eBay Your Old GearWhat’s old to you is new to someone else. Get some cash back from cameras you don’t need and make new friends in the process |
|
|
|
Page 2 of 7 Feedback Scores The best way to get a handle on other eBay users is through their feedback scores. After each transaction is completed, buyers and sellers give a positive, neutral or negative rating to their trading partner, along with a brief comment, if desired. A positive rating adds one point to the user’s profile, a negative rating subtracts a point and a neutral rating has no effect. Therefore, the higher a user’s feedback score, the more positive transactions he or she has had, and the lower the trading risk. You can also view the percentage of positive ratings that make up a user’s overall feedback score. In the eBay community, it’s rare to give a negative rating. Since positive feedback equates to credibility, most people want to avoid retaliatory negative feedback, and so those users who do receive negatives probably deserve it. If you’re unsure about a user, you can view his or her feedback profile in detail and read the reasons behind negative ratings. Just because someone has a low score doesn’t mean you shouldn’t trade with that user. Everyone starts at zero, after all. However, with expensive and fragile items like photo gear, you want to be careful, and there are ways to block buyers who have a negative feedback score or don’t meet other conditions. Preparing Your Item To get the best price for your item, you want to present it at its best. 1. Clean the item gently but thoroughly. You want the camera to look as good as new when the buyer receives it. Dust, grime and fingerprints might not affect the performance of the camera, but they may lower your buyer’s satisfaction with the item and lead to complaints. For camera bodies, wipe down the exterior with a soft, lightly damp cloth, and follow with a soft, dry cloth. Use water only—detergents can damage the finish of your camera. Cotton swabs help you clean exterior crevices. If you’re selling a D-SLR, you can clear dust off your camera’s sensor with products like the Arctic Butterfly from VisibleDust (www.visibledust.com). Be very careful when cleaning anything inside your camera, as you can easily cause expensive damage.   |
