eBay

lexst · ‎05-03-2024

I had acquired several hundred music CDs through the years. Many are from lot purchases and storage auctions. I decided to sell them here on Ebay using the variation tools. I figured it would give some experience with the variation tool and be an easy way to get rid of some space hogging items while racking up some feedback. (Oh, Yee of limited knowledge)

A quick YouTube search later I am fumbling through the process of listing with variations. Two hours after; I have several listings up and I await the deluge of buyers....

I did have quite a few sales but not nearly what I was expecting. After a week it was very obvious that I needed to make some changes.

I made five auctions separated by 1. High value albums. 2. hard rock. 3. soft rock. 4. Female artists. 5. Everything else. I priced them by the CD at $3.50, $2.99, $1.99, $1.99, $1.99.

I copied the listing titles from similar listings with good traction and all of the artists were well known.

The week resulted in sales by category of: 9, 6, 16, 0, 0. Of those sales I received four Feedback: +1, +1, +1/-1, (The first negative feedback I had received in a year) and two return requests. The negative feedback was for initials on the front of the disk and the returns were for missing rear inserts (Three of the nine $3.50 sales) and for blemishes in the CD that did not affect playing. (Two of the $2.99 sales) I figure those two just ripped the CDs and then wanted to return them for the money back.

Shipping the initial CD brought up my first (of many) mistakes. I set the shipping charges to $3.50 for the first CD and $.50 for each additional for "combined" shipping. To my surprise one CD is a $4.35 media mail charge via Ebay shipping.

My second mistake was not applying an extra charge for packaging material. My normal sales are much higher, so I have always amortized boxes, tape and such as a business expense and never worried about it.

Add that I use decent boxes to ensure that the product has the best chance of getting to the customer unharmed. I used fifteen boxes at an average cost of $1. each.

So, I had sales of $81.28 minus the returns of $16.48 for a result of $64.48 in. Subtracting the Ebay final value fees leaves $50.81. Between the loss for the refunded shipping fees and the loss from charging too little in the first place I paid $16.36 in extra shipping added to the box costs of $15. That means I sold the 31 CDs for 19.51 (about 63 cents each) before taxes! Of course that is not taking into account time for listing, packaging, driving to the post office, gas for the truck, payment fees, or any other "business" costs.

For me it is not worth the time to list these. I will think about it some more and decide what I will do.

Any suggestions?

tobaccocardyahoo · ‎05-03-2024

Your first mistake was deciding to sell CDs which had little demand.

If you had to lot them, they were low demand and low value.

Increased CDs in a lot do not create demand.

It takes no effort in my part of the country to buy CDs for 25 cents each.

There are some CDs which are scarce enough to command a reasonable price, but there are not many.

Last year, the record industry sold more vinyl than CDs. Between streaming and downloads the CD is dead.

Your next mistake was to fail to invest the time in grading your CDs and providing a detailed condition statement. Being included in a lot does not earn you a pass on condition.

And as you know, it helps to know the cost of shipping. And you might have only made the sales because you under priced the shipping.

I have some CDs listed. They are listed for $8 or more, and are sometimes 10% off as a sale. They sell slowly. More slowly than my audio cassettes. My cost is zero. And I have hundreds which are not worth listing. When I need to clear some space, I will take them to Goodwill where they will probably sell as part of a $10 per bag sale.

kensgiftshop · ‎05-03-2024

I think variation listings like that is a waist.

I wouldn't set there and scroll through all the different titles just to see if the CD I wanted was in that listing.

Plus, there's no way you can accurately describe each CD in a listing like that.

Have a great day

chevymontecarlo88 · ‎05-03-2024

When sorting through your CD's, use a barcode app that allows you to scan them showing Ebay and Amazon listings. This will help identify any titles that may be more valuable to sell. For other titles, combine them in lots that can add value for buyers and also reduce your time. Ex. Lots could be sorted by Artists or styles of music, soundtracks, comedy ect...

I also would suggest only listing CD's that are in excellent to mint condition. Don't waste your time with ones with issues and grade them conservatively. (describe all in good condition when they are in mint condition) If you streamline the process, you could list them quickly and they really do not take up much space. Also there are some places that sell clamshell cardboard boxes that offer great protection. I would use these and also put those in a padded envelope (7x10) just for more protection. Shipping supply cost was about .50 cents. Media mail is your least expensive way to ship and i would extend your handling time and shipping times on your shipping rules. If you keep the expectations low on the front end, you can exceed them by shipping quickly so any delays in media mail (takes longer at times) will not upset the buyer. (most of the time in my experience) People still buy them and sourcing typically is not a problem and usually can find them for .10 cents a piece or less in bulk.

- Good Luck

a_c_green · ‎05-03-2024

@lexst wrote:
For me it is not worth the time to list these. I will think about it some more and decide what I will do.
Any suggestions?

Some of the listings from other sellers that eBay sticks into the middle of yours were painful reminders of how common they mostly are: photos showing stacks and stacks of CDs, mountains of them. Really discouraging to look at. I can't see how reselling used mass-market CDs could be a good use of your time.

Closest I would get to this topic would be to list rare titles, if you can determine which ones those are, and donate the rest. Make an individual listing for your chosen title, with clear photos, price it modestly and move on to the next one.

The thing about CDs is that once their digital content has been read into a digital file on your computer, you don't need the disc anymore. Neither does everyone else who bought the same title back in the day. Even its album artwork is teeny-tiny and generally not that interesting.

It's not the same as a vinyl LP, with its audio warmth, tracking pops and whatever: those really are sought after for their tactile experience of playing. CDs, not so much. Good luck with your future strategy! 🙂

ferrucciobusoni · ‎05-03-2024

For the future I would strongly suggest selling only factory sealed CDs (i.e., CDs which have never been opened). I have purchased about 150 of these over the years at various thrift shops.

Spend a little time to list them individually -- do not use the variation tool.

New (old stock) CDs sell, but very slowly. Lots of people still have cars with CD players in them. I have sold some very obscure titles.

The average cost is $9 plus media mail shipping (another $4 or so).

a_c_green · ‎05-03-2024

@ferrucciobusoni wrote:
New (old stock) CDs sell, but very slowly. Lots of people still have cars with CD players in them.

"If you burned CDs for the car so your original copies wouldn’t get scratched, it’s time to schedule your colonoscopy." (Tweet credited to @benboven1) 😂

keziak · ‎05-03-2024

Thank you for posting. I got in a number of CDs, asking myself what was I thinking. Lotting them up I guess. Some time ago I had a lot of blues CDs, those sold OK. Right now I also have organ music CDs. Unfortunately I know nothing about what people who play the organ are looking for in CDs.