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I have been on the fence about larger items. But, this summer I bought a large (30 X 20 X 15) Golf bag, and a very long Snowboard. I had room in the garage and took a chance on these larger items because I got them for very cheap.
Well, that paid off this last week. I sold the Golf bag for $180 and the Snowboard for $100.
So, I will BOLO these types of items. However, I will be very selective because no one wants a very large item like this that is very long tail.
What do you think about buying these larger types of items?
Mark
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I do our shipping, and we do buy some larger items, but there are limits, due to storage space and my disinclination to pack really large items. But I agree with Jay: some large items are bargains precisely because no one wants to store/ship them. And sometimes, the bargain is just too good to pass up.
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I buy stuff like this when I can get a deal. Just this week we sold a pair of 1970’s ceramic lamp bases for $75 that we got for $2 a year and a half ago.
Not on eBay, but at an antique auction last summer, I bought a GIANT cast iron mangle (clothing wringer) that came out of a turn of the century hospital. No one else bid on it because it was huge, and weighed a few hundred pounds. I paid $5 for it, and sold it the next morning at an antique sale for $100. Had to roll it in and out of my trailer, but otherwise it was an easy $95.
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The shipping on my 2 items was rather simple. For the golf bag, it was still in the box. I just stated in the listing that I would just put a label on that box and it may get damaged in shipping. No issue. For the snowboard, it was a local pick up. So no issues with shipping.
I think you have to also like the items. I really liked these two items because they were sports related. I use to golf so I could relate to the golf bag. I used to downhill ski (not snowboarding, but related), so I could relate to the snowboard. Also, sports equipment like these sell fairly quickly. I was surprised that the golf bag sold in Winter, I was expecting it to sell in the early Spring.
And, I think Jay hit the nail on the head with this line, “At auctions, often the big items go cheap because no one wants to deal with them.” Isn’t that the truth? Also, if no one knows what the item is.
Mark
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I always second guess buying large/heavy items, but if the buyer pays the shipping, and there is good profit, I have no issue.
Some of the wilder large stuff this year I’ve sold was two bowling balls (they totaled almost 30 lbs – they were listed separate but one buyer bought them both) and a lot of 8 vintage tennis racquets (they don’t nest together well in a box – ended up bagging each one in a large garbage bag and filling the box with foam peanuts).
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440 so true.
For the big stuff craigslist and FB have been working for me. There is someone in my area with a huge inventory of smalls to large, a couple hundred items on CL. So it seems to be working.My biggest regret of a logistically heavy item came just before christmas. It replaces the logistics regret on moving my auction purchase of a 1900’s Theo Kochs Barber Chair…
I bid 30 dollars blind on a National Cash Register at a local auction, it looked like a parts register and I thought , oh that will be fun and profitable. I’m sure I will be outbid at 30.The buttons are worth 30.So I go to the auction house to preview and the size and weight dawns on me logistically and I immediately pray someone will outbid me. Nope. Its mine. But its way to nice to be parted out. It looks restorable. I do not have the time, space or strength to deal with this beast, regardless of the profits. What a dummy. Guess I’m gonna get a hernia for Christmas. How will I get out of this one?
When the auction closes I grab the Auction photos and list the item on CL,FB and Ebay local pickup. Hoping someone will buy it and I can have it loaded into the buggy at the Auction and deliver it to the new owner.
No bites or offers in the 48 hr window before scheduled pickup. On the way to pick it up I stopped at another auction house for a pick up.
The young owner had just opened a new storefront and I mentioned I had a cash register that would look great in the shop. Sure enough, he wanted it.
An hour later I had my cash investment back in my pocket and 4 silver bars in trade. I never touched the cash register – happy ending for everyone.
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