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Best Way to Sell Diecast - Hot Wheels, Etc.

Hi Community!

 

Need some help.  

 

Listing Hot Wheels, Johnny Lightning & other Diecast for a friend whose brother was a collector.

(He was killed and now she has to settle his estate...not fun for anyone)

 

Most are from 2000, 2001, 2002, some from the 90s.  I have 7 large boxes to list.  

 

With eBay fees being the way they are, I can't list individual cars for less than $1.  I've put "best offer" on most listings so far, but does that turn away buyers if the starting price is too high?

 

What is the best way to list?  By series?  By year? Lots - Collector # XXX - XXX?

 

After doing some research, it would seem long term collectors are looking for "variations", errors or other rare items.  

 

Any advice /suggestions would be appreciated!!!

 

 

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Best Way to Sell Diecast - Hot Wheels, Etc.

Ok, heres hoping my experience will assist you.

 

A few years ago I purchased a decent sized Hot Wheels collection from a friend of a friend who needed $$. Now, I had never dealt with Hot Wheels before so it was quite the learning experience (at least it came with some collectors books). The bulk of the collection was from the same years you are dealing with.

 

It wasnt long before I surmised there werent any big money cars in the lot. There may have been a $5-10 car here or there, however the collection was about a 1000 cars and I wasnt gonna keep looking. I bought the collection at around .25 a car and I was hoping to sell it for .50 - $1 a car so heres what I did.

 

I broke it up into lots of similiar themes. I did a lot of sports cars, a lot of city vehicles, emergency vehicles, trucks, etc etc. Typical lot was about 50 - 60 cars. I sold every one and very quickly. I also suggest deciding on which boxes you plan to ship them in and seeing how many comfortably will fit in one. You can safely package a lot together, it takes some tries though until you find the right configurations due to the bubbles varying in shape.

 

I hope my experience gives you some ideas. I have absolutely zero interest in dealing with Hot Wheels again personally, those things were everywhere when I sorted them, but Im confidant if they landed on my table I now have a system to move em out.

 

Good luck!

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Best Way to Sell Diecast - Hot Wheels, Etc.

I would (and have) list them all as one large lot and then make it clear that the winning bidder must arrange to take delivery at whatever location you specify. This worked well for me.

I did have a couple of Hot Wheels/diecast experts go through them first to make sure there was or wasn't anthing extraordinary.

Message 2 of 24
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Best Way to Sell Diecast - Hot Wheels, Etc.

Take the Hot Wheels cars and list them by year. Make a listing for each year, that will help sell them faster. If you have any variations, errors, or other rare items, list them all in one lot. You might want to turn off "best offer" and use a BIN price. Auction listings are hit or miss, wouldn't recommend it. Hope this helps.

Message 3 of 24
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Best Way to Sell Diecast - Hot Wheels, Etc.

Ok, heres hoping my experience will assist you.

 

A few years ago I purchased a decent sized Hot Wheels collection from a friend of a friend who needed $$. Now, I had never dealt with Hot Wheels before so it was quite the learning experience (at least it came with some collectors books). The bulk of the collection was from the same years you are dealing with.

 

It wasnt long before I surmised there werent any big money cars in the lot. There may have been a $5-10 car here or there, however the collection was about a 1000 cars and I wasnt gonna keep looking. I bought the collection at around .25 a car and I was hoping to sell it for .50 - $1 a car so heres what I did.

 

I broke it up into lots of similiar themes. I did a lot of sports cars, a lot of city vehicles, emergency vehicles, trucks, etc etc. Typical lot was about 50 - 60 cars. I sold every one and very quickly. I also suggest deciding on which boxes you plan to ship them in and seeing how many comfortably will fit in one. You can safely package a lot together, it takes some tries though until you find the right configurations due to the bubbles varying in shape.

 

I hope my experience gives you some ideas. I have absolutely zero interest in dealing with Hot Wheels again personally, those things were everywhere when I sorted them, but Im confidant if they landed on my table I now have a system to move em out.

 

Good luck!

Message 4 of 24
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Best Way to Sell Diecast - Hot Wheels, Etc.

P.S. if youd like to see examples of my groupings let me know. I still have the photos I used!

Message 5 of 24
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Best Way to Sell Diecast - Hot Wheels, Etc.

Would love to see what you did.  Any pictures would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for the advice!

Message 6 of 24
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Best Way to Sell Diecast - Hot Wheels, Etc.

GM/Chevy lot of 34 (i think lol)GM/Chevy lot of 34 (i think lol)raw photos, i cropped them obviously for the listingraw photos, i cropped them obviously for the listingafter the group shot i added zoomed in looks at the specific parts of the lotafter the group shot i added zoomed in looks at the specific parts of the lot

 

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Best Way to Sell Diecast - Hot Wheels, Etc.

City vehicle lotCity vehicle loti mixed in emergency + police with other city type vehiclesi mixed in emergency + police with other city type vehiclesyoull notice news copters, a hot dog car, etcyoull notice news copters, a hot dog car, etcto spice it up i included a batmobile! Sort of a pre made Gotham City!to spice it up i included a batmobile! Sort of a pre made Gotham City!

Message 8 of 24
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Best Way to Sell Diecast - Hot Wheels, Etc.

Keep in mind, those are just a few of the rough photos. I obviously cropped and edited them. In the titles I always listed "Hot Wheels lot of #" followed by descriptive words I thought people might search "City - Fire + Police - News Team- Batmobile" etc.

 

My rationale was that they put out so many Hot Wheels in a year it was likely that people would be interested in certain segments - construction, racing, etc. I didnt want them seeing a lot with 2 cars they want but the rest they were uninterested in, so I approached it this way.

 

For name brand cars, I tried to keep it between 1-3 brands per listing, depending on how many cars I had. I had a specific box I was satisfied shipping in, medium flat rate I think, so I also tried to keep the lots at an amount that fit in there comfortably.

 

Looking back on my records I think it was more like 500 or so cars, I know I did at least 20 of these lots and they all sold out. I posted them all buy it now and put one up for auction a week to drive traffic to the other listings. Keep in mind though I had an absolute target in mind for how much I wanted to make per car. If you havent got a distinct price in mind then auction may be the best idea. I bought the collection for $250 and wanted double my money on return so I knew exactly how much to charge for each lot after counting the cars up.

 

Good luck, update us if you post them, Id love to see your listings!

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Best Way to Sell Diecast - Hot Wheels, Etc.

Thanks!  Great ideas!

 

I'm listing for someone else which really makes it difficult to determine price but I figure if they get any kind of return it's better than sitting in boxes.  And hopefully, I can pass them along to someone who will enjoy them.  I listed some as individuals but I think I will end those and re-"lot" them as you have suggested

 

Makes sense that someone might enjoy a lot of a particular segment.

 

Everyone has been so helpful.  Much Appreciated!!

Message 10 of 24
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Best Way to Sell Diecast - Hot Wheels, Etc.

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond.

 

I've seen various videos online suggesting how to pack individual cars.  Bubble wrap and small boxes, but what is the best way to ship lots?  Do you stack them and wrap the stack?  Or wrap them individually?  Or use something else altogether?

 

 

 

 

Message 11 of 24
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Best Way to Sell Diecast - Hot Wheels, Etc.

i like envy's way of dividing the cars up by what type of vehicle it is but i would first take out the treasure hunts and the super treasure hunts and list those auction style even as a group for each and then sell the rest by type of vehicle at a set price.

Message 12 of 24
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Best Way to Sell Diecast - Hot Wheels, Etc.

Hello, at one time i owned over 700 johnnylightning whitelightnings & lightning strikes. 10  or 12 years ago that hobby was booming but not no more. I bought WLs for any where from 15.00 to 25.00 to 50.00 dollars and thank god i sold them all. Now look on ebay and the 50.00 dollar cars are selling for 10.00 to 15.00 dollars and the others for less. But then i see the brand new cars that JL is comming out with and sellers are trying to sell them for over 100.00 dollars. The bottom line is in 3 to 5 years the new cars that JL is comming out with are going to be 10.00 to 15.00 dollars too. These diecast cars do not hold there value at all and the company over produces so this will happen, greenlight,johnnylightning, m2, mattel, they all do it. It is the same deal that happened to the sport cards, over production, worth nothing. Go with brass trains at least they hold there value and you will get your money back out of them because they make very little of them because there hand made and painted. Diecast cars are not a good investment at all, they make too many of them. the only diecast cars worth anything 1/46 scale or others the original hot wheels from the late 60s.

Message 13 of 24
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Best Way to Sell Diecast - Hot Wheels, Etc.

It is a bad hobby to get into these days unless you do not care to ever sell them again, because they will not hold there value at all, the only 1/64 scales diecast cars really worth any thing are the original hot wheels from the late 60s. All the rest drop in value with in 1 or two years. Johnnylightning whitelightnings,greenlight green chassis or green tires or green bodies,  m2, even mattels new hot wheels are not worth buying . At one time i owned over 700 whitelightnings and thank god i sold them all, i kept them in the blister pak and never opened them, they will lose there value right away if you do that. Never open them if you want to resell them. The WLs i bought for 25.00 45.00 55.00 i sold them all at the right time. Now your not going to be so lucky, it is getting hard and harder to sell them because the buyer is getting  edgucated and learning that these companys are just over producing so you cannot make a dollar on them any more. Get out while there is still time or your going to end up with a ton of pot metal and plastic.

Message 14 of 24
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Best Way to Sell Diecast - Hot Wheels, Etc.

I like this approach. I purchased 60 cars at an estate sale a few weeks ago. Mostly hotwheels sports cars, a couple special editions, and a dozen or so Racing Champions mint cars. Paid .50 each. I was planning on listing them as you described...

As was previously mentioned, there are variations on certain cars that are worth money. Numbers of spokes on the wheels, differences in the windows.. I would sort the cars into groups of identical cars, and look for variations.. Also, the treasure hunt series can be valuable. Seems like Volkswagon Bugs, and Vans, are usually worth something.

There is also a crowd of people who like to race the cars. You could try to google and figure out which cars make the best racers and list those in groups..
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