Looking for the Best Way to List & Ship Large Lots & Low Value Older Blank Phone Cases
I’m trying to liquidate 12–15K mixed‑model new older phone case blanks (Android + older iPhone), and I’m trying to figure out the most cost‑efficient lot size.
My current plan is to lot about 100–120 units of the same model per listing using a 14 × 14 × 8 (or 8.5) box to stay under USPS Ground Advantage DIM.
Does this seem like the right balance between shipping cost and buyer appeal, or has anyone found a better approach for low‑value accessory liquidation?
• Trays hold 6–8 cases each
• Tray size: 12 × 13.5 × 0.5 in
• USPS DIM threshold: 1,728 cu in
• Box size 14 × 14 × 8–8.5 stays under DIM
• Fits 17 trays → ~100–120 cases per lot
• Box + materials ≈ $1 per lot
• I want to keep the listing price for each lot under $10.00 + Calculated Shipping.
• These older/mixed‑model blanks have very low individual value, even in bulk.
The aim is to reduce my inventory and keep on eBay.
Appreciate any input from sellers who’ve handled similar low‑value bulk items.
luckythewinner
·5 months agoI approach the question this way.
15,000 units at 100 units per sale = 150 sales at under $10 = $1500 gross selling price. Assuming $10 shipping and that you are break-even on the shipping cost, that works out to:
$150 in box and materials
$45 in fixed fees
$408 in FVF fees
Leaving you with $897 or $5.98 per sale. If you assume everything goes perfectly and it takes 20 minutes per lot to list / pack / ship, your net works out to $18 an hour for your labor. And if you assume a 10% return / loss / scam rate and 30 minutes per listing, that drops to $11 per hour.
You would just need to decide how likely you think you are to get a sale, and if that is worth your time.
crand.kathe
OP5 months agoThank you for taking the time to respond to my post.
Update - After reading all the constructive feedback and doing my own research, I decided not to try to sell the phone cases as the expense in time and space is not worth it.
Instead, I spent the better part of this morning calling recycling centers within a 50-mile radius of my home, and couldn't get any takers. With that, I decided to pivot and am going to pack them all up in plastic contractor bags and put them out in the back, and will fill one of my trash cans with about 1200 to 1500 cases per week till they're all gone.
Issue Resolved. 😎
luckythewinner
·5 months agoI would have put the whole lot on a free local marketplace for $100 and let it be someone else's problem.
crand.kathe
OP5 months agoThanks to everyone who took the time to respond — there were a lot of thoughtful insights shared, and I genuinely appreciate the people who engaged with the question in a constructive way. After going through all the feedback and looking realistically at my space constraints and the low value of these older blanks, I’ve decided that recycling them is the most practical option for me. The discussion helped me think it through from multiple angles, so thank you to those who contributed in a helpful way.
crand.kathe
OP5 months agoI also want to add that the insights shared here aren’t just useful for this situation — they’re going to shape how I approach future sourcing as well. One of the biggest takeaways for me is making sure I have a plan for items with limited or no real value before I commit my time and resources. As a few people have said in different ways across my posts: “fail to plan, plan to fail.” This thread definitely reinforced that for me, and I’m building it into how I operate going forward.
crand.kathe
OP5 months agoOn a funny side note — while working through this whole situation, something completely unintended clicked for me. Last week I was trying to figure out where to buy that spongy, semi‑firm Plank Foam for securing heavier items. I couldn’t remember the name at the time, and it’s been on my mind ever since.
Then it hit me: in the same storage locker where I got the phone cases and DTF Film, there’s was a massive amount of that exact material — a whole 4×5×8‑foot stack of it — originally used to protect a single case inside a cardboard sleeve. I already had exactly what I was looking for, and a ton of it. That was a pretty great surprise and definitely one of the unexpected wins that came out of revisiting this inventory.
christworks
·5 months ago@crand.kathe If I am understanding you correctly, your cases have no designs on them and are plain at this stage. That's too bad. They would be easier to move if they had designs already on them, even if the cases themselves are outdated. Crafters and artists upcycle old phone cases and there is definitely a niche market for them. When Walmart clearances out old styles for a quarter, I do some retail arbridge and flip them here. My last lot was 50 cases which sold for $51 + shipping.
As far as your plan, I think you’re optimizing the wrong variable here. The box size and staying under DIM is fine, but that’s not what’s going to determine whether this stuff sells.
The bigger issue is demand. Lots of 100–120 of the same older phone model are going to be a tough sell. There just aren’t many buyers who need that kind of depth on blanks.
The people who would realistically buy this fall into a few groups:
Because of that, I’d strongly consider shifting away from same-model lots and moving toward mixed-model lots. Something like 100–150 assorted cases per box will appeal to a much wider pool of buyers and should move faster.
If you have any newer or more desirable iPhone models mixed in, it may be worth pulling those out and selling them separately in smaller, targeted lots. Everything else can go into mixed bulk.
Your box size plan works fine, I’d keep that. But I wouldn’t spend time perfectly sorting by model—time is going to cost you more than you gain here. If you insist on sorting by model, you are going to end up with dozens upon dozens of listings, which means more work.
You might also want to test a larger bulk option (500–1,000+ units) locally or on another platform to see if you can move a big chunk at once.
At the end of the day, this type of inventory usually sells best when it’s cheap, mixed, and easy for the buyer to take a gamble on—not highly organized by model. If you can find one buyer who tests to see what they get, you may then be able to work out something with them to take a large chunk off your hands.
crand.kathe
OP5 months agoThanks again for taking the time to break everything down so thoughtfully — you’ve consistently given solid, experience‑based feedback on my posts, and I really do appreciate it. After looking at the space I have, the labor involved, and the overall value of these older blanks, I’ve decided that recycling them is probably the most practical option for me. Your input helped me think it through from multiple angles, and I’m grateful for that. Always appreciate your insight.
gb58
·5 months agoYou went to a lot of work figuring the math for packing purposes on this, just for a product that isn't going to sell.
How did you ever end up with 12K-15K of these, hopefully you didn't buy them on purpose.
Take them to the flea market, offer them 10 for a dollar or 100 of them for $5. Even at that I think it's going to be a tough sell to liquidate them.
I think I would just put them outside my house a few cases at a time with a big "free" sign on them.
crand.kathe
OP5 months agoI purchased a storage locker with a focus on a pallet of sealed boxes of digital transfer film D4.2. Unfortunately, the phone cases were in the locker as well and I had to take them.
gb58
·5 months agoI have good friends who use to buy storage lockers, they would travel all over the state and adjoining states doing it. They owned a farm and kept a dumpster on their property all the time. I was at their farm one day and my friend was just dumping stuff into the dumpster. Alot of it, to me, very sellable stuff, not big money items but sellable.
I kept saying to her, "don't you think you can sell this?", as stuff would continue to be tossed. She said, "nope, I can't ebay it, and if I was to take it to the flea market it takes up too much space (in the booth and the truck getting it there), and it just isn't worth the time or effort".
They used to get some incredible stuff out of storage units, but then a certain TV show came along, which made it look so easy, with so many hidden treasures. My friend said that killed it, because two things happened, everyone starting going to the storage locker auctions because they thought it was so easy to find the mother lode... and in my area, owners of the facilities started salting the units with their own merchandise.
Buying storage units has become a tough gig, and it is a very hit or miss thing these days.
crand.kathe
OP5 months agoI totally agree. I’ve bid on around 50 units this year and only ended up winning three. I stick strictly to online auctions because I don’t have the patience for the in‑person drama or the occasional “Yup!” echoing through the crowd like it’s part of the soundtrack.
For me, winning the unit is the easy part. The real work starts afterward — sorting, hauling, storing, and figuring out what to do with all the low‑value stuff that isn’t worth listing. And of course, the fun twist with storage lockers is that you don’t get to cherry‑pick. You take everything — the good, the bad, and the “why does this exist?” That’s the part that quietly eats your time, space, and profit.
I went in with the philosophy of “bid on what you can see, not what you hope to find,” and while that’s still solid, I’ve learned it’s only half the equation. What I didn’t fully factor in was how much the overhead — in time, space, and money — can outweigh whatever you make from the good pieces.
It really is a hit‑or‑miss game these days, but I’m adjusting as I go and getting smarter about what I take on. The learning curve is real, but at least it’s never boring.
krazzykats
·5 months agoI wonder if they could be transformed back into resin and repurposed into something new. Or shredded and then included into new resisn for coloring/interest.
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hartungcards
·5 months agoYou never said there was going to be math on this quiz.
chapeau-noir
·5 months agoHowever you might find some fools. This lot here sold, you could just try the same thing at the same price.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/236749213026
Dang, though - it was only 64 cases and it was the only lot they sold since February! And we're talking 12-15k??
Agree - those are a real boat anchor. I'd have a very low threshold for simply donating and writing them off on taxes, and spending your time more profitably.
onefootflipper
·5 months agoMost of us probably don't even do our taxes in such a way that a write-off would even exist, but I would literally give those away for free rather than waste valuable space storing them.
They are simply a mistake, like my huge quantity of out of production personalized Ganz brand Christmas ornaments. The sales go down on every single variety every year because the market of moms and grandma's still trying to match up ornaments shrinks every single year. Tabitha King used to buy one from me every time she had another grandchild, but her children are all too old to have more children now. I imagine that story just repeats itself over and over, the generation of kids being matched up to names on my ornaments is no longer getting any new siblings.
I will likely liquidate them before this Christmas rolls around. I have half of a floor to ceiling 4'x2' shelving unit taken up by them and they only produced $200 in sales last year.
onefootflipper
·5 months agoThose are honestly a boat anchor of a product. Cases for discontinued phones are literally in dollar stores. Heck, cases for current phones are also in dollar stores.
However you might find some fools. This lot here sold, you could just try the same thing at the same price.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/236749213026
I would absolutely mix them up and not sell bulk lots of identical. When you sell a lot of identical the potential buyer is going to check the resale on that case and find the market isn't there and won't buy or if there is a market they will realize that the market will absolutely dry up before they sell 100 copies of the same phone case.
If you are trying to salvage value out of these then it should be your top priority, as the value of what you have is going down every single day.
kibble-net
·5 months agoHave you done a Completed Items search to see the price/demand for similar lots? That is going to provide better information than anyone on this forum can give you.
eoma689485
·5 months agoThe resale stores here are littered with them - If you need a tax deduction, it might be a good idea to donate them to a non-profit with a resale store or to a couple of them, such as the VOA, VVA, Goodwill, etc.
ryry-jj
·5 months agoThe best way is to just list some in any fashion and see if there is an interest. This is nothing but trial and error
tobaccocardyahoo
·5 months agoI do not think that Ebay or any other online marketplace is the way to sell these obsolete products.
They cost very little when they were current and purchased in quantity.
Many resellers are dealing with having to store their leftovers, and some are already donating them.
Unless you can identify who would buy 12-15k of these low end products aimed at obsolete phones and target them, this is a waste of time.
If you bought them from a liquidator, they must love you. The liquidators I know have trouble getting 25 cents each, without requiring much in the way of quantity.
slippinjimmy
·5 months agoRegular buyers would have no interest in 100 phone cases even if they fit the latest models.
Your target for large lots would be other sellers and they would want to pay pennies at best.
It sounds like a lot of work for very little return IF you can even find buyers for these lots.
You might be better off finding a liquidator that would take the entire lot at 5 cents per piece.
18704d
·5 months agoI'd think you'd want to list these in lots of various makes and models -- especially if you're trying to sell to resellers.
That way buyers could have a nice variety to resell perhaps at their yardsales or a flea market. I don't know why someone would want dozens or hundreds of the exact same type.
mamacassidy
·5 months agoI think you first need to decide who might actually want these. I'm wondering if maybe some countries that don't have much money re-use older phones and maybe they would want them? If that's the case, I don't know if I'd put all the same model in the box.
Would someone want them to upcycle them into something new or just to recycle the plastic?
I think I'd figure out who actually wants these and what they want them for and where I'd need to ship them to before anything else.