7 replies to this topic

[Joe Chernauskas]

Hey all I have a couple questions about selling some models. I need to lighten the stash & get some cash for truck repairs & bills etc. Anyway are we allowed to post a link to our auctions in emodelcars? I know linking to ebay auctions is a no-no.
Also I heard some discussion that it is better to sell in lots on ebay to minimize shipping costs & generate more interest. Is that true for all models or can some stand on their own for example big rigs or RoG kits. I have 3 exotic/sports cars from RoG, would selling them as a group be better or individually?
Thanks for any help/info you guys can provide.

[Jordan White]

Who knows, but my guess is no. For some reason Gregg wants to have this new site for selling kits and such, yet he apparently doesn't want people mentioning here (where there is more traffic) that they have things for sale.

[Erik Smith]

Models that are rare or uncommon are better listed individually.

I would use lot sales for common kits that shipping individually makes them less competitive versus online and hobby shop purchasing.

[Tom Geiger]

Joe, the problem with selling online right now is that postage costs have gone way up over the years. Back when I sold kits on eBay, Priority Mail was something like $3.50 for 2 pounds. Now it costs something like $8 to mail a kit. So cheaper, common kits become very expensive! Those could be grouped together, or since parts boxes seem to generate a lot of interest, take the remains from 4 kits, dump it into a box and call it a parts lot! The more expensive kits can be sold alone.

 

I haven't sold in a number of years myself, but I found that selling Internationally helped kits sell and sell for more money.

[Joe Chernauskas]

Thanks for the input so far. I totally agree Ebay fees & postage have both made it hard to sell kits which is why I was looking for advice on combining kits. I like the idea of a parts box Tom, I will have to try that. I have always sold internationally as it was never a real problem for me to go to the post office. It was only a mile or so from the house & never busy being a small town. Since I moved to Danville the commute to the post office is mabe a half mile more at the most but with Danville being about 10x the population of Georgetown I sometimes do have to wait in line but never long enough where I would consider not selling/shipping international. I have a stack of custom forms at home & have all my info filled out & box addressed so all they have to do is scan the bar code on the customs form & give me a total.

[Erik Smith]

Agree on international sales. More work but more money overall.

[Casey]

It's not "hard" to sell kits, but you're not going to get $15.00 for a common or undesirable kit. If someone wants the kit and thinks the price is fair, they'll pay the reasonable shipping cost ($6.50-$10.00 is the norm for USPS Priority within the U.S.), no matter where they are. USPS offers free boxes shipped to your home, free package pickup, and you can print your labels online, yep, for free. You never have to leave the house, so zero expense to you, too.

[Tom Geiger]

Agree on international sales. More work but more money overall.

 

Exactly, even when they don't win they bump up the price.  I once had a kit for sale and noticed the minimum bid was met by someone in Brazil. I was grumbling about doing the International sale for that little money. Then during the sniping period of the last 10 seconds, someone in the US swooped in and suddenly the kit was up over $60.  So the guy from Brazil had bumped it up that far!

 

I've done a lot of sales to Brazil since then. It seems that any time I post 1/32 scale kits, they go to Brazil since there are a bunch of slot car guys there. They especially like the old Maverick kit since that was a hot car there that they sold way beyond the US timeframe.