Selling things online on behalf of someone else

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mattwnz

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#194932 30-Mar-2016 21:05

I have been asked to sell some things online for a family member, who doesn't have the time to do it themselves, as they have busy work and family lives. I told them they would be better to sell the stuff themselves, and they can keep all the profit, but they said they didn't have the time. It isn't something I really want to do but will help them if they want it. These are second hand things/junk they have in the garage, there are a few things that maybe worth $100, but I doubt the rest will make much above $30-50. I was wondering peoples opinions on what sort of money split would be considered fair for doing this. I would need to clean some of the things up etc, and would be doing all the actual selling and handling for them. I would price them fairly high to begin with so they get good price, rather than price them at $1 reserves, and I would be storing all the stuff too. So far 50-50 split is a suggestion I have been given considering I am doing all the leg work, and the auction website takes around 10% itself. Would be interested in peoples opinions.

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#1522965 30-Mar-2016 21:18

I'd say 60/40 (In favour of you), however if you like the person, 50/50 is good.

They are basically giving you their stuff and asking you to sell it, plus you are doing all the work, 50/50 at the minimum.

mattwnz

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#1522969 30-Mar-2016 21:22

Finch:

I'd say 60/40 (In favour of you), however if you like the person, 50/50 is good.

They are basically giving you their stuff and asking you to sell it, plus you are doing all the work, 50/50 at the minimum.

Thanks for your opinion and it is similar to others I have had.

Handle9

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#1522977 30-Mar-2016 21:56

Personally I'd do it for free or not at all. YMMV.

gzt

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#1522997 30-Mar-2016 22:36

TradeMe stuff does not sell like it used to. Since you have to move it anyway one good option is take it all to a large local saturday morning market and come home with as little as possible.

If you have never done it, it is kind of a fun day. Any leftovers offer to another stall holder at too good to refuse. Sure there will be some items that get max value only on TradeMe you can take those home after.

gzt

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#1523020 30-Mar-2016 22:40

Oh yeah I forgot to say the stall will cost you anywhere from $5-$20.

Compare that to TradeMe fees : ).

reven

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#1523059 31-Mar-2016 06:50

For family, I would do it for free (but get reimbursed sellers fees on TM/shipping, very close family I'd pay for that myself).

For friends, I'd take a 25% cut after the fees/shipping/clean up costs. anything more and you're being very greedy IMO (just my opinion).

xpd

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#1523100 31-Mar-2016 09:04

I avoid selling on behalf, you end up with questions you cant answer, grumpy buyers if things aren't as described etc as well as fees etc if using TM.

The other fun thing, is when youve been told to keep a percentage of profit made, and the item sells well above expectations, and then the owner wants more than the agreed amount.... 8/10 ends up in disputes.

But maybe thats just me... :)

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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andrew027

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#1523257 31-Mar-2016 11:51

You don't say what kind of items these things are, but...

You have to: go to their house; sort thought a bunch of stuff; clean some of it up, maybe a little repair or two; photograph it; figure out what it's worth; create the auctions on Trade Me; pay the initial listing fees out of your TM account; deal with a bunch of questions, some of which you probably won't know the answers to; monitor the auctions; correspond with successful purchasers about payment, collection, delivery, etc.; package stuff and post or courier it, unless you specify pickup only; divide up the money left after success fees are deducted; deal with any negative feedback because the purchaser wasn't happy; and figure out what to do with anything left over that doesn't sell.

If you ask me, if your family member is so time poor that you have to do all this for them, they should be paying you to take their junk away and any money you make is yours. I'd suggest instead that they identify a few of the more valuable items that might be worth putting on TM and cut their losses on the low value stuff and give it away to the thrift shop of their choice.

tchart

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#1523270 31-Mar-2016 12:06

andrew027:

You don't say what kind of items these things are, but...

You have to: go to their house; sort thought a bunch of stuff; clean some of it up, maybe a little repair or two; photograph it; figure out what it's worth; create the auctions on Trade Me; pay the initial listing fees out of your TM account; deal with a bunch of questions, some of which you probably won't know the answers to; monitor the auctions; correspond with successful purchasers about payment, collection, delivery, etc.; package stuff and post or courier it, unless you specify pickup only; divide up the money left after success fees are deducted; deal with any negative feedback because the purchaser wasn't happy; and figure out what to do with anything left over that doesn't sell.

If you ask me, if your family member is so time poor that you have to do all this for them, they should be paying you to take their junk away and any money you make is yours. I'd suggest instead that they identify a few of the more valuable items that might be worth putting on TM and cut their losses on the low value stuff and give it away to the thrift shop of their choice.

Exactly. Nowadays I'm very hesitant to list low value stuff on TM (for myself) for the very reasons above.

I recently had a clear out of and put a few things on for $1 reserve. I didn't even want the $1, I just wanted them to go to somewhere they would be used. The hassle of emailing traders, posting stuff (when I said pick up only) was a right PITA.

For my second lot of stuff I just chucked it in a box and dropped it off at the salvation army shop while doing some other errands. Much less hassle and feel good factor far outweighed listing on TM.

So just to repeat what others said I would just say "I cant do it".

TLDR; even selling stuff for $1 costs you time and money.

ben28

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#1523286 31-Mar-2016 12:26

Lots of guess work in my approach. Put a value on your hourly rate, guess how many hours work is required, guess at the sale price.

Then you could propose a flat fee, or use the data to come up with a best guess percentage of the money.

mattwnz

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#1523434 31-Mar-2016 15:52

Charities these days tend to be quite selective on what they will take,and they often don't know the value of things when they sell it. That is why you can do quite well shopping at some of these charity stores, and am sure professional traders buy some stuff from them at low prices.

I was thinking of just putting some of the stuff on auctions for low amounts to get rid of it quickly, and maybe take 25% for my effort. But I could also clean some of the stuff up and present it well and put it on for double the price, and it would likely take longer to sell. I would be adding value by putting in the time to clean the stuff up, which would take several hours. I think if it was the later I would charge 50%, as they too would be doing better out of it. eg 75% of half the price, is less than they would make than 50% of double the price, so it is a win-win for both. Otherwise it isn't worth my time dealing with buyers. I have used this method when selling my own stuff, where something well presented does sell at a better price. But I think if they are asking me to do it, they have to be realistic and respectful that I am spending my time doing it, and they are also getting rid of junk they aren't using, so they have to pay a fair commission. For example a Real estate agent selling a house for a friend will still expect a commission. They won't do it for free. If they don't have the time to do it themselves, then they are really valuing the stuff at nothing anyway, so 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing. What I think they should do is tell me the amount they want for teh item, so anything I make over that, I keep. But potentially they could do a lot worse out of it, eg I sell and item for $150, and they only wanted $50 for it, so I think the sharing of the profit is far more fair for both.

xpd

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#1523436 31-Mar-2016 15:56

mattwnz:

Charities these days tend to be quite selective on what they will take,and they often don't know the value of things when they sell it. That is why you can do quite well shopping at some of these charity stores, and am sure professional traders buy some stuff from them at low prices.

Yup... had a friend try to give a local op shop an older LCD TV (was a 19" or something - nothing wrong with it) and he got told "we only accept 32"+ and under 5 years old" - beggars can be choosers apparently....

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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mattwnz

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#1523440 31-Mar-2016 16:01

xpd:

mattwnz:

Charities these days tend to be quite selective on what they will take,and they often don't know the value of things when they sell it. That is why you can do quite well shopping at some of these charity stores, and am sure professional traders buy some stuff from them at low prices.

Yup... had a friend try to give a local op shop an older LCD TV (was a 19" or something - nothing wrong with it) and he got told "we only accept 32"+ and under 5 years old" - beggars can be choosers apparently....

That is surprising, because they should easily be able to sell that for even $10. Maybe the paper work wasn't worth their time. It is all about time and effort when selling things.

andrew027

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#1523444 31-Mar-2016 16:15

xpd: Yup... had a friend try to give a local op shop an older LCD TV (was a 19" or something - nothing wrong with it) and he got told "we only accept 32"+ and under 5 years old" - beggars can be choosers apparently....

Out of courtesy, did your friend give them all the relevant connections? The op shop staff might have gone down to Dick Smith to get an HDMI cable and backed out when they saw it would cost more than they'd get for the TV.

linw

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#1523446 31-Mar-2016 16:20

Charities don't want 230V elec goods as they have to get an electrician sign off.

OP, i would take aboard andrew027's post above!

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