the eBay game
billbradley
You want BBQ sauce? Get the fuck out of my house. 2,890 Posts
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.
Comments
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?