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Selling stuff on Ebay

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08 Dec 2017 14:13 #258805 by Space Ghost
I'm getting ready to try to move some stuff on Ebay. I have never sold anything online in that format before, so was curious if you guys had any advice on best practices.
I'll post a list of boardgames here first -- big ones are Kaos Ball and Zombicide (1st season Kickstarter, unplayed). i also have a complete set of Dreamblade that I might sell (still on the fence on that)

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08 Dec 2017 14:20 #258806 by dysjunct
Replied by dysjunct on topic Selling stuff on Ebay
Sell it with free shipping and charge enough to cover it. Otherwise you’ll get a bunch of cheapskates trying to lowball you over the shipping.

If you don’t need the money right away, consider doing Amazon. Price it high and lower it by $1/week. Sometimes when you sell on eBay it’ll just be a weird week and something sells for a huge discount over the typical going rate.
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08 Dec 2017 14:53 #258809 by Michael Barnes
DO NOT auction. Buy it Now ONLY. Set the price to include shipping and make it a little higher than you want. Set it so you can accept offers. If you have it set at $5 over what you want, someone can come in and make an offer for $5 less than the posted price and feel like they are getting a deal.

If you auction, you can expect to get anywhere from $1 to $20 for most common board games. Without shipping.
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08 Dec 2017 14:56 #258810 by ufe20
Replied by ufe20 on topic Selling stuff on Ebay
Anyone have some decent tips on how to ship efficiently/cheaply? The last couple times I sold board games on eBay, I hardly made enough money to be worth the time after eBay/Paypal fees and shipping. Is that just the way it is?

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08 Dec 2017 15:48 #258819 by hotseatgames
Replied by hotseatgames on topic Selling stuff on Ebay

Michael Barnes wrote: DO NOT auction. Buy it Now ONLY.


I looked for this feature the last time you suggested this, and couldn't find it. What do you have to do to only enable that?

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08 Dec 2017 15:52 #258821 by SebastianBludd
I usually list items as an auction at the minimum I want to get for it with an additional Buy-It-Now option (BTW, BIN price has to be, at a minimum, 30% higher than the auction starting price). I've gotten people to bite on the higher BIN price just for the convenience of not having to wait for/contest an auction. I never, ever list an auction at a starting price of $0.99. Yeah, you pay higher fees but you'll make way more on eBay than you will on Craigslist or a garage sale (I don't have any experience selling on Amazon) and you avoid going through the hassle of listing, packing and shipping because somebody bought your used game for $2.99. Barnes' way works too, different strokes.

ufe20 wrote: Anyone have some decent tips on how to ship efficiently/cheaply? The last couple times I sold board games on eBay, I hardly made enough money to be worth the time after eBay/Paypal fees and shipping. Is that just the way it is?


Get your packages under 1 lb. with no dimension larger than 12", then you can still offer First Class shipping which is your cheapest option for packages. If you can't make that weight, try to keep your package's largest dimension at or under 12"; I believe there's a significant price jump once you exceed it.

A box that is barely big enough to hold your item is your best bet for keeping prices down. If you're shipping long box versions of board games then you'll want to learn how to cut boxes down to fit them. Boxes that fit the old-style board game boxes - without being grossly oversized in at least one of the dimensions - are few and far between so you'll end up losing out on sales if you don't tailor your box.

That's why I set my auctions at the minimum amount I'll accept; I'm not going to go through the effort of making a custom shipping box only to make $5 or so. Otherwise, there's not much you can do other than setting your price at your minimum and be prepared to relist if it doesn't sell. I've had some games I just couldn't sell but it still felt better than making a pittance.

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08 Dec 2017 16:14 #258825 by gversace
Replied by gversace on topic Selling stuff on Ebay
Selling on TOS is much cheaper (3% vs. 10%), and no one expects free shipping. I've been thinking of looking through auctions and offering my games to losing bidders after they've closed. Anyone try that?

But if eBay is the way you want to go, I agree with those that suggest using Buy It Now with offers and avoiding auctions. I would advise against a higher price with free shipping unless the item can fit in a flat rate box. Otherwise, your listing looks far more attractive to people who live far away, which can eat into your margin quite a bit.

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08 Dec 2017 16:42 #258828 by the_jake_1973
Replied by the_jake_1973 on topic Selling stuff on Ebay
There is a Facebook group, Wargamer's Marketplace, that I recently hopped on and was able to acquire a C&C Ancients collection at a reasonable price. The seller doesn't feel the need to boost prices to cover site listing fees. YMMV there depending on what you are selling.

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08 Dec 2017 16:43 #258829 by Michael Barnes
Flat rate shipping using the priority boxes is $13.49 so round that up to $14. Most square box games (except the really fat ones) can go in the medium size, and most bookcase size boxes can go in that too. If you are looking at something bigger, I would advise to add $20 to your price for shipping if you are on the coast. Because you'll get some dude on the other coast buying and you want to be able to cover that without incurring a loss.

"Free shipping" is a magic word...I know that when I look, I look for that first and foremost and eschew anything that has a shipping cost.

My latest eBay racket is 40k/AOS sprues and bits. I have completely bankrolled my Eldar army with salvage from other kits- so that is something like $250-$300 in plastic bits. You get a get- let's say a Leman Russ- and you build it with the battle cannon. Unless you are interested in magnetizing or modding, that leaves you with something like 3 other weapons that most folks will throw into a bits box. Or you might have a set of Plague Marines you've built all with close combat weapons, so you've got a pile of Plasma, bolters, extra heads, extra accessories and so forth. I don't mod, and I don't magnetize. So I take all of that stuff and SELL the shit out of it. I sold a big lot of Tyranid extras for something like $55- it was 25 sprues of parts that I didn't use. There are varying values for this stuff, some things are more desirable and sellable than others- the Plague Marine stuff and some Primaris stuff, I sold in like ten minutes of posting.

Here is the sweetest part. Shipping is only about $3.50 for just about anything in this racket. So I can sell a couple of sprues for $13.50 and make a cool $10 back on a $40 kit. It's like a rebate!

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08 Dec 2017 16:51 #258830 by Michael Barnes
A note on selling on TOS...I do it sometimes, but I have had more issues with buyers there than on ebay. A couple of weeks ago, I sold a game to some guy and when I didn't respond in like, two hours after he asked if I had payment he locked up my Paypal account and filed a report. Of course it would be a BGGer that would do something like that. I also had someone file a complaint that what I sold them was incomplete and not as advertised, when it most certainly was- they filed the same day they received it, which I guessed was a buyer's remorse issue. I totally called him out on it and he backed down. I've had plenty of good transactions there, but the big "issue" ones have come from there and not ebay.

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08 Dec 2017 16:59 #258831 by barrowdown
Replied by barrowdown on topic Selling stuff on Ebay
I have sold a lot on TOS. I have never had any of the issues Barnes mentions. All of my buyers have been reasonable. I tend to stick my items at a "soft reserve" (which is really what Barnes' describes as BIN price with accept offers) that is relatively high, so I might be missing a lot of bargain hunters. Most of what I have sold has been 18xx, Winsome, wargames or OOP stuff, which might also have an impact on who is buying. I do not have the new hotness there to entice everyone.

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08 Dec 2017 16:59 - 08 Dec 2017 16:59 #258832 by Shellhead
Replied by Shellhead on topic Selling stuff on Ebay
I don't have an urgent need for the cash, but at some point, I want to sell some boardgames and role-playing games that I am unlikely to ever play again. Once I get over my tendency to cling to possessions, it seems like the next hurdle will be to get over my annoyance at shipping things. Are buyers going to flip out if I don't ship something out within 24 hours? Should I line up packaging before I put something up for sale/bid so I am not scrambling once I get a buyer?
Last edit: 08 Dec 2017 16:59 by Shellhead.

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08 Dec 2017 17:01 #258834 by barrowdown
Replied by barrowdown on topic Selling stuff on Ebay
My work schedule and proximity to a low traffic post office has made it easy to ship things within 48 hours most of the time and I have never had any complaints. I very rarely ship anything on the weekend so if someone pays on Friday, it is probably not going out until Monday or Tuesday and I still have had no complaints.

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08 Dec 2017 17:36 - 08 Dec 2017 17:37 #258838 by gversace
Replied by gversace on topic Selling stuff on Ebay
I usually ship next business day after confirmed payment, but I think 48 hours is reasonable. It is definitely helpful to have shipping materials (and a small scale) available before you list items so you're not scrambling.

I've never had any issues with buyers on TOS. Some need to be coddled more than others, but they all paid and didn't leave negative feedback, so that's good enough for me.

One more suggestion about eBay - if you can, when they have one of their $15 off $75 deals going, up your prices to $75 if they were close. Offer free shipping if you have to on those.
Last edit: 08 Dec 2017 17:37 by gversace.
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08 Dec 2017 18:08 #258840 by ChristopherMD
Replied by ChristopherMD on topic Selling stuff on Ebay
All of the whiny, entitled, demanding buyers I've had to deal with have been on BGG Marketplace. eBay kills with fees though and Paypal sucks for sellers either way. Nowadays if its not a high-value game I just toss it in the garbage or give it away.
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