Lead Adventure Forum
Other Stuff => General Wargames and Hobby Discussion => Topic started by: Condottiere on October 18, 2018, 09:04:22 PM
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Where should I list stuff for sale with a reasonable chance of a sale?
What am I doing wrong here: http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=111288.0 (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=111288.0)?
I know it's hit or miss, but not even receiving apathetic enquiries about postage or whether I still have the items, followed by silence, lol >:( for months. I'm not charging top Dollar and mentioned at one point to being amenable to reasonable offers. :? If everything sells, I stand to make almost $30, factoring in Paypal's fees, which will go towards partially funding a new project. Part of me thinks there's not much demand for plastics, despite claims on other boards.
USPS First Class to Europe is ~$13.50 for anything weighing from 1-8 ounces, might've killed off potential buyers, but it's less than what I'm charged when I used to order from Ludik Bazaar. :?
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I experience frustration at the board sometimes too.
Your ad is fine, you just haven’t found your buyer yet.
I’ll often advertise postage included so that buyers get a all-in price.
In the end it’s a crapshoot.
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Could just be, people don’t like the product.
I think the viking set is the first and best of the GB plastic boxes. Several of the others, I don’t rate.
It’s a widely available, and not especially desirable item.
I guess, as Grant says, the right buyer just hasn’t happened along yet.
That said, UK or European buyers are unlikely to want to pay 13.50 postage for something they can buy new, post free, at any wargames convention.
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US to UK postage is really high currently. And this is effectively doubling the cost of your stuff.
The gripping beast sprues are readily available on eBay for under £6 including postage. And I guess for similar prices in Europe. So unfortunately you are down to US buyers.
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I've had very little luck selling stuff here too.
Seems people want items at 25% of retail, or less. If you price above that here, it's hard to sell, unless in high demand, and very rare (OOP).
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Postage rates are going up again in 2019, so it will only get worse for international and domestic shipping.
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My advice would be to give them away to some street urchin sitting outside a GW store, they will either sell them for some class A or hopefully they just might take an interest in historical wargaming and join the forum.
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Suck it up and sell on eBay ;D
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I experience frustration at the board sometimes too.
Your ad is fine, you just haven’t found your buyer yet.
I’ll often advertise postage included so that buyers get a all-in price.
In the end it’s a crapshoot.
How about the Warlord legionaries - $0.75/figure too much? Years ago, I acquired individual sprues and bits from Warlord for converting Rackham Elven Quarterstaffers and Romanizing Mantic Dwarf Crossbowmen, when Dogs of War were limping along, but everything's still in the planning stage. :-[ Thought of doing something with the legionaries, but I now want to replace 'em with Polybian versions from Victrix and this manufacturer's products are hard to find in the US, unless you're into Napoleonics.
The problem with shipping included, is that if I have to ship internationally, postage would cancel out the price of the product.
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US to UK postage is really high currently. And this is effectively doubling the cost of your stuff.
The gripping beast sprues are readily available on eBay for under £6 including postage. And I guess for similar prices in Europe. So unfortunately you are down to US buyers.
I noticed this recently on eBay, when looking for Victrix stuff, as this company charges ~£10+ :o to ship one box to the US. The eBay sellers who do offer individual sprues tend to offer the rip-off GSP method, so I was hoping to be messaged by several Americans, so far nothing and even tried TWW, since most TMP exiles go there.
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I've had very little luck selling stuff here too.
Seems people want items at 25% of retail, or less. If you price above that here, it's hard to sell, unless in high demand, and very rare (OOP).
When was still able to post on TMP, had to deal with several flippant folks complaining about the price, yet never offering an alternative number. One guy said he'd pay only for shipping, but this was doing me a favor. lol Funny, the same sorts always railed against universal healthcare...
If it's rare and OOP, I'd offer it in an eBay auction.
As for USPS rates going up...
>:( >:( >:(
The postman doesn't even bother showing up when it's raining slightly...
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Suck it up and sell on eBay ;D
I'd rather put it up on Craigslit, for the bonus kinky action... lol
Thought of using the $30+ earnings to partially fund one of these foldable leather dice trays...
https://www.etsy.com/search?q=leather+dice+tray&ref=pagination&page=1
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My advice would be to give them away to some street urchin sitting outside a GW store, they will either sell them for some class A or hopefully they just might take an interest in historical wargaming and join the forum.
Brillaint! lol lol lol
Darrell
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If you're selling something with a high postage cost, there's obviously no point selling something that isn't of a relatively high value. These sprues are fairly common to be honest and for example I sold 3 of them for £12 inc postage not so long back. This trading area is not the place to sell if you're looking to make more than a token amount of your initial investment back, it's more like a yard sale really. You'll get some pocket change, but probably not enough to fold unless you're selling high value or lots of stuff.
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If you're selling something with a high postage cost, there's obviously no point selling something that isn't of a relatively high value. These sprues are fairly common to be honest and for example I sold 3 of them for £12 inc postage not so long back. This trading area is not the place to sell if you're looking to make more than a token amount of your initial investment back, it's more like a yard sale really. You'll get some pocket change, but probably not enough to fold unless you're selling high value or lots of stuff.
Respectfully, your post comes across as rather parochial in ignoring the exchange rate, though not as much as those on the Grand Alliance Community...
Assuming the buyer was in the UK and the fact that if individually available, each sprue is around £5.00, even knocking off £2.00 from each one, you still ended up with around $16. My prices aren't that different than what's on eBay: BiN Gripping Beast 10 man sprues for $7.50 - $11.00 and 5 man ones for $4.50 - $8.00, excluding postage, especially the rip-off Global Shipping Program. With postage included, I end up subsidizing the buyer's shipping cost by $5.50 on each sale or making only $2.50 (~£1.78) if selling two and don't forget Paypal fees. Never expected to get most of my investment back, but $2.50 isn't even a token amount, even by yard sale prices, more like the price of a cheese slice or a plastic GW figure's arm or a leg in a bits store.
These sprues might be common over there, but I don't think they are here, as I haven't seen any sold individually and the price of a boxed set is ranges from $30-$36. Thanks to the USPS, I'm limited to the North American market...
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I sold 3 sprues for £12 - call it $16 more or less - free UK post.
You're selling 2 sprues for the same amount, plus postage.
That's probably why mine sold more quickly - an extra sprue and no postage fee. Or maybe I just got lucky. If you're not happy to sell so cheaply, that's fair enough, but then Ebay is probably a better bet for you or perhaps a trade stand at a show where there's no postage fees involved.
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...sell on eBay ;D
I just use Ebay. Honestly, selling in a forum even as popular as LAF your audience will be tiny.
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Whenever I've sold anything on here I've always priced very low, pretty much making a significant loss (but that was money I spent ages ago so it's 100% profit for today! :D). I see selling stuff on the LAF as offering mates' rates, more or less, as really you're circumventing a lot of fees you'd be paying out on eBay. Anything worth quite a bit I tend to put on eBay as even with the charges you can make more than what I'd be comfortable asking people here for (or would expect anyone here to want to pay).
Obviously, I'm quite wreckless when it comes to clearing out old projects - I'm more interested in seeing them gone to a good home than making lots of money (a bit of cash if better than the zero cash they earn me by sitting in a pile in the spare room). Several bouts of this has taught me to be way more discerning with my purchases. :D
As for your sale, well, there are a few box breakers on eBay who sell sprues cheaply nowadays. I've found plastic sprues to be very hard to sell on, I usually end up throwing them in as extras with other stuff or just giving them away locally. Full boxes tend to do better, but again I've often priced at about 30-35% off retail even for those.
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Have you considered a local gaming convention with a flea market or Bring & Buy? As previously noted most folks buying from the Bazaar are either looking for a good deal or have found that rare 'must have' to supplement a project.
Local conventions have an advantage that no postage fees are involved, though some do charge table fees or a %, in addition to the normal browsers there is a chance that 'little Johnny' will see what you have, at a reasonable price and pester Daddy into buying it for him.
Special items I would push onto the Bazaar, the rest I'd accumulate until there is enough to warrant a table at a local Con.
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Have you considered a local gaming convention with a flea market or Bring & Buy? As previously noted most folks buying from the Bazaar are either looking for a good deal or have found that rare 'must have' to supplement a project.
Local conventions have an advantage that no postage fees are involved, though some do charge table fees or a %, in addition to the normal browsers there is a chance that 'little Johnny' will see what you have, at a reasonable price and pester Daddy into buying it for him.
Special items I would push onto the Bazaar, the rest I'd accumulate until there is enough to warrant a table at a local Con.
Despite another user's claims and averseness to exchange rates , the prices aren't high at all, on par and even cheaper than eBay BiN listings (https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=gripping+beast+sprues&LH_PrefLoc=2) Why should I walk away with just £1.78, after paying for a buyer's international shipping on 2 sprues, or earning zero, actually a loss of £4.21 on single sprue sales? The Warlord legionaries are $0.75 or ~£0.57 each - how is 57p not a deal? If it weren't for the international shipping costs, I'd still be making pre 2015 sales...
I used to offer shipping included for domestic buyers only, but dropped it years ago, after some started dictating to me their postage preferences...
It's not like I could hop on a train from Weybridge station for adventures in the Greater London area. lol :'( Just trying to get from Brookline to parts of Cambridge, involves switching lines and occasionally buses, on an antiquated system prone to delays, with journeys taking up to an hour and back, despite the small area - it's 15-20 minutes if I had a car, factoring in traffic. AFAIK, aside from video game and anime events, there are no local gaming conventions.
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Whenever I've sold anything on here I've always priced very low, pretty much making a significant loss (but that was money I spent ages ago so it's 100% profit for today! :D). I see selling stuff on the LAF as offering mates' rates,
Pretty much the same for me , I started selling my stuff off in the summer some went to a carboot an went for peanuts , some I’ve binned , 2 lots I have sold on Facebook .working all week makes it a nightmare and means I’ve been less motivated to complete the task ac I like to get postage quotes before I place for sale as it saves time an trips to a post office .
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Whenever I've sold anything on here I've always priced very low, pretty much making a significant loss (but that was money I spent ages ago so it's 100% profit for today! :D). I see selling stuff on the LAF as offering mates' rates
Pretty much the same for me , I started selling my stuff off in the summer some went to a carboot an went for peanuts , some I’ve binned , 2 lots I have sold on Facebook .working all week makes it a nightmare and means I’ve been less motivated to complete the task ac I like to get postage quotes before I place for sale as it saves time an trips to a post office .
Have you tried a digital scale? It doesn't have to be a specialized postage version. Saved me from having to go back and forth to the post office...
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Lead Adventure seems to be a majority European forum and therefore postage is too high to make purchases from America worth it.
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Pretty much the same for me , I started selling my stuff off in the summer some went to a carboot an went for peanuts , some I’ve binned , 2 lots I have sold on Facebook .working all week makes it a nightmare and means I’ve been less motivated to complete the task ac I like to get postage quotes before I place for sale as it saves time an trips to a post office .
Have you tried a digital scale? It doesn't have to be a specialized postage version. Saved me from having to go back and forth to the post office...
No not got one , I’m just going to take pics ,Jiffy bag them in their related groups get post costs an sell them that way ,only 2 trips to post office then and I can get me mum to post them off while I’m working an she goes to town on market day 😂
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Brillaint! lol lol lol
Darrell
Well both choices end with addiction o_o
Gareth
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I have a sales thread running for the moment and have a few sales break off on the prie of postage already. It just happens, as postage is too expensive these days.
I just take it on the chin and go on. anything sold is something not lying around unloved so not too fussed about it.
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I have a sales thread running for the moment and have a few sales break off on the prie of postage already. It just happens, as postage is too expensive these days.
I just take it on the chin and go on. anything sold is something not lying around unloved so not too fussed about it.
Exactly...
I'm not that bothered by it, even though it's taking up space, but profits weren't my motivation, just enough to contribute slightly to buying new stuff - for awhile, I mentioned amenable to reasonable offers in the listings. My concerns were addressed on page one: I'm not doing anything wrong. Even though USPS First Class International's price is approaching almost the level of what French and German sellers are charging, this hasn't dissuaded people from ordering from both sides of the Atlantic: if someone needs/wants something, they'll pay for it and what's considered a bargain depends on the person. I have noticed that the sales threads are moving really slowly this year, compared with 2017, where it would take a month and a half to be pushed off the front page to eventual deletion, it now takes over two months - similar situation on other fora.
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It pains me to suggest this, but listing on Facebook seems to be a very good option these days. A lot of stuff gets snapped up very quickly in my experience - this is in Australian groups that have less of a market compared to US groups.
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Yes facebook has its merits, BUT it appears to me it is more specialized.There's a group for oldhammer, a group for mordheim, a group for historicals etc...
Having everything in one thread keeps it organized better.
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Since you are US-based, have you tried bartertown.com? Most of the users there are from USA and Canada. I think much of the buying and selling is moving towards FB these days, but I have used bartertown lots in the past, before the age of unreasonable small packet postage. ;)
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The transatlantic shipping costs are killing these days. Plus there's always the chance customs will put their own value on your toys so you'll have to pay duties before you can even open the parcel and then start the endless journey of getting the paid duties back from them. Frankly it's not worth the hassle. I stopped buying outside of Europe a long time ago for those reasons. :?
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I'm with McDane.
I'd also add that facebook market place or some of the facebook sale groups can be a good place to flog stuff off. I don't think it is price per-se.
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Selling stuff is too much bother these days unless your getting rid of GW stuff on Ebay. In which case you should have a virtually 100% success rate (unless your the type to stick the old Warhammer Empire plastics on for about £50 for 10 guys).
I have a load of 20mm Elhiem, Redbox figures and Westfalian Hobbits I think I want to drop but it's just not worth it trying to flog them.
In a way it does speak to the state of the Hobby and Business/Economy in general. Everything (like postage) is too prohibitive and people are having to tighten their belts in times uncertain. A few years ago it was pretty much possible to sell anything without much issue (average wait time was about a week). When I was back in Uni first time around (7 years ago now) I was practically whizzing through stuff.
It makes me wonder what people who make this their career selling this stuff are going through.
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I hear that... about 10 years ago or so is when I collected a lot of stuff in earnest. Those were the glory days when I could get over 1kg of lead shipped from the southern us to Canada for like $5... it was actually cheaper to ship from the US to Canada than to ship within Canada in those days! I have certainly slowed those sorts of purchases significantly in the last few years (though an overflowing hobby space had some contribution as well...)
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I hear that... about 10 years ago or so is when I collected a lot of stuff in earnest. Those were the glory days when I could get over 1kg of lead shipped from the southern us to Canada for like $5... it was actually cheaper to ship from the US to Canada than to ship within Canada in those days! I have certainly slowed those sorts of purchases significantly in the last few years (though an overflowing hobby space had some contribution as well...)
I can totally relate. It used to be quicker and cheaper for me to buy minis from the states and have them shipped to the U.K only 3 years ago then to buy it within the U.K, with only one or two exceptions. I remember I bought some models from somewhere in Northern England, and at the same time bought some figures that travelled from the Mid west U.S and the latter got here faster. Then suddenly Customs charges were being slapped on everything, and after the pound dropped following a certain referendum followed by a spike in postage charges it pretty much put a stop to my routine purchases from the states.
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Since you are US-based, have you tried bartertown.com? Most of the users there are from USA and Canada. I think much of the buying and selling is moving towards FB these days, but I have used bartertown lots in the past, before the age of unreasonable small packet postage. ;)
:o :o :o
Had forgotten about Bartertown after someone suggested it years ago, but ended up selling the items on TMP, so forgot to register. Both sprues sold at $10! :) I'll start listing more stuff over there, like genuine Rackham bases...
Thanks