other wise you can sell the engine again on ebay." It turned out the guy was a new seller on ebay and did not understand how things work. After I explained things to him he agreed to actual postage which turned out to be about $5.00 postage plus 55 cents for tracking. It all worked out good.

I learned something about the POST OFFICE. Insurance is WORTHLESS. I mailed a package to a buyer with insurance during the Christmas holiday season last winter. The package never arrived. I tried to file an insurance claim with the post office but they refused to pay because they claim insurance is for DAMAGE to a package NOT lost mail. If the package is lost that means it is not damaged therefore they don't have to pay. Now I use tracking NOT insurance. If the package gets lost I can find it.

I sold a used printed circuit board for an industrial computer on ebay. New price was $3500.00 from McClean Anderson in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The item sold for my starting bid price of $1000.00. It was a bargin for the buyer because McClean Anderson no longer selled parts for the obsolute machine and the only other option for the buyer was a new $500,000.00 machine. I packed the item in several layers of bubble wrap and a heavy duty box. The package arrived damaged and the buyer wanted a refund. I filed an insurance claim with the post office and the post office refused to pay the insured value. The post office insurance adjuster claimed the obsolute part was worth only $100.00 and thats all they would pay. I sent the buyer a $1000.00 refund and the post office sent me a $100.00 check.

You can list an item on ebay for 1 penny it will cheat ebay out of the listing fee. If it sells for a 1 penny it cheats ebay out of the selling fee. Most people won't bid on a 1 penny item with an extremely high postage.