Now that you have tasted the fruits of eBay as a bidder you're ready to dust off some of your duplicated or less favored trains and enter the world of selling.  Unfortunately, you have second thoughts about making the plunge due to the perceived complexities of listing, pricing, and shipping.  Well you are definitely not alone and eBay makes it very easy to get started.

I'm sure you have pressed the "sell" tab and read the helpful guides, along with the directions provided by eBay to create a listing, yet you still have doubts and the fear of failure, or even worse, an unfavorable buyer feedback.  Do not panic, there is hope.  Remember you learned quite a bit about how the eBay market works as a buyer, so put that knowledge to good use.  You may detect a subtle message in the prior statement and you are correct.  You cannot become a good seller on eBay unless you have made a number of purchases first.  Attempting to be a seller first is like trying to trying to build a house without a blueprint!  This is true for the sale of antique trains as well as any collectible.

Once you get the hang of Reserves, Buy It Now and Best Offer you can inteligently make sense of how the market works and price accordingly.  There are many guides to help you with pricing (see my buying for beginners guides: http://reviews.ebay.com/Antique-Trains-Bidding-for-Beginners-Part-1_W0QQugidZ10000000000080507 ,  http://reviews.ebay.com/Antique-Trains-Bidding-for-Beginners-Part-2_W0QQugidZ10000000000082289, and  http://reviews.ebay.com/Antique-Trains-Buying-Tips-for-the-Beginner_W0QQugidZ10000000000078005.).  The trick is to know what type of auction pricing works for a particular piece.

If you have a fairly common piece to sell in average condition you may want to start with a low starting price and see what the market will bear.  Keep in mind that the time of year (Christmas is a great time to sell model trains) and the time of the week you pick to end the auction can make a big difference.  If you have a significant investment in a particular model train that is a true antique you may want to place a reserve on it.  Remember you narrow the number of potential buyers when you use a reserve price since some bidders just hate secrets.  It also costs more in eBay fees to use a reserve price.  Best Offer pricing is definitely a more advanced selling technique and is useful if you want to let everyone know your price (Buy It Now) and still give potential buyers a chance to win the item with a lower bid.  You decide whether to accept their bid or not.

Shipping is really simple.  eBay provides easy access to USPS abd UPS shipping through its seller template.  Packing and weighing involve some skills and an investment in time at the end of bidding, but it gets easier with practice.  Remember to save the packing materials from your buys to use on your sales.

Start with something simple and keep it simple for several transactions.  If you do you will enjoy experiencing both sides of eBay.  Remember selling is a great way to finance those wonderful antique train purchases that are available every day on eBay!

So what are you waiting for?  Sell, sell, sell!!

timbuk2002