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True. But I’m sure there are thousands of situations like that a month. Maybe weekly.
On a related note: I just packed two orders for the same buyer. It was two small 4oz. items that could easily have been combined. Yet for some reason eBay DIDN’T combine the orders. Nor could I find any way to choose to combine the orders. So, again, it cost extra money on shipping because eBay’s combined shipping system makes no sense.
I somehow missed that you posted a link. Wow, that’s a pretty “small” collection (compared to many I’ve seen for sale on Facebook for much less money. My gut tells me you’d have a hard time even getting $150 for it all unless there actually are some gems in there and you really know what you’re doing. Comic books and sports cards are 2 niches that you’ll almost always lose your butt on unless your really know the material and understand the subtleties of grading very well.
Even then, unless they’re professionally graded (which, in my opinion, is a money wasting racket in most cases), you’ll never get what they’re “worth”. If they’re worth anything at all. And I doubt there are many gems in the 1980’s – early 2000’s date range. But I know nothing about sports cards, so I may be wrong.
If 3 of the cards are worth over $2K, she’d have them graded herself. I learned many years ago that sports cards are generally worthless. I see people struggling to get $10 a box for them all the time. Even $5 is a hard sell. Sure, there are some very rare examples worth a mint. But the odds of ever coming across one in the wild is like hitting the lottery.
Personally, I wouldn’t even consider it. You’ll be storing them for years to come. Shipping makes them impractical to sell online. And local buyers aren’t going to want them unless you’re about giving them away.
15-20 years ago, a guy I knew was spending thousands of dollars a month “investing in” sports cards. Now he looks at his room FULL of cards and his heart sinks. He threw away a fortune (a huge inheritance sum) on what is essentially paper Beanie Babies that he’ll never get remotely close to recovering, let alone make money off of.
gfd_622 – That’s a great story. In addition to scavenging for our own benefit, we play another role in the food chain. We bring objects that would be otherwise lost, forgotten or destroyed to those who will find value in them.
I’ve found that most of the items on both Facebook and Craigslist are priced too high. You see many of the same listings for weeks or months because sellers are asking eBay prices but shoppers are looking for yard sale prices. Though on occasion I find and snatch up some pretty good deals and make a lot of money reselling on eBay.
I’ve sold a bunch of items on Facebook, but you have to deal with an insane number of people asking if the thing’s available only to never even acknowledge your reply. Even if you reply immediately.
Craigslist is tedious on both ends, buying and selling. I’ve bought and sold there, but it’s definitely not my go-to platform.
Amatino – I’d consider that a scavenge. You had the mindset to realize you could make money off of it. Think of how many people would pass on something like that, even for free. It’s definitely a very niche item. This isn’t a contest, but you still may have won!
@ Sharyn – Now that’s a funny thought. Opening a box to find a bunch of chickens.
@ Ryanne – It’s crazy. Mine is a little 3″ knife with advertising on it. One short flimsy blade, a nail file/pick and tiny scissors. Why the UK or Ireland would have a problem with that is baffling to me.
Also annoying is that the notification email makes it sound like I was trying to sell a banned item. The relevant information (that it’s because of a couple countries in GSP) is casually tacked on to the end of the 4th paragraph. They should have led with that. Instead, it’s really easy to miss.
Or better yet, if eBay KNOWS it can’t be shipped to the UK or Ireland, just automatically remove those from the destination options and let me know “Hey, on this item, the following countries/regions have been removed from GSP for this listing. Here’s why.”. Or notify me know when I go to submit the listing.
MDC Galleries – I hear you about the titling quandary. I’ve had similar situations myself (though not as humorous). One such case was when I sold a couple sealed cases of true crime/serial killer themed trading cards. I got them from a guy at the flea market for $10 a case. The first one sold within a couple days for $120.
Then a week or two later, the other one got taken down as “offensive material” and I was told I can’t sell it on eBay because it’s of a sensitive nature that could offend those who may have been affected in some way by the depicted cases/killers. I took a risk and relisted it with different wording, leaving out any reference to “killing” or any famous names. I also changed the photos and omitted any close-ups of the box art. It sold within a day for $80.
I think it may have been “Charles Manson” that triggered the take-down.
Mickdog, please forgive me for the delayed response. I didn’t mean to leave you hanging and only now discovered your reply (I guess I hadn’t ticked the box to notify me of replies). I too am using an Android phone.
I just checked and you’re right! I don’t know why I didn’t find that before, but I’m glad to finally have a solution. Thank you very much for your help!!! You’re awesome!
I’ve seen some prints that have a texture that makes them appear to be paintings. But if you let it catch light at an angle that gives you glare, you could see that the brushstroke textures don’t match up to the painting strokes. Instead, it was a clear glaze of some sort painted over top of a print to make it seem more realistic. Some of them were sold at big box decor stores.
I know this is a passed deal, but a quick note about vintage toys: I see vintage toys all the time at the flea market. Many of them I immediately assume have some value. Then I look them up and find that there is a glut of the same item already on eBay (often more complete and in better condition) for as much as or less than the flea market vendor is asking. So don’t assume that vintage toys are necessarily valuable or worth tying up money in.
Same thing with more contemporary toys, such as action figures and Star Wars / Star Trek merchandise. They’d better be cheaper than dirt or do your research before buying.
Just a couple days ago I had a situation where eBay automatically combined shipping for items that cannot safely be shipped in the same box. So I lost a bit over $5 on the deal. They bought a ceramic Snap-On Tools coffee mug and a heavy Honda Wheel bearing and there was no way I was putting them in the same box.
The individual listings would have covered shipping (because of calculated shipping). But eBay took it upon themselves to combine shipping, which sucks doubly because one was a deal where I sent an offer. The other is one that I accept the buyer’s offer, not knowing it was the same person.
In the past week, I’ve had both a “touch it & sell” and a “think about & sell” sale of items I haven’t touched of thought about in a long time.
It’s pure conformation bias (we remember the hits because they stand out in our mind and forget the misses because nothing happens) and I know there’s absolutely no connection between the two events, but every time it happens it’s a reminder that list it and forget it is valid strategy. Eventually, the things that show no activity or interest sell out of the blue. Even if it’s several years later.
It’s weird that they used right-hand justification on the text. I have a box of letterpress advertising dies I need to list. I’ve been looking for a used ink pad that’s not dried out. It’s insane how much they sell for new; I can’t justify buying one to use for only a half hour.
It’s either a tilt head lock or a leg lock. http://en.filmservice.com.ua/rent/camera/fluid-heads/o-connor-head-2060c
