When do you post and sell sets?

[weakside]

Just need some advice/opinion from you experts. I'm a novice that started 'investing' and flipping sets for last 2-3months, fun hobby as I like to read forums and look for deals. Hours spent on sports/fantasy league stats before has turned into Lego hunting and researching Been successful flipping some small to med sets locally (Toronto area in CAN) - no delivery, just face to face for 10%-25% ROI. As my inventory grows, my question is for larger sets ($100+ CAN prices) like Haunted House, Arkham Asylum, Vampyre Castle or Helms Deep do some of you post it immediately for opportunity of a quick flip/small profit or are you waiting for EOL/retirement before posting and selling? Does it depend on the theme and scarcity? I guess budget plays a role too, small budget investors might need to sell sets inorder to refresh their inventory with better potential sets instead of holding and collecting. Thanks for any advice.

[emes]

I think this depends on where and how you're selling. Most of what we do is through eBay, and in my opinion the effect of eBay's recent fee changes and changes to how stores operate is basically to encourage people to set up stores. Given the changes, I don't worry so much now about running auctions, and would just rather list things as Buy it Now with a good til canceled flag on it. Based on that, I can list something as soon as I buy it for the amount that I want to make off of it and simply wait for the market to reach that level of maturity. I don't sell on Amazon, but as I understand it you could basically take the same low maintenance approach if desired.

[weakside]

Reading articles about fees for Ebay/paypal/Amazon and shipping issues etc. kinda makes me shy away (for now). But obviously you reach the most amount of potential buyers this way.

[emes]

Reading articles about fees for Ebay/paypal/Amazon and shipping issues etc. kinda makes me shy away (for now). But obviously you reach the most amount of potential buyers this way.

You always pass fees onto the buyer. If buyers aren't willing to pay the fees bundled into the price, you'll find out very quickly.

[weakside]

very true Emes, guess that's why Amazon.ca prices are ridiculous high. One of the positives is you don't pay any fees unless you sell an item on Amazon.

[mikeur86]

The good thing about eBay now is the Global Shipping Program. Before, it was confusing figuring out costs to ship overseas, where as now I just offer free shipping, take care of the shipping to the local facility and from there the buyer pays to ship it to their country. Doing it this way you will find an increase in your sales. There are still tons of sellers charging international shipping prices using the Global Shipping Program and not realizing(or maybe they do and don't care) that the customer will have to pay those charges again. So by offering free shipping you stick out as a seller. Just raise the price of your item to help cover the costs(we're talking anywhere from $3.00-$15.00 which isn't that much).

[emes]

The good thing about eBay now is the Global Shipping Program. Before, it was confusing figuring out costs to ship overseas, where as now I just offer free shipping, take care of the shipping to the local facility and from there the buyer pays to ship it to their country. Doing it this way you will find an increase in your sales. There are still tons of sellers charging international shipping prices using the Global Shipping Program and not realizing(or maybe they do and don't care) that the customer will have to pay those charges again. So by offering free shipping you stick out as a seller. Just raise the price of your item to help cover the costs(we're talking anywhere from $3.00-$15.00 which isn't that much).

I'm going to politely disagree with you here, and I think many others will as well. The GSP significantly increases costs to the buyer, and eventually buyers will wise up to it. It's also not really that safe of an option for the seller if you look at the fine print. It's really not that much work to figure out how much international shipping costs, especially when you offer limited options.

The good thing about eBay is the number of buyers you can reach.

[weakside]

Thanks for the advice mikeur86...I'll have to read more into eBay/amazon selling to get full picture and go from there when I'm ready.

[akohns]

I continue to offer International shipping inside and outside of the new Global shipping program. Frequently items sell international for much high than I would make domestically since people who can't stop at their local walmart and pick these kinds of stuff up are willing to pay a premium. I usually try to list things high and see if I get any interest first. You still need to get stock at a good price to make it profitable for you.

[emazers]

The Global Shipping Program is not a good idea. Be sure and put Express Mail in your auction, The Person wins the auction he pays you, mail it Express he has it 3-7 days everybody is happy. There are people complaining it takes up to 10 days before it even gets shipped out of the hub. Plus extra fees are being charged to the buyer.