Selling a piano on eBay

[Mark Dierauf]

Personally I'd be very wary of selling an item that I don't own and 
actually have in my possession. Remember that your eBay feedback is the 
only way buyers have to gauge your honesty and trustworthiness as a 
seller, and because you don't have total control over this sale you may 
leave yourself at risk of incurring negative feedback for the benefit of 
the actual owner. Beyond that I would suggest lots of pictures and 
descriptive text, with emphasis on the bad, as well as the good points 
about the piano. You don't want potential buyers to be surprised by 
anything, and you DO want them to believe that you've gone out of your 
way to describe the item accurately. Look at the completed sales for 
similar pianos to get an idea of actual selling prices, and set the 
price to the absolute least that the owner will consider without any 
reserve. Moving is going to be an issue here so be clear about what 
you're willing to do to facilitate this. Personally I would insist on 
payment before delivery, i.e. cash or check cleared into the owner's 
account. If people actually start bidding, be prepared to answer lots of 
email questions.

- Mark Dierauf


Cy Shuster wrote:
> <div class="moz-text-flowed" style="font-family: -moz-fixed">I've been 
> asked by a customer to help sell a piano.  I've taken ads in several 
> papers, with few results.  I'm thinking of putting it on eBay. Several 
> concerns come to mind, namely the overseas overpayment scams and so 
> on, but those can happen from newspaper ads, too.  I asked eBay if it 
> would be OK for me to auction an item I don't own, and they said it 
> would (the customer is not very computer literate).  Ideally I would 
> walk him through setting up his own account, but it takes time, 
> especially with the PayPal part.
>
> What advice do you have about the listing: number of days, starting 
> price, reserve, forms of payment accepted?  Or don't do it?
>
> --Cy--
> ABQ, NM
>
>
> </div>