The UnHoarder Dynasty

[CrimsonFox]

Listed another item yesterday.
Another Sportscoat. This one dark, lightweight and kind of a dark blue/olive plaid going on.
Already it has a bid of 8.99.
And from the relists got a couple watchers on things, lots of views, and one bid on the smoking jacket for 9.99.

[CrimsonFox]

Still no word from the deadbeat regarding the Salvatore book but I'm learning the process. The first step was reporting it. ebay gets word that he didn't pay and investigates and sends him more emails. I could start that process 4 days after the auction finished and he now has four days to respond. (which is the 15th). I actually am hoping I can relist or sell it elsewhere (like here)

Tip: If someone doesn't pay or respond to you or your invoices. Start the "report him" process as soon as possible. Four days is more than enough time to get back on this and you'll want to be able to relist quickly.

[CrimsonFox]

Wow when I came home I found I had sold 2 books today on Amazon!

Amazing!!!!! Autumn is great...Autumn is great....Autuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmn is GRRRRRRRRRRREAT!

10 bucks for each of them. That's like 9 bucks each more than I probably would have received on ebay

Seriously. One of them was the Forge of Fury adventure module for 10 bucks. That's D&D 3.0 module. I've tried selling it at the Gencon auction store for $5 before and got NO bites. And that's like the biggest collection of gamers looking to buy things in one place in the world basically.

The other thing was some historical religious book that was in pretty much new condition.

Okay I'm hooked. I just hope I can sell the big books quickly. I think I need to lower their price to move them and I'm okay with that.

[CrimsonFox]

Sent out last package from last ebay batch...the Gorey books. SEnt mediamail.

Sent out the 2 amazon purchases. But sent those first class as single books are cheaper to send that way.

Tip: Single books should be sent First Class. That is often cheaper than media mail if light enough. And it will get there in about 2-3 days as opposed to the week that MM takes. 2-3 days means more chance of positive feedback. MM receivers I have found are less likely to leave positive feedback.

And the big thing is, as of 12 minutes ago I finally was able to close the case on my first deadbeat. It took 4 days from when I reported the non-payer and now to advance the status (and get any fees refunded), I just had to wait til now, close the case, and then he is reported on forever in his file. I actually called ebay today to make sure I was doing things right because it didn't list a time and I wondered if AANY time today I could do this, but that wasn't true. When I tried to close the case, it takes me to a page saying "Did the buyer pay?" The "Yes" selection is available (in case he comes back and pays) and the "No" is grayed out.
So I made sure I wwas doing it right. They told me just to wait til midnight.
And sure enough that's what it was. The "No" ungrayed.

Now my books are free to be relisted, etc.

But since they only went for 5 bucks anyway, I think I might gang them up with other stuff.

[CrimsonFox]

back to it:
New Listings:
1) Blue/Green Patchwork Vest - Listing Price: 9.99
2) Velvet Deer Tapestry. Tag says "Made in Italy". esearching "Italian tapestries on ebay they command a pretty penny.(and no that's not a Buckaroo Bonzai callout) Going $24.95. 10 looks and 1 watcher so far
3) Tall thin angel Tapestry/WallHanging with dalrod. Looks nice and good condition and the rod makes it even more attractive. $14.95. 3 looks and 1 watcher so far

[CrimsonFox]

The Dark Ble/Green Sportscoat from the top of the page ends this morning. 39 looks but still going for 8.99 thus far. Had a question about it from someone asking where it vented, the sides or the back. Assuming they mean the little slit in sportscoat, the answer is neither. I don't expect a bid from him, but then again anyone asking a question is usually so picky they won't bid. I'll say that again.

Tip: Anyone asking a question is usually so picky they won't bid. But it still always pays to answer questions honestly and quickly.

Had some other sales from the relisted items (Yeah!!!).
The smoking Jacket went for 9.99. I realized I screwed up on the postage. I only charged 5.20 small box when I should have charged 9.99 medium box. (and suck the 86 cents). If I send priority now I will suck 5 dollars. I instead packed it in my own box and am going to mail it first class. It isn't heavy. As long as it's around 5 bucks I'll be happy.
The fox hunt tapestry pillow sold as well! for 9.49.
I've packaged these two up.

On Amazon I listed a lot more big books and RPG stuff. My 2.0 black DMG sold for 19.99. Awesome!
Packaged and ready to be sent mediamail. (And I'll get another dollar out of that as Standard shipping for amazon is 3.99)

Tip: When selling on Amazon, standard shipping of a book is 3.99. That means people will spend 3.99 on shipping. Which method you use to ship it is up to you, depending on the price and you keep the rest.

[CrimsonFox]

Oh yeah one more thing. The Grateful dead record albums did finally arrive to the buyer. I set the shipping price at 9.95 expecting the heavy records to be really expensive to ship. Even expected it to be more. But luckily I was allowed to send them mediamail. Only cost me like 4.50 or something like that. (I called them "Recordings." )

Soooo since my estimate was way high I mailed the guy I sent them to for his paypal address so that I could paypal him back a couple dollars since I overcharged him by a lot. He said not to worry, it was cool, records arrived and I could keep the extra and thanked me for being honest. He then left me positive feedback saying just that...a thing he probably wouldn't have done otherwise.

Tip: For sure honesty is indeed the best ...policy. And being proactive about it gives you positive feedback. That communication thing.

[CrimsonFox]

Lots happened. Whoa.

I had just expected to mail out the 3 ebay things that sold: The bluegreen sportscoat, the smoking jacket and the foxhunt tapestry. While I was getting all that info, packing it up and waiting for the end, FOUR amazon books sold during that time period!
This included a star wars d20 RPG revised book. I dropped the price from like 60 to 45 and BOOM it sold. WHAT?!?
Also the D&D DMG 2.0 black sold for $20.
A New copy of Zoo Tycoon 2 I've had sitting around since 2007. Very glad to get rid of this as it reminded me of some horrible people I used to work with. More on this below. It sold for $11.
Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare, a REALLY REALLY thick 2 volume in one book by isaac asimov going through each play hardcore in the way he alone can ...well....overanalyze. Sold for $20. Nothing feels better than making THAT much space on my shelf for that much money. ANd this a couple days after listing it.


Now the other place I went was the bookstore and I started unloading stuff I knew wouldn't sell. Took about 7 of the random fantasy books that were in mediocre to bad shape. Also took 4 plays, including 1 that I thought was a neat book but reminded me of an asshole everytime I looked at it.
Like above I am happy to part with this as now I won't have to be reminded of said asshole anymore.
LIke Zoo Tycoon I should have gotten rid of it much sooner.

Tip: If something you own reminds you of something painful, annoying, or that makes you angry, get rid of it. You don't need the baggage sitting around staring you in the face.


THe magazines I tried selling on ebay awhile back I took to the charity thrift store along with a couple video game mags and some steering wheel cover that I knew I wouldn't want to sell on ebay since it won't fit any of the boxes. They can do with it what they want. Magazines too.

I also now have a lot of books set on my large table in categories to sell, etc. Found a buttload of more RPG stuff that I amazon-listed as well.
In a couple days I'll probably lower amazon prices again. There's one book where I have a price set and some douchebag at a movie place keeps going under me by a penny.

[CrimsonFox]

On Ebay:

Listed a new round of stuff over the week:

Relisted
Goth robe
Pope books
Wolf Tapestry


New listingss:
Wells Fargo Grey stuffed animal horse. Part of a collector's set. GOing for a collector's price. 18.99
Charcoal Blazer 9.99

Tip: I'm telling ya! If you have sports coats you don't want anymore, make a quick 10 bucks. List them for 9.99 with a 9.99 shipping (for a med sized priority box) and they'll sell! You can play with a higher price if you want but not sure if they would sell then.

Tip: When listing sports coats or any type of clothing, men or women, list every thing you can about it ESPECIALLY measurements and condition.
If there are no tags, try it on and estimate. Also get a paper/cloth tape measure. For chest measurement, measure the back armpit to armpit and double that number. Waist measurement, same as chest, only lower for tops. For length measure the back, collar to bottom seam.

Fantasy LARP Robe with mottled fur lining. Looks nice and is incredibly oversized. Big and tall people have difficulty finding clothes and usually have to get things like this custom made so I'm not holding back on price. Charging 49.95. Most of the LARP robes and capes I see sold by companies on ebay go for much more anyway.

Event T-shirt I got for working at...well an event. Was Susan G Komen event so I should get the abortion-hater bids. It also has the energizer bunny on it so I'll get the um...people that like bunnies bid. 9.99

Listed a black/white plaid scarf too. Too short for me. 5.99 Maybe a little high but I went for the extra dollar.

[CrimsonFox]

Adventures with Craigslist.

yeahyeahyeah I've been badmouthing da list since I started this blog and way before. With good reason. Why? People suck. Local people suck worse.


But I made a new CL account with one of my other emails since my main one wasn't letting me list anymore without phone verification and the phone verification wasn't working and there literally is ZERO customer service.

But creating a new account worked.

My first account I listed 5 items and got pings on 3 of them.
One of them said they wanted to buy and when I replied told me this long story about how her friend just got an accident in her car and how she no longer could afford to buy the item because of it and how stupid her friend was and by the way had I heard about this new website that lets you make money by clicking on things on websites? Honest! the webpage has testimonials and pictures of people holding checks so it MUST be strue. She told me she made $600 dollar this week alone, but she said if I would be so kind not to share the link with anyone else.

So what tip could I possibly have for you this week?

Tip: craigslist now has an automatic link in replies which lets you report scams and spammers emails straight to to CL so the email will go onto the banlist. Ta da!

The second reply said they must have the item and could get it on Wednesday. No reply or callback to my email.

The third reply was for a bookcase.

A Woman in the country (Monroe, re: country bumpkin with cows and pigs).
She and her husband want a bookcase for her records

After talking with her she has decided to buy it and will come over later.
My bookcase is in storage but it is in the front of my unit. So after the conversation I went down (it's practically next door) to clean off the shelf.
I do so and walk back home.

Then she calls back and tells me that that shelf is not deep enough.
(even though the dimnsions are clearly listed)
The conversation before she was asking lots of picky questions about material made from and type of wood blahblahblah.
I have no idea. DO you want it or not? is what I was thinking.

So I get back and now she said the shelf won't do but is interested in one of my OTHER shelves in the back of my unit that is deeper. Sigh.
I don't know the dimensions so now I have to walk all the way down again and go measure the other one.
It is really buried behind stacks of boxes now and there is more stuff all over the place than normal.

She finally gets there and now she's getting more picky again.

She demands to go see it and then complains that the shelf is particle board and not wood and she doesn't want it after I lug a bunch of stuff to clear the path for her. But she takes the original one anyway because it is wood.

Ugh I wanted to slap her. Just needy needy needy. At elast she bought one of them though.

Bookshelf - $45
which is nice cause usually i can only get like $20 out of furniture IF I can actually get someone to come get it. I sometimes get an email saying "OMG I WANT THIS I MUST HAVE IT" and when I reply the next day they say "ZOMG WE HAD TO GET ONE NOW SO WE WENT OUT AND BOUGHT A REALLY EXPENSIVE ON! YOU TOOK TOO LONG!" I've never heard of an emergency bookshelf before.

(ps women are cunts)

[CrimsonFox]

So from my many trips into storage I have brought back a tons of books, games, dvds, and CDs. I now have 4 pages worth of amazon books listed. Also started listing computer games too (new ones) as a few CDs.

I'm not going to list them all here.

The only new ebay item I listed wasx a pair of tennis shoes. Seriously an old pair of reeboks I barely wore cause they sucked so bad. So I listed them for 5 bucks with shipping at 9.99. I have 3 watchers on it.

I also relisted 3 things that didn't sell last week.

Bids currently are on the Charcoal blazer...2 bidders actually. It's at 10.50 now so hoping for a bidwar tomorrow.
One of the three things I relisted was the Italian velvet tapestry of deer. I listed it at 24.95 originally and saw no reason to go cheaper. BOOM! almost the same day it got a bid.
Another item, a green and blue patch leather vest for 9.99 got no bites. I went lower since it's only a vest and obviously didn't strike anyone's fancy.
Started at 7.99 this time.
There was another item, a cat figurine that I realized I had almost zero description on. I fixed that on the relist and got more watchers and views.


Tip: Sometimes all you need to do is relist to find your buyer. I recommend this approach on vintage items which may genuinely have a higher price tag. Of course other times you simply need to fix the item by lowering the price or making a better description, lowering shipping, changing the category, etc.

[CrimsonFox]

I relisted 2 items on the 28th. This brought my listing total up to the magic number 50.

I have been aggressively selling and just cleared 50 by the end of the month so if you don't aggrtessively sell a lot you won't have anything to worry about.

Tip: You get 50 free listings a month (that is, posting something without a fee for posting it) on Ebay. Use em! You won't run out especially if you only casually list. (This includes relists and cancelled listings.)

[CrimsonFox]

Feburary Totals:

Lots Sold: 16
Lots Sold but unpaid (Still have them): 1
Unsold Lots: 27 (this includes some relists, aka duplicates)

Items sold ( and prices sold for)
R A Salvatore Book Lot 5.00 - unpaid
White Knit Cable Fisherman Sweater 6.99
The Wizard of Oz Book Lot 4.99
INTELLIVISION GAME LOT 4.99
D&D 4th Edition 4e Book Lot 16.00
PAX 2011 Prey 2 T shirt 9.99
Long SWEATER Coat 19.50
D&D 3.5 Core Set 65.10
Grateful Dead LP Records Lot 13.50
SURVIVOR Borneo Original T-shirt 5.99
D&D EBERRON 3.5 Lot 15.50
Men's TEAL SPORT COAT 8.37
EDWARD GOREY BOOK LOT 16.50
Hunting Party Tapestry Pillow Panel 9.49
Men's DARK BLUE GREEN Blazer 8.99
Red Burgundy Men's SMOKING JACKET 9.99
MEN'S CHARCOAL BLAZER 10.49

Total: $226.38
(not including Ebay's final listing fees but it seems nicer to look at the fee-free number and not think about it)

And thinking of the extra closet space...I now turn to my bookshelf which has been made more friendly due to February Amazon Sales

Items Sold: 11

The Forge of Fury D&D module: 9.99
The Gospel of St Thomas: Hidden Sayings book: 9.95
D&D Dungeon Master's Guide 2nd Edition (Black): 19.95
Star Wars d20 RPG Revised Core Rulebook: 44.95
Zoo Tycoon 2 (Computer Game): 11.00
Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare (HUGE thick book): 19.99
Eberron Campaign Setting 3.5 D&D book: 14.00
My Neighbor Totoro (DVD): 15.00
Whisper Tames the Lion by Drivin n' Cryin (CD): 4.99
The Great Looney Tunes Collection (Sheet Music book): 14.95
The ULtimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (HUGE thick book): 17.95

I wish I'd started amazon earlier I possibly could have gotten better prices on the ebay RPGs but oh well at least they are gone. THat's all that matters.

Amazon money made (not counting fees but with the sshipping credit it comes out about the same really): $182.72

Craigslist:
Only listing that got bites and actually sold was:
72" Wooden Bookshelf: $45


So the total for the month: $454.10

Not bad at all. Takes care of rent + rent on my storage unit.

Frees up space which is the bigger plus. But there's more to move...

I still have a bunch of auctions up and putting more up. Have taken pictures of several.


Oh yeah things given away:

To Children's Hospital Thrift shop:
Stack of magazines
box full of VHS
Steeringwheel cover

To McDonald's Books (cool used book store):
6 plays + 5 fantasy books (bad condition and not collector's) + 1 DVD (Green Day Suburbia Bomb which SUCKS!)
So got more credit from this place

Thus concludes Chapter 1 of my UnHoarder's Dynasty.

I will be more brief probably now that I have a pattern to how I do things.

[CrimsonFox]

...And we're back.

And I've sold a few more lots including...

The RA Salvatore lot including the same books from the initial lot I sold that someone didn't pay for. This time they paid. (And I threw in the Dragon Forge HB). Yay space!

2 lots just finished
A belt...nothing exciting. Someone paid 5 for it.

A Batman bedspread! Cool design. And it got the most looks I've ever had (over 100) and most watchers (8)

They waited until two days left to start bidding (8 bucks) and the last day people started counterbidding and of course there was an end of bid war.
Made it up to 31 bucks when the shrapnel cleared. And the original bidder won. Something odd though. The original bidder bid 3 times uncontested before anyone else bid. That means they bid, and then they bid again 2 more times upping their bid each time. Either they got nervous...or they wanted to intimidate people to thinking they've upped their initial bid to something higher. Well yes that IS what it means. Becuase you CAN up your own bid to make sure you get something. But as an intimidation factor it didn't seem to work here. (thankfully). I think people saw it as a challenge in fact.

Oh yeah tip...

Tip: Let a last hour bidwar happen by starting the bid at a sane hour when not everyone is asleep.

I have paid dearly for my penchant for being a productive night owl. And even lots that had watchers float by in the black of the night with nary a bite.

Had a tableboth, an eagle puppet, a pair of old hiking boots, a fantasy robe, a blazer, a lot of plays, and a pair of sandals all go by this week unsold. I relisted the blazer at a lower price (the "higher than 9.99" test for a blazer is a failure) I relisted the robe and the blazer at lower prices, also the angel wall hanging and the blue vest.

I took most of the plays to the bookstore for credit. Took the sandals and some other crap to the Value Village for a coupon.

[CrimsonFox]

Finishing tomorrow:

Energizer bunny t shirt (1 watcher) - 2nd try
Goth Robe - 3rd try
Vampire Cape - 3rd Try
Black scarf - 2nd try

[CrimsonFox]

The rest is all new stuff...woowoowoo!

Lot of mixed 80s/90s action figures! (also researched what they were and alerted an action figure message board of the auction. (55 looks, 0 W)

Tip: For specialty items, find a website with that specialty and post the auction to their forum if you can.

Pack of Magic Card (Chandra Nalaar Red) got at PAX 2011
Dark Brown Hiking shoes
Polo shirt
Colonial Black Leather Shoes (Went 34.95 with free shipping)
Dragonfire shirt

[CrimsonFox]

Two weeks since I've updated and lots happened. NOne of that new stuff from last post sold.
Not even the action figures sold. I relisted all of the above and lowered prices galore and still none sold.

Various other things I put up during the month include
- a medeival maroon robe costume with fur at the collar and side slits. Really big sized. It sould have done well but went unsold
- a blue and green patchwork leather vest. Too small for me. Went unsold too.
- A cheesy black dragonfire shirt
- a grey blazer from high school that is WAY too small for me
- Energizer bunny shirt I got working at a local event
- pair of black character shoes that had buckles instead of ties.
- Pair of used 9 1/2 hiking boots relisted, slight hole in the back of right heel
- Collection of dragon fantasy books of various sorts
- COllection of WOlf Fantasy books
- Collection of various animal fantasy books
- Incense burner with a sun on it
- Black boots, look very elven. Never worn but very distressed
- New brown running shoes 8 1/2, asking good price for
- New brown hiking boots size 9, asking good price for
- White fabric
- Burgundy tablecloth
- relist of the action figures from above dropping the price by 2 bucks
- relist of character shoes
- relist of dragon books

None of the above sold, but if at once you don't, yadayadayada

Here's what DID sell in March so far (after the belt and tablecloth):

1. Angels Tapestry Wall Hanging on dalrod. This was 2nd try for it. Didn't change the price as it was a nice item totally worth it. Sold for $9.95.
2. Men's hiking shoes size 9. Sold for 5.99. Very clunky and uncomfortable things those were.

and two others which I will get to in their own post as there is a lot to say about them.

[CrimsonFox]

Which brings me to March 14

A very productive day was March 14th.

Ebay had a special. Free listings all day on March 14th. I listed and relisted a total of 17 items.

Tip: Let ebay's specials make you more productive! Also, Once you start listing things, see how many you can keep up before it gets late.

All 17 are finishing today...some within minutes of this post.

The story so far...
1. Burgundy Tablecloth. Unsold, dropped price and relisted.
2. Action Figure Lot 8.99. Unsold. Dropped price AGAIN for 5.85 (SO I make 5 bucks and don't eat any shipping) and relisted. Also posted link on action figure site forum.
3. Black Character shoes from above. unsold. Dropped Price from 17.99 to 9.99 but gave a BUY IT NOW price of 25. These are very unique and I think people should buy them as such.
4. Red Medieval Robe. Unsold. Relisted again. The price is $10 now. Much less than I want but it wasn't selling otherwise. So the price is 10 but added a buy it now of more for the impatient people.
5. Lot of PAX 2010/GENCON Tshirts and bags. All were SWAG promo shirt from various games/ companies. 5 shirts total. 1 bag. Priced at 6.99 and went unsold. Relisted.
6. Funky paisley shirt from haunted house costume collection. Unsold.
7. Gray pants $9. Unsold
8. Homer Simpson Pajama bottoms/sweatpants. $10. Unsold.
9. The relisted Energizer bunny T shirt. unsold at $7 but 3 watchers. Cmon people don't just look. BID! Relisted.
10. Grey high school blazer from above. $8. Unsold Relisted.
11. Magic the GatheringChandra Nalaar Box. $3.50 unsold. I listed it on amazon instead.
12. Dark purple polo shirt plaid from hs. $4 unsold
13. Men's Brown hiking Boot Shoes size 9 1/2. The used ones I mentioned above with the hole in it. This time a bidding war erupted and it SOLD! for $7.50! Hooray!
14. Black and White Steampunk/goth robe. THis was on its like 5th try. I listed this back in January I think. SOLD for $4!
These are ending later today
15. Draclula cape from february. NO bids yet.
16. Bald Eagle Hand PUppet from FOlkmanis. On its second try. 2 watchers and only $10 down from 15. No bids yet.
17. Brown furry paw gloves. 2 watchers. No bids
18. Pope John Paul 2 books. These were listed in January and repeatedly unsold. Only reason I reslisted them was because of the Mar 14th sale. And a BID WAR HAS ERUPTED between two buyers! And it's not done! Currently at $850 for the pair. I mean $8.50. GOt you excited didn't I... Let the sniping begin!
19. Purple and blue Tree of Life Wall hanging. $30. No bids. Was testing the waters there. It IS really nice.
20. Dan Marino FOotball (not an autograph. Just a ball). No bids
21. Relist of the incense holder
22. Relist of the wolf books lot
23. Relist of the animal fantasy lot.

That's it. Hmmm that's more than 17. I think I counted others that were added earlier that week.


And now a word about book lots and categories.

I'm well aware that books don't sell well on ebay. Not even in lots. In fact I've had to put up lots of books just to get rid of them. At least now that I know about amazon (USE IT). But for things that don't sell there, I have to bulk sell books there if I want to sell them on ebay. One experiement I tried is changing up which category I put them in. I doin't know if it matters. I don't know if it is more common for buyers to search by category or just search by word. I do the latter. But in case for my three fantasy lots (Dragon, WOlf, Animal), I tried relisting in another category.

There is the obvious:
Books -> Fiction & Literature

I was also trying things like :
Books -> Children, YA

and

for the dragon books I even tried:

Collectibles -> Fantasy, Mystical, and Magic -> Dragons -> Other

I must confess nothing has worked with these category changes but it doesn't hurt to try. Scope out which categories see more action, itemwise. That's probably where buyers looks.

Tip: Get creative with item category if you have trouble selling in the obvious place.

A word about this though. There is a bug in ebay (*GASP!*)
If you try and change the category of an item already listed it tries to give you a $1.10 fee for having two categories even if you delete the original. ALSO if you try to RELIST an unsold item and try to change the category, it will ALSO try to charge you the $1.10 multicategory fee. So you have to copy/paste your info into a completely new ebay item.

Tip: You must create a new ebay item if you want to change the category, even on a relist.
Ain't technology swell...

[CrimsonFox]

Coming up...


How will the Pope's bidwar end?
.........The results on the rest of today's items.....
......................selling off bad memories....................
.............................My Amazon sales for March.............
......................................Doing something Dumb!.................
..................and the sad, unpleasant tale of the Blue and Green Vest (Subtitled "Women can be cunts")

All this and Andy Rooney....coming up...

[CrimsonFox]

The pope's Bidwar

This actually ended with no drama or bidwar at all. I was hoping since there were two bidders going back and forth a couple of times they would get into a major snipe war. But the second person just let it go duhr doy.
The two books (hardbacks at that which I'll be glad to see leave my shelf). Would have gone for 2 cents total on amazon. Will probably have a little leftover from media mail. But that really contributes to all the bubbleenvelopes I buy.

Sold at $8.50

[CrimsonFox]

The rest of the items:

Two things aside from the books sold that day.

1) The Black and White goth robe that I had been trying to sell since december...trying to sell for years.

Sold for $4Pair of Dorito Tacos here I come!

2) Men's Hiking boots 9 1/2
FINALLY sold. I think that was the 3rd or fourth try.

Dipped the price to 4.50 and had a buy it now of 5.99. Someone bid then messaged me why they couldn't BUY IT NOW. Because duhreee, once you bid you cannot use buy it now. So she bid the 4.50 bucks. Then other bid over top of her, she didn't rebid and the others bid it up to $7.50. yay.

Sold $7.50

[CrimsonFox]

Just realized I already told you that. (about these two items selling). The rest of the items in the list above did not sell. I waited until yesterday where they had another free day of listing and relisted everything there at lower prices plus dug back through other unsold things before and relisted most of them too. May as well...


Tip: Don't give up. Keep trying as long as it's free to list them. (unless the items are so annoying and worthles and big you just want them outta here....then just take them to charity places, etc)

[CrimsonFox]

Selling off bad memories:

One job I had awhile back was pretty horrible. Worked on this MMO called AION for NCSoft. HOrrible place, hrrible people. Horrible Manager and even worse coworker that used to taunt her players and stalk them and kick them out of the forum. A real pig of a person. WOrking with them was horrible and eventually they ended my contract ...why? because the jackass gave me his cold, so by midweek I was sick. I called in thus. He called me midday asking where I was. I told him I called his phone and left a message that I was sick. He said that I didn't. (I have proof on my phone however). A couple hours later I received a call from my contract contact saying they ended the contract. I wasn't even allowed to go get my stuff. GOod riddance to a really horrid group of people I am thankful never to have to see again, but the scars yes they were there. So which brings me back to this pile of swag I got at PAX while working for them. This included copies of their game (which by now very few people play). The collector's edition with fig and soundtrack, the expansion, the T shirt, the necklace, the stuffed animal all went for a whopping $12.50. That $12.50 will go to something nice.
That's $12.50 worth of closure as I never have to be reminded of that job again.

Box of bad memories - SOLD $12.50

[CrimsonFox]

I interrupt my previous train of thought to bring you another train of thought...

LOL! It's hilarious sometimes. Sometimes I list something on Amazon and then start looking through the book and think...hmmm I like this. Maybe I should keep it. In which case I keep it listed but keep it at a higher price, sometimes boosting it higher just to make sure. And then whammo someone buys it anyway LOL.

Well sure I'll take it This happened last week and again about an hour ago.

Tip: If you don't want to sell it, don't list it.

[CrimsonFox]

This just in...the 20 or so items I listed all in one day last week all ended today. Several sold (unlike my last multilist day where none of them sold). Stay tuned for the results...

[CrimsonFox]

Wow! Nothing currently listed on ebay! I'd better get busy! And with tomorrow being the last day of May (Apr 1 the 50 items limit resets) I'd better get cracking tomorrow!

[sterlingice]

BTW, just caught up with this dynasty even tho it's been over for a while (or has it). Really enjoyed it and the tips.

I just recently sold a bunch of my duplicate video games on CAG and learned some of the same lessons.

Looking at your ebay profile, you were selling sporadically up until a month ago, and had a reasonably eclectic mix from clothes to media to tapestries to anime to swag to toys.

Also, never really thought of Amazon but it makes sense.

SI

[CrimsonFox]

Heh. Was just recently thinking of updating this again. Yeah I slowed down because I really got into a groove with how I did things and didn't essentially change the process/or learn new tips for awhile. But there are always stories and successes. Ebay I got to a point of not using much anymore so yeah sporadic. Sometimes I would find a new box of crap and that would spurn me on. But times I would give up and just take things to a thrift store.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

BTW, just caught up with this dynasty even tho it's been over for a while (or has it). Really enjoyed it and the tips.

I just recently sold a bunch of my duplicate video games on CAG and learned some of the same lessons.

Looking at your ebay profile, you were selling sporadically up until a month ago, and had a reasonably eclectic mix from clothes to media to tapestries to anime to swag to toys.

Also, never really thought of Amazon but it makes sense.

SI

Since I have netflix, I happened upon "Animal Hoarders" and watched an old fat cow defiantly tell everyone she wasn't going to change or get rid of anything. Stupid fat cow! Fuck you!

So now I am spurned to get back to this.

I took 4 things to the post office today. Yeehaw! Stupid post office. It bailed out of Downtown Redmond which was a comfortable walk and nor it's like a 2.5 mile walk. Ah well.

So let's get back to this by reviewing si's observations...

"I just recently sold a bunch of my duplicate video games on CAG and learned some of the same lessons."

- Video Games...yes they do sell. And you know what? Even Old oldschool stuff sells. Even on computers that don't "exist" anymore.
Tip: Do NOT sell you video games to Half Price Books. May as well give them to charity if you are going to do that.

Here's what I've found...

If you are in a big hurry to sell a whole big batch of video games then you have options:

Half price books - You will get sneers, stupid comments and a lot of obvious lies about how they won't sell and that they won't charge anything for them and that they have too much stuff and that is why they are giving you 25 cents for your whole box. Do NOT "sell" video games here!.

Other Used book stores - A good option if they have video games if the video games are indeed worth nothing. But you had better do your research to make sure of that. I just sold a new copy of Baldur's Gate 2 for 15 bucks. Wooooo! Yes it is still worth something to that guy in Alaska that has nothing but an old computer and lots of freetime. But for bookstores...like the one I go to nearby, they give good credit to get other stuff. So at least I"m getting something for that copy of Amped for the Xbox 1 that a million people are also trying to get rid of.

Amazon - THE place to sell video games. I have so many oldschool video and computer games that people are indeed buying. You have to be patient though and play the pricing game. You still want to try and have the lowest price for the quality you have. So charge cheapest for THAT condition (Don't lowball the "acceptable price" with your "new"/"like new" item...unless it's a big honking thing that you are desperate to get rid of). As always if you see an entire page of the same game/system worth a penny well, ask yourself is it worth your labor to get only a penny plus excess shipping (probably a dollar) to do the work to ship it? "not really" is the answer. In fact my "max rate" for bothering used to be $1. It is now around $2, depending on how big it is. Just tired of having crap around so if it's been months on amazon and not sold and under $2, to the used bookstore it goes.

BULK ebay - I am now buying some stuff on ebay. A couple ps3 games. But first I check the amazon prices. THey are pretty high, almost 20 bucks, but v-games sell for much less on ebay unless maybe new ones. Amazon is a sellers market for media, ebay is the buyers market.
So now you've sifted through amazon and found a pile of crap that's not worth much in your collection. Ask the pile to smile pretty for the camera and take its picture and post them all on ebay for the low low price of 3-5 dollars. I usually don't do below 3. I know some people say start at .99, but I don't want to do ANYTHING for less than 3 otherwise I"ll get stuck doing work for a dollar. Make sure there's at least a seminice item in there. Usually if you have a bunch of stuff, there's something there with no value that was at least popular that a collector would want. There are many people that like to "complete" their video game collections, computer games too.

Of course, tryand keep the games all the same system. If not have a good variety of everything.


Sterling, what is CAG?

swapshop - AUtumn told me about this but I still can't wrap my head around it being worth it when you have to pay all the shipping fees.



And now back to sterling iceman...

"Looking at your ebay profile, you were selling sporadically up until a month ago, and had a reasonably eclectic mix from clothes to media to tapestries to anime to swag to toys."

And I did a lot of research on each category...

Clothes... Ebay is the place. In fact I would say that is probably the number one thing that gets sold. (Don't quote me). I mean people will buy all kinds of things. Just take a picture of it, give it a fairly low price and boom. I'm not brave enough to start at .99. Because with clothes it is often only one person that likes what they see and wants it (unless it is new). The thing I"ve most found is sports coats. I set the price at 9.99 and stand back. THey go like hotcakes. THe ones that don't I've lowered to 8.99 and 7.99. In fact I've gone to the local thrift store on their .99 tag sales and bought a lot of suit coats just so I could make $10 for them on ebay. I need to find my camera and get rid of the last two.l Their pictures are kinda bad.

media - AMAZON! Books don't sell on ebay, nor do dvd's vhs, games, whatever unless they are new. And still books probably won't sell and you'll be lucky to make 2 bucks. Amazon people are nuts! They WANT to give you your money! you are doing them a FAVOR for charging $12 bucks for your hadback book that the ladies at the used bookstore won't even take because they just don't have the shelf space and are already selling hardbacks 3/$2. I am not ****ing kidding you! Hardbacks are ****ing gold on amazon, especially in like new condition! As before you can sell things in a lot on ebay if you've got some good stuff but if you've got good stuff you are more likely to make more selling them piecewise on amazon and just donating the rest.

Tapestries - I haven't really found a place for tapestries as such. So ebay was also my litmus test. I remember going through a "tapestry phase". Things cost like $25-35 bucks like 10-15 years ago. Sometimes you can get that sometimes not. The thing is I think. Higher prices MIGHT come your way for the right buyer. Or it may have to work up to that starting at a low number. But I'm too chicken to do that. Cause it might not work. There is a site called etsy.com. It is for mostly handmade items. Crazy artistic woman charge buttloads of money for their handmade stuff there. So that's probably not a bad place to go .

anime - Absolutely no one wants it. I tried selling anime VHS on amazon. None of it sold. I tried bilking it all up on ebay. None sold. The only time I've ever sold anything was I sold a VHS and a couple manga books at Gencon gaming convention in their auction store. I think I made like 4-5 bucks each for the manga. So that's like having it in front of the right crowd when they are in the mood to buy something. As far as anime dvd's go I don't see that being worth much either. Anyway I ended up just giving most of the VHS to charity thrift stores. They probably can't sell it either.

swag - Sell it immediately. The longer time goes by the longer people realize they don't care about the crappy tshirts and masks and crap. I sold the PAX swag for quite a bit of moolah. Gencon swag is less promising. If the swag is like books and games, well that's even better, but also if you wait then things become yes valuable. Some games even lose their value (MMOs especially) simply because they go under. (CoH/Rift anyone?). But yeah ebay is the place. Research the titles of things. NOte which things are selling the highest and copy how and where they post things.


toys - This was a chore. I had a bunch of crappy toys and actually researched what they all were by joining this toy figure collecting site. I advertised there and posted on ebay. It finally did work. Took a few tries but it did help me describe things better. The thing was I followed their insider methods and codewords for describing the exact condition of each item. And it wouldn't sell. So I removed all that junk about how used they were and they finally sold. Granted I still called them used. BUt without saying "This heman has loose joints" or "This orko has a lot of scuffs" as I think people that want this crap are just picky as shit when it comes to that and wait for another one in better condition. BUt if you don't say that, then they are like "Ooooooh I don't care if it's used, I don't have that one". In the end it did seem like a bunch of work just to sell them. BUt I learned something about toy collector conditions and such.



Next installment....where I left off...

[sterlingice]

CAG = Cheap Ass Gamer. It's a community that specializes in video game sales. Think Slickdeals for videogames where it's a bit more of a friendly community and people get attacked rather than lauded for hoarding

(go find the Legend of El Hoardo- it's excellent!)
Never mind, found it:
Cheap Ass Gamer - View Single Post - Target Clearance Thread XV*

I just wanted to give back to that community so I ran a lowball auction- everything starts at a $1 (hence "lowball"). It was all of all my duplicate games and I made about $250 after shipping, tho the shipping lessons would have been better learned beforehand. Media mail- argh!

SI

[CrimsonFox]

well you can't use mediamail on video games. Well you can but if you're caught you will pay a fine. It says on the USPS site MM does NOT include video games.

[sterlingice]

Well, I feel good that I did not. I know a few people that have but it's good to play by the law.

SI

[CrimsonFox]

Media Mail 101 - What the site says vs. reality

Here we go... I will comment on the reality of what the postal workers actually tell me in quotes.

What the website says about rules and restrictions on USPS - The United States Postal Service (U.S. Postal Service)

• The material sent must be educational media.

"Any book or prerecorded CD, DVD, VHS or Record is media."
It can only be prerecorded stuff. Not blank or recorded stuff. So ANY movie or record album counts. I guess you cannot prove that anything isn't able to be used for education considering there are college classes on all kinds of things.

• It can’t contain advertising, video games, computer drives, or digital drives of any kind.

Advertising means no magazines really. However if you send one magazine, it might be low enough using first class.



Video games is pretty self explanatory. Granted if you are only sending one videogame, It might be cheap enough.



Tip: If you are selling old school computer games on amazon (that have books and flyers and tons of cardboard), throw all the shit away. Just advertise "No box" or "Game and manual" even if you are selling it new.

• Media Mail® can be examined by postal staff to determine if the right price has been paid. If the package is wrapped in a way that makes it impossible to examine, it will be charged the First-Class™ rate.

"Seal your media mail packages before you get to the window. You are holding up the line!"
This is hilarious. The first few times I did just what the site said. I had all my media mail packages open so the staff could inspect it and THEY YELLED AT ME FOR HOLDING UP THE LINE AND TOLD ME TO SEAL THEM ALL BEFORE I GOT THERE! hahahahahaha


So I basically seal the stuff and only about half the time, they ask me what it is. I answer "Book, CD, DVD, Video recording, or Record"
When you think about it, are they really going to go through a ton of packages every single day to look for one DVD or CD that is actually a video game? I doubt it. And they don't seem to care as long as you just say "It's a whatever". They just don't want you holding up the line with the website's bullshit.

• Maximum weight is 70 lbs.
• Maximum combined length and girth of 108". That means it can’t be larger than the combined measurement of the longest side and the distance around the thickest part.

[CrimsonFox]

March 2012 Amazon Sales: included title price it sold for condition I listed it for and a little background about the item and sale.

D&D 3.5 Epic Level Handbook - 14.50 (A pointless book. Delighted by the price)
Guild Wars: Eyes of the North Expansion Pack - 12.00 (Don't know why I even bought it since I don't play GW anymore. Cost me 9.99 when I got it so I got my money back and then some)
Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords D&D RPG Supplement - 27.60 (Woot! Great for a pointless book I've never read)
Nero Corleone - 4.00 (Children's book. Any Children's book you can sell for more than 1.00 is a good deal)
Age of Empires 3 (New) - 14.00 (Never even opened it and don't really care anymore)
Wait Until Dark - 2.50 Plays aren't usually worth anything either especially these older ones. So again yay.
Sonic the Hedgehog Look and Find - 10.59 Another children's book. It was Where's Waldo meets Sonic and Friends. Double good as it was an oversized hardback book. Like I said, hardbacks are gold on amazon.
Road to Perdition (New) - 5.00 A graphic novel. However the buyer was a total troll and gave me a bad review because he said it wasn't new and didn't even give me a chance to work it out. This is THE biggest problem of Amazon. The buyers can rate you, but you can't rate them.
Gamma World: Mutants and Machines (Like New) - 9.95 (Another annoying big heavy RPG book gotten at a great price)
Six Walks in the Fiction Woods (by Umberto Eco) (New) - 7.95 A philosophical book about writing by the guy who wrote The Name of the Rose. I really should have kept it. This was an example of something I upped the price of in order to keep it...and then someone bought it anyway
Hunting Party Game - 19.00 This was AMAZING. This was a really crappy game that I thought was a good game when I bought it. Then got stuck with it. FInally someone bought it for 19. HOwever, I think I got stuck with a few bucks worth of shipping because amazon only gives 6.50 on shipping and I didn't have a good way to ship it other than the USPS boxes. But I got rid of it nonetheless. Still searching for the best way to ship games.
Dragon's Hoard (Children's book) (Very Good) - 8.00 - Totally awesome considering I got this book by going to the half price books superwarehouse sale and filled up two huge bags fulls of books all for 10 bucks.
Wishmaster/Wishmaster 2 DVD (New) - 3.50 A DVD in shrink of 2 horror movies I've never watched.
Complete Works Vol 1 by Harold Pinter (Very Good) - 3.48 - A collection of plays
Hackmaster Complete Game Master's Guide (New) - 29.99 I remember when I got this. It was gencon and I was hanging around on the last day of the Dealer's room and the Kenzer guys just threw a bunch of new stuff at me cause they didn't want to take it home. and because I laughed at their hilarious covers.
Daggerfall Strategy Guide - (Very Good) - 6.55 Yes one of THOSE strategy guide for computer games. The kind used bookstores won't even take anymore.
A Brief Catechism for Adults (LIke New) - 2.35 Old religious books
Bastion of Broken Souls - New - 37.00 A 3.5 D&D Adventure.
Blues Brothers Private (Very Good) - 6.50 - A really stupid "comedy" book documenting the life of the Blues Brothers and all the supporting characters of the blues brothers movie complete with snapshots and lots of stupid "documents". .01 is too much to spend.
Wolf Handbook - 6.99 (Very Good) - A book that had good pages and the cover was not in great shape plus there was writing on the inside. Yet I put all this info in the condition description. So all is forgiven.
Tigger the Movie DVD (New) - 36.00 I found a copy of this in the used bookstore BRAND NEW in shrink. BOught it for 2 bucks. SOld it for 36.00 within 2 days. Woot!
Phantom Stallion #12: Rain Dance (Very Good) - YA - 3.60 - A YA Title.

And with those final prices, you can technically add about a dollar each because of the shipping credit you get. However, I do have to pay for bubble envelopes and tape every now and then. So I'll say I average out at making .90 a package from the shipping credit.

March Totals: Items: 22 Total $$: $271.05 + $20.80 = $291.85

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

CAG = Cheap Ass Gamer. It's a community that specializes in video game sales. Think Slickdeals for videogames where it's a bit more of a friendly community and people get attacked rather than lauded for hoarding

(go find the Legend of El Hoardo- it's excellent!)
Never mind, found it:
Cheap Ass Gamer - View Single Post - Target Clearance Thread XV*

I just wanted to give back to that community so I ran a lowball auction- everything starts at a $1 (hence "lowball"). It was all of all my duplicate games and I made about $250 after shipping, tho the shipping lessons would have been better learned beforehand. Media mail- argh!

SI

Thanks! I'll look around. I discovered I already had an account there from a long time ago ha!

Maybe I"ll throw some oldschool crap up there. Granted I see that the best you can do is post where your ebay sales and stuff are listed. I assume you can list amazon sales too?

[CrimsonFox]

This installment: Keep Your eyes open

Keep your eyes open. You might find a gem.
Incidently last month's Tigger the Movie find was an example of keeping your eyes open in used bookstores and such. Half price is really expensive most of the time. But twice a year they have warehouse sales and if you wait til the last day you can fill a bag of books for 10 bucks, whereas I think it's 20 otherwise. or maybe it's 10 and 5. Anyway. nonHPB used book shops often don't really have any facts about how good something is. THe one I go to recently started selling DVDs and they all end up about 2 bucks using credit. And they are selling new stuff at that price too! That Tigger DVD was 2 bucks and it sold for 36. Why? I have no idea. But some things just go out of print and that spells money! Books are somewhat the same way. If you can find a way to get a whole box of books especially hardbacks for nothing (auctions, estate sales, Warehouse sales), do so. Hardbacks do well on amazon especially those in tip top shape. Just get rid of things that aren't worth more than a dollar on amazon. Exchange them for bookstore credit. Some like Amazon credit. I've never understood that though.


You can turn this philosophy into work.
I've started to turn this into work somewhat. Value Village has tag sales weekly. Everything of a particular color tag is half price. Then after a few days of that it drops to 99 cents! Then the next week they do it all again with a different color tag. They get so much stuff they have to clear it out. Soooo on the 99 cent days I sometimes go and buy a lot of certain items I've had luck with. Like suit jackets. I sold a bunch of mine for 10 bucks each so gaining 9 bucks each for suit coats seemed like a plan. A lot of them sold. Couple didn't but I need to retake pictures of them and repost.

Look up everything you have.
Yes some things you don't want to sell. Yes I understand that. I majored in that. But at least look them up on amazon and see what they are going for. You might be surprised, espcecially new things . You might find it worth 20 bucks. Maybe that thing you wanted to keep that you haven't looked at in years isn't worth holding on to after all! But I am drawing the line at some things. Things associated with memories I'm holding on to. Especially those belonging associated with good friends or past locations. But I've found that other thigns I wanted to keep that were "cool" ended up being easy to part with.
Plus it isn't like there aren't other copies out there I can't look at.
Maybe I'll find a 1 dollar version of it later.

[CrimsonFox]

Late-breaking news! We interrupt my usual blathering for this important announcement.

I have just sold the first book I ever listed! It has been in my amazon queue since February and it finally sold!

Yes, indeed, The Private WOrld of Katharine Hepburn coffee table book is finally out of my hair and into someone else's at the low low price of 16.99!


And there was much rejoicing...

[CrimsonFox]

Test

[CrimsonFox]

+10 points for winner
+5 for runner up
+2 for 3rd place if they got votes
-10 made final 3 but received no votes
-4 booted in first episode
+1 for most confessionals in an episode
+1 for team reward win - 3 or more(each person that wins but not someone selected)
+2 solo or two player reward win
+3 for immunity win (individual)
+1 for immunity win (team) - each person
+1 for finding a HII or advantage - must get it not just see it
+2 for correctly playing an advantage or idol (must nullify at least one vote or do something)
+1 for making a fake idol that fools someone
-2 for each unplayed advantage/idol in your pocket if voted out
-1 most times crying per episode
+1 Get willed or given an advantage
+1 Get willed any Fire tokens
+1 Get taken on a reward challenge without winning
+4 Reenter game after getting voted off
+1 Survive an Episode Without being voted off
+1 Don't cry during loved one visit
+3 Win Firemaking challenge (It's basically an immunity challenge so they don't get both)

[CrimsonFox]

Get willed or given an advantage +1
Get willed a Fire token +1 for each
Get taken on a reward challenge without winning +1
WInning a reward challenge (solo) +2
WInning immunity challenge (solo) +3
Reenter game after getting voted off +4
Survive an Episode Without being voted off +1
Find any advantage (must be the owner of the advantage) +1

[CrimsonFox]

Don't cry during loved one visit +1
Win Firemaking challenge +3 (It's basically an immunity challenge so they don't get both)