got a bargain but embarrassing to collect

[NannyMcphee12]

Post for a friend

She won a car seat & 2 bases for 99p! She's now thinking how embarrassing it will be when collecting them.

Any tips?

[SilverSixpence]

That's great, no need to be embarrassed! Maybe she could take a nice box of chocs or some such as a thank you for the bargain

Sometimes you just need to get rid of something and you don't care what it goes for hence strting auction at 99p

[NannyMcphee12]

I suggested giving her £5 rather than the 99p - if you sold something for 99p how would u feel if some gave you £5

[emmelinelucas]

Your friend should smile broadly, hand over the 99p and take the purchases.
They have got someone to take away stuff they didnt want and got paid for the privilege so everyone is happy.
Your friend got a bargain - well done !

[Smartiepants79]

That's a good bargain but is she aware that it is really not recommend to buy second hand car seats.
Does she have any idea of their history?
I don't want to rain on her parade but what if they've been in an accident?
She must check the manufacturing date on the seat. If it's older than 6 year she shouldn't use them.

[KirstyJC]

I have given away 3 car seats of freecycle for nothing - don't worry about it, like PP said you sometimes just want something gone.

[NannyMcphee12]

I think she was after base more than car seat

[PoppyWearer]

Them's the breaks on eBay. But I would offer £5.

I won a gorgeous child's bike on eBay for £5 and gave them £10 in the end, as it had been over £100 new and looked nearly-new. They had just picked a really bad time for the auction to end.

[ALovelyBunchOfCoconuts]

id hand over a pound and say keep the change!

if they wanted more then they shouldn't have started bids at 99p.

[HeyJudith]

She should just hand over £1 and say thank you and that's it

Sellers take the risk that something will only go for 99p if that's what they start listing at

If seller was privately miffed then they will know for next time to start auctions higher on things they want more than 99p for.

Like others have said, seller probably just wants stuff gone at any cost anyway.

Do not encourage your friend to hand over £5.

And finally, if seller really was miffed she could always say the item wasn't available any more - that she had found a fault etc so it wasn't saleable (obviously this is against the rules but she could have done it, in theory she could have found a fault meaning it was unsaleable).

So if seller is fine to meet and do collection then your friend should just turn up and collect and that's that :)

She doesn't have to see these people ever again :)

[HeyJudith]

Poppy no such thing as the wrong time for an auction to end :)

It's pros and cons - if it's an awkward time (middle of night/first thing in morning etc) then some bidders will bid more in advance than they would if they were there in the dying seconds.

There are definitely wierd "trends" though - I have seen identical items (eg a toy let's say, or maybe a particular black French Connection dress) go for £ then the next three go for £££ then a month on ££££ and then the week after that £ or no bids I can't rationalise that! (When there's nothing differentiating like condition, or postage, or seller feedbacks) Can anyone else?!

[nevergoogle]

i had this once, i paid extra to save the embarrassment.

[LilyBossom]

items listed during the day will normally fetch a much lower price - items ending at the beginning of the week in the evening do generally attract more bidders.

[PoppyWearer]

What Lily said. End time does matter, hugely.

Finding the perfect window on a Sunday night when the mums are sat in front of X-Factor (but not during the results)/Downton with the iPad and a glass of wine OR Monday lunchtime/evening (bored people) is key.

Midweek afternoon, particularly school-run time, is very very quiet.

[HeyJudith]

I guess, but it's not something I have found affecting my sales.

The only thing I do make sure of in terms of timings is that listings should cover a weekend, because I think a lot of people look on Ebay at the weekend.

[Rummikub]

Sold a telly for 99p. Wouldn't expect anymore.

[Rummikub]

Listing to end at weekend usually worked best for me. With the telly, I just wanted it gone.

[garlicbaguette]

I should have read this board before last week! I sold a whole bunch of unused, designer thingummies for so little that I made LOSSES on them all! I'd underestimated the postage. I didn't ensure they ended on a Sunday/Monday, either.

Am currently feeling too hurt to risk selling any more stuff, but I do have lots more to go. Perhaps I'll get back in the water very cautiously ... !

OP, I'd have been made up if one of my buyers had paid a few quid more :)

[twirliedobbit]

I sold something for 99p once (a children's bike) wouldn't have dreamt of accepting any more for it, was just glad to have it gone. I sold another in worse condition at exactly the same time for £30 so figured I made perfect money across the 2!!

[garlicbaguette]

That was a nice outcome, Twirlie :)

[Rummikub]

Some things you make a loss, other pennies. But other listings you can do v well. A seller would have no problem with accepting ten or more times the price they paid. I used to keep a lookout for bargain stuff that would sell well and buy.

Garlic, a good photo, good description, starting price and listing start end times are important.

[Rummikub]

Cross point twirlie, same idea!

[Tryharder]

Oh don't offer more than the going price.

Your friend got a bargain so enjoy it.

As someone said, people give away things like that on freecycle.

If she wanted more, then she would have started bidding higher.

I put a lot of collect only things on eBay for 99p that I just want rid of and am not bothered if it goes for 99p or not.

[amistillsexy]

I sold a lovely wooden IKEA highchair for 99p.

The man collecting it was buying for his granddaughter and he was so proud of her, and delighted with the chair, I was more pleased to hand it over than I'd been for anything else.

I would suggest she doesn't ask for a penny change though, when she hands over the quid