New way to sell your junk on eBay in the US - eBay Valet service through FedEx

[ez24]

There is a topic here on what to do with your stuff when you die.  In one post there was a link to "eBay Valet" service.  Clicking and following it you come up with FedEx offices that take stuff.

see
http://sellforme.ebay.com/dropOff?_wiw=true

I called one office and he said it was new and they were not ready but told me another place was ready.  I called them and they hesitated and asked me to give them a couple of hours to get ready.
They were a little fuzzy on details.

This was tested in Atlanta and Los Angeles and they are now rolling it out in the rest of the US.

But it seems there are two minimums, $25 and $40  - he was more interested in the $40 and agreed that my two old cameras might work.  Next week I will try them out.   So if low value items you can put them together as a lot.

They take pictures and send the items to eBay and after that the deal is between eBay and the seller.  You need an eBay account (I guess they will set you up if you do not have one) and email address.

I told the manager that the other store told me to call him and he said he was going to call them and give them a hard time.  Because they both went through training together and both were both suppose to be ready     So this is really new.

In my case, I used to sell on eBay and would take the packages to the local PO and just sit them on the counter.  Now the local POs have closed and the nearest ones have no parking and I am handicap so that makes it hard.   I am trying to down size so I can move someday, so just getting rid of stuff makes me more happy than the money.

If I learn anything new next week, I will post it.  Also it would be interesting to hear from others if they use this service.

[edavid]

In my case, I used to sell on eBay and would take the packages to the local PO and just sit them on the counter.  Now the local POs have closed and the nearest ones have no parking and I am handicap so that makes it hard.

USPS will pick up First Class and Priority Mail packages for free:

https://tools.usps.com/go/ScheduleAPickupAction!input.action

(Of course FedEx and UPS will also pick up, for a fee.)

[Seekonk]

There have been "sell for you stores" for years that take care of everything from photos to shipping.  I bought a high gram gold wedding ring from one.  By my calculation the seller got like $11 after fees. And I did a pickup so he didn't have to pay for packing. It's not filling a dumpster but not a money maker.  Fees are pretty steep.

[edavid]

There have been "sell for you stores" for years that take care of everything from photos to shipping.  I bought a high gram gold wedding ring from one.  By my calculation the seller got like $11 after fees. And I did a pickup so he didn't have to pay for packing. It's not filling a dumpster but not a money maker.  Fees are pretty steep.

Few of those stores remain open.

The difference with the eBay Valet service is that they only charge 20-40% in fees, depending on item value, which is pretty attractive.  However, most reviews of the service are negative.

[Shock]

Sounds like selling on consignment. If pawn/consignment stores weren't doing this already I would say their days are numbered.

[jolshefsky]

I remember the eBay seller stores. One popped up again around here 5 years ago and I think is gone. I brought in some heavy, hard-to-ship stuff (e.g. TRS-80 Model III and a couple boxes of software) which sold for a decent price, but I couldn't imagine the guy running the place being very happy—making like US$40 or so after all those hours of work just didn't make sense. I figure that's why those places would come and go so fast: too many headaches and not enough cash. I saw the eBay Valet and was curious but haven't tried yet ... they might get some traction with economy-of-scale what with having a warehouse, bulk-packing material available, staff, phone support, etc.

There is an easier way: just send all your junk to Dave for "Mailbag".