apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Continuing yesterday's Thanksgiving recipes theme: Chipotle Mashed Sweet Potatoes. Yum. A little change from the gooey-sweet marshmallow kind.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_32298,00.html

Given the number of people here from the Bay Area, any interest in having a San Francisco-area get-together? A thought that crosses my mind is to meet for drinks/coffee, go wander through SFMoma en masse (with catty or admiring remarks, depending), and then have a proper dinner somewhere in SoMa.

Of course, I can't volunteer to organize something at the same time as the AT NY party, as I have to teach the evenings of 12/15, 12/16, and all day 12/17... but we could ponder something either earlier, or in January when there's less competition.

If anyone is going to be near a TV set at 4PM it's Oprah's Favorite Things today. I love this show and wish I could be in the audience. I'm so jealous of all those free gifts they get.

does this oprah episode repeat? I want to catch it at another time because i'm curious to see what will become uberpopular with oprah's midas touch...

P2 - I have a question about ebay. I put something on there and it didn't get any bids by the end of 7 days. Now I'm getting a bill from ebay. I thought that if there was no action on the thing you weren't billed. Or is that just wishful thinking? What happened with your angels on ebay? Did they sell?

Miss - maybe they show the episode again on Oxygen. It's such a popular show that I'm sure it's rerun.

anne -
I'm not P2, and I'm not a huge expert on how eBay works, but I'm pretty sure you do have to pay for the listing regardless of whether your item sells.

I put 2 items up there that I knew would be kind of a stretch for anyone to be searching for, and I put as many searchable words in the listing title, and I put about as many bells and whistles as I could imagine, hoping for the best. But neither item sold, and all those bells and whistles had added up to about $44 each, so I ended up owing about $88 and had nothing to show for it.

So, until I have something that I can call "Vintage Elvis Marilyn Warhol Eames Era 18K Limited Edition Pure Silk" or something, I probably won't be selling anything on there for a while.

Yeah, anne, you pay for the listing on ebay no matter what, but you don't pay commission on the item unless it's sold. Still, as Curtis pointed out, that can add up to a pretty penny. I have never been a successful ebay seller!

Oh well, I'm only out a couple of dollars. No big deal. Certainly not the huge bite that Curtis took. Hey Curtis, just use the word 'EAMES' and you'll get everyone looking at it. Seems that's the key word for selling even shabby chic stuff. (hahahaha)

I was thinking I could make a good side business by selling on ebay but now I'm rethinking that. I have so many pieces stored away in this apt. that are prototypes for the business I used to have. Now what am I going to do with all of it!

had a sticky note on my computer from last week re oprah's favorite things! I think there is a special group of people who are deserving of being the audience, wonder who..i think next year it should be kitchen designers (like me) who are the deserving group, after all they are the last to go in after the customer is already beat up from their long, delayed, expensive, renovation and spent way too much money, so as a result, they beat up the kitchen designer at the end! Somehow I don't think there's enough pity, however!

Last year it was teachers. I think that was the only time it was a specified group. Before that it was whoever happened to have tickets for that day. But I think interior designers should be the next group! Kitchen designers included.

Last year I watched the show at a poolside bar on the beach in Florida. Today's locale and weather is 180 degrees different.

You do have to pay for the ebay listing regardless if the item sells or not. What you should be able to do though is relist the item once for free (unless they took that feature away).

anne, i sold a few things on ebay in 2004. one time the item theoretically sold the first time, but the buyer was an idiot who said his young son had placed the winning bid and then reneged on the deal. (yeah, right -- i'm sure the kid was surfing for a timeshare for sale for several thousand dollars.) i didn't have to pay the commission or the listing fee until it actually sold the second time. however, i remember reading that ebay has undergone a bunch of changes, which resulted in sellers becoming upset. i actually think a lot of them don't sell on ebay anymore because of the fees. personally, i always sell on craigslist. why don't you try posting to the AT classifieds and/or to CL and see if you have any luck? or advertise a one-day sale here on AT like the ones that maxwell has had? it's worth a try. and it's free.

me - those are great ideas. I never sold anything on ebay ever so I was a bit disappointed but like I said before, no big deal. I just might try CL and AT. I need to unload some of these one of a kind pieces.

Oprah's guests today are volunteers of Katrina. Hey, I donated tons of stuff. How come I'm not invited. (just kidding).

Oh FYI, I saw a wonderful show on PBS last night about the animal victims of Katrina. It's on again this Wed. on Ch. 21 at 9PM. Try to watch it and keep the kleenex near by.

http://www.zefrank.com/predate/index2.html
This is hysterical!
(the whole website is hysterical - zefrank.com)

Ebay selling fees did go up a while ago, but they were mainly fees for hardcore sellers who open "stores" - they didn't go up an upsetting degree for average sellers who list one or two things once in a while.

If you want your items to sell, for sure, start them LOW. You can put a reserve price on them if you want, but if you just want to get rid of things and make a little money, start something at $1-5-20 (depending on the item - the point is just to really lowball the opening bid); set a reserve price if you need to; explain the reserve price in the listing (IE, "Bidding starts at $1 but the reserve price is $25"). Also, ebay is not really the place to sell super-obscure stuff: neighborhood places are better for that (Pawn shops for electronics, consignment shops for furniture, etc).

Ebay used to be better in general for getting rid of your own old stuff, but nowadays, their practices are usually heavily slanted for high-volume sellers. Additionally, bid-sniping services (esnipe, auctionsnipe, etc) changed the course of the average auction: it used to be that people would place bids all through the auction period and genuinely compete, but now, in most auctions, ppl bid at the last minute with one of these automated services. Because there is no ongoing competition as there used to be, prices tend to stay pretty low except on items that are hot and rare. Great if you're a buyer, annoying as a seller. (The logic being that if you place a bid early in the auction, and someone outbids you, you have just driven up the price for yourself. If nobody bids until the last minute, the price doesn't go up over the course of the week.)

anne--
Yes, there are fees associated strictly with listing an item, which you have to pay regardless of whether your item sells.

Basically, if you have only a description and one photo of your item, the fee is a dollar or so per item. But anything you add (a reserve price, additional photos, making your listing bold or highlighted, etc.) will add to the basic listing fee. And if you list the item in a second heading, most fees are doubled. It has a way of adding up fast. But they show you the fee in the very last screen before you put the item up for auction.

Once you sell the item, there is also a cut of the auction price taken by eBay. And another taken if you complete the sale via PayPal, but that is totally worth it.

If you do a reseve auction and your item doesn't sell, you can relist and if it sells the second time, you get some fees back.

My luck has been even but odd on eBay. Somethings I expected to get a lot of attention don't, and some things I think will be slow miving sell on the first attempt.

Here's my take:
Don't go for any bells and whistles on the auction EXCEPT for a gallery view (the thumbnail by your auction item) and for any additional photos within your auction.
As Curtis mentoned, the best tool is using the right key words in your title/description so your item shows up in as many searches as possible.
Don't be in any hurry to sell. I've had to list things 3-5 times before they finally move.
Don't succumb to the eBay pressure to lower your reserve if you have a set figure in mind. eBay just wants you to list and sell... they don't really care about item value or your own profit. They make their money on multiple transacations, not big individual profits.
Pay attention to the online calculators for shipping prices. I've been stuck when the online shipping calculators underestimate the shipping.
Don't go for 10 day auctions. Most action on auctions happens the last two days, so stick with 7 or 5 day auctions.
Set up your auction to end in a timeframe that allows both east coast and west coast bidders to get in on the last minute action. On my first auctions, I wondered why all the winning bidders came from Oregon. It's just that the auctions ended past the bedtime of most East coast bidders.
Be really clear about as much as you can in the desciption. Otherwise, you'll get lots of questions. And if you are painfully clear on item condition, flaws and all, you reduce the risk of a winning bidder being dissatisfied.
Don't be afraid to ship internationally. The bulk of my bigger ticket items have gone oversees and Canada.
Don't forget to factor in your cost of shipping materials (boxes, tape, packing peanuts, etc.).
I've only had one sour transaction, but have generally found the eBay community to be pretty cool, and usually pretty sweet.
And you CAN sell anything, and fairly quickly, IF you don't mind parting with things at pennies on the dollar. Those eBayers like their bargains!
And finally, make sure you communicate out to the winners the same way you would like to be contacted yourself. Update them when you ship. Notify them of any delays or concerns. Thank them for their interest if a question, thank them for their purchase if a sale.

My luck on Craigs list has been worse than eBay (one person changed her mind AFTER I had rented a car to get the item out of storage), and have found that the Craigs listers are EXTREMELY "frugal". Have had better luck as a CL buyer than seller.

The only sale from CL I've made was because the item was showcased on AT's Scavenger.

Same here - the only thing I've purchased from CL is a chair that was on AT scavanger.

I need to have a big sale but my place is a small studio so not enough room here. I'll have to figure out something. It would be nice to sell some of the stuff as Xmas gifts. I'll think of something.

Thanks to everyone who typed long and hard to help me understand ebay!!

great ebay tips, ptoo! i'll keep them in mind next time i sell on ebay.

i do have to say that CLers have become more flaky as time has gone on, at least in the bay area. but i've sold quite a bit of stuff (furniture, vintage linens, lamps, wooden blinds, a dvd, a limited-edition cd), given things away for free, and bought furniture. i like the (almost) instantaneous gratification, it's free, and i think it's easier than dealing with ebay fees, shipping, etc., but obviously it depends on what you're selling. i think since CL started in SF, it's still the largest CL community, and it's pretty much where everyone here goes to find furniture, jobs, and apartments.

I've bought so much stuff from both CL and eBay and I prefer CL solely because of the no fees or shipping. But with CL you do have a number of bad descriptions and even worse photos trying to sell the merchandise, which is usually not what you
expected when you get there. And it's always awkward when you are standing in someone's living room and don't like the merch!

However...I do find that CL has some good nuys around the end of the month when people need $$ for rent and bills.

Best Craigslist buy? My Condo....which was below market value!

Best Ebay buy? A "Gator Grip" bathmat...even with shipping I still
saved over $20!

Worst Craiglist buy? A crappy slipper chair that was faded and stained when I got it home and under my lighting!

Worst eBay buy? A photocopied picture that was described as "suitable for framing"

Rumour has it that Ebay bought Craigslist, anyone hear that?

Hey this is off-subject -

After all the postings about cranberry sauce, I just had to try it for myself. Tonight I made my own cranberry sauce for the first time...and it is delicious. I wish that somehow I could pipe the aroma through your computer screen, I can't believe I lived this long without trying to make it before. Thank you for the simple recipe. No one can fail on this one.

ps - I put raspberries and lemon zest and cinnamon in mine. Now if I can only tackle a turkey...

eBay became a major shareholder in CL some time in the past year or so. One of the original partners (not Craig, the other guy) sold his share to eBay.

I've sold on both eBay and CL. CL is usually better for dumping furniture, due to needing local pick-up. eBay was a blast for cleaning out closets, but you have to be very savvy about price-setting and shipping.

Matt, try Cook's Illustrated's simple recipe for big turkeys, only adjust the cooking time for the weight of your bird.

Those of you in SF might like to read this article from today's NY Times:
http://travel2.nytimes.com/2005/11/20/travel/20next.html

But they missed the stationery store that sells dollhouse-sized Zapatista rebel dolls!

The jewel of that article was the guy who obsessively rates taquerias, though he hasn't done the new one on my corner yet. He'd better like it, as their carnitas are absolutely stunning: tender, with caramelized edges. (Leans out window to see if taqueria serves breakfast.)

What a comprehensive, yet concise, and accurate schpiel about eBay, p2!

wende, you are my soul sister - thanks for writing out that stuffing recipe that I just got to crib from so *I* didn't have to write it all out for someone that asked for emailed help.

anne

i've sold and bought quite a bit on ebay, it's all about understanding how ebay works to be successful. i've emptied tons of 'junk' out of my closet on ebay and i'm a happy user. i'd be happy to give you tips if you want to give it a second shot.

I sure could use help. Do you live in NYC?

minh--
I'm sure lots of people (myself included) would be interested in your eBaying tips.

We are selling the following model of cell phones at discount and better price. These phones are brand new in boxes with 1year international warranty.

ginyelectron@hotmail.com
ginyelectroncomp@yahoo.co.uk

Nokia N93:280
Nokia N92:230
Nokia N91:200
Nokia N90:190
Nokia N80:$170
Nokia N70:140
Nokia N71:$150
Nokia 8800:$160

Samsung SGH D600-- $185.00
Motorola V3 Razor-- $125.00
Sony Ericsson P910i-- $189.00
Sony Ericsson W800-- $185.00
Samsung D500-- $135.00
Motorola MPX300-- $155.00
Nokia 9500-- $165.00
Sidekick II-- $85.00
Sidekick III............$170.00
Nextel i930-- $115.00

TREO 600 AT JUST $135usd
TREO 650 AT JUST $150usd
TREO 700 P/W JUST $160

Apple 4 GB iPod Mini Pink M9435LL/A ......50 USD
Apple 40 GB iPod photo....................60 USD
Apple 4 GB iPod Mini Silver M9160LL/A ....55USD
Apple 60 GB iPod Photo M9830LL/A..........65 USD
Apple 60 GB iPod photo .........80 USD
Apple 30 GB iPod Photo M9829LL/A..........70 USD
Apple 512 MB iPod Shuffle MP3 Player......55 USD
Apple 4 GB iPod Mini Blue M9436LL/A.......50 USD
Apple 2 GB iPod Nano.........70 USD
Apple 4 GB iPod Nano.........90 USD
Apple 30 GB iPod Video.....150 USD
Apple 60 GB iPod Video.....190 USD
play station 1****************$120usD
play station 2 ***************$130usD
play station3 ************** $350usD
x_box 360*********************$200usD
GARMIN 396********************$150usD

For more information do get back to us.
ginyelectron@hotmail.com
ginyelectroncomp@yahoo.co.uk