Advice on how to sell figures?
 

Hey all,

Long time collector and I'm at the point (unfortunately) where there are just certain collections that I don't feel like I need anymore (e.g., 3.75 GI Joe, Transformers etc).

I've never sold anything online before. Can you guys give me an tips on how to anticipate shipping costs and the best avenues to sell figures?

-Can sell things off ebay although will charge you about 15p [last time i checked] per image.

-Pay Pal Account to help keep things more secure.

-weigh the item with it's packaging then go to your local post office to get an average price of how much to charge for postage.

-To get an average cost of figures search on ebay your item to see how much there going for because that's now the "old" toys market place.

Ebay is best place I think , possibly the Toy-Ark as well the B/S/T forums , [Buy/Sell/ Trade]

Craigslist is a viable option. Then you don't have to ship, and no percentage taken out.

Sell on the forums.

sell on the forums first, then put the remainder on ebay.

If you think you are going to be selling for a while, the best investment I ever made was in a postage scale. I got mine on ebay for about $25 shipped. It weighs up to 75lb items and has a lifetime warranty that actually is valid. I had to get a new scale at some point and it was hasslefree. Also, you'll be able to print all your postage at home and just drop it off at the post office.

Since you specifically mentioned GI Joe and TFs, you should be able to send about 3 joes or 1 deluxe figure via 1st class shipping (up to 13 oz) for up to $4 or so. After that you'll want to use priority mail. You can get priority mail boxes delivered to your house for free if you order them online. For anything other than the Joes, I would say avoid the flat rate boxes. A small flat rate box if it's heavier than 13oz is cheaper than sending regular priority.

As for the best avenue...depends on what you prefer. eBay is good for getting as much money using fixed price listings and getting a wide variety of people to look at your items. Or if you just want everything out of the house and don't care too much about how much you get just list everything as an auction and start the bidding at a penny. Works pretty well for a friend of mine and sometimes you can be pleasantly surprised by how much you end up getting.

Selling on the forums is free from fees but then you can get a lot of casual inquiries that can waste your time. Or people that ask you to hold things until they get paid etc.

Craiglist can work for moving large portions of your collection. Or there are plenty of vendors that advertise on there to buy collections.

There's also facebook groups, but more often than not they seem to want to get the absolute best deal.

My favorite option lately has been getting a table at a small convention and just selling in person. It's work setting up and everything but you'll be surprised what people are willing to buy in person vs online when they can see and have something in their hands.

Hope that helps.

Sell them to us.....Do you have pictures of your toys...let's see what you have ...

Selling through ebay does eat up costs, same with most online selling sites. Figure out what you want to sell, what you want to sell it for, take lots of pictures, if anything is missing, damaged etc mention it. be open to offers, expect people to low ball you to some extent. Once everything has pics, wrap and box it, and label what it is, then it's just a matter of going to the post office and getting a quote, or have a scale already then go online to ups.com and put in the weight and measurements and it will calculate it for you. eBay already has a shipping calculator. Get yourself bulk boxes, bubble wrap, tape. Keep a word-pad with people's address , what needs to be mailed out, payments pending, etc. Decide if you want to sell in large lots or lots of separate lots. Separate lots take more time, and effort but can yield greater profits as your catering to a broader range of people who needs just that 1 figure instead of 100. and use paypal.

forgot to mention offer international postage as well [so i can possibly buy them :p] , make a b/s/t list so people on the forums can look, and maybe buy what you have !

if you have a local comic shop (that you trust) consignment can be handy, I unloaded a lot of star wars stuff through one, I let him keep 10% he got free merchandise I didn't have to deal with the hassle. and in the end I made more than I would have on ebay.