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Going to answer your question with a question.
Does having over 3oo million [1/3 of a billion] items available to search along with a description already done for it, the prices they all sold for, when they sold, from several sources [not just Ebay] along with a over 100,000 hallmark stamp patterns to search along with a library of 1,000 books available on the topic of antiques and collectibles have any value to you? Then Yes, if not then No.
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
Hey Jay: We opted in and got a message we were put on a waiting list. We are retired and are here all the time [mostly] and do ship either the same day or next day on everything we sell. So no sweat on that.
But Susan did bring up a good question, what about when we go on a trip for a week or so and bulk change all of our handling times to 10 or 15 days. Wonder how that will be handled?
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
Well said theMezz and Jay. Bravo. Even sometimes I do get myself in trouble with my opinions at least they are given in the spirit of trying to help rather than rant and criticize, though I am glad a few of those “Old Anonymous” posters have faded into the sunset.
mike at mdc galleries in atlanta
Agree with Ryanne. I’ll bet when you say ship it back, we don’t want our customers to have to be stuck with something they don’t like, you will probably not hear from her again. As far as a refund, I say no, what kind of knuckle head can’t tell a reflection, especially with 11 other photos to substantiate the overall look of the object.
But again, so much of these things are just opinions.
But one thing I have learned after 40 years in business, don’t be afraid of your customers. Be nice, but not afraid. I “fired” – Walmart as a customer years ago and they were a 1.2 million dollars account for us, but they were more trouble than they were worth. They cost us more money than we made due to them always changing colors, sizes, adding to the order and changing, adding or subtracting shipping locations when that weeks campaign was already printed, cut, boxed and about ready to ship. After they were out of our lives, we made more “net profit” on 1.2 million in less sales. That meant we were spending prifits from our other customers / jobs to support the loses on the Walmart account. They were bullies. So this lesson also applies to our now small business.
Be nice, be polite but try not to be hussled, bullied, pushed around or manipulated. That just creates stress. That is why we have SOP – Standard Operating Procedures for most situation, even as small as we are now.
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
I agree. But you said “our items”. In SixBit, WonderLister and others you do have access to everything [that is yours], from the day you start using those services, but not earlier than that. But not everything that has ever been sold by every seller that has ever been on Ebay. Even now closed down sellers data is available.
I guess Ebay considers other sellers information theirs to do with what they want. Even if Ebay gave me everything we have ever sold history information, that wouldn’t help us research items we have never sold before. As an example, I am just guessing here, but think that everything you guys have ever sold in your complete history is available to be searched by TerraPeak and or Worthpoint. That is a nice priviledge to have to see all items sold on Ebay and also several other auction sites at your finger tips for just $14 a month is what we pay.
In the case of the metal bookends we have been discussing. Having 8 years worth of your own data would not help, but I found a nice description and a price, even though lower than Ryanne suggested, that sold couple years ago on WorthPoint to help out. We just sold an old Barbie case with several old dolls and many clothes included. If it were not for WorthPoint we would have had no idea what it was all worth. We looked up all the clothing separately, created a long laundry list, then added it all up and came up with atleast something to list it at.
Also too, there is a saying, which sometimes justifies my extra spending on a few things.. “Penny Wise-Pound Foolish”.
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
Hey Christine… Now that you have said you found them at $395 and that is the highest you have found then our formula of taking that and going up by 1.50 would put them at $592.50. As I was saying to try to determine “How High is High”, we take the “highest price we can find that they ever sold for” and do the x 1.50 to set a list at number.
Now with regards to “guessing” at a number because something is just cool, that is pricing by using the throwing ice water and hand grenades, and brings us back to the question how high is high.
At $500 as a “hand grenade” price then why not $550, $575, $600, $675, $867.12, 911.11, etc., etc. At some point just throwing numbers at something from “gut” doesn’t seem to make sense. from experience, yes. If research shows a pattern or the highest ever sold or something you have sold before, yep. Go with it.
But to just plain guess, then why not $6,000??? A guess is a guess? But see what I mean? I am more of a detailed person, and if I can find a formula that speeds up the listing process based upon detailed research that is fast and easy then go for it. If you see them “LISTED” at something and you want to be the highest as we all strive for here at SL, then we are satified with taking that number up 1.5 and get it listed. Guess we are not afraid to leave hypotetical money on the table.
We just sold and shipped today a Barbie Doll case with figures and clothes. We listed at $275 and took offer of $175. We paid $17.46. The buyer has over 8,000 feedbacks and been a buyer since 1999. He will probably resell or part the case out. Good for him. But we walked away with $157.54. Based on our research that was suitable for what we had found and was what we considered a high return. With the gut method guess we should have listed at $750 even though we saw none had ever sold for more than around $200.
But that is the neat thing about all of this, one man’s selling price may just very well be another man’s great find. So just “ABL” and keep on “Truckin”.
We love our job!! 🙂
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta.
Your welcome. I always go higher. I had asked Jay and Ryanne last week about “How was High” and they seemed to sort of circle around a definitive answer, but this is what we always do.
The primise we work off of is that we wish to sell at a higher price than anyone else has ever sold at. If they got a certain amount then we should be able to do that also, given the “Buy & Hold = List and Forget It” business model.
So with that said and the “target” This is how we usually go about it in most cases. First we research several sites, Ebay solds, Worthpoint, RubyLane, Kovels, Google [of course which will include private web sites & Shopify] and special other sites if artwork and the such and Etsy.
We sort of course for “highest amount” and that gives us several top of the mark numbers that an item has sold for. Then we take the highest number and multiply times 1.45 to 1.50. That gives us an even higher number [Remember our question to Jay about how high is high, which he always says]. Then that allows us to be able to place a few sales of 10% to 20% off, and on top of that take offers and allow another 10% to 20% off, of which we won’t go below unless we are really ready to dump the item. Then that sets the stage.
So here is what we would do with your item if we had bought it at auction for $70. What you buy it for is where the meat of your profit is, which I’ll get to i a minute. But we would take the Worthpoint price if that was the absolute highest “SOLD” amount we could find at $129 and multiply by 1.50. In this case we are going to assume that the Worthpoint was the highest at $129 sold so that would now be a listing price for us at $193.50. We run Sales every three or four days, so we would say run a 15% off Sale and with the “cross off feature” Ebay would show the item now at $164.48 and we would have “Make an Offer” active. Then from there it is gut feel. We would say yes if someone offered a lower amount by any amount that would represent from 1% to 20% more off. So about $125 would be lowest we would go and in most cases we usually don’t go as much as 40% off so it is usually more.Now this is a rough guide… but of course what the item is, current conditions, experience and who the buyer is plays some part in all of this also. And if you want to always sell at much higher then what your research shows, then just use a larger multiplier like 1.55 or 1.60 or 1.65 arrive at the listing amount and then work backwards from there. Place a Sale of a higher amount, accept a lower offer or just stick to a higher number all the way around.
Now what I meant by the profit is in how you buy. Take your item. You paid $70 for it. What if you got it for free or only paid a couple of bucks. We would still use the above approach. Only now instead of $70 getting you say maybe $150, $5.00 will get you $150. A big difference on the return [ROI]. This is what I meant by the profit is in the buying. It is the Old buy low-sell high. To make a huge amount of money sometimes you can’t take an item that you research and found out that many have sold for about $150 and list it at $75,000, that would just never work. But an item for free or a $1.00 sold at $150 isn’t too bad in my book.
What other business can claim they can take $10,000 of stock or invest $10,000 and turn it into $100k to $200k in a few years.Oh well just another way of thinking about finding unusual items like we all do here at SL and approaching a fairly quick way to get a price on it and get it listed.
BTW Jay is not a fan of using base numbers that are much older than the Ebay 90 days… But I have found some prices that were much higher 3 to 4 years ago, we use those and apply the formula above and things sell.
So, good luck with those.
Mike at MDC Galleries & Fine Art in Atlanta
Hey Christine: We keep Worthpoint open almost all the time. As soon as I clicked on your link it opened directly to that Worthpoint listing. They sold for $129 0n 8/29/2012. Here is what the listing description says.
“YOU ARE BIDDING ON A BEAUTIFUL PAIR OF ANTIQUE 1920’S BRONZE CLAD WEIDLICH BROTHERS BOOKENDS. THEY MEASURE APPROXIMATELY 5.75 INCHES BY4 INCHES WIDE BY 3.5 INCHES DEEP. ORIGINAL AND FULLY HALLMARKED WITH THE WEIDLICH BROTHERS WB FOUNDRY MARK ON THE REAR AND NUMBERED ” 641. ” EXCELLENT CONDITION AND NEAR PERFECT. BEAUTIFUL COLLECTOR BOOKENDS. I SHIP WORLDWIDE. PROFESSIONAL PACKAGING GUARANTEES SAFE DELIVERY. EMAIL ME WITH QUESTIONS AND FOR INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING FEES. GOOD LUCK.
About Weidlich Brothers: Weidlich Brothers Manufacturing Company operated in Bridgeport, Connecticut from 1901 until the 1950’s. W.B. Mfg Co (Weidlich Bros) of Connecticut has been well documented in the Silversmith journals of well known artisans of the Art Nouveau period. The company made some of the finest heavy (quadruple) silver plated and electro-plated items in the early 1900’s.”Good luck with your listing. Nice find.
Mike & Susan at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
I use OneNote [the same as EverNote]. It is great. Also synchs with phone. One click and up pops “sticky note” like squares on my PC screen. I name each sticky note by topic Personal To-Do, Business To-Do, Long Term To-Do etc., etc. When I click all of the ones I created pop up on my screen which can show up to 12 notes and still be large enough to be read. I can add and delete the notes as needed. Also any line item will synch to my Outlook calendar and I can set an alarm if it is a short term to do today or tomorrow type of thing.
But bottom line is I use the “Business at the Speed of Thought” axiom and if I didn’t have a quick way to jot down my To-Do items on a list, I would forget half of them.
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
Hey Linda.. Interesting. Maybe it is just your local USPS but I see my
“Over sized mail box” from out of the window in my office. I see our carrier reach in, grab our packages and then scan then on the spot. Within less than 60 seconds those scans show up in my Ebay Dashboard. Maybe, just maybe, your carrier is not scanning your packages right away. Some carriers I am told will wait until they get to a safe stopping point and scann, some wait until they get back to the local PO and then scan as they unload thier trucks. Which by the way IS NOT what they are supposed to do, but they use this technique so they get their routes done faster and get back to the office. And some carriers don’t scan and let the internal guys do it when they load items into the larger trucks to transport to the local distribution center [larger PO].But I have talked with our local Post Master more than a couple of times and this is what she said. Carriers are “supposed” to scan in the field at the time and point of first contact. They are furnished with hand held scanners for this purpose and those scanners cost them $1,500 each. They happen to be re-furbished FedEx scanners BTW. She said why would we buy those and pay that much and not intend for them to use it. She has also said she wants to know who is not scanning in the field because she will call them out on the carpet. Fire them, NO but will certainly tell them, to scan in the field. She also said she is aware of the new guarantied delivery programs, both for Ebay and Amazon and her boss stresses for them to enforce the scanning process. Not doing it just to finish their routes early or to get out of the heat or cold is not acceptable, especially with these new programs.
So hopefully as these programs sink in and more Post Masters get in the groove, we will see timely scans and also that data showing up in our dashboards in a timely fashiopn.
Mike at MDC Galleries & Fine Art in Atlanta
FYI: USPS Priority cut off is 1,728 cubic inches which is 12 x 12 x 12 inches. BUT they know they still have some of those “Old “C” size boxes” floating around so I am told they just let those ride. Then after 1,728 cubic inches you have to change the shipping method over to Parcel. Parcel has two calculations to be made. Dimensional weight will start to be imposed after you reach 108″ gathered from the longest dimension added to the girth, which is a complete circle around the shortest part of your package. The Dim. weight amount charged will vary as the weight and distance the package will travel increases. The dim. weight is applied UNTIL you reach 130″ of the length + Girth. at 130″ then USPS Parcel Select and 70 lbs. of course is the final cut off. At this point you will need to gravitate to UPS or FedEx.
May I suggest to make a small sign and just post these couple of numbers in or around your shipping area and you will be good to go.
Mike at MDC Galleries & Fine Art in Atlanta
Hey Steve: When I saw your movie screen sold that got me digging through the basement. I found ours just like it AND a Kodak Carousel Slide Projector and two extra carousel slide trays. The projector still works.
Due to the size of the screen and the shear weight of the projector, probably a bad idea to try to sell everything as a complete slide show set-up. So will probably do the screen as one unit and then the projector and trays as a item unit.
But question on shipping, did you just piece together your own long box and cover it up? I have done that for tripods and fishing poles before, and secondly how did it ship and what was the [approx.] cost if you can recall? I estimate a home made box at about 57″ x 6″ x 6″ = 2,052 cubic inches. Since that is over the 1,728 cubic inches for Priority, I guess only regular parcel ground but is still under the dimensional size cut-off. Did you throw in any extra special handling charge to box that baby up and if so, may I ask about how much?
Thanks for any feedback….
Mike and Susan at MDC Galleries in AtlantaT=-Satt: Great field reporting on the Ebay Open event. Interesting tid-bits that I am sure we all will be discussing once the event is over and things start to get reported that they heard about. Everything sounds very interesting.
What surprised me was 81% of the “Solds” are NEW Items. That means only 19% of Sold Items would then be in the used-vintage-old category. Humm.
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
Hey T-Satt: Get a quote on them to do that. I did and it is hundreds of dollars, form both SB & WL, if I understood the line items correctly. BTW: WL & SB both do it, but at the extra cost.
To date I am just storing photos now on Google drive which reduces space consumption on the office rig.
To Jay: One thing you will like about both SB & WL is the “Inventory Management” part of them. I added a custom field to WL long ago. It is called “BIN LOCATION”. After we list an item we also put the bin number we stored the item in, into that field. So how is that useful, you may ask? Well several things, one is that you can print out a list of all of your “active” listings and customize that report to include location, cost of the item, total cost of all inventory, etc. Second, each morning I open up WL and first thing I do is print out a “Pick List”, one of the reports both WL & SB will do. It prints a one line summary of each item sold all on one sheet. It shows a small thumbnail pix of the item sold, the title used on ebay, the associated SKU number and the bin it is located in. This would be a great list to just hand your helper each morning, she goes to your [NEW STORAGE BUILDING WITH ROWS OF NUMBERED SHELVES AND BINS] and she grabs a rolling shopping cart, and then just walks down the rows andpulls everything sold and needs to be shipped that day out of the bins and brings them all to the shipping area. OR, thirdly you can print out all of the “Packing Lists” for each item instead of a consolidated list and then you can place each PL with each item you pull.
Another neat thing you can pull is a report that is sorted by item name then shows where it is stored, or you can print a list sorted by the BIN NUmbers, numerically [001 – 1,000 etc.] and see what is in each bin. This way you can dedicate a certain number to contain only ties, or shoes and when you buy more of those items you can see what bin numbers you use to hold those like kind items.
Finally a good reason to have this all on your own computer is as stated, in case the internet goes out for some reason, also these files can be exported quickly into spread sheets if you want, you have more control by “owning and maintaining your own data”, and it is less costly to keep it own your own rig [but make sure you do proper back ups]. As T-Satt said you can have it put into the cloud but both SB & WL will charge more for that service.
So what you are paying for is quick access to technical support, how to instructions and help, them doing constant updates and improvements based on customer recommendations, them constantly “pinging” your Ebay and Etsy account and updating your inventory, sales, financials and profit reports every few seconds across multiple platforms, also reimbursing them for the research and development of their software in the first place and then for them to keep improving SB & WL as an expanding tool, just like we all have to reimburse for our medicine prescriptions from Pharmacy companies, and other things.
What these programs will do has been posted in many other past posts but as an exercise, I would suggest two things, first go to SB & WL web sites and print out a list of what all each will do, and then compare that list to what you know or think Ebay does. Next form your own questions that you can’t find and pick up the phone and call them. I did for several; companies and ask the big question, “What do you offer or bring to the table that Ebay doesn’t and what do I get for the fee that I can’t get elsewhere”?
And then lastly, you said earlier, what if you ever get kicked off of Ebay for some reason, well you will have your whole store right there on your own computer, just open an Etsy Store or create your own web site and everything you need to populate that new store platform is right at your finger tips.
Just continuing to share experience(s) of off line listing and inventory software stories.
Mike at MDC Galleries in Atlanta
