Interesting, I always sell cars individually. I've found the more I sell together, the more the price per car drops. I tried to sell 6 cars for $60 = didn't sell. Split them up and they sold for $15 each ($90 total) split up between 4 different buyers. Everyone wanted some, no one wanted all. Prices are highest at tax refund time. I also close sales Sunday afternoon. I figure people are hanging around the house. I've tried weekday evening ends, with a noticeable drop off in prices. I have only been selling for a couple of years on eBay and haven't gotten burned yet (knock on wood). When it comes to shipping, if the item is less than $30, I charge actual USPS prices. I've started going free shipping on items over $30, I just figure it into the starting price. When I'm buying, I always look at the price and the shipping combined. I've almost bid on items and then I notice the freakishly high postage rates ($14 in one case to ship USPS from Chicago to Minneapolis). One seller got mad at me, he claimed he would combine the shipping on multiple items. He failed to do so, so I gave him appropriate feedback. His response was that I got the items so cheap I should be fine with paying extra on shipping (his words, not mine). Moron. I told him to set his starting bids higher next time. My rule of thumb is set your starting bid for the smallest amount you would sell it for, because there is a chance that it might be the case.
I've sold quite a few things on ebay over the last 10 years including a few MTL cars. I have had very much the same experiences and observations as you have had. While I've done quite well on things like finished structures that I did not need anymore, I've been disappointed on anything that was "stock" including the MTL cars. Seems that to get interest or better prices, items need to be unique. All of the structures I've sold are detailed or kit bashed in some way to make them one of a kind. On the buildings there is no way to put a price on the work I had in them but my attitude has been that I have gotten my from them and hopefully they can continue to be enjoyed on another layout. I have noticed some weathered MTL cars going for good prices but that's not something I would suggest doing to a collectible car unless you are very good at it. As already mentioned, prices on most items have cooled down quite a bit in recent years.
Here's a data point to throw in, just in case anyone was thinking about selling via the NSE auctions: They've already announced that they are not taking any more Micro-Trains for the remainder of the year. Exceptions might be made for really rare stuff. eBay destroyed the paper-based "we know how many we have and you don't" auctions. Plain and simple.
One of the first times I used Ebay I made my listing and realized after I had already listed it that I had only put $0.99 as starting bid. By the time I realized it someone had already bid on the item. Too late to go back and change it then. My thought was.....someone will make another bid on these and I will be fine. WRONG! The original bidder was the ONLY person that bid on the item. They got 5 REALLY nice MDC/Roundhouse 50ft high side gondolas for nothing. Lets just say.....now I double check EVERY listing before I click list item. Ryan
200mph, you have made many good points. In Australia, there is a couple of additional rules, do not list during school holidays and certainly do not end an auction on a night on which there is a highly rated TV show. As to expectations...well my experience with eBay in respect of model trains was the sale of Marklin HO engines, carriages and the like some 5 years ago. I did very well, so much so that the sales paid for a fair bit of my n scale layout. As far as getting better returns, my tip would be to minimise the original buying price to maximise the end selling price i.e.. if you intend to resell at a later point in time. The real lesson is that an article is only worth what someone is prepared to pay at the time, and whether we like eBay or not, it has opened up numerous opportunities to sell stuff that would have in the past been virtually given away at a garage sale.
There's some great advice here! A few of the things I do on my auctions are: If an item requires extra care when packing (fragile, odd size, etc) and so S&H will be higher than postage, I put a reminder in the description that S&H covers HANDLING as well as my cost of packing materials and explain the item will be carefully wrapped. As a result, I've gotten feedback the specifically praises my S&H fees and packaging. Don't gouge on shipping but don't cut yourself a loss either. Specify very clearly that I will combine shipping on multiple auctions. Divide items up rather than trying to sell it as one big lot. When you toss everything into one big lot it turns buyers off. Sure, 6 freight cars for $60 may be a "good deal" but a good deal isn't a good deal if you only want 1 of them. A buyer may be willing to pay $40 for one of those cars individually, but won't fork over the extra $20 for the other extra 5 cars he doesn't want. Think of how many times you've seen "boxes of junk" on E-bay but one item in it catches your eye, then you realize you could buy it new for the cost they want with all that other junk. Don't be that seller. Stagger your ending times! E-bay has a nice feature that lets you set auction start times. Use it. Stagger you auctions so they do not all end at once. Leave a few minutes between each auction of similar or related items. Someone may want to buy your items X Y & Z. They will bid higher on auction X to make sure they get it, once they have won it they will bid to make sure they get Y & Z to get that combined shipping! Lastly and most important: Collectibles are only worth what people will pay for them! I've had people laugh at me to my face when I told them that. I've got a cousin whose basement has been packed full of unmoved merchandise from his failed business for over tens years now because he wouldn't listen and kept holding out for people to pay collector's prices. Those price guides? Trash. You won't see that kind of money. So what if your extra rare American Flyer set is rated by someone at umtpy-billion dollars, are they going to give you that money for it? No! An item is only worth what you can get people to pay you for it.
Yes, this is true, always has been. My Ebay perspective is I only list things I don't need, or use. I start all my bids at $1.00, I try to keep my shipping as low as possible, but sometimes it's just convenient to grab a flat rate USPS box and ship accordingly, as far as the people who feel the need to complain about shipping costs, I have dealt with them too, so I guess that's just part of the experience. I suspect there are some out there who try to make a living buying and selling on Ebay, purchasing product for as low as possible, then selling the same item for a few dollars more, to which I say more power to you. These are likely the same folks that will complain about shipping charges, as they are trying to make a living off of slim margins. I am not one of these folks. Some good ideas here,
There are some sellers that start everything at $0.99. They let the E Bay flow and see what happens. I have never had the balls to do that. I set the price at the minimum I can live with. It usually works out. I base my selling prices on what items sold for on previous auctions. I laugh at the collectors that are selling the same car for $25.00 that others are selling for $9.95. I have a friend that is a collector and an E Bay Store. Every once in a while I look at his completed auctions. He sells a car every couple of months. I ship USPS First Class Mail. I can get 3 cars in a box and ship for less than Priority Mail. Occasionally I will offer free shipping, but I haven't seen free vs paid have much effect on whether an item sells or not. I ship internationally and have never had a problem. If it is high value, I ship Priority Mail international, otherwise First Class International. I can print the label and customs documents from my computer. I just hand the box to an employee at the post office (No standing in line) or give it to my letter carrier. I would NEVER use the E Bay Global shipping Program. To me the seller is asking for negative feedback due to inflated shipping and brokerage costs.
I also have been selling on eBay for about 5 years. My feedback is 1864, 100%, and I list at least 10 cars a week .I found that what works best for me is: 1) List 7 days 2) sell mainly individual cars, both new and used 3) End listings on Wednesday and Thursday night starting at 8PM Eastern, and have one go every 5 minutes. I am off on Thursday and Friday so I can ship next day as long as I am paid. 4) I ship First Class, use mainly new packaging, and print self adhesive labels through eBay. 5) I charge 2.60 (just raised from 2.50 with the new USPS increase) and automatically add .75 for each additional car. If a regular buyer (and i have a few) purchases 3 or 4 at a time I use actual shipping) 6) I start my listing at the next .99 above my cost, so if I paid 5.40 for a car I start at 5.99. That way I take no losses other than fees etc. 7) I purchase on eBAY (MAINLY LOTS) and on nScale Yard Sale if the price is right. I also buy at train shows. Bought 50 or so cars last weekend at Amhurst. 8) I have a no question return policy, but try to work it out with the buyer. Usually a few dollar refund is easier that sending back etc. 9) I do not use the Global Shipping, but will ship to certain countries if asked.
Well, when you offer reasonable prices and shipping rates, it usually doesn't. Shipping tends to be a tie breaker when you are faced with two things of the same price, or a deal breaker if it's apparent they are trying to reduce their losses from a lower start price with the amount they receive for shipping.
I have sold 4 or 5 thousand trains, etc. on ebay and it has certainly evolved. As much as I would like to argue the point, the fact is that there is no other option other than ebay to reach the audience required to sell something. I hate ebay; I will admit it and so will most other people. Regarding the Global Shipping program; I just started using it a couple of months ago. Years ago, I would ship Internationally, but I lost my $$$ to buyers who claimed they never got the item(s). I tried to be friendly and use International First Class shipping, but there is absolutely NO TRACKING available. Then I tried Priority Mail International (much more expensive) and while there is tracking (supposedly), you still don't know if the person really gets the item. Good luck filing an insurance claim with the Post Office in any foreign country; USPS responsibility ends when it leaves the U.S. Finally, I quit shipping Internationally; not even to Canada because people complain about cost and their delivery times can take over a month. Then I read a little about the Global Shipping Program and decided to try it. So far, I haven't had any complaints (maybe a dozen shipments out of the country). The cost to the buyer for shipping is completely transparent to me and I just have to ship to an address in Kentucky; no more Customs forms, wondering when and if it will get there, etc. I did see somewhere a buyer's cost and it was high but that is really their decision on whether it is worth it to them or not. Just my experience and nothing more.
This is SO true. What I do is make sure that it is posted in my listing that I WILL COMBINE MULTIPLE ITEMS ON SHIPPING. I make sure this is in bold. Also another thing I do (if I have the information) is include ALL the information I have on said item. Example: You are bidding on 1 N scale Atlas Northern Pacific GP7 road # xyz. This is Atlas item # xyzpdq. This engine comes in original factory jewel case and comes with MTL/Accumate (whichever it has). This engine has been test run to assure proper workmanship. If there are any additional items such as decoders, add on details, etc I make sure and list those as well. This seems to help filter our questions from possible buyers. One last thing I will also make sure and note is if the bidder has any questions please feel free to contact me. Lastly, I finish the auction listing with something simple like "Happy bidding and Good luck!"
I like, and use, a 'just the facts' approach. Catalog number, road number, etc. I let the photos tell the condition story for the most part but I will point out issues with an item-- sometimes overly so, but that's self-protective. At the other extreme, there is at least one person whose entire description consists of: "N Scale". With the minimum required one photo. Seems to know his prices though! As in, 'good luck with that starting bid.'
I'm an eBay seller from way back (not rail related) and I turned eBay selling into a $600,000 annual gross website before selling out. Sounds to me like there is a lot of good advice already given, so I'll just add one item and confirm another. Different products do well on different days, but generally (as previously mentioned) 7 day auctions closing on Sunday between 9:00pm and 10pm eastern time are best. That's not just because of the closing time. The opening time is equally important. There are some items that do better on a 10 day auction because buyers have one entire weekend to find/watch/bid on an item and a following weekend to finalize. One of the reasons that is best is the psychology of the auction. Bidders often fall into one of two categories. Some only bid on an item that already has bids. That's an insecure bidder, but it's also the kind that will bid up on an item several times. The other bidder knows what they are doing and, unless it's a rare item, they already know what their maximum bid will be. They rarely place more than two bids on an item. Complete "homey" descriptions, multiple clear detailed photographs, shipping costs and return policies are all items that will either draw or repel a potential buyer, but the timing and opening bid are equally important. If you're selling over $300 a month, you might consider utilizing a market research tool for a month or so. They can give you 90 days history on a category or specific item. That means the average selling price, best listing day and type of auction, best opening big and best features. I used to use Vendio, but there are several other great ones out there now. HammerTap is one of the other market research offerings that I'm aware of. Some of those look at both eBay and Amazon for current price suggestions. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
If I may add a thought or 2... Re-iterating a few ideas mentioned. As a buyer on Ebay: -I am mostly looking for value, discount prices for general items of interest. I add S&H to the item cost of an item(s) for my total price, which drives my interest. As a rule of thumb, I am looking to pay 50-75% of retail, otherwise I would rather support LHS or online suppliers. Exceptions: Harder to find items - case by case, what is it worth to me... -I am looking for a seller to combine. If I buy one item from a seller, I am more likely to buy multiple, to lower my shipping cost per item. -I am dependent on your good pictures and descriptions. Clear wording on what I will get and how much S&H is. Unbelievable how vague some sellers are. -You can call me cheap, a mooch, etc. I call it working and stretching my hobby budget. As an Ebay seller: -I subscribe to the Sunday evening ending. -For high end items, I offer free shipping. Most items I estimate and offer a flat rate cost. -I find that most medium size items can ship cheaper if I box them myself. A lot of box recycling. Priority is generally less than medium size flat rate boxes. Good scale, label via Ebay. If the buyer is close/same zone, first class is cheaper, still has tracking via Ebay, and almost as fast. -I watch the comparable listings and offer a Buy It Now that is very competative with recent listings. -Reality of Ebay, straight auctions - you run the risk of not getting desirable bidding and sell for less than you want to. Its only worth what somebody who see and bids is ready to pay. You just never know if they are going to find your item. Next week, the same item will go 2X as much.... Win some - lose some. -Ebay is a drag with fees, rules, potential scammers (almost got scammed on a $400 item) and time to do it right. But there are limited options to reach that size of an audience. Good luck. I have seen some of your items, watching some now...
As a buyer, I agree 100% with Jugtown. Multiple, clear pictures, reasonable shipping, accurate description and good seller rating are the guidelines most affecting my decision to buy a wanted item. Timing of the auction has little influence on my bidding. I'm not a mooch or unreasonable but I am looking to get the best deal I can. If the price is to high I will simply wait. I know what my maximum bid is and if I get it fine, if not, there's always another one. If I'm buying new items in a brick and mortar store, I expect to pay accordingly. But for mainly used on eBay, I expect to pay less and shipping figures into that price. That said, so far, all my dealings on eBay have been good.
