eBay Sellers

You've heard about it. You want to do it. But you just don't have what it takes.

"I'm not a registered user."

"I'm very Internet paranoid about losing my privacy."

It's easy to buy on eBay, but selling is definitely not for everyone.

"Just trying to get it shipped and not knowing on the other end whether they're going to pay for it or not."

That doesn't mean your stuff has to sit in a garage for the rest of your life. The world's largest online marketplace has spawned a number of "brick and mortar" stores, looking to sell your stuff for you. All you do is drop off the items, and for a fee, the store handles the rest... everything from taking photos, posting a description of the merchandise and tracking the bids, to answering e-mails from potential buyers, packing and shipping the item to the winning bidder and sending a check to you.

"We are backed by a corporation that provides us branding and marketing. They make sure that we take care of our customers."

Far be it from the Bottom Line, though, to take their word for it. We had to test it ourselves. So we went undercover to three local eBay drop-off services: iSoldIt in Glen Ellyn, Express Drop on Belmont and Quik Drop in Naperville.

Quik Drop was the most expensive of the three, charging a whopping 38 percent commission on the first $200 they sell. But as they say, you get what you pay for.

"This is a Magellan navigator, obviously old, but we'll see how it does."

We brought in a Magellan navigator, a Party Lite collectible ceramic house and a never-worn cashmere sweater.

"A little wrinkled, but you get the picture."

The company suggested a starting sale price for us based on the sales of similar items. We left the items, no money down, and the next day we got an e-mail with a link to the posting so we could follow the auction. It featured a detailed description and great pictures, at least for most of them. Our only complaint was the photo of the sweater. While we brought it in wrinkled, we thought, since we were paying them to handle the transaction, they would have at least ironed it.

Bottom line though, during the one-week auction, two of our three items sold. Our sweater, which was listed at $29.99, sold for that price, although after fees and commissions we only took home $14.65. The Magellan GPS sold for $50, so we got a check for $26.35. Our candle holder didn't sell, so the company re-listed it for free at a lower price. Still, no luck.

For Express Drop on Belmont, we rolled in with four nearly new Goodrich tires and one David Yurman-inspired bracelet. It took four days for our listing to be posted, and since we wanted to set a reserve price (these were expensive items), we had to pay an auction fee up front: $9.99 per item. But here they charge a lower commission; 32 percent of the first $500 sold, and their reserve price auctions last for 10 days.

We did though, have a problem with one of the listings. The tires were put in the wrong eBay section, categorized as 20 inches and over. They are actually 16 inches. And while they didn't tell us this when we dropped them off, it wasn't until we saw the posting that we found they were not willing to ship the tires to the winning bidder.

"We would have been more than happy to give you a free premium auction and refund you for the one purchased, because we want your auction to be as perfect as possible because it only benefits both of us in the end."

The tires never sold, but our bracelet did, for $125. After fees, we got a check for $76.50.

Our third drop-off was at iSoldIt. It's one of the biggest power sellers on eBay, and the least expensive of the three services we tested, charging 30 percent for the first $500. We brought them a pair of brand new Nine West shoes, a pair of like-new racing shoes and two vintage Barbie outfits.

"One is a cheerleading outfit, the other is called White Magic."

Like Quik Drop, there were no up-front costs, but we did run into some problems. It took six days after we dropped off our items for the auction to start. The company admits it had a computer glitch which has since been fixed. We also never got an e-mail notifying us the auction had started because they had taken down our information wrong.

"Accuracy is important when you check someone in, so we try to make sure that we're listening well to what you are saying and we're typing in it properly. Spelling errors can happen, and unfortunately, that's what happened to you."

Still everything but the Nine West shoes sold. Our Barbie cheerleading outfit went for $53.23; we took home $32.17. Barbie's White Magic outfit sold for $36.99; we got a check for $21.65. And the racing shoes sold for $29.75, so we drove off with $19.73.

Overall, despite the high commissions and the few glitches we experienced, we thought these stores were a deal, and would take them over selling ourselves any day.

Quik Drop, which did not comment on camera for this story, told us by phone that in regard to its high fees, "... we are able to sell the item for more money than if you tried to do it yourself or if you took it to our competitors," adding "... we have an excellent reputation on eBay for doing business."

As for the wrinkled sweater it posted, the company says since it is not the owner of the item, it doesn't want to take liability for altering it in any way. In the case of the sweater, it could have shrunk. But in the future, it will let the staff know that "... when they check people in, to let them know their items may reach a higher price if they do a little preparation ..."

And just so you know, we tried selling the tires and that ceramic house ourselves, just to see how hard it would be. It took two hours just to list the items; that's not including dealing with shipping and trying to collect payment. Unless you have a lot of time, I say don't waste your time, bring your stuff in to someone.

iSoldIt
914 Roosevelt Road, Glen Ellyn, IL
630-790-3326

Quik Drop
1552 North Aurora Road, Naperville, IL
630-369-3767

ExpressDrop
1900 West Belmont Avenue, Chicago, IL
773-975-7355

This story was posted 05.12.05 and has not been updated.

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