Ebay sellers thread (other platforms too)

[disneysteve]

I can't believe you are making so much on china.

It's crazy to me, too. I really started doing this July 1 and including what I've already submitted for purchase but haven't sent in yet, I've already grossed about $6,600. I also have a huge lot I bought at an auction last weekend that I haven't processed yet that I believe will be another $2,500 or so. That will put me up around $9,000 YTD since July 1. To put that in perspective, my ebay gross for all of 2023 was $13,325. I've made 67% of that amount on Replacements in under 3 months. And that's on top of my ebay income which is $11,600 for the first 8 months of the year.

[disneysteve]

I also have a huge lot I bought at an auction last weekend that I haven't processed yet that I believe will be another $2,500 or so.

I spent much of today unwrapping, inspecting, researching, and cataloging this auction purchase. I've stopped for the night but the tally so far of what I'll be selling to Replacements is $2,756.

I'm not done. I still have a few more pieces to unwrap and check in. I have a bunch of the matching flatware to check in ($25-30 per piece and I've got about 30 pieces). I have numerous pieces that I need to photograph and measure to get them to identify for me and let me know if they're buying and for how much. And I've got a pile of items they aren't buying that I will eventually list on ebay. For example, I have a stack of salad plates that Replacements doesn't want but they sell for $25+ each on ebay and 11 cup and saucer sets that also go for about $25 each.

I paid about $895 at auction and it looks like once it's all sold I will end up with well over $4,000. Not a bad deal at all.

[QuarterMillionMan]

A seller marked some heat shrink tubing that I ordered as shipped on 9/4/24 no tracking included. On 9/14/24 after not receiving the item I opened a ticket thru eBay for a refund. Seller asked me to wait a few more days which I obliged. Today I received the item and closed the ticket for the refund and gave the seller a good review. I guess the seller uses no tracking to keep the price low but at a cost of possibly getting a bad review if someone never receives the item which almost happened in my order. But unscrupulous buyers could lie and say they never received the order and get a refund and get the item as well which would not be worth it for the seller using no tracking.

[disneysteve]

A seller marked some heat shrink tubing that I ordered as shipped on 9/4/24 no tracking included. On 9/14/24 after not receiving the item I opened a ticket thru eBay for a refund. Seller asked me to wait a few more days which I obliged. Today I received the item and closed the ticket for the refund and gave the seller a good review. I guess the seller uses no tracking to keep the price low but at a cost of possibly getting a bad review if someone never receives the item which almost happened in my order. But unscrupulous buyers could lie and say they never received the order and get a refund and get the item as well which would not be worth it for the seller using no tracking.

That seller gets two defects on their account when they do that. One for not uploading tracking on time and one for not shipping on time. That can lead to a lower seller rating.

How did they ship? Just with stamps on an envelope?

[QuarterMillionMan]

Yup, just with forever stamps about $1.80 worth (3 stamps). I used to do that too until you enlightened me not to do that which could ruin my 100% positive rating.

[disneysteve]

Yup, just with forever stamps about $1.80 worth (3 stamps). I used to do that too until you enlightened me not to do that which could ruin my 100% positive rating.

It won't affect your feedback score, which is the 100% you are referring to, but it does lower your seller rating. You can't be a Top Rated Seller if you do it a lot. The best you'll be is Above Standard and possibly Below Standard if it happens too much.

[disneysteve]

September 2024 wrap up

Ebay:
$1,379.86 gross
$811.43 net

Replacements.com:
$250.00 gross
$207.06 net

Facebook Marketplace:
$100.00 gross
$78.80 gross

Total:
$1,729.86 gross
$1,097.29 net

All around a solid month and well over my initial goal of $600/mo profit.

These numbers are greatly skewed by the fact that I have been accumulating china to deliver to Replacements in person in 2 weeks rather than shipping it to them. As of right now, I have over $6,300 worth of china packed and ready to go and chances are decent that I'll get more between now and then. I'll be there on 10/15. It usually takes them about 2 weeks to process the orders and make the payments so that money will probably all hit in the beginning of November. About $4,600 of that will be profit (before expenses).

[disneysteve]

I just turned down a $600 offer on an item I bought yesterday for $30.

It's a new old stock sealed case of 100 pieces of Lionel O Gauge train track.

I started the auction today at $150 and it's a 10-day auction. If someone is already offering me $600 that's a pretty strong indication that he expects it to go for a lot more than that.

As nerve-wracking as it was to turn down that offer, my experience has taught me that every single time someone sent me an offer on an auction item, the item went on to sell for more than what they offered.

The icing on this cake is that I actually got 2 cases yesterday so no matter what this one sells for, I've got another one to sell later.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

That's crazy for train tracks

[Jluke]

Model railroad prices jumped after 2008/2009.

it’s a very expensive hobby now and I rarely add to my collection

[disneysteve]

Model railroad prices jumped after 2008/2009.

it’s a very expensive hobby now and I rarely add to my collection

There are a lot of serious train enthusiasts out there with deep pockets. I'm sure the strong economy in recent years has just fueled the fire as folks have more money than ever to spend on their passions.

A couple of years ago I bought 2 vintage Lionel train sets for $250 and sold them very quickly for over $800 as I recall.

[disneysteve]

That's crazy for train tracks

Modern used track goes for $2-3/section. Vintage used track goes a little higher. Brand new vintage track is quite rare. Finding two cartons of 100 sections each is gold.

[QuarterMillionMan]

10 day auction? I thought eBay only had 7 days max auctions.

[disneysteve]

10 day auction? I thought eBay only had 7 days max auctions.

Nope. 3, 5, 7, or 10. I normally do 7 on the rare occasions that I do an auction but I wanted to cast a wide net here and 10 days captures 2 weekends which can help.

it just started today and already has 5 bids up to $227.50.
79 views and 24 watchers. It will absolutely go higher. I just hope it goes higher than the $600 I turned down.

[QuarterMillionMan]

That's a hot item with those numbers 79 views, 24 watchers, and 5 bids already on the 1st day at $227.50. Must be exciting watching the bidders leap-frog each other. The most excitement I've had was selling a used iPhone with about 9 watchers and having bidders leap-frog each other. Agreed 10-day auction is a good call for this item. It'll give buyers who may not be very active on eBay time to see your item and may drive up the bidding on days 8, 9, or 10 when they do see your item. And good call on listing your item as auction style vs buy it now where market prices will dictate the final bid.