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Selling on the bay?
Who does this? How has your experience been? I have a TON of stamp sets to sell. I listed them here in the BST forum and got rid of a couple, but really want to move some more out. I've never sold anything on ebay and was wondering what other people's experience has been with it.
Thanks!!
__________________
They say we must submit and be one with the Machine. Because the Kingdom of Fear needs compliance to succeed. ~Otep ~ Smash The Control Machine
Good question. I've sold a lot on BST here -- over a period of time. And I have a new list ready to post. But I have bought on ebay several times and I'm tempted to try it.
That said, I like the forum here because it's friendly, and small, and there's no charge . And I've made some of the best friends ever here through selling and trading.
Hmm... I'd have to hear some pretty good things about ebay to go for it there.
I've sold on and off for many years and Ebay has gone through many changes. These days, it is much harder for the small, hobby seller than it was in the old days. You are outnumbered by many big, long time established sellers and the system favors them.
Having said that, you can still make a bit more money than you might say in a garage sale, since you are reaching millions of potential buyers.
I think a key thing is having some strategy and then going in with a goal of keeping your listing feess as low as possible, while allowing your stuff the best chance of selling the first time around.
Decide first how you want to sell them, fixed price or auction format? What is the lowest you will allow each set to go for? How will you get paid? (Paypal etc) Know the rules of selling etc. Know how to best present your stuff, good pics, descriptions, to put yourself above the competition. There are many, many things to consider.
Who does this? How has your experience been? I have a TON of stamp sets to sell. I listed them here in the BST forum and got rid of a couple, but really want to move some more out. I've never sold anything on ebay and was wondering what other people's experience has been with it.
Thanks!!
i've sold sets on ebay over the years and have the following to add to the other comments here:
if you've listed on the BST and didn't have any luck [with a target market full of stampers] you might want to consider what you're selling: did you ask too high a price; and, is the market saturated with the stamps you're selling.
there are over 200K members on SCS - so, you've got a captive market. why didn't your sets sell? i'm not sure you'd have much better luck on eBay -and, it will cost you more with eBay and PayPal fees. i've taken sets that i didn't sell here, only to end up nearly giving them away on eBay [after shipping and sales costs]. i'd rather give them away here maybe you can find a way to make your sets more appealing - maybe packaging with stamp spots and cut cardstock for "ready to stamp" kits. i'm not saying you won't possibly sell a few sets on eBay that you couldn't sell here - this is just food for thought.
i'd try to find a new market; maybe non-internet savvy stampers? do you have a LSS that has a garage/table sale where you can find other stampers that might be interested in your sets?
i wish i had more suggestions for you. i think there are plenty of us with extra sets we'd like to sell these days.
How will you get paid? (Paypal etc) Know the rules of selling etc. Know how to best present your stuff, good pics, descriptions, to put yourself above the competition. There are many, many things to consider.
i've taken sets that i didn't sell here, only to end up nearly giving them away on eBay [after shipping and sales costs]
The buyer pays for shipping, so you don't really lose that much except for the cost of packaging and going to PO or UPS. Paypal fees and listing fees are pretty minimal. Yes, it costs some, but if you get some money out of a set you aren't going to use anymore and couldn't sell on SCS, then it's a win situation.
__________________ I love talking about nothing. It's the only thing I know anything about. ~ Oscar Wilde
As a frequent Ebay shopper for retired SU sets, it is where I go to find stamps I want. I look there before I look here on the B/S/T forum. I'll tell you why--Many times as I browse the B/S/T all I see are long lists of the stamp set names. I am not a die hard SU fan so I don't know what the sets look like just by seeing the names, and I don't have the time to search the gallery for every single set that interests me to see what it looks like. If there were pics of the stamp sets right with the Sell posting, I would browse here more. I know it's a pain to post pics of all the sets, but I think this would increase sales because I doubt I am the only one who feels this way.
All new sellers have to accept Paypal, and money orders and checks can not be requested as a method of payment. But there are other accepted methods of payment that can also be used. One of the reasons I said, "know the rules of selling".
One thing I forgot to mention: do a research by looking up completed sales of the types of or exact sets you want to sell. This will give you an idea if they are hot or not, and what they are selling for. You do this by going to advanced search, put in some keywords, check off "completed" and run the search.
The buyer pays for shipping, so you don't really lose that much except for the cost of packaging and going to PO or UPS. Paypal fees and listing fees are pretty minimal. Yes, it costs some, but if you get some money out of a set you aren't going to use anymore and couldn't sell on SCS, then it's a win situation.
prices for ebay and paypal continue to rise. at least now, they offer several free listings each month. when i charge a buyer the standard flat-rate shipping, i really don't make much on a set that sells for a couple of dollars - especially when you consider the time i spend posting, photoing, answering questions, and driving to the mail box. i'd rather give it away then spend the energy selling a set for $2 on ebay. and i have - plenty of times i've offered a freebie on the BST boards.
Craigslist may be an alternative rather than ebay. I've sold and bought many craft related items through it. It definitely is my preference! I'm going to pick up some SU ink pads tomorrow that are unopened and very reasonably priced through a listing.
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OK, I've sold MANY sets on Ebay, so I feel that I have some valid pointers I can give. Here are the reasons I sell on the bay rather than here on B/S/T. (I've listed several items, several times with no luck)
1. Pictures can be included on the bay.
2. People can search by stamp set name, rather than looking at each individual listing with a long list of names
3. Postings on the bay can remain on the active page if sorted correctly.
4. There are many more reasons, but these are the main ones.
NOW, here are my tips on selling on the bay.
1. RESEARCH. Yes, the bay takes time and patience. I do a "completed listing" search of everything I put on the bay before I list it. I put the sets in 2 piles. One that I will list as individual sets, and another where I will lump several sets together and sell as a "lot". These sets are anything that goes for under $8.00 on the bay.
2. I never put a "buy it now" price or a "reserved price". If you look at the history of the completed sells, there are a lot of RED items (meaning they didn't sell) that have these posted. I have had a few people email me and ask about a "buy it now" price, but once it has a bid on it, you can not add it. For the amount of people who have asked about it, it hasn't been worth it to me.
3. I always start my sets at .99. It's the cheapest fee, and you will USUALLY get more bids this way. If it is a very expensive set (I've sold Born to Ride, Classic Cars, Chicken Wire etc) I will usually put it at $9.99 or whatever the next cheapest cut-off is.
4. You will find that if you do 7-day postings, you will hardly get any bids in the first few days (unless it's highly sought after). Don't get discouraged, they will mostly come in the final hours of the posting. (for this reason, I've contemplated only posting for 3 or 5 days, but haven't done the research on this yet)
5. I go through "Auctiva" which is a auction-hosting site. This allows me up to 18 pictures (I think) for each posting without having to pay Ebay for them. The less you pay in ebay fees, the more profit you make. (Auctivia used to be free, but now they charge a monthly charge $2.95 for not much activity, or 9.95 for more.) It's worth it to me to pay this fee, for the picture hosting fees (and you can SCHEDULE your postings which is SO WORTH IT), outweigh the extra fees I would pay to Ebay. You also get a slide show on each posting of everything else you have for sell. It's an added expense, but I think it's worth it for the added benefits. If you are only going to be doing this here and there and only a few items at a time, it might not be worth it to you. BUT, wanted to tell you that there are places out there that have this type of help.
6. I only do Priority Flat Rate Shipping. This way I always have it documented, and I can send multiple stamps for the same price. I only charge .50 above what the actual cost is, as when you sort in Ebay (completed listings, highest price -inc shipping- first) you will see that the ones with outrageous shipping are usually RED (they didn't sell)
5. I schedule all my postings so that they start at the same time and for the same length of time. Since I only do sporadic postings (I go through phases when I want to post), this helps with when I have to box everything up and ship out.
6. I NEVER go to the post office. I do everything online through PayPal (batch shipping process) and schedule the pick-up at my house. Easy Peasy!
I think that's it. HTH. Good luck with whatever you decide to do!
As a frequent Ebay shopper for retired SU sets, it is where I go to find stamps I want. I look there before I look here on the B/S/T forum. I'll tell you why--Many times as I browse the B/S/T all I see are long lists of the stamp set names. I am not a die hard SU fan so I don't know what the sets look like just by seeing the names, and I don't have the time to search the gallery for every single set that interests me to see what it looks like. If there were pics of the stamp sets right with the Sell posting, I would browse here more. I know it's a pain to post pics of all the sets, but I think this would increase sales because I doubt I am the only one who feels this way.
I know it costs a bit more to have a photo shown on the search listings but I would suggest to always have that photo there. When I'm searching for something - especially if there are numerous listings - I'll often skip over the ones without a photo.
Also, consider selling internationally. Australians love to buy fromthe US as it is cheaper for us and if your shipping is reasonable then it's not a huge amount more than paying for postage within Australia.
I just sold a bunch of my old SU sets for more than I expected on ebay. I think it helps if you sell a lot, instead of individual sets. It's less work for you. I also opened my auction to international buyers. I had several bids and sold many to them.
__________________ ~Nina (product designer for Penny Black, Spellbinders and Want2Scrap)
"O taste and see that the LORD is good..." ~Psalm 34:8 Etsy * Facebook * My Blog
Selling on the bay?
