Can we advertise non-herp stuff for sale?

[Jay_Bunny]

I was wondering if there is any way we can advertise non-herp stuff for sale. I have a Nintendo DS I was wanting to sell but if its against the rules, I won't post an advertisement in the Selling/Trade Section. I've never used E-bay before and I'm hesitant to do so. Does ebay cost anything to sell stuff?

[JLC]

Please read all the rules regarding advertising here:

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/a...ouncementid=11

And here is the answer to your specific question:

7. While we allow some "off topic" ads to be placed, the following list of items are NOT allowed to be offered for sale at BP.net: Alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, guns, or any items that might be considered "adult oriented."

So yes...you can try to sell the Nintendo DS if you wish. It does cost some out-of-pocket money to sell stuff on e-bay, as I understand it. But do keep in mind that e-bay offers a HUGE audience for your ads, and anyone wanting to buy a used Nintendo DS online is likely to go there to look for one.

Whereas, we are a very specific herp-oriented site with a miniscule audience compared to e-bay. No one is going to come looking here for it. But...there might be a member here who would like one, and it doesn't cost anything to try. Just trying to point out the realities of offering off-topic items for sale at this site.

[Nate]

Yep ebay has begun to shaft you for fees. I set up a simple item the other day and it ended up being a 12 dollar insertion fee...and then on top of that, PayPal will shaft you again with their fees. eBay is only cheap if you do volume sales.

[ladywhipple02]

Plus, eBay itself sticks you when you sell. They take a percentage of the money you make. Ugh... I've given up selling there.

[Jay_Bunny]

Yea, not really looking to have to pay anything to sell something. But where would I put such an ad here? There is the herp-related section, but thats really it.

[Nate]

for sale/wanted/trade

[JLC]

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/f...splay.php?f=69

[Gecko Den]

That's why I generally try listing items on Craigs list before Ebay, but you have to admit that the number of people using ebay allows for much more exposure to your items. Nate did you have a high reserve or starting price on your auction? That's usually when you get stuck with the higher insertion fee, or if you included a bunch of bells and whistles (Bold, highlight, feature auction, extra pictures, etc.)

[Gecko Den]

Plus, eBay itself sticks you when you sell. They take a percentage of the money you make. Ugh... I've given up selling there.

When you consider infrastructure, maintenance and administration costs you can't really blame them for taking a cut of final sales price, they have done that since their inception. They are a business after all and their main goal is to make money for their shareholders (which isn't a bad thing considering I have owned stock in them since 1998 ).