Need some EBay selling advice?

[randrace]

Much of this is new news to me, and very helpful; thanks for sharing! And congratulations on your great weekend of sales. Getting 45 sales out of less than 200 listings is really amazing. Your definitely doing something right!

[AirborneAFOL]

It's not gospel by any means.  And much of it is subject to your individual stores/sales strategy.  My underlying assumptions are certainly oriented towards a storefront that sells lots of individual bricks (i.e., White 1x4 Plates in bundles of 25) based on my PAB cup excesses, parting out minfigs (or CMF duplicates) from sets I otherwise desired for my own uses, and the occassional Lego promotional ("freebie") sets.  Which reminds me of another bullet point:

10. By-the-brick pricing: There's generally two types of by-brick sellers.  One is small bundles (<15) of a relatively uncommon bricks.  I'd recommend using Bricklink's market rate +35% (15% of which to cover Ebay/Paypal fees Bricklink doesn't account for) as a benchmark for pricing.  The other is new PAB bulk brick (via cups).  In this case, set your selling brick at around cost +30% (again, 15% of which goes to selling fees).  Finding good comps for pricing can be tricky given fluctuations in bricks-per-lot quantities, but I've found exceeding these thresholds tends to push your price per brick above Ebay's going market rate.  Obviously you'll want to adjust your % guidelines subject to your acquisition costs and lot size.

11. Listing Quantity: For by-the-brick, generally speaking nobody is looking to stock up on more than around 25-100 of a relatively small, cheap brick at a time.  Shoot for listings that come out into the $2.75-$5.00 range for these type by-the-brick sales, and adjust the quantity per lot accordingly to get there.

Glad to hear that despite those assumptions there's still some useful tidbits for a relative Ebay novice.  I've gleaned untold insights from Brickpicker so at the risk of "helping the Ebay competition" I figure it's good karma to pay the advice forward.

Just as a sidenote, the majority of my listings are for quantities of 5-20.  So 45 sales in a weekend included a fair amount of several of a single listing.  Certainly being a Sunday helped.  Which reminds me of yet a couple more:

12. Listing Timing.  If for whatever reasons you do embark upon auction listings, be sure to have them end on a Sunday afternoon/evening.  Sunday's are Ebay's most active day by far for both visitors and bids/sales.  As auctions enter their final 24 hours Cassini bumps them up in search results - so ending on a Sunday ensures elevated visibility at a time of peak shopper activity.

13. Target Market: Contemplate your target audience, and tailor your listings/formats/pricing accordingly.  There's basically three types of buyers: (1) the soccer mom looking for a cheap kid's gift, (2) the novice AFOL who is bolstering their own inventory but not yet Bricklink-savvy, (3) the savvy AFOL who uses Ebay as one of many sites in their bargain hunting.  Figure out what your ideal buyer looks like in that regard, as each one carries implications of how to best appeal to their interests, and has a plethora of pros and cons in terms of what you can expect for sales frequency/volume/ROI.

Edited February 16, 2016 by AirborneAFOL

[El Guapo]

This is good stuff Airborne, thanks for sharing.

[barakamon]

So today I had a buyer that paid through an eCheck. As stated in eBay, I should not ship until this payment clears, and PayPal estimates that the eCheck will clear by around Friday next week. I was already in the middle of writing a message to the buyer about it but decided to get myself some information first. 

As stated in eBay, sellers should only ship once the payment clears. In this case, it's perfectly justified that I wait until next week to shift the buyer's item, right? And if so, should I contact the buyer about the eCheck and maybe ask him if it was a mistake on their part? They buyer themselves doesnt seem to be a newly created account; it's 6 years old and has over 500 good feedback rating. 

[justapilgrim]

Wait

[Kenxxx]

I have an old piece of junk toy that my son grew out of (non-Lego). Sell it, throw it in the trash, I don't care. Saw them going for $50 or $60 on eBay, so decided to put it up there for $70 OBO. Had a buyer offer $50, so within 15 minutes, I accepted the offer. Within 60 seconds, the buyer sent a message, "I need to cancel my order. I found something better at a better price." What are we kids, here? At first I thought, "OK... I'll cancel it... but let's not respond right away. Let's make her sweat for a day or two. She should learn that she can't pull this monkey business."  A few days later, eBay automatically opened the Unpaid Item case. And I thought... "You know... let's make her sweat a little more. Let's see what happens."  Just now she sent me a message, "I have contacted you twice to cancel my purchase...I found a better item... I still had two days on your product and I emailed you as soon as I needed to cancel it. I do not understand why this hasn't been done."

I have half a mind to reply, "Do you see those words next to the 'Submit Offer' that say: By clicking Submit offer, you are agreeing to and entering into a legally binding contract to purchase the item from the seller."?  This woman has been on eBay for 8 years, and she thinks she can just cancel accepted offers willy-nilly?  I don't think she's going to pay, and demand the item... I have half a mind to do nothing and say nothing. Let the clock run out and give her an unpaid item strike. Is there a downside in this for me?

[thoroakenfelder]

Aren't you risking a negative feedback though?

[dcdfan]

I have an old piece of junk toy that my son grew out of (non-Lego). Sell it, throw it in the trash, I don't care. Saw them going for $50 or $60 on eBay, so decided to put it up there for $70 OBO. Had a buyer offer $50, so within 15 minutes, I accepted the offer. Within 60 seconds, the buyer sent a message, "I need to cancel my order. I found something better at a better price." What are we kids, here? At first I thought, "OK... I'll cancel it... but let's not respond right away. Let's make her sweat for a day or two. She should learn that she can't pull this monkey business."  A few days later, eBay automatically opened the Unpaid Item case. And I thought... "You know... let's make her sweat a little more. Let's see what happens."  Just now she sent me a message, "I have contacted you twice to cancel my purchase...I found a better item... I still had two days on your product and I emailed you as soon as I needed to cancel it. I do not understand why this hasn't been done."

I have half a mind to reply, "Do you see those words next to the 'Submit Offer' that say: By clicking Submit offer, you are agreeing to and entering into a legally binding contract to purchase the item from the seller."?  This woman has been on eBay for 8 years, and she thinks she can just cancel accepted offers willy-nilly?  I don't think she's going to pay, and demand the item... I have half a mind to do nothing and say nothing. Let the clock run out and give her an unpaid item strike. Is there a downside in this for me?

I'd much more prefer a cancel request over a return request any day...

[plastic passion]

kenexxx    - i think you are fine....   this seems to be the norm lately, i have had several folks place bids on my items, then ask me to delete their bid.  I just tell them to go into the help menue and look up "how do I delete my bid"      < make them do the work, and if they don't, and they end up winning, let them take the strike for not paying.    I don't think they can give you negative if there is no record of them paying.   I recently changed my settings also so that if folks don't pay by the 3rd day, ebay sends them the non paying bidder notice.   As for non paying bidders that win, there are plenty out there...  and they have great feedback also... 500+ positives and no negs...   -just go silent after winning.

[KShine]

Just accept the buyers request to cancel, block the buyer from additional purchases, and move on.

By the way, I believe that ebay policy states that "Buyers can request a cancellation if they change their mind within an hour after the sale (as long as you haven’t already shipped the item)".

[Kenxxx]

Thanks for the tips all. Just a follow up on my last eBay and UPS shipping issue:

Summary - About 02/15/16 I posted about this issue: sold a large box, 11 lb, $550 item on eBay with shipping selected as UPS ground. Had entered all weights and box dimensions correctly up front.  Buyer paid $22.50 shipping, per eBay invoice. I used eBay / Paypal interface to ship via UPS, and bill came to $34.58 ($39.98 when I declared the $500 package value). Got on the phone w/ eBay. They said "Not our problem. Call Paypal." Talked to Paypal and he said it was a first-time-eBay/UPS-shipper issue. That I am entitled to the discount rate of $22.50. "Just pay the $40, and you will automatically get a credit within a couple weeks. If not, just call us."

Today, still no credit from Paypal. I call them up and tell my story again. This CSR says that the guy who promised me a credit 10 days ago was wrong. I "obviously have an eBay issue, and need to take it up with them."  After talking a few more minutes he conceded a $10 "one time" credit, but told me not to expect similar "help" like this in the future.

On top of that...  Today I got an additional bill from UPS for $5.16. It said they audited the package electronically, and it was not 24x20x6, but rather 24x21x7. That's an additional dimensional weight class, and "...you have been billed an additional $5.16 to your Paypal account." I'm now incensed. It was a standard 24x20x6 box. It's printed on the box. It was not over-stuffed... maybe some of the outside dimensions might measure 1/4 or 1/2" over... but not a full 1 inch in width and height. Anyway, got on the phone with them and got a similar "one-time" credit for the upcharge, but no admission that their measuring devices could be wrong.

If I ever select UPS on eBay in the future, I am definitely going to pad the weight and box dimensions to make sure I get fair compensation.

[ISO8T0]

ugh that's really unfortunate and a bad experience. I RARELY ship UPS. It's my last resort. Two reasons I don't ship with them.

1. There is a much higher damage rate of sets I receive through UPS than FedEx and USPS combined.

2. FedEx is literally just down the street from my house.  So shipping with them is far more convenient.

 

[ISO8T0]

14 hours ago, Kenxxx said:

I have an old piece of junk toy that my son grew out of (non-Lego). Sell it, throw it in the trash, I don't care. Saw them going for $50 or $60 on eBay, so decided to put it up there for $70 OBO. Had a buyer offer $50, so within 15 minutes, I accepted the offer. Within 60 seconds, the buyer sent a message, "I need to cancel my order. I found something better at a better price." What are we kids, here? At first I thought, "OK... I'll cancel it... but let's not respond right away. Let's make her sweat for a day or two. She should learn that she can't pull this monkey business."  A few days later, eBay automatically opened the Unpaid Item case. And I thought... "You know... let's make her sweat a little more. Let's see what happens."  Just now she sent me a message, "I have contacted you twice to cancel my purchase...I found a better item... I still had two days on your product and I emailed you as soon as I needed to cancel it. I do not understand why this hasn't been done."

I have half a mind to reply, "Do you see those words next to the 'Submit Offer' that say: By clicking Submit offer, you are agreeing to and entering into a legally binding contract to purchase the item from the seller."?  This woman has been on eBay for 8 years, and she thinks she can just cancel accepted offers willy-nilly?  I don't think she's going to pay, and demand the item... I have half a mind to do nothing and say nothing. Let the clock run out and give her an unpaid item strike. Is there a downside in this for me?

I've had this happen a couple of times and have just canceled the order and moved on. It is frustrating, but not worth the headache. I've also been on the opposite end before (once) and appreciated the seller's understanding.

[dcdfan]

Thanks for the tips all. Just a follow up on my last eBay and UPS shipping issue:

Summary - About 02/15/16 I posted about this issue: sold a large box, 11 lb, $550 item on eBay with shipping selected as UPS ground. Had entered all weights and box dimensions correctly up front.  Buyer paid $22.50 shipping, per eBay invoice. I used eBay / Paypal interface to ship via UPS, and bill came to $34.58 ($39.98 when I declared the $500 package value). Got on the phone w/ eBay. They said "Not our problem. Call Paypal." Talked to Paypal and he said it was a first-time-eBay/UPS-shipper issue. That I am entitled to the discount rate of $22.50. "Just pay the $40, and you will automatically get a credit within a couple weeks. If not, just call us."

Today, still no credit from Paypal. I call them up and tell my story again. This CSR says that the guy who promised me a credit 10 days ago was wrong. I "obviously have an eBay issue, and need to take it up with them."  After talking a few more minutes he conceded a $10 "one time" credit, but told me not to expect similar "help" like this in the future.

On top of that...  Today I got an additional bill from UPS for $5.16. It said they audited the package electronically, and it was not 24x20x6, but rather 24x21x7. That's an additional dimensional weight class, and "...you have been billed an additional $5.16 to your Paypal account." I'm now incensed. It was a standard 24x20x6 box. It's printed on the box. It was not over-stuffed... maybe some of the outside dimensions might measure 1/4 or 1/2" over... but not a full 1 inch in width and height. Anyway, got on the phone with them and got a similar "one-time" credit for the upcharge, but no admission that their measuring devices could be wrong.

If I ever select UPS on eBay in the future, I am definitely going to pad the weight and box dimensions to make sure I get fair compensation.

I've only used UPS twice in like 15 years as USPS & FedEx always do the trick for me. I've never had any experience like what you've described & I've shipped tons of packages. I'd definitely stay clear of them. That sucks all around...

[dinner41]

1 hour ago, Kenxxx said:

On top of that...  Today I got an additional bill from UPS for $5.16. It said they audited the package electronically, and it was not 24x20x6, but rather 24x21x7. That's an additional dimensional weight class, and "...you have been billed an additional $5.16 to your Paypal account." I'm now incensed. It was a standard 24x20x6 box. It's printed on the box. It was not over-stuffed... maybe some of the outside dimensions might measure 1/4 or 1/2" over... but not a full 1 inch in width and height.

That is how boxes and USPS work. The printed size is the 'inside size'. And USPS sizes are 'up to' a length of the outside. Anything above, even just 1/4", counts as the next full inch. So, a 24x20x6 box, if the inside is really 24x20x6, has to be larger on the outside (unless it also has "police public call box" written on it), and so falls into the 25x21x7 shipping category. They won't ding you every time, and they might have some measurement margins as well, but that is how I understand what the technical rules are.

Now with dimensional weight it would be nice to be able to specify rational numbers for the length, but that's another matter.

[lazuli16]

On ‎2‎/‎15‎/‎2016 at 1:12 PM, AirborneAFOL said:

Alright, I put together some notes.  Bear in mind this is just my experience and by no means definitive (or even 100% accurate for that matter).

Ebay currently uses a search engine called “Cassini”.  This was a relatively substantial upgrade, occurring sometime around 2013, as Cassini is much more akin to Google in terms of being “smart”.  This was a tetonic shift in Ebay's search engine, and really means any pre-Cassini "Tips" should be disregarded.  Rather than just pulling results based on keywords spammed into a listing title, it curates results based on likelihood of a best match based on a plethora of data points, from the listing title, item specifics, and description, etc.  Worth noting that Cassini’s algorithm is naturally a closely guarded secret, and nobody knows exactly how it works.  The other major impact of Cassini is it factors in your conversion rate – the percentage of people who purchase an item in your listing compared against how many view the listing.  As a result, you need to be ever vigilant to avoid a listing that may pull highly in search results (think “New Lego Smaug!!!” for an unrelated product) but doesn’t result in many sales.

 

Aside from Cassini, you need to be aware that Google is a major driver to your Ebay listings.  Search for a Lego product in Google, and a well crafted Ebay listing will appear in the results.  Hence your SEO (‘Search Engine Optimization’) needs to consider equal parts Cassini and Google.  The following are key considerations for a listing that will maximize the visibility (coming up high in search results) as well as sales (coming up high in results that are actually looking for a product like yours).  All in all the impact of Cassini is that your Conversion Rate is now the end all be all metric that you should be tracking and targetting (sidenote: a 2% conversion rate seems par for Lego on Ebay, while anything north of 10% is extremely strong).  Worth noting conversion rates inherently apply to listings with a quantity >1, but it's believed Cassini accounts for your Conversion Rate *on the whole* (as a seller account generally) as well, and rewards/punishes your single-quantity listings accordingly.

1.       Listing Title.  Use keywords such as “Lego”, set/part number, set/part name, quantity (i.e., “x32”) for items in bulk, and condition keyword (other than “New” or “Used”).  Avoid the temptation to use CAPS or adjectives (“New”, “LOOK!”, etc); both Cassini & Google tend to punish listings with these elements.  My template tends to be as follows:x[quantity] Lego [element/set name] [theme] [elementID/set number] [designID] [alternative element names]

2.       Item Category.  Use appropriate Lego subcategory as accurately as possible.  Unless you have 4+ variations, listing a “You Pick” style (Other Wholesale Lots category) is inadvisable.

3.       Item Specifics.  When possible, use Ebay’s Product Catalogue.  This can work for some complete sets, but rarely works for parted-out sets or bulk bricks.  Add specifics for Element ID, Design ID, Color, Size, etc. (particularly for lots of bulk bricks).  Cassini & Google will both draw from anything in your Item Specifics as keywords, so don’t short change things here (and be as accurate as possible to avoid the trap of high short-term views, poor conversion, low long-term search results).

4.       Item Description.  Use your keywords in the first 1-2 sentences.  Set the general font size to no larger than 12-pt, and put the keywords (culled from your item specifics / listing title) in 14-pt, and bold or italicize them.  Cassini & Google will both disregard font larger than 14-pt, but will identify as keywords anything in a larger-than-body font and/or in special font style (bold, italic, etc).  Apply any generic terms & conditions that apply to your sales in a 2^nd paragraph.

5.       Photos.  Enough emphasis cannot be placed on this one – take live photos with a high resolution camera, and spend 2-3 minutes editing them for color/cropping/etc.  Good photos can make up for a lot of shortfalls elsewhere, or sabotage doing everything else perfectly.

6.       Store Categories.  Use them.  Further, go into the keyword builder and appropriately apply (accurate) keywords.  Ebay/Google will utilize these fields in curating their search results.  Ebay’s default settings are atrocious, so take some time on this front to apply befitting keywords that are generic to the respective Store Category (i.e., if you sell Minifigures, keywords such as “Lego, New, Used, Minifigure, Minifig, Collectible”, etc.).

7.       Listing Format / Price.  Fixed price is preferable to Auction.  You should set a reasonable pricetag though based on the competition (and having done some quick research there for the “sold” price on similar items).  Avoid using GTC on items until they have sold.  If the item has not sold, it inherently has a poor conversion rate, and the conversion rate follows with the item as long as it’s listed.  For items that have sold (and have a decent conversion rate), feel free to use GTC.  Otherwise, let it expire as 7-30 days, and relist the item (having reviewed your listing and updating it as necessary); this resets your conversion rate for the listing and gives it “new life” in terms of coming up higher in search results.

8.       Shipping.  Anything under $20 I’ve found to be a poor option for “free shipping”.  Charging a flat USPS-actual rate encourages individuals to buy multiple low-cost items.  Make sure you’re taking advantage of the “combined shipping” and/or “promotional shipping” settings.  I’d also recommend applying a “same business day” shipping time, but using a cutoff time (i.e., same day if sale is before 11am).

9.       Returns.  You’ll want to ensure you’re using Ebay’s 14-day moneyback return policy by default; consider setting it for 30-days if you want to distinguish yourself as having the utmost confidence in the quality of your product.

 

This sounds like the beginnig of a great blog post.

[El Guapo]

20 hours ago, Kenxxx said:

I have an old piece of junk toy that my son grew out of (non-Lego). Sell it, throw it in the trash, I don't care. Saw them going for $50 or $60 on eBay, so decided to put it up there for $70 OBO. Had a buyer offer $50, so within 15 minutes, I accepted the offer. Within 60 seconds, the buyer sent a message, "I need to cancel my order. I found something better at a better price." What are we kids, here? At first I thought, "OK... I'll cancel it... but let's not respond right away. Let's make her sweat for a day or two. She should learn that she can't pull this monkey business."  A few days later, eBay automatically opened the Unpaid Item case. And I thought... "You know... let's make her sweat a little more. Let's see what happens."  Just now she sent me a message, "I have contacted you twice to cancel my purchase...I found a better item... I still had two days on your product and I emailed you as soon as I needed to cancel it. I do not understand why this hasn't been done."

I have half a mind to reply, "Do you see those words next to the 'Submit Offer' that say: By clicking Submit offer, you are agreeing to and entering into a legally binding contract to purchase the item from the seller."?  This woman has been on eBay for 8 years, and she thinks she can just cancel accepted offers willy-nilly?  I don't think she's going to pay, and demand the item... I have half a mind to do nothing and say nothing. Let the clock run out and give her an unpaid item strike. Is there a downside in this for me?

Keep in mind Kenx, it isn't about being right, because you clearly are.  Buyers like this are what make eBay an abosolute joke sometimes.  But the only way for you to keep your sanity is to ignore buyers like this and cancel the order.   Hopefully you can sell it for more to the next person.   As a whole, we have become a very entitled society when it comes to shopping...and as a seller we are on the front lines.  

That said, this is the perfect place to come and vent, because there are many others that have similar experiences.  I also know how frustrating it is to be in your shoes.  Good luck!  I hope you sell it for the full $70 and the "better item" that the buyer found arrives late and is broken. 

[Derricku]

Hello - second post,

I've gotten real good at the buying side - now have to figure out how to sell. Bought 4 - LEGO Friends Heartlake Grand Hotel BUILDING SET, Building Kit 41101 ( my price was about 65 + tax). Before I bought I looked at the sold listings and saw ~ $100 with shipping.

I listed via auction - http://www.ebay.com/itm/322026206565?ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1561.l2649 and sold for 77 + 14 for shipping. My target selling price was around $95.

Other than taking better pictures, what else could I have done to get to that target price on Ebay? Should I have listed as BIN. Would FBA been better for this type of sale? I am learning a lot and also wasting a little too much time on this hobby. I did score a Pet Shop on clearance at $90 at Target.

Thanks in advance. 

[Zelgazra]

Unless the item is REALLY popular, I've found Auction format can be a huge gamble. It just depends on pure luck. The right interested buyers all have to start bidding on your item for it to get bid up to a high point (multiple keenly interested parties make items climb). Majority of my experience is that people will bid up to the point of the next lowest priced seller and stop there, knowing full well they could go BIN from the cheaper seller... but because bidding started, you're stuck with whatever last price they decided to go to, and you have to sell it to them at that (less than desirable) price. As a shopper, Auctions can be excellent scores because of this! 

The fact of the matter comes down to patience. If you want to sell for $95, I'd personally list at $110 BIN with OBO, and patiently wait for an interested party to come along. You'll probably get offers around $80 (close to the price you sold for), which is a much better starting point for negotiating up towards your intended selling price. 

Lots of great pictures can potentially help sell a used item, but I've had as much success pulling the default image from LEGO Shop at Home for a NISB set as I've had for taking detailed photos of that set. If people ask for detailed photos, provide them of course, but not absolutely necessary. In my experience. Which is less than 1 year of limited amount. 

[Phil B]

10 minutes ago, Derricku said:

Hello - second post,

I've gotten real good at the buying side - now have to figure out how to sell. Bought 4 - LEGO Friends Heartlake Grand Hotel BUILDING SET, Building Kit 41101 ( my price was about 65 + tax). Before I bought I looked at the sold listings and saw ~ $100 with shipping.

I listed via auction - http://www.ebay.com/itm/322026206565?ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1561.l2649 and sold for 77 + 14 for shipping. My target selling price was around $95.

Other than taking better pictures, what else could I have done to get to that target price on Ebay? Should I have listed as BIN. Would FBA been better for this type of sale? I am learning a lot and also wasting a little too much time on this hobby. I did score a Pet Shop on clearance at $90 at Target.

Thanks in advance. 

First lesson: Never sell via auction unless you don't care what price you sell for. As it stands, you have now sponsored someone's Grand Hotel because assuming you can indeed ship that big box for $14, your total sale price for EBay and Paypal's purposes is $91, and they will take 13% between the two of them - $12. If you didn't have any shipping costs (i.e. you have a box ready) and don't factor in the time it took to hunt this deal and gas etc, you are making $65 (so your loss is the tax you paid on the purchase - assuming 7% (but could be higher) this is ~$5 lost.

Then again, the best lesson is a painful lesson. I think you would have easily sold if you put it up as a 10 or 30 day BIN for $99 plus shipping, or even higher (but including shipping). That doesn't make you a ton of money either, but you should be able to get ~$10-$15 out of it. Alternatively you can list as auction, but set your beginning bid at a level where you at least make a profit.

All this is of course assuming your only strategy is a Quick Flip, which will be hard on the Grand Hotel as it is readily available at retail (and sometimes at a discount). As this is a pretty neat set (a Trump style hotel with all the gold ) it will likely go up slightly in value post retirement, or, around the Christmas holidays if stock runs out. Those are the right moments to sell this set - not now when they can be bought at retail or less. You might want to consider putting them in a closet and forgetting about them for 6 months or longer, then check back. Or see if you can sell them for $100 on Craigslist -> no fees, or put them up here on Brick Classifieds (also no fees).

[binici]

For sets that I come to realize are failed sets and no one cares, I do auction styles for them and hope for at least a break even or a marginal loss.

Hot sets demand patience and timing. You can include outstanding photos, which some buyers care or even a full description, but the fact of the matter is that price will dictate that cash flowing in.

It took some time, but I have a system that works at the moment. Although, I must admit that Amazon is becoming my favorite targeting right now for selling retired sets!

[Phil B]

2 minutes ago, binici said:

For sets that I come to realize are failed sets and no one cares, I do auction styles for them and hope for at least a break even or a marginal loss.

Hot sets demand patience and timing. You can include outstanding photos, which some buyers care or even a full description, but the fact of the matter is that price will dictate that cash flowing in.

It took some time, but I have a system that works at the moment. Although, I must admit that Amazon is becoming my favorite targeting right now for selling retired sets!

Yes, but Grand Hotel is just a year old ... not retired at all. Selling a retired set (granted, in a desirable line) is a completely different game than selling a set when you're competing with normal retail channels, especially since platforms like EBay (12-13%) and Amazon (18-20%) take a big chunk of your profits. And with big sets you have to compete with their free shipping policies as well, which for us mortals means for big sets: big bucks.

[Derricku]

Hey - Thanks a lot - learning the math and probably won't do these kind of sets anymore. Sell the rest at cost to friends -- and open one up and build it with my kids and their friends. Throw the whole lot into a container with some other loose sets and post on Craigslist for $60 bucks. Those seem to go for more than organized sets. Finding out that for QFLL the smaller basic sets go a lot faster.  Thanks for the advice.

[Kurinoko]

5 hours ago, Zelgazra said:

Lots of great pictures can potentially help sell a used item, but I've had as much success pulling the default image from LEGO Shop at Home for a NISB set as I've had for taking detailed photos of that set. If people ask for detailed photos, provide them of course, but not absolutely necessary. In my experience. Which is less than 1 year of limited amount. 

This is interesting, because pulling up great pictures takes time.

Will give it a try. Thanks.

[Phil B]

5 hours ago, Derricku said:

Hey - Thanks a lot - learning the math and probably won't do these kind of sets anymore. Sell the rest at cost to friends -- and open one up and build it with my kids and their friends. Throw the whole lot into a container with some other loose sets and post on Craigslist for $60 bucks. Those seem to go for more than organized sets. Finding out that for QFLL the smaller basic sets go a lot faster.  Thanks for the advice.

Derricku - that sounds like a waste of money as well. You can make money with this. Try Craigslist first and see if anyone bites at just under hundred bucks. That is still a $30+ dollar deal for most people who can only buy this at RRP ($130+tax). You might need to wait a bit as this is not top reselling season. Or try a local Facebook selling group. I would _definitely_ NOT open this up, dump it in a bin, and sell it that way. Way too obvious that it is just one set, not enough weight regardless (you have maybe 2lbs of plastic per box, so at the going rate that would give you $10-$20 per box - better to sell them on ebay like you did at that price ).