A trip to Ebay in my future, I guess

[kinzel]

Sigh...

I don't like Ebay all that much but it looks like the bet since we've come up with a few copies of some of the harder to find books, like I Dare and and Pilots Choice and the first edition Partner in Necessity among the miscellany I picked up ion Atlanta. We've had multiple requests for all this stuff...

so tell, do, what's the best thing for bidders? A 1 week deadline? A 24 hour deadline?
When I have multiple copies in different states (one signed/dated to a principal of the company, for example, and the others unsigned (but signable!) should I put them up at the same time or one after another...

Should I permit a "buy now" with some off-the-wall high bid?

Gah, can you believe someone's asking $127 for the Ace version of Agent of Change? Heck, I think I may have a couple Del Rey copies around here - should I put them up to?

Real questions: I find in these different boxes a couple of the out of print SRM chapbooks as well as some Meisha Merlin stuff. Should I just list one each of them as well? What kind of starting bids make sense -- don't want to scare people away...

We have a few odds and ends of other things around -- for example, I know have the (somewhat dinged up)cover - poster of Crystal Dragon and of Balance of Trade -- anyone interested in them?

Advice from experienced ebayers welcome, but as always we'll make up our own mind...

Comments

Another completely nonrelated to ebay suggestion

[bgwng.livejournal.com]

Have you looked into the possibility of listing your books on Amazon? They have free listings that last 90 days, and they make it very easy to manage listings and renew after the 90 days are up. This way you don't lose out on an ebay auction for lack of interest. You can quickly get set up so that they EFT the money-commission into bank acct of choice. Plus, I find that many people go to Amazon to look for books, even out of print ones. The downside is the commission, which is higher than the ones charged on ebay. (I once got $90, after commission was taken out, for an old chemistry textbook from the 1970s that I fished out of the recycling bin at work!)

A cursory glance at Amazon listings, shows that there are relatively few people offering your books and they're asking for extremely high prices. I would recommend listing in New as opposed to Collectible, because I find that sometimes Collectible can scare buyers away. Put something very descriptive--like Author selling personalized signed copy of rare book, etc. --in the description. As for price, you should ideally list at the price that puts your listing as #1, or at least in the top 3.

If you have multiple copies, you can simultaneously list on Amazon and ebay.

Love your stuff by the way!