Should I Sell Cheaper Items in Lots?

All depends. Do these ornaments sell well by themselves?

I often sell lower priced items as a group. The amount I get is less than what I would get if I sold each one separately, but I don’t want to spend the time. Not all items can be lotted together, though.

Since you are listing items that are seasonal, it might be fine to list them separately especially if they are selling quickly.

I save groups of lower priced items up until I get a big enough pile of stuff. They might not have anything to do with each other. Then I sell them as an assorted lot or junk drawer listing.

It’s a good time of year to list those ornaments. I had a bunch of Hallmark ornaments last year that I liquidated individually around this time. There were a few that were worth $30-40 but some were under $10. I didn’t want to carry them all year in inventory so I priced $1 or $2 below the going rate and they all sold by January. Those that were left after Christmas I marked further down. You can try looking on Ebay solds to see how mixed lots do but if someone is collecting a line, they might not want unrelated ornaments. Most have bar codes so you can scan that on the mobile app for faster listing.

I generally use lots as a method for selling items which aren’t worth listing individually but that I don’t want to give away for nothing. For the first year or so I was selling on eBay, this was anything under $5. I looked at it like any cha-ching was worth hearing. But when you consider final value fees and shipping, you only make a few dollars profit on a $7 or $8 sale, even if you buy the item for $0.50.

So, over the years, my threshold for what gets listed individually and what gets listed in lots has increased. For a few years, it was anything $10 or less. Now, as I’ve moved closer to full-time over the last year, I really hesitate to list anything for less than $20. Though I still have an affinity for $10 items which are easy to photograph, fast to list and easy to store if I can get them for a buck or less. Old habits die hard.

In my experience, mixed lots usually sell to another flipper, which is part of what sustains our buying and selling ecosystem. For the most part, I accept almost any reasonable offer on mixed lots, sometimes 50% or even less, especially if the item takes up a lot of space.

With something that is seasonal and collectible, like your Hallmark ornaments, I would get them listed as soon as possible. But don’t be shocked if some of your seasonal items don’t sell now, and don’t panic and start cutting prices or (worse) running auctions. Just keep listings up and be patient. As long as your items are priced based around sold listings, you will get some sales at full price or close to it in March or August. That’s one of the many great things about eBay.

It’s all about what your time is worth. Selling individually gets you more money (provided they do actually all sell – sometimes the best get cherry picked and the rest rot). Selling in lots gets you a better “hourly wage” since you list once and ship once.

ALSO, when shipping cost is approaching what people will willingly pay for the item itself, I find I get more action on lots, since it spreads the shipping cost around.

So if I had a bunch of, say, 25 sockets that people might be willing to pay $5 each for in person, if I break them up they’ll never sell (because the shipping cost alone is $5-$10) but in a lot of 25 a buyer might pay something like $100 for them and not mind the $20 shipping.