Thread: selling wooden toys on ebay

"Hey" Good on you Gavin, Hope it all goes well for you.

Hey Gavin,
my better half sells on the 'Bay almost professionally, and I can give you the following hints, which you won't appreciate if you follow, and almost certainly wish you had if you don't.

Ebay buyers come in all sorts of mental configurations. Most are great (ie. normal), but cover yourself in your ads with specifics in the "fine-print". Things you think "go without saying" need to be said up-front. I know it seems to tarnish the immediacy and apparent innocence of the whole experience, but you will note that the "old-hands" all have pretty specific conditions spelled out. Take notice of them, and learn from their mistakes. The seller's forum is FULL of good advice. Also, it's fair to say that the management understands completely that it's the buyers, not the sellers, that they must keep sweet, so be realistic about how they'll react when asked to aujudicate in a "situation" between you and a buyer.
That being said...go for it, and good luck!

Thanks Billrule, i appreciate your advice - i am a little naive about things - i tend to just believe that people will do the right thing and if a person commits to buying an item then they pay for it and i send it. sometimes this is too simple. I will research the sellers forum and other sellers tools on the ebay. Thanks again, Gavin

Good on you! As an ebay buyer and seller, here's my 2p worth.

I think you should emphasise what is special about your product - particularly that it is hand made, in Australia. Here's a good example: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/GORGEOUS-18-p...QQcmdZViewItem

Your photo really stands out when in the search list which is good.

You could also add a line to help buyers understand why your product is a better buy than all the other plastic cr#p on the list, something like:
"This hand crafted piece will provide a basis for imaginative play for little boys and girls, and for more than one generation"

Remember that free advice is worth every cent you paid for it.

With the recent news about unsafe toys, a great selling point might be if you used food grade safe finishes, and wrote it up as such, there should be plenty of people willing to pay for peice of mind

thanks rhancock and tameriska - excellent suggestions and i will use both for future ebay endeavours. Richard - i really liked your description ("This hand crafted piece will provide a basis for imaginative play for little boys and girls, and for more than one generation") and was wondering if its ok with you to use it in the description.

Tameriska, the polyurethane that i use is cabotrs gel clear and i am not sure if its "food grade" safe. I was under the impression that food grade finishes are things such as oils that you might use to cook with (sorry for any ignorant assumptions), but i dont want to go with these as they are prone to allowing mould to grow in humid environments. I like the idea but need to find a suitable finish. A general question - are all polyurethanes food safe as they coat the wood in a hard shell?

More research for cadeuceus.

Also - billrule - i have been looknig at the "old hands" at selling and you are tight - they do have greater specifics in their wording. I need to tighten that up a bit.

Again - thanks for all the suggestions and positive words. Gavin

Its my gift to you! )

Best wishes Gavin, hope you have a "spell" of good fortune.