MetaChat - Etsy or Ebay? Other?

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23 June 2014

Etsy or Ebay? Other? →[More:]We've cleared-out my mom's condo of anything we thought was worth salvaging. In the process, I've accumulated a lot of things that I really have no idea what to do with other than sell them.

I have no experience selling online, other than the occasional Craigslist item. I've looked at Etsy, and I've looked at Ebay. Other than my natural aversion to Ebay, it seemed like the fees were a lot higher than what Etsy seems to charge.

Any experienced sellers have any suggestions/opinions about where I should set-up shop to get rid of some of mom's things?

post by: Thorzdad at: 16:18 | 10 comments

I guess it depends on how long you want to keep the stuff around. Maybe an estate sale would get it all done quickly.

I thought etsy was for things you make, and ebay was stuff other people made. Is that not the case?

posted by lysdexic 23 June | 17:38

I wonder if an estate sale would get rid of all of it? I've only sold with ebay, and I've never had a problem. It just takes time to set up each individual thing, unless you bundle them.

posted by lysdexic 23 June | 17:46

Can you describe what sort of things you have to sell?

posted by Kangaroo 23 June | 17:52

Etsy is for stuff one makes oneself. Did she do that?

posted by brujita 23 June | 19:17

What kind of stuff is it? I feel like Etsy is really only good for specific things- crafty things, "vintage" clothes or accessories, setting up a store with a lot of like items. Ebay is more flea market, post whatever.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 23 June | 21:22

Etsy seems classier; which to me when selling a nice item means it will more likely be cared for in the future as compared to being tossed or destroyed.
Ebay is becoming a wal-mart-esque giant which cues my natural aversion also.
I'd go with Etsy for the traditional mom factor that is there.

posted by buzzman 23 June | 22:49

Is there stuff she made herself? I think Etsy was created for that.

posted by brujita 23 June | 23:40

The stuff I'd sell is mostly vintage stoneware from the 50's. Plates, cups, saucers, serving pieces, etc. When I checked-out Etsy, it seems there are a lot of people selling vintage items like that.

posted by Thorzdad 24 June | 19:31

The problem, I think, is that Etsy isn't geared toward one-off sales. It's meant to be a virtual storefront for someone who either makes stuff or is in the business of reselling vintage/antique items.

But that's just my take on it as a customer. I have no idea if there are any technical reasons you couldn't use Etsy.

Maybe you can find a knowledgeable seller of vintage stoneware on Etsy and see if they'd be buyers?

eBay is the obvious option though. Any semi-serious collector of your stuff will be looking on eBay. Just make sure you get the right description and take good pictures.

posted by mullacc 24 June | 23:19

That's true, eBay is probably the first place regular collectors go, and eBay makes it easy for people to get search results sent to them automatically. Would be worth it if anything is a "brand" people might collect.

posted by ThePinkSuperhero 25 June | 09:41

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