the eBay game

billbradley

I am REALLY bad about hoarding records and keeping shit I don't need like a pack rat so I've decided to start unloading some that are taking up space. I sold my first two records on eBay this week and it felt good to finally let go of some I've been sitting on. My question to you eBay ballers that have been in the record game for a while is this... Is it worth taking the time to setup an eBay store if I have mostly ($5-30 range) non-raers to sell instead of doing auctions? Or would it be better to do record lots and sell groups of them together? It looks like there are plenty of more common records up for sale that will keep the pricing fairly close and paying for listing fees on those would be a waste of money if they weren't priced to sell. Thoughts? Any advice is appreciated.

ZachD

An ebay store works best when you have enough records in it that people have a selection to choose from. Keep in mind selling from the store costs 10% of the final price on ebay. Auctions are much less. But if you think you can list items in the store for 20% more than the auction price would be, it's probably worth it. The downside is waiting for someone to buy something. You definitely probably don't want to put things in an ebay store for less than they are worth - they would sell faster but again consider the 10%. I'm actually a fan of the old fashioned auction because you will get higher than you expect on some things and lower on others, but it usually comes out higher overall in the end with less fees and you aren't waiting for the sales to come in slowly. Depends on what value you put on having money sooner rather than later - most people want it sooner. Bigger auction lots are better, like 50+ items or more at a time.
That's all I got.

Woimsah

I agree with what dude above said. I've been selling for a minute - shit is like the stock market so be prep'd. One day some rare northern soul 45 is going for cake - a week later, when you somehow find a copy, it's going for about 1/8 what it just did. happens all the time.
my advice to you is, though, to BE CAREFUL when you're out at spots buying from now on. because now you've got two mouths to feed, your's and your buyer's, and often times you'll buy something thinking that it'll sell for good money - and that ends up just being wishful thinking. Be sure if you're buying to resell that you're CERTAIN that you've got the right kind of joint. a good way to guage this is to think of records you used to want or raers. if you find it - and a few years back you would've flipped out for a finding it - well that's usually a good sign.

G_Balliando

I been dumping stuff too. I did about 50 auctions a couple months back, about 30 completed. I ended up making ~250 after all the fees. None of the records were anything more than medium raer. Lots of common terd shit sold for more than I expected, like Bob James 2 for $20, stuff like that. I would definitely recommend the auction route unless you plan to continually add new product to the store and run it like a store. The auctions are more in and out and you're done. Do some completed auction searches too to get an idea of what's been selling lately. No point in listing a $5 record that nobody has bought in the last month just to pay listing fees and still have the record.

The other thing I do is ask people who win auctions if they want any of the other records I have laying around for a flat price. I've made loads of extra dough selling extra stuff to my buyers outside of ebay.

billbradley

Thanks for the replies and opinions. I kind of expect the bidding to fluctuate as I've seen that already in my first auctions. One week a record didn't meet my reserve and the next week I had a bunch of people in a bid war for the same record. I don't typically pay top dollar for any records I buy, at least not for records I plan on trading or selling now. I also carry my portable turntable everywhere and have wireless internet access everywhere with on cell phone and laptop/sprint card combo so that I can lookup info as needed to figure out re-issue status etc. I'll keep your suggestions in mind though when buying anything to flip from here on out though. My guess is I'll keep buying and hoarding as much funk, soul, hip hop records as I can, then will flip all of the stuff that I won't normally ever listen to.

billbradley

I would definitely recommend the auction route unless you plan to continually add new product to the store and run it like a store. The auctions are more in and out and you're done. Do some completed auction searches too to get an idea of what's been selling lately. No point in listing a $5 record that nobody has bought in the last month just to pay listing fees and still have the record.

The other thing I do is ask people who win auctions if they want any of the other records I have laying around for a flat price. I've made loads of extra dough selling extra stuff to my buyers outside of ebay.

Good suggestions. I don't think I'd be able to continually restock a store with large hauls so I'll just auction off what I think will sell. I haven't ever used the completed items search either. I'll definitely have to use that to price things better from now on.

asstro

In a semi-related question, a friend of mine has a bunch of vinyl bootlegs that he is thinking about selling, Hendrix, U2, Led Zep and stuff like that. I know eBay is pretty vigilant about bootlegs, what is the best way to sell them in you guys experience? I know there's demand for them, but what prices are they getting?

hcrink

In a semi-related question, a friend of mine has a bunch of vinyl bootlegs that he is thinking about selling, Hendrix, U2, Led Zep and stuff like that. I know eBay is pretty vigilant about bootlegs, what is the best way to sell them in you guys experience? I know there's demand for them, but what prices are they getting?

It all depends on the artist. You can for example sell Hendrix without problems but Led Zep is going to get you shut down. Off hand I know that Led Zep, Neil Young, CSNY, & the Dead are all pretty vigilant when it comes to no having boots sold on eBay. A lot of it's pretty safe though.

pjl2000xl

good post.

i actually just opened a store 3 days ago. Sold my first record last night for $20. ive been putting up tons of $10 to $20 joints from all different genres. I plan on making auctions/set sales daily and the store seemed to be the best option. Sell common turds for set sale when they are under $10. Anything else over $20 ill auction just to keep my stores name out there. Its still cool to be able and put the auction in my categories.

any advice for promoting your stores outside of ebay?