eBay

sin-n-dex · ‎06-23-2023

So basically I have 3000 things to list. Maybe 1000 are stamps, 1000 are old German banknotes, and 1000 other stuff.

I'm having a bit of difficulty getting started. I couldn't figure out what to list this week, so I decided on my banknotes (which have no effect for the store I do listings for, it's my own stuff... I didn't even want to admit that's how I spent my week, as long as cheques keep coming to the store for stuff being sold, they don't seem to micromanage my time).

One listing block is getting an appropriate template done up. This is usually when the collection has lots of faults and I want to make sure all faults are mentioned in every listing (just in case I miss one when putting them up, I do note in the description for sure what faults I find, but there could be others that are subject to interpretation by different customers). Best to under describe and over deliver. So far all these faulty things being sold are getting rave reviews for being better than the listing says (and sold at full price).

My last block is a stamp collection I got that's wonderful. It's so wonderful I don't even know which stamps to start with. I'm blocked on trying to figure out the best price for these because there's no precedent on eBay in sales for most of them, so I'm guessing at value. Want to get it right or it will be like the big block of QV stamps that has tons of watchers, it keeps coming lower in price, but no one will buy it.

Anyone else?

C.

dbfolks166mt · ‎06-23-2023

You have been a seller for a long time so I am a bit surprised by the post/question. You currently have over 11,000 listings so I guess I could understand the "block". With that many notes and stamps I would be tempted to bundle them into lots or you could string the individual sales out forever. For the items you cannot find research precedent for I would be tempted to utilize the auction format with a few items to get a general feel for the price range. For the stamps there are thousands of stamp collector reference books out there. The value also probably depends a lot on whether they are usable or if they are postmarked.

I used to acquire foreign currency on occasion during my travels but I never listed it on eBay I simply took it to a currency exchange that has a minimal fee that is far less than the fees I would have paid to sell it on eBay.

sin-n-dex · ‎06-23-2023

@dbfolks166mt wrote:
You have been a seller for a long time so I am a bit surprised by the post/question. You currently have over 11,000 listings so I guess I could understand the "block". With that many notes and stamps I would be tempted to bundle them into lots or you could string the individual sales out forever. For the items you cannot find research precedent for I would be tempted to utilize the auction format with a few items to get a general feel for the price range. For the stamps there are thousands of stamp collector reference books out there. The value also probably depends a lot on whether they are usable or if they are postmarked.
I used to acquire foreign currency on occasion during my travels but I never listed it on eBay I simply took it to a currency exchange that has a minimal fee that is far less than the fees I would have paid to sell it on eBay.

Some of the foreign exchange I have, I can't really sell anywhere... the bank doesn't buy much back (but they do order and sell quite a bit). Stuff like Caymans, the foreign exchange doesn't even deal in. We go on cruises mostly, so we manage to pick up lots of low denomination notes and board the boat before ditching them. Some of the low denominations from certain countries seem to do pretty well (and they're not much money). Selling my foreign exchange here actually worked out pretty well, but I haven't done my 2023 year end to analyze that yet. I do know that I don't have much left to list in the foreign exchange area.

I've found with lots of mint stamps, they don't sell too well. The single lots seem to do better for collections. But used stamps of very low value to do well in lots. I've got quite a few of those up.

For auction, I've had very low success with doing that on coins and stamps, sometimes getting less than melt value for things (that I could have just melted and not paid eBay fees on), and with stamps, getting 10% catalogue value is par for the course. On a stamp worth $100 that's $10, but I figure I could get between $25 and $40 as a fixed price listing and sitting and waiting for the right buyer to come along. Patience seems to work best to get the most buck for an item.

I think the brain block is generally feeling overwhelmed at having 3000 things to list and not knowing really where to start. I did start with my foreign exchange because that's really easy, but now that I have no more photographed, I'm feeling a little stuck... want to list stamps, but haven't gotten into it yet.

C.

cardxcraft · ‎06-23-2023

Check auction house solds when you can't find any examples through Terapeak. In fact, I always check auction house solds for better quality items.

reallynicestamps · ‎06-23-2023

Check out HIP stamps (not sure if membership in APS is required) for similar items. Very high end but not an auction site.

I've been listing there, but also using it for comps and descriptions including specialty catalogue values. (Michel, Yvert Tellier, Yang, Unitrade , etc.)

Just more on your plate, but currency exchange shops will accept many more currencies than the banks, including Caribbean money.

If you are near the Golden Triangle the farm workers are back, and later there is cruise season, so the small private businesses may be more flexible than a bank manager reporting to HQ in Montreal.

duncanvr · ‎06-23-2023

Did someone say QV stamps😃? I specialize in selling QV stamps on covers. The best comps for QV stamps are on the ebay UK site, the penny black being the number one want for the collectors of these, then penny blues. The penny reds sell all day long for me but cheap. Always list what brings you the most profit first.

sin-n-dex · ‎06-24-2023

@reallynicestamps wrote:

Just more on your plate, but currency exchange shops will accept many more currencies than the banks, including Caribbean money.
If you are near the Golden Triangle the farm workers are back, and later there is cruise season, so the small private businesses may be more flexible than a bank manager reporting to HQ in Montreal.

If the notes are good, I can usually get 2x face value (of what the currency places sell them for... not what they buy them back at), and I can do 25-50% above FV if the note is circulated, as long as it doesn't look like garbage. I had a special pile of garbage notes for my partner's granddaughter. They're only worth $1 FV anyway, so no big loss to give them a 4 year old to play store.

C.