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Need Information for Selling Kits


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Along time ago I had an ebay account.  It got way to complicated and expensive for a simple modeler.  I am looking to reduce my collection of kits and would like some helpful hints for selling my kits in the Classified section.  How paypal works basically.  This is new to me.

 

Thanks

 

Geoff M

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I'll be the one to say it, but dont expect to get what you originally paid, out of the kit sale. Rarely do kits go up in value unless they are rare OOP. This is hard for many sellers to understand and I've seen people get upset that they arent getting top dollar anymore. The best way to price is look at current market prices, and undercut those a bit at a level you feel ok with. Make it worth buying from you, instead of elsewhere. Selling in volume will bring in some fast $$ versus selling one kit at $100. 

 

Lastly, you'll be running back and forth to the post office for shipping quotes. And many times, buyers will back out on you after you've done a bunch of leg work. It happens here a lot, unfortunately.

 

Good luck.

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37 minutes ago, ST0RM said:

Lastly, you'll be running back and forth to the post office for shipping quotes. And many times, buyers will back out on you after you've done a bunch of leg work. It happens here a lot, unfortunately.

 I think there are apps that let you do that at home. It would be worth looking into if you have a bunch of stuff. I think stamps.com is one of the ones I see advertised. I have no personal knowledge of any of these sites though.

 

Our club once inherited a whole bunch of kits, almost 1000, that we sold at shows. It took a bit over a year to sell them off. We started by looking on line for any kits that were still available on line and priced them at about 75% of that if the kits were still in the bags or at least had their parts still on the sprue. Kits with a lot of loose parts (I checked to make sure they were all complete myself) were cheaper and old kits we just guessed at. There weren't any rarities except for a couple of resin kits. As the season wore on, the prices dropped. We pretty much gave away the last few. The partial kits we sold to one guy all in a big box for $20.00.

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I plan listing a few at a time so I don't end up spending all my time running to the post office.  Also I will probably forced into the buy high/sell low scenario to get rid of some of these.

Geoff M

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You may not need to make frequent runs to the post office. eBay has collected a great deal of data about what has sold on their site over the last 20 years and will give you an estimate based on the item you’re selling and your zip code. If eBay doesn’t recognize what you’re selling (for example, a collection of kit, photoetch, and book), it’ll require you to enter the weight of the package. Investing in a small postal scale (about $20) will let you do that at home, using the USPS web site to determine the actual postage costs.
 
STORM is correct above about prices. I’ve posted this link several times for others over the last few weeks offering advice to folks like you. My suggestion is to start most auctions at 99 cents and let it ride.
 
Steven Brown
 
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On 1/31/2018 at 6:32 AM, ST0RM said:

I'll be the one to say it, but dont expect to get what you originally paid, out of the kit sale. Rarely do kits go up in value unless they are rare OOP. This is hard for many sellers to understand and I've seen people get upset that they arent getting top dollar anymore. The best way to price is look at current market prices, and undercut those a bit at a level you feel ok with. Make it worth buying from you, instead of elsewhere. Selling in volume will bring in some fast $$ versus selling one kit at $100. 

 

Lastly, you'll be running back and forth to the post office for shipping quotes. And many times, buyers will back out on you after you've done a bunch of leg work. It happens here a lot, unfortunately.

 

Good luck.

 

Agree with the first part. 

 

You can Just build the shipping into the price for CONUS that's how I do it. So a lot that would be 15+ 10 shipping I just list as 25 free shipping. 

 

If you want to get specific with shipping:

 

You don't need to go back and forth to USPS. Get a usps account. A kitchen scale and a ruler. Measure, weigh, type address. It will give you what it costs to ship. Pay via paypal. Print label. Spply label, Drop off at USPS facility. Done

Edited by TaiidanTomcat
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Last year I sold off most of my 1/32 scale stuff. I priced them at 75% of the mean price. I dropped the few out of sight prices and a few of the ridiculously low ball prices. Sold 6 kits in 10 days. Shipping was extra, all by USPS that I quoted for the known box size once they supplied their zip code. 

Joel

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I make money on kits, probably mainly because I buy kits that have high curb appeal. I think it is also because I ship international. US only sellers really help me out, as when I list the same as they do I get the bids from those outside the US who have limited options to buy from. 

 

I’ve broken down and recently sold some of my Hasegawa Skyhawks and OOP kits. The Skyhawks have sold for $150.00 plus.

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On 1/31/2018 at 6:44 PM, Geoff M said:

I plan listing a few at a time so I don't end up spending all my time running to the post office.  Also I will probably forced into the buy high/sell low scenario to get rid of some of these.

Geoff M

You might want to do a couple of dummy shipping quotes from your place to East and west coast, and offer models with prices including shipping to the US...you'll get more hits and spend less time getting quotes...sometimes you'll make a few bucks more, sometimes less, but it should even out in the long run...

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35 minutes ago, frankycee said:

You might want to do a couple of dummy shipping quotes from your place to East and west coast, and offer models with prices including shipping to the US...you'll get more hits and spend less time getting quotes...sometimes you'll make a few bucks more, sometimes less, but it should even out in the long run...

 

Why do you guys give quotes, doesn’t the shipping calculator work for you?

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On 1/31/2018 at 7:04 AM, thegoodsgt said:

PayPal has a good introduction to their services and account setup on their web site.

 

eBay is divesting itself of PayPal.  Any idea if this will affect the eBay payment process?

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   I now use Pay Pal for virtually all of my online purchases, except with gift cards that I get from time to time. And some bank gift cards can be added to your Pay Pal account, so that's a plus for me as well.

Joel

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