Archive:ServerHardwareAuction/Sales

Item list

(maybe a google docs spreadsheet would be better?)

Thing	Amount	Est sales price
SCA Drive 73 Gb	Many	35-52 quid (inc p&p)
SATA drive XGB	Many	?

Ebay

All equipment will be sold on the brand new LHS eBay account.

Account Hygiene

• Get some feedback (buy cheap stuff?)
• "About Me" page
• Avatar

Strategy

• Don't flood the market. Sell few items at a time
• Need good & thorough descriptions, not just manufacturer spec
• "Save initial fees and start with 99p."
• Announce the first few sales on affiliated mailing lists
• We probably prefer cash payments (?)
  • TODO

Auction template

We should have a template to use for the auctions, containing all the common information.

• Brief "about LHS" blurb
• Contact/location (wiki page link?)
  • "note whether vehicles can pull up for loading. Also that it is outside congestion zone"
• Source of hardware, auction context
• Feedback from various people, to incorporate in the template text
• Highlight: pickup only. State preferred pickup times (evenings preferred, but essentially 24/7)

Payment options:

• "Require payment via PayPal within x days and collection within y days otherwise you reserve the right to relist without compensation. " (Maybe we need to check "See item description" under payment options)

I will have a stab at starting a template in a bit --Kevinb456 20:10, 29 November 2010 (UTC)

Other Suggestions

From Mike Harrison:

[Quick comments on ebay listings from a seasoned ebayer

Specify pick-up location a bit more specifically - London is a big place, also specify possible
pickup times, and  emphasise pickup only in the listing text in big letters.

Just copy & pasting manufacturers blurb with no additional info looks bad, especially for a
zero-feedback seller - to instil some more confidence add a line or two about who you are & where
kit has come from - not specific, just that it's a donated bulk lot from a  working environment or
similar.

And add an 'about me' page.

In that vein, it might be worth adding some background i.e. donated by last.fm, maybe a link to the hackspace, explain the good cause, etc.

• For the SCA drives we should list the number of sectors so that people looking for replacement drives for a raid array can be sure they get one thats the same size or larger.

On IRC:

<aden>	we probably should have bough tsome stuff on ebay to get feeback too, nobody is going to bid on a 0 feedback seller
<Paul2>	yeah 0 feedback 'hack' in the seller name. 1 line desciption. LOOKS LEGIT @@@@@
<jontyw>	I'm also not sure that we should be selling seven monitors in one batch, it's MUCH better to just have "7 available"

Pricing

• Most bidding happens in the final hour; the purpose of having a longer auction is so that people are aware the item is for sale and 'watch' it
• Although it might seem that starting with a higher opening price - nearer to the hoped-for sale price - is sensible, evidence shows it makes very little difference to the actual sale price; the auction will find the 'true' price either way. Therefore save initial fees and start with a 99p.
• If you want collection only, make it clear in the description and the price sections. Bidders may ask if they can send a courier with the cash though so decide in advance whether you feel that is a safe idea.
• Require payment via PayPal within x days and collection within y days otherwise you reserve the right to relist without compensation.
• Specify better where the collection point is, and note whether vehicles can pull up for loading. Also that it is outside congestion zone.