Your theory on a selling topic
I don't have a theory on this topic. Do you? I imagine it all depends on what items you are selling. I read that selling in lots is less easy than making individual sales. It is most likely to find a buyer for 1 item than to find someone who wants to buy the entire lot. I thought, if the price on a lot is low enough, it would be worth the while for a buyer to take it, keep what they want & use the rest to resell or trade. The opinion I read said that is not the most likely scenario. What say you? I thought it would be a good discussion for the undecided or new sellers.
12 comments
hartungcards
·1 year agoI haven't had much luck selling lots of Lions Club banners.
squinkercat59
·1 year agoIf things sit unsold for awhile, I have grouped like items together in lots. It has worked well in the past for sewing patterns, lapel pins, and similar. But I usually try to sell individually first.
lakefor94
·1 year ago@sakic92710 I find there are a lot of variables to selling lots. Of course item, item size-cost of shipping and competition is one of the main issues for me.
Competitors at times sell items so cheap with free shipping just to move them, I do not want to compete with selling singles, thus a lot of 2, 4 or 10 can nab the sale.
I had to flat out recognize that some items will not sell fast enough (or at all) in large lots and have broken many down to buy any quantity. My key there is using significant volume discounts to undercut the competition on pricing on 2, 3, 4 or more. I have found it is all about total price, not much else, especially when selling new in the box. I suppose the same goes for used...
I use the volume discounts on lots as well when having more than one lot available. Price, price, price.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoI imagine it all depends on what items you are selling.
I also imagine it all depends on what items you are selling.
It is most likely to find a buyer for 1 item than to find someone who wants to buy the entire lot.
One thing to consider is whether you want to list a lot of 100 once and pack and ship one package ... or list individual item 100 times, pack it 100 times, and ship it 100 times. How much is your time worth to you?
The opinion I read said that is not the most likely scenario. What say you?
I say everyone has an opinion, and not every opinion is good for every item or every seller.
chevymontecarlo88
·1 year ago@sakic92710
Selling items in lots can be great for items that don't have a high value and if sold individually, the shipping costs make it difficult to make money on the item. Combined shipping with lots can help keep your margins for items like these.
For example:
List 5 CDs of particular band/album or genre.
List 5 pairs of Jeans with same measurements
List 5 Coffee Cups
List 5 Hats/Belts/Ties
sakic92710
OP1 year agoI like lots merely for the shipping costs. Mail from Canada to the US has a ridiculous price tag for small items. Only works better if you are bundling such as 10 boy scout patches instead of 1.
powell-collectibles
·1 year agoExactly. I used lots when I had maybe 700 disco 12†singles to sell. I wouldn’t make any money on them, selling them one by one. I bundled them into lots of five records – usually the same group, or the same label. They all sold. Made pretty good money off of them – selling in lots was the only way to do it.
tarotfindsandmore
·1 year agoLots are certainly less profitable, but they make sense with low ticket items. They're also good for items where a certain collection of similar items has a dud or two in the collection. For example, I've recently sold a couple lots of keychains. In both cases, two of three were fairly highly sought, but the third definitely was not. I'd never have been able to sell the third on its own but lotting it up with the other two got them out the door with a nice little profit.
In the end, I'm far more likely to buy a lot and piece it out for resale rather than bundle things up, but there are exceptions.
mr_lincoln
·1 year ago@sakic92710
-For Sellers to resell they have to know what they can potentially sell something for and still hit their target profit margin.
-If they can acquire an item, be it individual or a lot, for a price that lets them resell for a profit then it is an easy decision.
-Buying something one wants may have no bearing on what they pay. If that item is in a lot and they can resell the other things in that lot then that's a good thing. I did that very thing leading up to Christmas, there were two G Gauge train cars I wanted to give our grandkids for the train they run when they are here. The lot had one other car that I have put up for sale. In the end I acquired the lot for a price that if I ever resold those two cars I would make a profit but I was willing to bid higher during the auction because I wanted them, period.
chariot_badges
·1 year agoRight. 99% of the stuff I buy here is for resale.
Lot sales are almost always targeted at people like me - or should be.
That means that I have to pay about 30% to 40% of retail.
If I am looking at a lot of ten items and they cost $30 including s&h, that is $3 each. If I can't sell them for $10 each including shipping, I walk away. If I can ... I buy. Simple.
Now, in reality, it usually works out like this ... Five of them are worth $5 each. Three of them are worth $10. One is worth $20 and one ... I just don't know. I'd probably buy that batch for no more than ... $20, maybe $25 including s&h.
Selling that batch I'd price the $25 one low enough to get most if not all of my initial cost back right away. That's called "Return of Investment", and makes the sales of the other nine profit.
No emotion, I am not a collector. I'm a capitalist.
natoman777
·1 year agoSelling in lots for a seller in my opinion has to do with laziness for many. It requires less work, and you make less money. I know many sellers who do this exclusively on items under $50. They are able to get a lot of inventory and focus on listing big priced items, while lotting the rest. Sometimes I see they sell a huge tshirt lot and make $5 a shirt. Sometimes $10, while there are usually 3 to 5 shirts that sell for $30 or more. A few times they could have made the same amount on 1 shirt in the entire lot. Their total amount of listings on eBay are around the 100 mark. They say they don't like taking photos of individual items, and complain when they don't have big ticket items to sell for a while. They they complain they aren't making enough money. We sell tons of items, and the prices are all over the place. It takes time, but who said it was easy to sell on eBay or any other platform?
I only lot if I have items that don't move for a year or so. Have only done it about 5 times. Mainly hats
meme6253
·1 year agoI sell many items in lots & i am far from being lazy, I am constantly working on something here, Sometimes selling in lots works well & sometimes not, If not you just take the lot down & sell seperately