What would you spend? How far would you go?

[clovis97]

I am curious how much you might spend for an item that retails for $100 on ebay.

There is an estate auction this coming Saturday, but I won't be able to make the sale. I am thinking about leaving absentee bids with the auctioneer for several items.

One of the items is a book that is now out of print. A very specialized book, but it is going to require the use of ebay to find a buyer. These books are consistently selling for $100 on ebay, but the only copies on there now are priced at $200 to $400, but not selling at those prices.

Another item has sold consistently in the $130 range. How much would you pay for this $130 item?

How much would you pay for an item that is consistently selling for $65??

What about a $35 item, also for reselling on ebay?

I've been to a million auctions in my life, but this will only be the second time ever that I'll be leaving absentee bids.

I am interested in hearing what your margins need to be.

BTW, we ebay and buy/sell for a living, and do this full time.

Thanks in advance!!!

 

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[mkulltra]

This seems like a problem that requires a mathmatician. Let's say you sell the item on ebay for $100. Now let's say you pay $10 for the item plus 6% sales tax and 10% buyers premium. That leaves $84. Now lets say that the auction house is only 10 miles from your house and you are only traveling under 20 miles roundtrip. We'll say that is only going to cost about $5 in gas. That leaves $79. Now we need to subtract eBay and paypal fees estimated at 13%. That's $13. We are at $66. Now no matter how good you are ar calculating shipping costs, you always lose out on something. Packaging, weight of package, destination, driving to post office, etc. We'll call that $5. We're at $61 in profit. The last thing we need calculate for is the hardest, time. Let's say you spend a total of 4 hours between driving to and from auction and post office, time spent looking around auction and leaving bid, taking pictures and creating listing for eBay, and anything else i'm forgetting. Let's say your time is worth about $10 per hour where you could have been at work or doing something else to make money. That means that for all of your work you are making a profit of $21.

(x3/c2-10e) * 4n(h-3)= profit

 

[clovis97]

Thank you for the help...but I have to admit, that math is depressing.

The math makes me think that maybe I should just spend my time at a job where I am asking customers if they want fries with that order, LOL.

The equation does change a little bit because I am hoping to win 6 or 7 items at this auction, and hopefully be able to clear $50 or more on each item.

We do have listing time, but we also have daily pick up at our door from USPS.

My goal is to clear at least $500 in profit from every estate auction that I attend. On occasion, I miss that mark due to the availability of items to buy, or the buying crowd that shows up, but I exceed that goal quite often.

 

[namster]

As a rule, I spend 30% of ebay value or I walk, unless it's something I plan to keep. Silver, I'll pay 50% value. Often times I can pick items at $1 that will sell for $15 on ebay. That's where the money is IMO.

 

[treasurekidd]

My basic rule is that I look to double my money at minimum after ebay fees. If I spend $10, I hope to make at least $20 to $25. If I can double my money, it's worth it.

 

[lookin-for-treasure]

My basic rule is that I look to double my money at minimum after ebay fees. If I spend $10, I hope to make at least $20 to $25. If I can double my money, it's worth it.

This is the goal I shoot for every time I make a purchase to resell. Oftentimes I will triple my money. All kinds of opportunities out there. You just have to be diverse.

 

[trdhrdr007]

Buying items for resale makes up a fairly healthy percentage of what I earn. Depending on how successful I am finding items it ranges from 40-80% of my total income.

My acceptable profit margin depends on a lot of different things. If I can buy an item for $1000, deliver it(or mail it) to one of my regular buyers, & have a check in hand within a couple days I might settle for a 10-15% profit. If I buy an entire estate I want to at least double my money, plus make enough to pay myself an hourly rate for the time involved in packing/moving everything.

I won't touch an individual ebay item without a minimum $20 profit. If I have a bunch of items that are easy to pack/ship & I can make one listing for all the items I'll make an exception. I recently bought a bunch of stuff from a warehouse that included a few hundred new mop heads. There were a few different kinds so I've had to make a few different listings. They sell in the $10-20 range in lots of 2-3. Takes maybe 15 minutes to address 'em & throw 'em in a poly bag. The rest of the warehouse made my required profit so those sales are gravy.

As a general rule, the more I have to handle an item & the longer I have to fool with it the more money I need to make. There's not much point in spending several hours & $ on gas for a profit that works out to less than minimum wage. There are times when I go to sales & end up with nothing. That's aggravating & not productive but it's part of the game.

 

[Tallone]

trdhrdr007 wrote:

I won't touch an individual ebay item without a minimum $20 profit.

I with you on this. It takes time to sell stuff. Craigslist is simpler than ebay mostly because I don't have to pack and ship things sold on CL but they both take time so it makes no sense to me to make a couple of dollars profit. I don't need to double my money, though. I have bought and sold lots of items where I made only 20% - 30% profit but, in dollar terms, I still did well. A good case in point was a set of limited edition Case pocket knives. I bought them at an estate auction for a little over $300. So, with buyer's premium, tax, and ebay fees (on the selling end), I invested almost $400 in the set. I sold them on ebay for, if I remember right, $550. So, my net was $150. That is a 37.5% profit but it didn't cost me any more time to process this item than anything else. I figure it takes me about an hour to process an ebay item (clean up, take pics, write up the listing, pack & ship) so $150 for an hour's work is definitely worth it. I don't consider the time at the auction in my calculations because my wife and I go to these just for the fun of it. We also don't drive long distances to go to sales/auctions so I'm not concerned about fuel costs, etc. We don't make a lot of money doing this but we have fun and usually manage to put a few hundred bucks in our pockets every month.

 

[randazzo1]

We have two separate ebay operations. The first one is a clearing house for all sorts of treasures. 50% of them are items like Namster mentioned -- $1.00 or less with a re-sale value of $15-$20.00. All of sorts of little things from lots, thrifts estate sales etc. They pay expenses. The remainder are a mix of items that sell at a mix of prices. I personally don't pay too much attention to the cost because they are usually dirt cheap on the spot but happen to have an ebay value of $30, $40, $50 etc. I can't remember the last time I spend more than $10.00 on a single item.

The second operation is much more complicated. We sell thousands of items with a minimum price of $20.00 and a top price around $1,000.00. Fixed costs on this operation are upwards of $8.00 per item (depending in large part on the sales price and thus the ebay/paypal fees. Other fixed costs = employees, rent, outsourced labor, photographer, packaging etc.). As long as a profit can be made, we'll move it - because it requires almost no work from us - the owners. I'd rather make at least $10.00 on an item, but I won't hold my nose up at $1.00 because its all profit. It would be like not bending over to pick up a dollar in the street.

 

[diggummup]

If I knew of an item that consistently sells for $130 on ebay
(and is easy to ship), I would spend up to about $65 on it.
For a $65 item, $20-$25.
$35 item, $10 tops.
My weekend gas costs me around $20 for all the sales I attend, this is usually good for 10-12 (minimum) ebay-able finds.
I never lose on actual shipping costs or the cost of packing materials.
The P.O. is 1/4 mile from my house so that isn't an issue.
My time is my time. Hunting for antiques and collectibles is done for as much for fun as it is for profit so the only "time" I consider lost, is the time spent listing and packaging an item that has sold.

I have no problem selling an individual item for less than $20 profit if it is an easy to list/ship item. Something that only requires a couple photos, a one line description and will fit in a padded mailer.

 

[trdhrdr007]

We have two separate ebay operations. The first one is a clearing house for all sorts of treasures. 50% of them are items like Namster mentioned -- $1.00 or less with a re-sale value of $15-$20.00. All of sorts of little things from lots, thrifts estate sales etc. They pay expenses. The remainder are a mix of items that sell at a mix of prices. I personally don't pay too much attention to the cost because they are usually dirt cheap on the spot but happen to have an ebay value of $30, $40, $50 etc. I can't remember the last time I spend more than $10.00 on a single item.

The second operation is much more complicated. We sell thousands of items with a minimum price of $20.00 and a top price around $1,000.00. Fixed costs on this operation are upwards of $8.00 per item (depending in large part on the sales price and thus the ebay/paypal fees. Other fixed costs = employees, rent, outsourced labor, photographer, packaging etc.). As long as a profit can be made, we'll move it - because it requires almost no work from us - the owners. I'd rather make at least $10.00 on an item, but I won't hold my nose up at $1.00 because its all profit. It would be like not bending over to pick up a dollar in the street.

Your second operation sounds like a regular business complete with employees & a brick/mortar location. If so I'd love to hear more about it.

 

[clovis97]

Well, for better or for worse, my absentee bids are with the auctioneer.

My absentee bids total $455 for six different items.

Thankfully, we have an auctioneer who will set an item in for you with an opening bid of $10, and bid in your favor until you win it under your set bid, or lose it if it goes over. For instance, I absentee bid $50 for a book, but I might get it for $10. Gotta like an honest auctioneer like that.

Time will tell. I wish I could attend that auction...I really do. I just can't miss out on the business trip tomorrow. This is an auction of an old school hardware store that closed in 1985, and the owner put everything from that business into a pole barn. Probably one of those "you-ain't-never-gonna-forget-an-auction-like-this-one", and I sorely hate to miss it.

 

[clovis97]

Thank you for all of your replies. They are appreciated!!!!

One thing I love about forums like this: Quite often, other posters will come up with new ideas and new ways of looking at things, and even though I've been buying and selling for over 10 years, I appreciate learning new things and getting a fresh look at different perspectives. All of these make me a better buyer and seller.

Again, thanks!!!!!

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

Double your money is the general rule of thumb. If you can't double your money then don't buy the item. Of coarse more than double is OK... Less than double is OK too but just not something you strive for.. A retail store or a pawn shop buys wholesale at 50% less than retail. So they operate the same way basically. Double your money !!

Keep @ it and HH !!

 

[clovis97]

Wow...

I placed 7 absentee bids with the auctioneer. Originally, I placed 6 bids, but he called me for clarification, so I added another bid.

I thought my bids were more than fair. Actually, I thought my bids were too high, but I wanted to win what I could.

You see, these bids were for books that are now out of print. I spied them in some of the auction photos. Often, I've been able to pick up very good books at auctions on the cheap, sometimes for $2 each.

Well, apparently, I wasn't the only person who spied those books. The auctioneer called yesterday to tell me that I won one single book. Yes...one single book.

I am told that this auction drew the largest crowd of the year. Some antique dealer signs that I thought might bring $300 each on ebay sold for a whopping $1,600.

I had bid $50 on the book that I won. I got it for $22, and I will list it somewhere between $99 and $149. While disappointed that I didn't win all of them, I am happy to make a few bucks on the one that I did get!!

 

[diggummup]

Well, at least you won one of them. Auctions can be hit or miss depending on who's there or who knows about it.

 

[clovis97]

Auctions can be hit or miss depending on who's there or who knows about it.

Overall, I do pretty well at auctions.

But over the years, I've found that there seems to be a 10-3-1 formula, if you will.

Out of ten auctions, three will be very, very good, and one will be spectacular.

Sometimes, all the stars, and all the moons align at the same time for that one auction, and when that happens, I buy until I simply cannot buy any more.

 

[diggummup]

I wish I could say the same. It's cutthroat around here. People will pay almost retail for stuff it seems. I've went to a few of the local ones but I have never purchased a thing. Too much for me to make a profit. I found out that a few of my local competition actually sell some of their finds at the auction houses here. Not to mention most of the local auction houses sell online on proxibid too making for even more competition. I have made a few good auction purchases around other parts of the state though.

 

[clovis97]

I hear ya, Dig.

Most of the auction I attend are small town and 'country auctions'. The competition can be fierce here too, but not like they can be at one of the city auctions.

There is an auction house in the city that commands huge prices, often to the point of being absurd. But, if you have patience, there are bargains to be had.

Even though I have done well at this place, I am not a fan of how they conduct business and treat their customers after the sale. You are their best friend during the auction, especially if you are bidding, but once the sale is over...they can be the most arrogant, meanest, thoughtless and rude people I have ever encountered. I haven't been in years, and after how they treated me the last time, I doubt that I'll ever go again.

 

[diggummup]

I hear ya, Dig.

Most of the auction I attend are small town and 'country auctions'. The competition can be fierce here too, but not like they can be at one of the city auctions.

There is an auction house in the city that commands huge prices, often to the point of being absurd. But, if you have patience, there are bargains to be had.

Even though I have done well at this place, I am not a fan of how they conduct business and treat their customers after the sale. You are their best friend during the auction, especially if you are bidding, but once the sale is over...they can be the most arrogant, meanest, thoughtless and rude people I have ever encountered. I haven't been in years, and after how they treated me the last time, I doubt that I'll ever go again.

Down here at one particular auction house it's even worse if you are the one with a piece up for auction. They charge 30% and it took 3 months to get paid. This was for a $3500 piece. I'll take a country auction anyday over a city auction.