Jim, I'd be happy to help you out. We could do this in this forum, by e-mail, but the telephone might be better if you want a stream of consciousness brain dump, or have a steady stream of questions.
Forget ebay for Dummies. As a buyer you've experienced enough from ebay to know the ins and outs. As to what a "good" seller does, that's ultimately subjective. My namesake, the other Chris, on this list has a much larger sales volume than I do, and also his own excellent site. (I've also been on hiatus for months). I would imagine his, or the other sellers, all have their own opinions. What's good is that we all have unique experieneces. A word of advice -- do NOT sell your wares to an ebay seller, unless you want to avoid the "hassle" of listing everything in exchange for a steep discount on what you *could* make. I say "hassle" because, to me at least, researching the material for my ads is usually fun (though at times tedious). The profiteering seller in me wants to buy your $2 games and sell them for $20 or more. The human being in me wants you to sell your $2 games for $20 or more. I'll stick with the latter, especially since you need the money. *AVOID THE PROS!* My own experience: - Describe EVERY item in the box. Describe the condition of EVERY item, and the box, and be brutal. I've never had a complaint about overgrading the condition of my games, which means repeat customers. You might be able to skip this for a low selling, obviously worthless game, such as a common Mastertronic title, but I find it good practice. - We on this list are game lovers. If a game is an unsung legend, we might know about it, but many ebay buyers will not, because of age or experience. (My ad for Pirates! for example is about 30K. Overkill, yes, but I feel the game is THAT good). So educate them! It's great for the hobby and it increases sales potential. Give that 8 bit classic the respect it deserves! - If you're positive a game is of low value (and you had better be sure, because I've been surprised countless times.) bundle them into a single lot. Is the amount you could make worth losing those titles? - I always avoid reserves, but can understand it for obviously high ticket items. I just set a high (relatively) starting price and go from there. More often than not, the market will bear out the typical selling price. - Work with your buyers. If they have a complaint help them out. If there is a problem with the game, or something was accidentally misrepresented, offer them a good discount on the price, or take a full return. Don't quibble! If they require tech support, put on the hat. It can eat up alot of time but it makes you a trustworthy seller. Chris Jim Leonard wrote: > > A time feared by all collectors has finally come to haunt me: I'm broke. Not > bankruptcy broke, but "in serious trouble" broke, and one of the things my > wife and I agreed to do is try to scale back the software and hardware > collection for cash. > > What I plan to do is offload a lot of stuff via ebay, but I have no idea how > to get started. When I got my ebay id in 1997, it was a hell of a lot simpler > then -- fees, etc. were very simple and upfront. But now the help file for > sellers alone is many, many pages of nonsense (at least, to a cursory glance). > > So, I have questions that I hope you guys can give opinions on. Before I ask > them, I'm geared mostly toward getting the best price for what I auction, > which *can* include newbies bidding on the software and reserve prices, but > does *not* include shilling and other despicable practices. (In other words, > I want to be as moral and ethical as possible without getting screwed silly.) > I am open to the idea of offering things for auction on places other than > ebay. I am not too concerned about auction listing or payment service prices > as long as they don't exceed ludicrous limits. > > With that in mind: > > - Is ebay pretty much the only place I should consider listing, or are other > auction houses viable for software collectors? Some of the stuff I'll be > listing is esoteric (even for collectors) so I don't necessarily want to list > it somewhere that won't be seen. > > - Are reserve prices universally hated by bidders, or can they safely be used > in their original context (to protect the seller)? > > - Are "Ebay for Dummies", et al worth reading? Or is the online documentation > perfectly capable of a newbie seller to grok? > > - I have many items that will probably have a starting bid of $2 and most > likly not make much more than that. Is it worth it to list these items at > all, or will the listing fee alone remove all profit from the sale? > > - Is there any other sage advice you can give to a seasoned software collector > but an ebay newbie (almost an oxymoron, but believe me I exist) > -- > http://www.MobyGames.com/ > The world's most comprehensive gaming database project. > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to > the swcollect mailing list. To unsubscribe, send mail to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of 'unsubscribe swcollect' > Archives are available at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent to you because you are currently subscribed to the swcollect mailing list. 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