Selling Knitting on Ebay

I have sold a LOT of hand knit items on Ebay.  I think this is purely due to the footfall.  My items get so many views on Ebay than on Etsy or Facebook.

I have had quite a few difficulties selling on Ebay, however.

For a start, when I have ran auctions, my items do not fetch much, not considering how long it takes to knit something.

I have found buy it now items do generate more money, however the listing fees add up really quickly, and for every item that I sell there will be one or two that do not sell, and so this totally wipes out profits some weeks.

I have also had to give refunds for items which have been lost in the post (allegedly).  This can be avoided by sending everything by recorded delivery, but again the costs of doing this add up massively, and its just not affordable when posting abroad.

Funny how nothing has ever got lost in the post when it has been sold outside of Ebay!  I know for a fact that people just tell lies to get a refund, as Ebay insists on proof of delivery, rather than proof of postage, when a query is raised.  I know someone who does this as I have seen her chatting about it on Facebook.

I have actually stopped selling on Ebay because of this, and because of the reliance on good feedback to keep ones selling account active (Ebay can put selling limits or bans on as they wish, and some negative feeback is not deserved at all). 

But there footfall is there, people like to buy from Ebay, its definitely worth a try, but please beware the pitfalls.

Click here to read an interesting article about why Etsy is a better platform than Ebay for selling crafts.