Ebay Store or No?

[the blob]

Pondering getting one again now that we're getting fewer free listings per month. I used to have a 500 item store and that was fine for a while, but I got lazy and didn't keep it full. But I was selling $500-$700 month, so the fee didn't seem too bad.

 

I don't understand why the 200 item store costs $16 and a 500 item store costs $50. Am I missing the math here? You are paying more per store item with the 500 item store? Am I missing some extra benefit to to the 500 item store that justifies them charging more per item? I certainly have enough stuff to stock the 2500 item store, but it would probably take me months to scan all that stuff and fill it and that is a big hit every month.

 

Then I feel like an insufficiently_thoughtful_person when they give away 2000 free listings, but I never have enough stuff scanned and ready to go when I get those offers. Plus it is irritating to lose those unsold listings after 60 days. A lot of work.

 

And when you have the store, you lose your free 50 listings?

 

50 isn't enough. 80 was closer when they were doing that. And I don't want to go the divad route and have 4 different ebay accounts. I'd like to build this one up.

 

Anyway, I really want to start to sell a bit more consistently. All this stuff is just aging, I might as well generate some income out of it and selling here only works for specific hot items or unloading really cheap. I have two kids going to summer camp this year and that is spensive.

[kav]

you have over $500-$700 a month and 500 listings. that is astonishing.

[the blob]

you have over $500-$700 a month and 500 listings. that is astonishing.

 

I was selling a lot of $100-$300 lots and what not. actually not that many sales of individual books.

[kav]

[the blob]

totally did not need the store to do what i was doing -- selling big grab bag lots -- (i started off with hundreds of items, but got lazy about restocking), but now i more into individual items. i am trying to do decent quality...nothing under $12 (I include shipping). I don't want to pack a comic I am clearing $1 on.

 

[kav]

thats a good sales strategy I never understand those guys selling a bunch of $2-$3 books..

[the blob]

in an ideal world I would put 5 or 6 of those $12 books into a lot for $40-50, and that's what I had been trying for a while, but it doesn't seem to work all that well. people seem to be willing to pay a little more for the book they want rather than a lot where maybe they aren't looking for all the books listed.

[kav]

I've sold a lot of lots but the best strategy I've found is list single books with free shipping that way they can create their own 'lots'. If it's a fairly common book then BIN if it's more in demand like say ASM 60 auction seems to work better. High grade books work really well in auction format even if it's a $2 book in F like Lois Lane #99 or something if its NM the bidding gets furious.

[ecgt]

The benefits of the different eBay store tiers really have to do with the amount of stuff you list. The $50 premium store gives you 500 "free" listings a month and guarantees 10 cent listings in all categories for buy it now listings (instead of the standard 20 cent fees for most categories with the basic store).

 

My wife and I constantly have between 1400-1500 buy it now items listed, so over time this leads to major savings compared to using a basic store (about $100 a month based on the amount of stuff we list).

 

At the same time, we do not have the inventory size or sales volume to pay for an anchor store. Likewise, if we were listing below 500 items a month it would not be worth it (as the $50 monthly fee is essentially paying for those 500 "free" listings).

[1Cool]

Pondering getting one again now that we're getting fewer free listings per month. I used to have a 500 item store and that was fine for a while, but I got lazy and didn't keep it full. But I was selling $500-$700 month, so the fee didn't seem too bad.

 

I don't understand why the 200 item store costs $16 and a 500 item store costs $50. Am I missing the math here? You are paying more per store item with the 500 item store? Am I missing some extra benefit to to the 500 item store that justifies them charging more per item? I certainly have enough stuff to stock the 2500 item store, but it would probably take me months to scan all that stuff and fill it and that is a big hit every month.

 

Then I feel like an insufficiently_thoughtful_person when they give away 2000 free listings, but I never have enough stuff scanned and ready to go when I get those offers. Plus it is irritating to lose those unsold listings after 60 days. A lot of work.

 

And when you have the store, you lose your free 50 listings?

 

50 isn't enough. 80 was closer when they were doing that. And I don't want to go the divad route and have 4 different ebay accounts. I'd like to build this one up.

 

Anyway, I really want to start to sell a bit more consistently. All this stuff is just aging, I might as well generate some income out of it and selling here only works for specific hot items or unloading really cheap. I have two kids going to summer camp this year and that is spensive.

 

I have the lowest level store on E-Bay which gives me 150 BIN and 100 auctions for the $15 per month. This is plenty for me right now since I can leave the 150 books up until they sell and I can use the auctions to post up new batches of book in auctions (which pretty much start at my BIN prices) before moving them to the BIN section. With selling here, Facebook and at Cons the 250 listings per month works well at a low cost.

[Bills Comics]

I used to have the $50 per month store but I wasnt using the full 500 free . So I dropped my store . Seemed like a waste of money . Im spending much less on ebay fees now .

I take full advantage of the 50 free , but I also take advantage of the random "Hey list xxxx many free for 3 or 4 days now". I try to keep at least 200 items up for sale . Im working on having more , but 200 ish minimum nets about $200 in sales at least.

I will cancel any listings that are about to relist if i am at or near my 50 free . Then relist those when the free offer comes through . Sometimes this has worked for an item that has had watchers forever . I also used a few as auctions and they ended up selling, where as buy it nows they went unsold for quite some time .

The way i see it . Im not going to pay .30 for something that I might not sell in that month x 200.

I have also just figured another way to take advantage of the free listings.

Id be happy to share it in PM's , but I will not just post it for the world to see .

[Aweandlorder]

With selling here, Facebook and at Cons the 250 listings per month works well at a low cost.

 

Would love to find out more info on selling comics on FB.. Any different trends/patterns on that platform than the others?

Appreciate much!

[1Cool]

With selling here, Facebook and at Cons the 250 listings per month works well at a low cost.

 

Would love to find out more info on selling comics on FB.. Any different trends/patterns on that platform than the others?

Appreciate much!

 

Pretty much a step up from posting Craigslist ads in my opinion. I don't put much effort into trying to sell there other than posting pictures of my wall at Cons and fielding requests. I also respond to Want To Buy requests with various success. Auctions seem to do well but the realized prices are staggeringly low so the quality of books being offered are basically $1 bin books for $1.

[Aweandlorder]

With selling here, Facebook and at Cons the 250 listings per month works well at a low cost.

 

Would love to find out more info on selling comics on FB.. Any different trends/patterns on that platform than the others?

Appreciate much!

 

Pretty much a step up from posting Craigslist ads in my opinion. I don't put much effort into trying to sell there other than posting pictures of my wall at Cons and fielding requests. I also respond to Want To Buy requests with various success. Auctions seem to do well but the realized prices are staggeringly low so the quality of books being offered are basically $1 bin books for $1.

 

Interesting. Thanks for that.

I bought a big collection off a kid a few months ago who told me he started by selling books individually on fb but then gave up cause it was too tedious, he did say however that he made good money on them. So that kinda got me thinking about exploring the facebook thing possibly

[Bills Comics]

I was also curious if anyone closed a store and had Ebay offer them some kind of deal or incentive to reopen one ?

If so what was the offer or incentive and how long after they closed their store? I closed mine around August of last year . I have still been selling . Just been saving money by not using a store .

The one thing I do miss is the Ebay selling manager Pro .

[the blob]

I'm on the fence, but I am admittedly a slow shipper/packer, so maybe I am better off just doing the 50 free listings, jumping on ebay's extra free listings when offered, and having the occasional sale here. a 500 item store with 100 monthly auctions might overload my ability to pack and ship stuff in a timely fashion. but the money could light a fire under my arse....

[Iceman399]

With selling here, Facebook and at Cons the 250 listings per month works well at a low cost.

 

Would love to find out more info on selling comics on FB.. Any different trends/patterns on that platform than the others?

Appreciate much!

 

There is a ton of tire kickers.

There is a ton of wanna trade requests will you take my spider gwen variant for your hulk 181.

A lot of wanna be dealers. (buying random books from ebay for x and getting them in hand 2 days later offering them at x+30%).

Oh nice comic! I wish I had money! Wanna Trade!