Introduction
Having bought and sold N gauge railway stock on eBay for a number of
years, I have put this document together to explain what I think makes
for a listing that is attractive to buyers and to mention some of the common
pitfalls that are made, even by experienced sellers.
This document is aimed both at people who are thinking about selling on
eBay for the first time and those people who are already selling on
eBay. However, do bear in mind that there are no hard and fast rules for
successful selling; the suggestions made in this document are just that
- suggestions. Even if you were to follow them all to the letter there
is no guarantee that your item will sell - that is the nature of the
market place.
Many of the statements here are not specific to N gauge railway
stock, but can be equally applied to other scales of railway stock or
even non-railway items. They are possibly equally applicable to auction sites
other than eBay, though eBay is the only site that I have real experience of.
If this document is of any help to anybody other than myself, then
the exercise will have been worthwhile.
David Lucas. NGS 14696.
Listing Tool
The very first thing to do is to choose the tool that you are going
to use for listing on eBay. The web interface provided on the site can
be useful for listing the odd item but any form of bulk or batch listing will
benefit from an application that allows the user to create auction
listings offline and verify them before uploading a batch of items.
Personally I use Turbo Lister, which is the tool provided by eBay for
bulk listing purposes. It is free to use and does the job quite
satisfactorily, in my opinion. There are a few quirks which annoy me,
but I live with them.
Listings uploaded using Turbo Lister have this small advertising box
appended to
the listing, but this is relatively discreet and doesn't impinge on the
listing format at all.
Other listing tools are available from eBay and third parties,
although I have not tried any at the time of writing, having seen no
need to do so.
Listing Format
Almost the first decision that the listing tools ask from the seller
is the format of the listing - Auction or Buy It Now.
The Auction format is my personal recommendation for selling N gauge
railway stock on eBay. From a start price specified by the seller,
potential bidders enter bids over the duration of the auction and the
highest bid wins, subject to any reserve price being met.
The Buy It Now format is how a shop works. A
single fixed price is attached to the item and it is sold to the first
person that presses the Buy It Now button. The advantage of this method
is that a quick sale may result - someone could press the Buy It Now button
minutes after the item is listed and you've made an immediate sale.
Chances are if that happens then you've probably undervalued the item.
[Note that the Buy It Now format is different from adding a Buy It
Now price to a listing in auction format. The latter option is covered
in the Price section.]
One specific case where the Buy It Now format has its merits would be for
listing new items. For example, if you have purchased items at wholesale
price which you choose to sell on eBay, then a Buy It Now price
somewhere between wholesale and retail will ensure that you make a
certain amount from each sale (always assuming that a sale occurs) and
hopefully should be appealing to a buyer, as the price would be lower
than retail.
Category
Which eBay category to list your items under? Fortunately for N gauge
railway stock the answer is relatively simple as there is a dedicated N
gauge category with various subcategories depending on the type of
items (Locomotives, Wagons, Scenery etc.) being listed.
The path to the top level category (on eBay UK) is Collectables > Trains/ Railway Models > Scales > N.
Underneath this category are the subcategories that your items can be
listed under - Animals/ Scenery (69810), Buildings (69811), Coaches (486), Locomotives (69812), Track (69813), Wagons (69814) and Other N (69815).
Either type the relevant number in the box or browse
through the category tree listing for the appropriate category.
This is one of the most
important things to get right. If you do not list in the correct
category - particularly as there is a dedicated category - then your
item may not be found by potential
buyers. As a seller, you want everybody that is looking for N gauge
railway stock to find your items. Listing under the N gauge category
will help you achieve that goal.
Title
This 55 character line of text is the first thing that potential
bidders are going to see, either as a result of a search that they've
executed or when they are browsing the N gauge category (you have listed
your items in the N gauge category, haven't you?).
A potential buyer should be able to visualise what is on offer
from the title without having to view the description.
Information to include in the title:
- Manufacturer
- Catalogue number
- Basic description of the item
Manufacturer is pretty obvious. If there is no manufacturer because
it is a scratch-built item, then state "Scratch built". If there are two
manufacturers because the body and chassis come from different
companies, then state both names. If the manufacturer is unknown, then
this information will have to be omitted. Most companies will emboss this
information somewhere on the underside of the chassis or inside the body shell.
Catalogue number where known. If there is no box for the item or the
box obviously does not match the item, then try and find out the
catalogue number. There are partial listings in the archives of the ngauge and
ngauge-modern
Yahoo! groups. Other websites may also have partial or complete stock
listings from a particular manufacturer. I maintain lists of stock that
suits my modelling period on this very site.
Basic description of the item. In the case of Graham Farish, use the
information on the box label, although be aware that some items did have
typos on the labels. For other manufacturers use the catalogue
description or simply "say what you see".
Some examples of title lines that I may use. Hopefully you can
visualise these items, even if they are not in your area of interest.
- GEM / Graham Farish 7F 0-8-0 locomotive (LMS black)
- Graham Farish 1604 2-6-2T Prairie (GWR green)
- Graham Farish 3rd class suburban bogie coach (LMS maroon)
- Hornby Minitrix A4 4-6-2 Mallard (LNER blue)
- Minitrix 13584 8 plank PO wagon (Millom)
- Peco NR-43B 12t van (BR bauxite)
Information that can be excluded from the title:
- @@ LOOK @@
- Boxed
- Mint
- Rare
- Limited Edition
- N gauge train
- Farish coach
These are all examples of text that I have seen in the title line of
auctions for N gauge railway stock. In my opinion none of them are
really necessary and are simply taking up space. Although there are 55
characters available in the title line you don't have to use them all -
sometimes less is more, particularly when it comes to clarity.
Statements such as "@@ LOOK @@" or similar always make me wonder why
the seller is trying so hard. This is an example of the seller trying
too hard to sell the product and nobody likes a hard sell.
("I'm a D&E modeller; I'm not going to be interested in your GWR
Prairie no matter how hard you push it".)
Statements such as "boxed" and "mint" are more relevant in the
description of the item, where the real sales pitch takes place. If I'm
looking for a Farish Prairie, then I'll click on the link if the title
contains the words "Farish" and "Prairie". You can tell me how wonderful
your example is in the main description where you have much more space
and don't have to resort to abbreviations, acronyms or other truncations.
Statements such as "rare" and "limited edition" can appear in the
title, but I am not convinced that their presence is totally positive.
They take up space on the title line and collectors (whom these
statements are presumably aimed at) know what is rare and what was a
limited edition. I wouldn't totally exclude these statements from the title
line but I wouldn't omit or truncate other information to fit them in either.
Statements such as "N gauge train" and "Farish coach" appear from
time to time, usually as the title for multiple auction listings
presumably entered through the web interface. In this instance, the
title is too obscure. The argument here is that everybody will have to
click on the auction to see what is being sold, but in reality when
confronted with a screenful of auction titles like this, I'll click on
one or two random links and unless something of interest to me happens
to appear then I'll ignore the rest.
The seller has lost my potential custom because browsing their auctions is too onerous.
eBay has a feature where a second line can be added to the title (at
additional cost to the seller). I've never used this feature and can't
see that I would ever need to use this feature for N gauge railway
stock. Some people do though; they put their "Limited Edition" and
"Rare" statements there.
Layout
You now have a blank canvas on which to arrange the information that
will hopefully lead to the successful sale of your item. As far as I
know, there is no limit to the amount of HTML or text that can be used
to create the auction listing and a quick glance through eBay will
reveal some rather elaborate designs.
The most important thing that I would recommend when designing a
layout for your auction items is Keep It Simple!
You may be tempted to use all sorts of bells and whistles on your
auction page but resist that tempation! N gauge railway stock doesn't
need flashing lights or dancing girls (yes, I've seen both!) to sell it
and potential bidders will (silently) thank you for not using them.
Just say 'no' to all of the following:
- Video clips - provide a link to an external site with the clip of
the locomotive running but please don't embed it in the auction listing.
- Audio clips - why? I have the sound switched off 99% of the time
anyway.
- Animated cursors - I use a specific cursor because that is what I
want to use; I don't need or want other people messing around with it.
- Image files - no flashing lights or dancing girls are required. Not
even a fancy border. The only image files that the seller should be
putting on the auction page are pictures of the item(s) being sold.
- Themes - eBay and Turbo Lister will ask which theme you would like
to use for your auction listing. The correct answer is 'none' as these
simply add additional graphics to your listing in the form of borders
etc. Whichever theme you select, your auction listing will then look
like several thousand other users'. Roll your own for that original
look and your own personal satisfaction.
Bear in mind that you want the maximum number of people to view your
listing as the auction format generally rewards those sellers that
attract large numbers of bids.
- Not everyone uses Internet Explorer/Windows. Avoid using HTML
elements that are specific to one browser or another. If possible, check
and see if your HTML works with more than one browser.
- Adding bells and whistles to your auction slows down the loading
process. Think of those users that still use dial-up. They are just as
capable of bidding on your items as anybody else.
Take this opportunity to learn a little HTML coding. It really isn't
difficult; there are any number of sites out there that will give advice
as a result of putting the words "HTML"+"tags" into a search engine. I
use Bare Bones Guide to HTML which is a list of the tags
rather than a tutorial on how they should be used, but is useful for
finding or reminding you of the various parameters.
No fancy tools are needed for HTML construction; a browser window
plus a text editor is all that I have ever used.
Description
Finally, the point where you can extol the virtues of the items that
you are selling. A few pointers to help you on your way -
- First and foremost, be honest about the item that you are
describing. Do not try to obscure or omit mention of any flaws as
this will only lead to unhappy customers.
Although it is growing all the time, the N gauge community in the UK
is still small enough that most people know (or know of) most other
people and we all know that bad news travels fast. There is at least one
discussion
group dedicated to N gauge sales on eBay which has highlighted
sellers that 'exaggerate' the condition of their stock.
- Mention that it is N gauge stock. Sounds obvious, perhaps even a
little daft, but you'll save yourself time (and patience) by doing so.
Until I started putting the line "This is N gauge Railway Stock" in my
auctions, I was asked the gauge question with every single batch of
stock that I was selling. This is despite the fact that it was listed
in the N gauge categories, with N gauge manufacturers and catalogue
numbers plus the picture clearly showing the N gauge coupling.
- If your item is boxed, mention the box particularly if the
picture(s) do not include the box. (If there is no box in the picture
and no box mentioned in the description, I as a buyer will assume that
the item has no box and will bid accordingly.) If the box isn't in the
picture, a quick description also helps (is the box card or plastic; is
the insert foam, plastic or polystyrene?).
- Mention the fleet number of the item, particularly if it is a Graham
Farish item. Some of their locomotives and a lot of their passenger
coaches were issued with more than one fleet number per catalogue
number. Someone may be looking for a vehicle with a specific number.
From my own personal experience, some more specific information to
include regarding some of the Graham Farish coaching stock:
- The Graham Farish Mk1 coaches were produced with two different body
mouldings - one-piece and two-piece. The earlier batches of coaches had
two-piece sides with the window strips being removable. These coaches
are popular with modellers as they can easily be converted to other
types of Mk 1 coach using alternative window strips.
- The Graham Farish Mk1 coaches also had two different types of bogie
- a representation of the B1 bogie (actually a LMS design) and B4
bogies. If it is not clear from the picture which type of bogie the
coach has, then specifying this can save a question being asked.
- The Graham Farish Mk3 coaches in InterCity Executive livery were
produced with two different brandings; "InterCity" and "InterCity 125".
The '125' branded coaches seem to be thinner on the ground.
- Like the Mk1s, the Graham Farish Mk3 coaches also had two different
body mouldings. The early moulding had detachable buffers - initially
supplied separately in the box - whereas the later moulding had an
integrated moulding for both the buffers and the footsteps. Fleet
numbers also changed between batches.
The bullet points above are just a small sample of the potential
information that can be included about the railway stock. The more
information that is supplied, the less questions that need to be asked,
and the easier your job as a seller becomes.
If stock is being sold over a period of time, then the descriptions
will be naturally refined with each new batch that is listed, as the
seller incorporates information that has been requested by buyers in
previous auctions.
Spelling
Obvious to most? Wrong! A large number of auctions suffer from
incorrectly spelt words which show a lack of care from the seller. If
you are selling goods, then mis-spelt words make for an inaccurate
description which sows the seeds of doubt in the minds of potential
bidders. They then may go elsewhere as they are not quite sure that what
you are selling is what they are wanting. Alternatively, you as the
seller spend time and effort answering questions that shouldn't have
needed to be asked in the first place.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people either can't or don't
spell correctly. Even simple words and key words such as the
manufacturers name elude them, even though they are right there,
either embossed on the underside of the model or written on the box.
This is one of the most
important things to get right. Incorrectly spelt words in the auction
listing casts doubt into the mind of potential bidders. Incorrectly
spelt key words mean that your item is not found in the searches that
potential bidders execute. As a seller, you want everybody that is looking
for N gauge railway stock to find your items. Correct spelling of all
words will help you achieve that goal.
Think of this scenario; an auction
listing with incorrectly spelt key words and not listed in the N gauge
categories. Who is going to find that item?
Pictures
Please read the document A Guide to Photographing N gauge Railway Stock for my thoughts on photographing stock for sale on eBay.
Price
We are in the fortunate position that currently most UK outline N
gauge railway stock will sell at the first time of asking, provided that
it is priced reasonably and described well.
I encourage you as a seller to set a low start price as (a) it will
lead to greater interest - and more bids - from potential buyers and (b)
you will save a little money in eBay fees.
However - as with all auctions - if there is only a single bid for
your item, then you must be prepared to sell it for the opening price.
If you must realise a certain price for an item, then either set this
price as the opening bid or if above �50 consider setting a reserve.
The lower range of the current price structure on eBay for starting
prices is as follows:
- �00.01 - �00.99 - 15p
- �01.00 - �04.99 - 20p
- �05.00 - �14.99 - 35p
- �15.00 - �29.99 - 75p
- �30.00 - �99.99 - �1.50
The most obvious thing to point out is that there is not much point
starting your item at �1.00, �5.00, �15.00 or �30.00 - reduce the start
price by a penny and even if your item only attracts one bid then you'll
save more than that penny with the lower listing fee.
A commercial operation that lists a large amount of railway stock
on eBay including a fair quantity of N gauge stock starts all of their
used item auctions at 99p with no reserve. You have to assume that they
are making sufficient money from these sales to justify the operation in
the first place. If they weren't, then they would have changed something
by now.
As I stated previously, most N gauge stock will sell and will reach
the approximate price that it is worth without the seller having to
specify high start prices or reserves. However, the decision is yours.
There is the ability to set a reserve price on eBay auctions, although
recently the lowest reserve price that can be set has changed to �50.
The cost of this option is the same as if the reserve were the start
price (i.e. at least �1.50), but if you really must reach a certain
price - and that price is above �50 - then setting a reserve (which must
be met for the sale to be concluded) and setting a low start price is
the route to take, in my opinion. The low start price will attract the
attention of potential bidders while the reserve price will ensure that
you only have to complete the sale if the bidding reaches an amount that
you are happy with receiving for the item.
A suggestion; although I am not a fan of reserve prices, if you feel
that you really need to set a reserve, then consider giving the bidders
a little extra incentive to bid on your item.
For example, instead of listing an item with a reserve of �50 and
specifying postage costs, make the reserve �55 and trumpet the fact that
you will send the item to a buyer in the UK by Special Delivery for
FREE!
The insertion fee will remain the same (�50 and �55 are in the same
pricing band) and although you may pay a slightly higher final value
fee, this will be because your incentive of free shipping has sent the
bidding that bit higher.
There is also the ability - again for an additional cost - to set a
Buy It Now price to the auction. This allows a buyer to either bid at
the start price or buy it immediately for the Buy It Now price that the
seller has set. Be aware that if there is no reserve on the item, the
first bid deletes the Buy It Now option and the auction reverts to the
highest-bid-wins format and runs for the duration. If there is a
reserve on the item as well, then the Buy It Now option remains until the
reserve is met.
EXAMPLE: You have an original Graham Farish Class 47 diesel to
sell. Cosmetically it is in factory condition, it runs and comes with
the original box, which is in reasonable condition. Assuming it is not
one of the more desirable examples, you expect to realise around �40-�45
for it, unless there happens to be a glut of them when your listing is
active.
Option 1 You list with a start price of 99p, no reserve, no
buy it now. No frills auction; you're going to let market demand dictate
the final price.
Option 2 You list with a start price of �40, no reserve, no
buy it now. Another no frills auction but you want at least �40 for the
locomotive.
Option 3 You list with a start price of �25 (roughly half the
expected value) and put a Buy It Now of �50 on the locomotive in case
someone wants to cut to the chase.
Option 4 You list with a Reserve Price of �50, a Buy It
Now of �55 and a start price of 1p. You are going to use all of the
features to try and raise the highest price.
Ignoring the final value fees, which as long as the item sells may
all be similar if not the same, lets take a look at the costs incurred:
- Option 1 has cost 15p.
Nothing much to say here. Kept it simple and did the job.
- Option 2 has cost �1.50.
Due to the high start price, this option has cost a lot and along
with Option 4 would be the least likely to sell. The seller would have
been better off setting a reserve price of �50 and a low start price
(Option 4 without the Buy It Now option). The fees would have been the
same as the reserve dictates the pricing band and perhaps the momentum
gathered from the low start price would have carried the final price
higher.
- Option 3 has cost 81p; 75p plus the 6p fee for the Buy It Now price
on their auction.
Frankly in this instance the 6p fee for the Buy It Now option was
wasted. There is a chance that it may have been exercised by someone who
wanted the locomotive immediately but as I stated, this example was not
one of the more desirable models.
- Option 4 has cost the most at �1.56; �1.50 for the reserve price,
plus the 6p Buy It Now fee.
This option is the biggest gamble; if the item does sell
then it will probably have made the highest price of the 4. However, it
is also the least likely to sell as that reserve has to be met. Whatever
happens it has incurred the highest fees. The seller has to ask
themselves: is it worth the additional cost and effort?
Personally I would select Option 1 for selling this item. The cheapest
option in terms of fees, plenty of opportunity for bids to come in throughout the
duration of the auction and most importantly of all: keep it
simple. This isn't rocket science.
Bear in mind as well that this example is for a single auction. Most
people list multiple auctions so multiply the various costs and effort
across the batch of stock that you are looking to sell.
Postage
Always include a postage rate in your auction. This saves the
question from having to be asked by potential bidders and could increase
the amount of money that you realise from the auction.
To use a simple example that I have quoted in various forums:
"If I think an item is worth �10 and the postage is 50p, then I'll
bid �9.50. If the postage is �2.00 then I'll bid �8.00."
If the postage is unknown then who knows? I may decide that the most
you can ask from me for postage is �4.00 for Special Delivery and
therefore only bid �6.00.
Look at those numbers decreasing. Perhaps you were only going to
charge �1.00 for posting but I am not to know that.
I could ask but perhaps I won't.
Admittedly I am
unlikely to win an item valued at �10 with a bid of �6 but not only have
I as the buyer lost out you as the seller have lost out too, because I
have not pushed my bidding as high as I could have done. Had I raised my
bidding then either (a) you'll sell the item to me for a higher price or
(b) you'll sell the item to someone else for a higher price.
Stating the postage rate is particularly important for lower value
items, where this cost can be a significant percentage of the total.
If you are unsure of the postage rates, visit the Royal Mail site for the current
price bands. If necessary, only supply a price for shipping within the
country and wait and see if anybody asks about overseas shipping.
As mentioned in the Price section, consider incorporating the cost of
postage into the opening price or reserve price for the item and note
the fact that your shipping is free. This may be more appropriate for
locomotives and other high value items but could give you as the
seller the following benefits:
- Nobody should be asking how much it is to post to Country X or
with Service Y. If they do then the answer will always be the same; nothing.
- If someone wants to buy or actually does buy multiple items from
you, then (a) they aren't going to be asking for a combined postage
cost and (b) you don't have to calculate a combined postage cost.
- Nobody can accuse you of having exorbitant P&P charges!
Just make sure that the higher start or reserve price does not move
the insertion fee into a higher band.
Summary
A quick check list which should hopefully make your auctions more
attractive to potential buyers and perhaps even raise a better price.
Listing Tool
- Consider using one of the many tools that allow you to create your listings offline in your own time.
Listing Format
- I suggest using the Auction format for N gauge railway stock.
- The Buy It Now format may be suitable if you have new items for sale.
Category
- There are specific categories provided for N gauge railway stock on eBay UK. Are your listings going there?
Title
- Could a potential buyer visualise what is on offer without having to view the description?
Layout
- Is the layout simple, uncluttered and easy to both load and read?
Description
- Is the item adequately described?
Spelling
- Have you checked the spelling of the words in your auction listings?
- Are you using the correct form of the word, e.g. their/there, plain/plane etc.?
Pictures
- Are the pictures present?
- Are the pictures clear?
- Does the picture match the item being sold?
Price
- I suggest using a low start price to encourage bidding. If you really must raise a certain price, then consider setting a reserve (if over �50) and use a low start price.
- If you have a reserve and/or a high start price, consider giving the potential buyer something in return, such as free shipping.
Postage
- Are there postage prices in the relevant section of the listing?
To reiterate what was stated in the introduction, do bear in mind
that there are no hard and fast rules for successful selling; such is
the nature of the market place.
Good luck with your selling!
Last updated 12.07.2005.
EOF.