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My first batch of auctions ended last Sunday, and it was enough of a success that I will be running them again this month. I sold 48 of 275 auctions (a few were best offers rather than bids) and I sold 63 items total over the entire week for a net of about $1400 which is about 2.5x my normal week of sales on eBay. Almost every item was paid for within the first two days, so my shipping was basically done by Wednesday, and it looks like I will only have one unpaid item. My average sale price, according to eBay, was $34 which is a few bucks lower than my normal ASP but not a significant difference. I can analyze the numbers another way. I also ran auctions this week one year ago, and my sales were slightly up from that week with a smaller inventory and less items sold, so that’s a great sign.
I think there’s a decent chance my next batch of auctions could go even better. I only had a few buyers purchase more than one item, none purchasing more than three, and very few bidding wars. While those situations aren’t common, by the numbers they should come up once in a while. They just didn’t happen for me this time. But if I keep running these auctions, they will!
90% of what I sold was trading card related. I believe the oldest listing which sold was this oversized sketch of Johnny Manziel for $24.57 net which I can’t even find in Terapeak, so it had likely been in my inventory for more than a few years at this point. I probably only broke even on this sale, or made like $10 profit at most. This was a very niche item — much larger than a regular card, an art sketch from an unlicensed set of a decent college football player who was a bust in the pros wearing a baseball uniform, I assume from when he threw out the first pitch at a game. A cool item for the Johnny Manziel collector, but sometimes collectors of really niche items are only buyers when the price is around $25!
I sold quite a few listings which had been in inventory less than a month, likely not for their absolute top dollar, but the volume of sales more than made up for it. One of the more interesting newer items was this 10 card lot of Golden State Warriors cards, which went unsold at a week-long auction with $19.99 opening bid, then sold for a $30 offer within an hour of being returned to my inventory at its original price of $39.99 BIN/BO. I think this shows that sometimes your potential buyer isn’t checking eBay this week, or they’re searching for auctions when you’re listing BIN/BO or vice versa.
My high and low sales of the week were both Yankees cards from unlicensed sets. This quad jersey card of Yankees legends from the 50s, 60s and 70s was a recent scavenge of the week and a quick double my money from $30 to $60 net, while this auto of minor leaguer Spencer Jones netted me $8, and it was purchased in December as part of a 10 card lot for $13. The rest of the cards in the lot will either go into my team lots or will get sent to my consignment port.
My favorite card sale of the week was this autograph of 90s pitcher Danny Darwin for $12 plus shipping to Asia, so my net was about $13. I bought 21 copies of this card in November for less than fifty cents each, and I sold one at auction via consignment for $11.50 and now this one for $12. Only 19 more to sell! Finding little pipelines like this which don’t seem like much but can net you $100+ over time are such a key to sustaining a reselling business. Doesn’t matter what you sell.
I sold a Gary Carter 1980s Mets figurine for about $12 net, or a $5 profit, which made me realize the juice isn’t worth the squeeze on items like this unless they are $50 plus. So the local thrift is going to get a nice donation of random bobblehead dolls and figurines within the next month or so, or I’ll just leave them at the curb in a box that says free for some other “lucky” scavenger.
Outside the cards and memorabilia world, I sold a couple of music items, which was a nice surprise because I only had a couple music items in my inventory. This signed Johnny Winter live LP had been sitting unlisted in one of my death piles for long enough that I can’t even figure out when I bought it, and though the $50 sold price is at the lower end of Terapeak history for his signed albums, I’m happy with what was basically found money. This Arizona Dranes CD and book cost me $5 and my net was $9.50, so not something I’d buy again. I might have one more copy somewhere, but instead of listing I might pile it in a bin with a bunch of other media items and take my semi-annual trip to my favorite record store. I won’t make top dollar that way, but enough for lunch plus a few bucks and maybe a few items to flip, and the whole things is a nostalgia trip for me with a flood of memories.
What did you sell this week?
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/267101247399
Geometry Seeing Doing Understanding Third Edition Jacobs Set with DVDs
This is a new set that I bought for my oldest child’s Junior year curriculum. It was cheaper to buy the entire year set then just buy the individual subjects I needed. So I sold off the subjects that were extra, like this one.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267131650675
Champion CT-475 Aviation Spark Plug Cleaner Tester
I took an offer of $550. I shot for the moon and I’m sure I could have got more, but that is a fair offer for this item in untested condition. Business is slow so it’s hard to turn down $550 on a $10 COGS item!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266925629934
Donkey Kong Country 3 Dixie’s Double Trouble SNES Cleaned Tested New Battery
Sold for full price. my cost was less than a $1 as this was part of a big lot of games and an NES I got for $20. I’d love to do more video game sales, but they are hard to come by – lots of competition for sourcing. That’s the beauty of sourcing old used shoes – nobody wants them!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/266462712275
RAINBOW BRITE Dress Up Doll Hallmark 1983 RARE Vintage with Hair Piece
Sold on offer for $70. I picked up a bunch of vintage rainbow brite dolls at an independent thrift store I check 2-3 times a year. I just happened to be there on the perfect day at the exact perfect time. They were being put out just as I was finishing up shopping. This was one of those “scavenger spidey sense” adventures. I really only go to this store when that spidey sense goes off as it is a bit out of the way. I still the complete original line that I have listed as a lot. I’ve never got any action on it. I’ve never got any action on it though – just people who want me to part it out. either way, I’ve already made a ton on the couple dolls I have sold.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/267148666067
Ninja Crispi 3-in-1 Portable Glass Air Fryer Cooking System NEW
I picked up 2 of these on clearance at Walmart last week for $50 each. I’ve been wanting to get an air fryer again, but it had to be a PTFE free unit because we have a parrot. This one fit the bill. So naturally I bought both so I could sell the second one to recoup my cost. My only regret was that there was only 2 on the shelf. I would have bought more! It’s a great little compact air fryer. I love it.
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/235844030103 I found three Glassybaby candle holders in a row at a thrift store. Luckily they are still a thing. Paid $4
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