10-11-2021 11:04 AM
Hello
My brother gave me his fishing lures to see if they will sell on eBay. I have been researching and have a question. Hopefully someone will have an answer. On one of the sites a lure was for say for $1.95. Free standard shipping. Wouldn't the shipping be more than the price of the lure?? How does he do this ?
10-11-2021 11:05 AM
Depends
maybe the lure was drop shipped from China?
10-11-2021 11:07 AM
How new is that seller? Plus there are some misguided sellers here who will list with free shipping because they think that means no one has to pay the USPS, FedEx or whoever.
10-11-2021 11:07 AM - edited 10-11-2021 11:09 AM
@126celler wrote:On one of the sites a lure was for say for $1.95. Free standard shipping. Wouldn't the shipping be more than the price of the lure?? How does he do this ?
You didn't say which site that was, but if it was here, it might be a junk Chinese copy that they can ship to the U.S. for pennies.
Speaking a little more optimistically, if it was actually an auction, it might have a low starting price because the seller knows the bidding will take it much higher, and given that lures don't weigh very much, the seller may be willing to eat the postage costs, which for First Class Package would be just a few bucks.
Make sure that you're searching Completed listings and Sold listings, so that you can see what a given design of lure actually sold for (or didn't sell for).
10-11-2021 11:12 AM
True,
seen many that post here upset because they were charged shipping
10-11-2021 11:21 AM
Just doing a generic search on eBay for "fishing lures", I get over 206,000 results.
If I select "US Sellers" only, that goes down to just over 57,000.
In the past, China subsidized postage. So a Seller from China could ship to you for free,
but if they send the wrong item, it would cost a fortune to return it.
Many of the US Sellers selling fishing lures seem to sell via auctions, hoping to drive up the price.
Maybe they make it up in volume!
10-11-2021 11:40 AM
The only lures worth selling are vintage lures from the 1960s or before. Otherwise, best to just lot them up in larger groupings.
10-11-2021 12:07 PM
@fashionsandbeauty4u wrote:Many of the US Sellers selling fishing lures seem to sell via auctions, hoping to drive up the price.
Maybe they make it up in volume!
Some of them make it up in price. Vintage lures made by local craftsmen in different parts of the country can go for big bucks - especially older ones. I was going to bid on one that a relative had asked me to get last month - but then she told me not to bother after the bidding went over $50 and I hadnt even gotten into it yet.
10-11-2021 12:10 PM
Thank you all for your insight. I went back on the seller that had the lure listed for actually $1.59 free shipping. Couldn't see feedback but was able to see seller is based in China.
02-07-2022 08:15 AM - edited 02-07-2022 08:19 AM
First if it's out of China it's probably junk. Second the Chinese government augments the postal service so for sellers out of China shipping is pretty much free.
I have sold a few lures on eBay and quite a few through local forums. Do some research on the lures you have some of them can be quite valuable especially the older vintage wooden ones as well as the Rapala, Hinkle and some other brand name lures. There are some avid lure collectors out there. Take a look at some of the lures that have actually sold and you can get an idea of how avid some of the collectors are.
Even the more modern lures are not cheap if you buy them in the store but best to bundle those into a group.