For those who buy and sell on the net. What's the best way to ship?

[DaveM]

Cathie is stuck with selling off parts of her Uncle's estate.  The property is going up for a fixed listing, the clothes are going to Goodwill, the furniture and household goods are being auctioned off at an estate auction next Month.  Cathie has been trusted with all of her Uncles books, pipes, records, collectibles, hobbies and models to auction off on Ebay.  Proceeds will be split equally among the five heirs.  (No money will be taken out for time or anything, but shipping costs will be paid out of the profit, not our pockets.)  Quite a while back, when he was in the Nursing home, they had me help auction off a few of the expensive kits.  I used Priority mail medium flat rate boxes with a bit of bubble wrap inside.  For $40 and up per kit auction, the ten or eleven bucks shipping didn't kill the deal.  They were fast, had tracking and pretty fool proof.  Now the same box costs $13.45 to ship!  We will be dumping a lot of cheaper kits, so I can see that being a deal killer for most of the kits.  There is n buy it now, all kits will auction to the highest bidder.

He has about 850 car kits, mostly from the second heyday of modeling in the '80s and '90s.  He has a lot of SSP kits, and three or four hundred checkerboard boxes from Wallyworld.  Most of these kits will go in the $10 to $15 dollar range or slightly cheaper.  Some will be in the low twenties.  The old, good  stuff got sent off in the first wave.  There is some value in the kits, but mostly by numbers.  If we could clear five to eight bucks after shipping on most of these kits, we will be pretty happy.  The NASCARS will probably sold a case at a time, shipped in some old case boxes he has.  I expect these to just barely cover shipping, or not to sell.  

How are you all selling and getting your kits?  I haven't bought kits for a while, so I can't see how everybody else is shipping them.  Ebay wants packages to be tracked, so I need a method to do that.  Are most of you getting your kits via U.S.P.S., Fedex or the big brown truck?  If the overall number was smaller, I would just jury rig up some recycled boxes, ship parcel by weight and be done with it.  With this many kits, and nobody being compensated for the work, I need to find a mass produced box, buy a few hundred, load them up and let them fly.  (I can still get them weighed if that will save them money.) I looked at the different rates, but which methods seem to get the best feedback?  Since Cathie will be using our Ebay store to sell these, I want things to go smoothly with very few chances for unhappy customers.  

I have tried to convince them that pricing the models and taking them to shows would be a better deal then auctioning them all off, but they want to auction them so that they can all see the receipts, track the listings and know nobody is selling them cheaply, or cheating on the prices.  This is pretty transparent in that regard.  They can inventory the kits before turning them over to us and they expect to realize the full selling price of the kit in cash when the auction ends.  The buyer will set the price, and the person selling them has no chance to profit from them.  (They will only deduct the actual receipts for postage and boxes.)  Part of me thinks they are crazy for trying to talk us into doing this, but I want to do it as fairly to them as possible too.  They are all part of the Family that I intend to marry into someday.  

Thanks for your replies.  I am hoping to come up with a fairly simple, efficient way to do this.

 

Dave.

[peteski]

I prefer USPS Priority Mail. It is tracked (although not really well) but good enough for eBay and PayPal. It is quicker than UPS ground and price is comparable.

Most of my eBay purchases comes  through Priority Mail.  I haven't sold anything on eBay for a while now but back when I was selling you could print shipping label right from eBay or PayPal (using the funds received from the buyer, then just drop it in the mail or have it picked up by mail carrier.   Shipping costs have gone up steadily and it is just part of the transaction. Even if the model was sold for $5, you can expect to pay more for shipping.  That is normal. You can offer free shipping but they you have to price your items accordingly (not to lose you shirt on them). I have never tried the free shipping option while selling.  Make sure to offer combined shipping costs - that will bring buyers buying multiple items which you can ship in one package.  Everybody makes out on that.

[espo]

I had checked on this same issue a couple of years ago when I was thinning my stash of models. The cost of shipping almost made the whole thing into more trouble than it was worth. I would think that you would want to talk to the other beneficiaries in the estate first, but maybe consider other ways of selling the collection. #1 There are resale people that will buy either all or most of the collection. I disposed of several hundred in this manner. #2 Consider a booth at the next model show and swap meet in your area. I have done this also. The first may not earn the estate as much, but it is quick. The second can make for a long day and doesn't necessarily mean that you will get any more for the models.   Good luck with what ever you do.

[keyser]

Call a large dealer, sell the pile. No listing fees, shipping, nonsense. Price may or may not be lower, but it doesn't sound like they're particularly rare. 

You could go through and cherry pick the best, but I doubt even selling multiples per auction would be much better. If they want to track every single sale receipt on 800 kits, that's nuts. 

There's a number of dealers in upper Midwest, I'd start there. One lump check, and gone. 800 kits will take ages to dump, and stuff that's unpopular like Nascar, etc. may not sell. Even at $5/pop from dealer, that's $4000. Done. Shipping alone on 800 kits one at a time is $10,920, and then add fees. So you MAY get 10-15/kit. 

Yes the buyer will pay shipping. But on cheap kits that are usually re-issued anyway, a $10 show kit becomes a $24 auction kit. People around here scream about new kits and won't buy them without 40% coupon. Brand new issues of same kits are probably less from mail order vendors or with coupons.  I can't imagine similar people spending $24 on a $10-15 kit. 

Just another way of looking at it. GLWS. 

[modelercarl]

Dave,

I see that you are in Michigan so I will offer this for consideration.  I have downsized my stash twice in the past few years, getting rid of kits that were/are not particularly hard to find or expensive such as you describe in your post.  I took them to Dean Sillis at Dean's Hobby Stop in Owosso, MI and he was excellent to deal with.  He offered a fair price and wrote me a check on the spot for everything I took there.  I felt that I was treated very well, avoided the hassle of listing, packing and shipping individual kits.

In addition I enjoyed interacting with Dean, he is a nice guy, very knowledgeable of the model car/truck hobby...just a very pleasant experience.  You should contact him before making a final decision...he may even visit with whoever has the kits and offer you a solution on the spot.  You can contact him at www.deanshobbystop.com or 989-720-2137.

Edited August 31, 2016 by modelercarl
added contact info

[Mike999]

Keyser's advice is probably best in this case. 

I've been buying and selling on eBay since about 1999, and I wouldn't try to sell a lot this big on there. 

But if you do, USPS Priority is probably the best shipping option.  Go to the USPS website, and you can order free shipping boxes delivered right to your door. 

Some bidders will probably win multiple auctions, so you'll also need some bigger, odd-sized boxes.  I've had the same bidder win as many as 8 separate auctions in one sale, and some of those auctions were for multiple kits.  If you can't round up enough Dumpster boxes etc., you can buy cheap, strong shipping boxes at U-Haul, Lowe's and Home Depot. (Trust me on that - I moved cross-country last year and personally packed up all my approximately 2 billion kits.)

I recently talked to a vendor at a weekly Flea Market here.  He just bought a collection of 1,000 kits and die-casts from a new widow. He paid her $1.00 each, so $1,000 for the lot.  The catch - they were all NASCAR.  He said he was having trouble selling them for $2.00 each. 

Edited August 31, 2016 by Mike999
error

[keyser]

Carl is right. There are several vendors up there, but I've bought from Dean on eBay, and he's great. Reasonable, nice stuff, and fair, so I'd expect same as a buyer. Tom C is up there too, I've sold stuff to him debulking, and he was fine. I actually just shipped it to him and let him bid the pile, I had idea, and he knew I was sending it. Some will do consignment, but return iffy and time dependent, harder to track. 

Michael is right about ease with USPS. Trackable too, can print labels etc at home. 

[Daddyfink]

USPS Priority Mail

[Jantrix]

Call a large dealer, sell the pile. No listing fees, shipping, nonsense. Price may or may not be lower, but it doesn't sound like they're particularly rare. 

 

I agree completely. My uncle came up with 800 kits to unload a few years back and I just put the word out on all the forums that they were available and in what area, and before the week was out they were sold. 

[mikemodeler]

If you are looking for the answer on shipping- USPS Priority Mail.

If you want to make it easy on yourself and the others involved- take modelercarl's advice.

I can't imagine asking someone to invest the amount of time necessary to sell off 800 kits and not pay them something! Even if you sold them in lots, it is a ton of time spent checking to see the correct kit is in the box, matched up with the correct shipping label, and packing the boxes and going to the post office.

I wish you the best in your adventure.

[Eshaver]

My "Preferred " method is US post office Flat rate boxes when ever its a DOMESTIC job ......

[DaveM]

Thanks guys.  I can't convince them to sell through a third party, or to sell through a show.  They want the auction so that they know they are getting top price for every model.  They are somehow afraid that somebody will cut a friend a deal.  .  Somewhere along the way, a lawyer friend told the oldest one that everything needed to be sold via auction, and if one of them wanted to keep something, they could buy it at the auction and the others would split the profit.  On some of the pipes and records, I'm pretty sure the heirs will be bidding.  The sad part is that Cathie is the executor, but does not get a cut of the pie.  She gets a flat payment that will never come close to covering our time.  (And the kids are already trying to claim that there won't be enough to pay her if the estate doesn't "perform" )  The five kids are the most stubborn, squabbling little dillweeds I have ever dealt with.  They have already all contacted lawyers!  The oldest one would rather see her siblings get a penny less than she would like to get a dollar more.  It's stuff like this that makes me glad I am an only child  !   I have talked about holding a special auction, or including the model cars in the estate auction, but it's too late to add them in at this point.  Even the professional auctioneer didn't want to stand up there hawking out that many kits at one time.  

The only thing good for me is that I'll get some feedback and experience for when I have to get rid of my 1200 kit collection from about the same era.  (Tip:  buy stock in whoever makes the boxes for U.S.P.S. this week!)   

Thanks again for the responses.  I will try going with the priority flat rate and see how that works.  I was just shocked at the $13.45 price!  I might be able to go ground rate a good bit cheaper if I can get the box and model to weigh a pound or less.  I don't even know what a model weighs!  I'll have to get to a scale tomorrow.  Maybe the lighter kits like the Bantam Blasts can be shipped this way.  I will be combining shipping, of course, and I will also look at bundling some kits together in themed lots to save a bit of time and money.  I will probably list 20 or 30 kits at first to see how things work and to perfect a system.  Then, I will list about 50 kits a week until they are gone.  

We also have to deal with over 3,000 records, about 900 pipes and a few thousand odd collectibles.  (Cuckoo clocks, Marx playsets.  Vintage action figures, desk and office accessories, Vintage radios, 2,000 vintage tubes, Hot Wheels (All redlines),  weather instruments, hand planes, airline memorabilia, sheet music, vintage flags, military uniforms, antique fishing equipment, antique medical equipment and quackery devices, reel to reel tapes, vintage telephones, fountain pens, collectible measuring tapes, folding rulers, antique electronics equipment, vintage movie posters, thousands of antique books, over a thousand antique bibles including hundreds of foreign ones in 70 different languages, antique bicycles, a couple dozen pinball machines, penny arcade equipment, vintage photographs, vintage cameras, paintings, posters, vintage Christmas decorations, stamps, postcards, a display of over 300 different ball peen hammers with plaques identifying and describing each one and a huge collection of gambling and gaming memorabilia from Las Vegas going back pre-war!)    I am just wanting to start with the kits for two reasons.  A:  Cathie wants me to handle the kits for her while she tries to figure out the rest.  B:  I know a lot about models, and I can list them correctly without having to do tons of research.   Everything else is going to take hours of research to even know how to title the listings!

 

[keyser]

If she is truly the executor, she can dispose of things appropriately. She also has to cover estate debts with proceeds, etc. 

The kids can't dictate as much as they seemingly are. 

Here's a quick read from Legal-zoom, but Executor is a big deal. Especially with a big estate. 

https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/the-other-side-of-the-will-top-10-duties-of-an-executor

[mikemodeler]

Dave,

If there is that much automobilia (models and Hot Wheels) to sell off, have you considered having an auction on those items? Some auction houses will hold online auctions to move the items much like eBay, but without YOU having to do all of the work.

I would look into what Keyser mentions above, if it applies to where you live, you may get to decide what happens and how.

[DaveM]

Thanks for all of the responses.  I have looked at hiring an auctioneer.  It seems to me that that should satisfy the family's interest in doing it via an open auction format.  They seem to be opposed, thinking that an auction, even down in Lansing MI, would not get the sheer interest that Ebay would.  They also balked at the commission.  Why pay an auctioneer and staff and rent a large room and pay for all of t he advertising when you have a Cousin and her wannabe husband who will do it for free?  As if to drive home the point, for some reason, a truck arrived at the house at about 9:00 a.m. this Morning.

We now have what turned out to be a little over 1,100 kits piled up in the garage and house, along with hundreds of pipes, Zippo and Ronson lighters, a whole file box of antique stethoscopes, 70 lbs of old keys (Including some old Pontiac keys with the Chief's head design) ,A hundred or so early skateboards, 90 or so vintage wooden canoe paddles, vintage wooden skis, 6 airplane propellers, brass boat props, oil paintings, pool cues, wooden tennis rackets, Wild West action figures, music boxes, wind up toys, stock certificates, early frisbees, B.C. glassware and dishes from the '70s, old padlocks, cases of License plates, Airline pilot's uniforms from the propliner era and several hundred flight attendant's uniforms!  (With 8 mannequins to display them on!)  There are also 18 large boxes that I haven't even opened that are marked "Decoys"  I was only expecting the models!  Kirk (Cathie's Son in Law) says there are another 7 to 8 truckloads that are piled up for us to deal with!  (Pretty big truck too!)  This is going to be a nightmare.  They didn't send the NASCAR stuff, yet, and there is much more on the first truck that I haven't even gotten to yet.  I have already heard from three of the five heir's lawyers this morning!  (None of them were nice)

A quick look at the model list confirms my suspicions.  There aren't any holy grails or hidden gems.  It's just bread and butter kits from the last thirty years or so.  Some are a bit more bread, and some are a bit more butter!  The best ones I have seen listed are the Fire Fighter Mustang II and a couple of 1972 GMC pickups.  Most are kits that you can get in a store for $25.  Getting the shipping cost down is the only way to make this work.  I can get a 10" X 8" X 6"  box that will hold most standard kits with enough room for  a sheet of bubble wrap all around.  The box is 6.6 ounces.   I put a few kits on a shaky old scale, and they seem to be just under a pound for the average ones.  Moebius pickups are higher, Bantam blast is lower...   If I can get kits down to a pound, ready to ship, I can ship for a reasonable price.  (7.84)  If not, it jumps up to 11.51.   That's an expensive ounce!  I will get my hands on a more accurate scale before I launch into this.  Now I see why all of the medium box Warhammer kits on ebay are removed from the box and shipped in just a shipper!  It saves about $4 in postage.  (Cathie thinks I should just remove all of the parts from the sprue and ship the kits that way... she is actually serious and thinks that is a great idea!!!)  

Thanks again for your suggestions and commiseration.  I will get through this.  What doesn't kill us makes us stronger...  It is making me think about my five storage units full of stuff, and how much I want to put my family through when I am gone. I was starting to work on clearing out my stuff when all of this came up!   Oh.. and if one more lawyer gives me any lip about how they are going to punish me for doing it wrongly before I even start, they are going to go to their office Tuesday morning after the Holiday break, to find it full to the ceiling with models, decoys, bright blue polyester.  (Did EVERY airline have to use the same bright blue???)  and paint by number nudes.  Taped right to the first Velvet Elvis will be a sheet pf paper from a legal pad that says,  "If you don't like the way I am doing it, pay me, or do it yourself!  (Just had to vent, I won't really do that. )  

[Exotics_Builder]

Maybe this would be a better option and clobber the family...

http://info.legalzoom.com/end-obligations-being-executor-will-20474.html

[Mike999]

You're making me very happy I'm an only child, long divorced, with no heirs.  I'm a grumpy old loner and plan to stay that way!  I've helped people sell kits on eBay before, but nothing on this massive scale. 

I hate to add to your problems, but keep this in mind with shipping multiple kits:  USPS calculates its prices based on Weight AND Size of the package.  That's why the USPS website calculator asks for the package dimensions.

A few years ago USPS charged by Weight only.  A Post Office employee told me that changed after a rise in fuel prices (though nothing changed back after fuel prices fell, as usual).  The USPS decided it also needed to charge by the amount of room a package occupied, as well as the Weight.

This means the one of the most expensive things you can ship is a big box that doesn't weigh very much - like a big box of model kits.  A Post Office employee told me that, too.

You may have been venting in your last post, but I think you're on to a good idea there. "They seem to be opposed, thinking that an auction, even down in Lansing MI, would not get the sheer interest that Ebay would."  Well, then I suggest all these experts go read the eBay Tutorial and start listing stuff themselves, especially if they're so worried about being cheated.  This reminds me of the old saying: "All jobs are easy, to the person who's NOT doing them."

 

[1930fordpickup]

As a member of a large family it makes me cringe to now what is going to happen. 1 of 10 surviving children. 

The next time the Lawyer calls you ask him what his hourly fee is. Just reply that his time is not free and your time is not free when he is talking to you. 

If any of these lawyers carried about their clients they would have a large auction for this stuff, makes me wonder how informed they are estates values. People would make the drive for an auction this large. 

As far as the cost of the auction house do they think that EBAY and Paypal are Free of charge?

[1930fordpickup]

Dave she can refuse to handle the estate, she has that right to do so. If she has already agreed to do so she can also resign. I understand she may want to do this for her uncle but you are not related as of yet and it will put a huge burden on your relationship with her and her family. If it creates a hardship for her a judge may let her off the hook. Brother in law had to do this because of family reasons with for an Aunt.  

She can decide how she wants to sell it but the family can protest. They are not thinking in their right mind because Lansing is not Alaska and Millions of people are within a 4 hour drive to buy at an auction house Auction Zip.com is a very popular site for people looking at different auctions. 

Most action houses would be chomping at the bit to get this kind of stuff, all in one hall. 

[Tom Geiger]

Dave, I'm sorry to see you in this mess!  Estates bring out the very worst in people. A dozen years since my father died and I was executor of his estate. I still cannot have a normal relationship with my sister.

No group of heirs can demand that you sell an entire estate of collectibles item by item for full retail.  The difference between wholesale and retail is the time and resources it takes to sell items one at a time.  The estate is worth wholesale as it sits.  If indeed you sell it retail, you are due the difference for your time and expertise.  Estate law recognizes that, and that's why executors are paid a percentage of the estate.

If indeed this group of little scoundrels wants to achieve retail for everything, assign each of them a category to vend. Since you have model cars,  make one of them sell hammers, another one pens.  I'm sure they will all balk at this.  There cannot be anything written in a will that would state that Dave must do all this work for free.

Seriously, the estate sale is the way to go.  Estates routinely expect to sell everything at auction in a quick and easy format.  A professional auction company will advertise it all as a collectibles auction and list the category.  Their general knowledge would go into creating the size of the lots offered to cater to the type of buyers, mainly dealers, who buy at these events. None of them would do the piece by piece sell off.  

A few years ago my 95 year old uncle died and left his entire estate to a charity.  A younger uncle wound up as executor.  We took a few memories from the house, then called in one of those "We buy complete estates" guys who bought everything in the house as one lot.  Then the house was sold by a realtor.  This satisfied the estate and the charity.

 

 

Edited September 2, 2016 by Tom Geiger

[mikemodeler]

I can imagine the complaining that will ensue once the "heirs" realize that it will take MONTHS to sell off this stuff if you are going to use eBay and they don't get big checks. Add in the attorney fees and they will realize they should have listened to you Dave!

The trouble with people is that once money is involved, their personalities change and they fear being screwed over. On top of that there are TV shows like American Pickers, Pawn Stars and Antiques Roadshow that give the idea that anything "old" or "unique" is worth more than what most people are willing to pay.

You truly have my sympathy and I implore you and Cathie to re-think the job you have been tasked with. As Tom stated above, he has a strained relationship with his sister and based on what you have told us here, I think you will be in the same boat.

[Tom Geiger]

I can imagine the complaining that will ensue once the "heirs" realize that it will take MONTHS to sell off this stuff if you are going to use eBay and they don't get big checks.

a piece at a time for all those collections... it will take YEARS to sell it all.  Remember too that the sell through rate on eBay is pretty poor too.  You may be selling a quarter of what you list.  Last year a friend of mine contacted me about selling his father's 1/18 scale diecast car collection.  Literally a few thousand pieces.  All still in original boxes, multiples of some. His initial take was "there are some of them on eBay for $100".  He took the time to create this huge inventory spreadsheet so I checked a few out.  Yes he was right, there were some FOR SALE on eBay for big numbers, but none of them had sold.  For each $100 listing, there was an expired one for $10.   

I told him the best thing to do with it all was to hit a local flea market and sell them for $10 each.  Cash over the table.  No photo taking, no writing descriptions and posting them on eBay. And best yet no packing and shipping.  Once he came to reality he offered me the whole lot for something like $3 a car.  I still declined.  I have no idea what he did in the end.

[gtx6970]

I don't envy you that's for sure . Dont be surprised IF a dealer makes an offer your  looking at under $5 per kit ,,,maybe less.

 

 

Gonna have to think about all the kits I have and ( god forbid its later than sooner  ) my family would have to deal with at some point .

My gut is my wife would keep the builtups and sell off the unbuilt ones,,,think I might just ask her over dinner tonite.

Edited September 2, 2016 by gtx6970

[mikemodeler]

I don't envy you that's for sure . Dont be surprised IF a dealer makes an offer your  looking at under $5 per kit ,,,maybe less.

 

 

Gonna have to think about all the kits I have and ( god forbid its later than sooner  ) my family would have to deal with at some point .

My gut is my wife would keep the builtups and sell off the unbuilt ones,,,think I might just ask her over dinner tonite.

A dealer has to make a profit and from the sounds of things, most of the kits are in the $10-15 range, so $5 sounds reasonable.

 

I have taken my wife with me to a couple of shows recently and has an idea of what to price stuff and how to deal with cheap model builders. She knows that they are worth something and giving them to Goodwill or taking them to the landfill is NOT my final wish. You are smart to discuss with your wife, she may not know what you are sitting on in terms of kits and their value.

 

Dave- I hope you get out of this fiasco, I don't see a fun time ahead for you or Cathie.