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Shifting gear?

proteusproteus 77 Posts
edited June 2010 in Strut Central
Apart from selling major rares I had pretty well given up with selling on ebay after they imposed free postage on records for UK sellers. I tried discogs out but i think that's more a waiting game but maybe i should give it more of a go. Ebay have now scrapped the free postage so I can charge again, so thought I'd give it another try. I generally auction bigger pieces but I've listed a mixed bag as I've got tons of the shit, mainly fairly common, japanese lexington bluenote or prestige reissues, uk reissues etc to flog. Not much seems to be going even when priced stupidly low, with hours to go I have things like mint og Albert Ayler - last album, Benard Purdie - in Tokyo, etc still at 99p. Not big ticket pieces but I thought I'd get something.

I've got racks of the same to list and loads of hip hop like large professor, ditc. Though with this latest sale I'm not sure if it's worth carrying on. Anybody sell on here? It's changed a bit and I think I preferred the previous layout but i could give it a go, though I wonder that with lower value records few state-side will bother given UK postage on low value ish?

Anybody got any tips?

  Comments

  • RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,779 Posts
    I pretty much quit my side hustle of gripping and flipping a couple years a go when the economy got really BAD.

    I noticed a few things:

    I was getting $5 for records that were regularly going for $20+,

    Nobody wants 12" singles anymore unless they are rare and collectible (I used to sell Salsoul / Prelude / Classics all day long and with the emergence of Serato, why pay $5/$10 for a 12 when you could get the mp3 for free and not lug it around?)

    HUGE increase in postage: A large part of my clientele were from overseas and the US rates skyrocketed.

    Increased competition: With the economy in the tank, alot of people lost their jobs and reverted to eBay as a side hustle. So, there were a lot more dudes in my area grinding. Since I have a stable job and a family, it was not worth it for me to succumb to their tactics.

    Not to sound too commercial, but why not try posting a set sale list here? I know that I fucking hate eBay and bidding on shit. I would much rather go to a store and walk out with a purchase OR buy a record straight up from a foll on here then get involved with all that sniping bullshit.
  • proteusproteus 77 Posts
    RAJ said:
    I pretty much quit my side hustle of gripping and flipping a couple years a go when the economy got really BAD.

    I noticed a few things:

    I was getting $5 for records that were regularly going for $20+,

    Nobody wants 12" singles anymore unless they are rare and collectible (I used to sell Salsoul / Prelude / Classics all day long and with the emergence of Serato, why pay $5/$10 for a 12 when you could get the mp3 for free and not lug it around?)

    HUGE increase in postage: A large part of my clientele were from overseas and the US rates skyrocketed.

    Increased competition: With the economy in the tank, alot of people lost their jobs and reverted to eBay as a side hustle. So, there were a lot more dudes in my area grinding. Since I have a stable job and a family, it was not worth it for me to succumb to their tactics.

    Not to sound too commercial, but why not try posting a set sale list here? I know that I fucking hate eBay and bidding on shit. I would much rather go to a store and walk out with a purchase OR buy a record straight up from a foll on here then get involved with all that sniping bullshit.

    Cheers for that. I'll look at posting here, worth a try.
  • mylatencymylatency 10,475 Posts
    if you have dance 12"s or newer rap/electronic/dj kind of stuff that you can store for a year, Discogs is good for cheapies or clean records you can let go of for a price cut. They will sell, just slowly. Sometimes people order 10-20 things at once though, which is nice. You just really have to be super organized if you are listing thousands of items, otherwise you will be in trouble.

    eBay strictly for unknowns, true rares if you want to deal with the hassle

    private deals and set sales are definitely the way to go if you want to maintain any kind of "side hustle"

    consigning to dealers/stores or reputable eBayers is a good look too
  • proteusproteus 77 Posts
    mylatency said:
    if you have dance 12"s or newer rap/electronic/dj kind of stuff that you can store for a year, Discogs is good for cheapies or clean records you can let go of for a price cut. They will sell, just slowly. Sometimes people order 10-20 things at once though, which is nice. You just really have to be super organized if you are listing thousands of items, otherwise you will be in trouble.

    eBay strictly for unknowns, true rares if you want to deal with the hassle

    private deals and set sales are definitely the way to go if you want to maintain any kind of "side hustle"

    consigning to dealers/stores or reputable eBayers is a good look too

    I think I'll give all three a go. Not sure if it's just coincidence but my latest ebay sales since advertising on SS classifieds the other day have been pretty good.
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