Post by abeckett on Aug 16, 2011 11:28:46 GMT -5
I know some of you buy/sell on ebay, so I figured a thread on this might be a helpful place to share tips. I've been selling on there for over a decade, so I guess I have some knowledge to impart. I'm actually kind of curious to see how others handle things as well.
So, if you want to cash in on the latest card price spike or avoid selling a card locally for 50% of its value, hopefully this can help. I assume you already have ebay and paypal accounts set up. If not, that would be step one.
Step two would be to take pics or scan the cards and write up your listings. Avoid getting too detailed and crazy with the wording. Just basic condition info and review shipping costs and restrictions. If I'm selling multiple things at one time (which I usually am), I write up everything in a word doc first so I can just cut/paste to the listing template.
For grading, try to do it conservatively. Use a NM/EX scale, rather than StarCity's more vague NM-SP scale. I think the blackborder.com scale provides a pretty accurate guide to help you learn conditions.
www.blackborder.com/cgi-bin/customscripts/help/condition.cgi?sid=kWdZmZeEMo
Step three is to list it and wait. Set a reasonable start price and shipping price as well. ebay now charges final value fees on shipping also, so don't think you can avoid fees by listing a card at $0.99 and then charging $15 for shipping.
Also determine if you want to ship outside of the US before you list. International means more potential buyers, but it also means tracking on a package will cost $12+. You do have to set those preferences on ebay to block non-US buyers from bidding. Italy, Spain, and Brazil are countries to avoid mailing to. All have corrupt postal systems and things tend to get "lost" pretty easily.
For shipping, you really have two main choices in the US.
1. You can offer to ship cards in a toploader inside a plain white envelope for about $1. With this option, always take it to the post office counter and have it sent non-machineable. I've had some mutilated envelopes show up that got caught in the sorting machines they use, since the toploaders make them too rigid. Also note, tracking is not available on first class mail of this size.
2. Get yourself some 4x8 padded mailers (size 000) from a local store or online. Wal-Mart usually beats out the office supply stores on these, although the best route is to buy in bulk on ebay. I think the cheapest locally I can get them is like $0.45 per envelope, while in bulk it's like $0.16 per unit. With delivery confirmation in the US, you can ship a playset of cards in these for about $2.51. I usually set shipping at $2.75 when I know the auction will end up at above $10 and I will want to use tracking.
An extra note on shipping costs...sometimes it is worth it to take a hit on shipping because it can translate to bigger ending prices for items. Plenty of cards end up going for less than they should because someone is trying to gouge buyers on shipping. Some people walk away even if they perceive you are overcharging shipping when your prices might actually be reasonable. I don't understand it, but for some reason people are willing to spend $50+ on a card, but are totally unwilling to spend the extra money to make sure it arrives safely at their door.
In terms of other supplies for selling, I try to keep toploaders (the rigid plastic cases) and penny sleeves on hand to package cards. Then I usually wrap the order in a sheet of paper before putting it in a padded mailer.
Also keep in mind that ebay connects you to a lot of buyers at a price. You will typically lose about 13-14% between paypal and ebay fees. It's still better than selling locally.
There are other places to sell cards if you want to avoid those fees, but they have drawbacks.
Cardshark is a great place to list massive amounts of stuff that's too small to bother with auction listings on. The fees are about the same as ebay, but you have to wait a month to get paid...which can be brutal. The bonus is that once you have it listed it's up there for good, as long as you log in once a month. I've done about 20 sales on there so far and I've been ok with it.
I don't know if anyone reads Medina's stuff (I don't), but I know he's talked about MOTL before. It can save you the hassle of dealing with fees, but it's a totally different way of dealing than ebay is. It's also a great place to pick up cards for a lot cheaper than I know some of your are used to. That place requires it's own post though, which I'd be happy to do if there's interest. forums.magictraders.com/Ultimate.cgi
So, if you want to cash in on the latest card price spike or avoid selling a card locally for 50% of its value, hopefully this can help. I assume you already have ebay and paypal accounts set up. If not, that would be step one.
Step two would be to take pics or scan the cards and write up your listings. Avoid getting too detailed and crazy with the wording. Just basic condition info and review shipping costs and restrictions. If I'm selling multiple things at one time (which I usually am), I write up everything in a word doc first so I can just cut/paste to the listing template.
For grading, try to do it conservatively. Use a NM/EX scale, rather than StarCity's more vague NM-SP scale. I think the blackborder.com scale provides a pretty accurate guide to help you learn conditions.
www.blackborder.com/cgi-bin/customscripts/help/condition.cgi?sid=kWdZmZeEMo
Step three is to list it and wait. Set a reasonable start price and shipping price as well. ebay now charges final value fees on shipping also, so don't think you can avoid fees by listing a card at $0.99 and then charging $15 for shipping.
Also determine if you want to ship outside of the US before you list. International means more potential buyers, but it also means tracking on a package will cost $12+. You do have to set those preferences on ebay to block non-US buyers from bidding. Italy, Spain, and Brazil are countries to avoid mailing to. All have corrupt postal systems and things tend to get "lost" pretty easily.
For shipping, you really have two main choices in the US.
1. You can offer to ship cards in a toploader inside a plain white envelope for about $1. With this option, always take it to the post office counter and have it sent non-machineable. I've had some mutilated envelopes show up that got caught in the sorting machines they use, since the toploaders make them too rigid. Also note, tracking is not available on first class mail of this size.
2. Get yourself some 4x8 padded mailers (size 000) from a local store or online. Wal-Mart usually beats out the office supply stores on these, although the best route is to buy in bulk on ebay. I think the cheapest locally I can get them is like $0.45 per envelope, while in bulk it's like $0.16 per unit. With delivery confirmation in the US, you can ship a playset of cards in these for about $2.51. I usually set shipping at $2.75 when I know the auction will end up at above $10 and I will want to use tracking.
An extra note on shipping costs...sometimes it is worth it to take a hit on shipping because it can translate to bigger ending prices for items. Plenty of cards end up going for less than they should because someone is trying to gouge buyers on shipping. Some people walk away even if they perceive you are overcharging shipping when your prices might actually be reasonable. I don't understand it, but for some reason people are willing to spend $50+ on a card, but are totally unwilling to spend the extra money to make sure it arrives safely at their door.
In terms of other supplies for selling, I try to keep toploaders (the rigid plastic cases) and penny sleeves on hand to package cards. Then I usually wrap the order in a sheet of paper before putting it in a padded mailer.
Also keep in mind that ebay connects you to a lot of buyers at a price. You will typically lose about 13-14% between paypal and ebay fees. It's still better than selling locally.
There are other places to sell cards if you want to avoid those fees, but they have drawbacks.
Cardshark is a great place to list massive amounts of stuff that's too small to bother with auction listings on. The fees are about the same as ebay, but you have to wait a month to get paid...which can be brutal. The bonus is that once you have it listed it's up there for good, as long as you log in once a month. I've done about 20 sales on there so far and I've been ok with it.
I don't know if anyone reads Medina's stuff (I don't), but I know he's talked about MOTL before. It can save you the hassle of dealing with fees, but it's a totally different way of dealing than ebay is. It's also a great place to pick up cards for a lot cheaper than I know some of your are used to. That place requires it's own post though, which I'd be happy to do if there's interest. forums.magictraders.com/Ultimate.cgi