My buys from the last 2 Saturdays

[Tallone]

Two Saturday's ago, I went to an family-run estate sale. Most of the stuff was way over priced but I picked up the two paintings below for $20 each:



I don't usually buy art but we live relatively close to a an area with a lot of expensive beach houses and these would be perfect decor in a beach house. They are both original oil-on-canvas paintings and are nicely done with a lot of fine detail work. They are by different artists and I can't find any info on either of them. They are both fairly large. The one on the left is 4 feet by 3 feet and the one on the right is 3 feet by 3 feet. I wish they were framed but I still think I can at least double my money by putting them on Craigslist.

I hit two sales yesterday. I picked up the professional quality chef's mandoline below for $10. This model sells on ebay for about $30 but I will probably keep it for myself.



My favorite find are the team jerseys below:



The seller included in the Craigslist post a picture of a rack of clothes and I could see a few team jerseys in there. I didn't know anything about team jerseys except that a lot of fans like to wear gear from their favorite team. When I checked out ebay sales for team jerseys I noticed that there are several makers and that the most popular and expensive ones are made by the Mitchell & Ness company.

I was the first guy at this sale but only a couple of others showed up while I was there. When they opened the garage, I looked for the jerseys but didn't see them. I asked the guy about them and he went into the house to bring them out. I looked them over and about half (including all the ones pictured above) were Mitchell & Ness jerseys. I asked the price and he said, "$20 for the Mitchell & Ness and $10 for the others but we can negotiate if you want more than one." I picked up all the Mitchell & Ness except for a Julius Erving jersey that a lot of bad staining on the front, offered the guy $100 for all 7 and he jumped all over it expressing surprise that I wanted them all.

So I paid about $12 each for these. With the exception of the Bird Celtics jersey, I don't think they have ever been worn. The Mike Schmidt Phillies jersey still has the original tags with a retail price of $300! The Iverson jersey has 2 small stains that I think I can get out. I will be very surprised if I don't get at least $50 each for these and a couple of them may go for substantially more. the Dodgers jersey is a replica of a 1955 jersey worn by Jackie Robinson. The green Cincinnati Reds jersey is a special St. Pats day jersey with no player name. I couldn't find anything like it on ebay so I don't know if this one is more or less desirable than a jersey with regular colors. I may wait until shortly before St. Patrick's Day to list this one.

 

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[Tallone]

Well now... I guess ebay's recent sales aren't always the best guide to value. Either that and/or I misjudged this situation rather badly. Here is what happened... this afternoon I started to list the Magic Johnson Lakers jersey shown above. I looked at recent sales of this jersey on ebay. Then I looked at what is currently for sale. My best guess is that it should bring no more than about $60. So, I listed it as Buy It Now with a price of $55 plus a few bucks for shipping. It got snatched up within minutes by a guy whole runs a store selling these kind of jerseys.

I looked at his ebay store. He has over 200 jerseys and similar items for sale with about three quarters of them listed as BIN for $150 to over $200. So, I may well have lost out on $100 or more by listing this thing at $55. The good news is I have half of my investment back and I still have 6 more jerseys to sell! I won't be listing the others at such a low price.

 

[Iron Patch]

Well now... I guess ebay's recent sales aren't always the best guide to value. Either that and/or I misjudged this situation rather badly. Here is what happened... this afternoon I started to list the Magic Johnson Lakers jersey shown above. I looked at recent sales of this jersey on ebay. Then I looked at what is currently for sale. My best guess is that it should bring no more than about $60. So, I listed it as Buy It Now with a price of $55 plus a few bucks for shipping. It got snatched up within minutes by a guy whole runs a store selling these kind of jerseys.

I looked at his ebay store. He has over 200 jerseys and similar items for sale with about three quarters of them listed as BIN for $150 to over $200. So, I may well have lost out on $100 or more by listing this thing at $55. The good news is I have half of my investment back and I still have 6 more jerseys to sell! I won't be listing the others at such a low price.

I keep seeing this over and over... with the listing fee of a quarter you ALWAYS run something as an auction first with the same price you would have listed as the BIN. Even if you're fairly confident you know what it's worth who's to say others won't pay more. At least you get it and are not impressed with it selling fast, because that comes up here too. On the bright side it looks like it will end up well now that you've learned your lesson.

Learn how to be greedy!

 

[Tallone]

I do that when I am not sure of the value. In this case, there were enough recent sales and current listings that I was pretty confident of my price. Obviously, I was wrong. The next one that goes up will be auctioned.

 

[Iron Patch]

I do that when I am not sure of the value. In this case, there were enough recent sales and current listings that I was pretty confident of my price. Obviously, I was wrong. The next one that goes up will be auctioned.

Well you never really know, and sometimes it just happens that way because I have sold stuff that I knew the value of, and to people who are in the same business but bigger.... and it simply comes down to them thinking they can squeeze out a little more. It sounds like your situation is a dealer willing to hang on to make $10-$20... and to some people it is worth it. To others moving the stuff fast for a quick profit is what they prefer. I actually do both.

 

[Tallone]

Judging by what this buyer is selling similar jerseys for in his ebay store, he probably expects to get a lot more than a $20 profit out of it. I shipped it to him today so in a few days I will check his store to see if it shows up and what he is asking for it.

By the way, that green Cincinnati Reds jersey bears the number (#14) of former Reds star Pete Rose. I guess the Reds didn't put player names on the back of the jerseys at that time. I think I am going to hold on to that one until early March and put it up for auction on ebay a couple of weeks before St. Patrick's Day. Maybe I will get a few more bids for it at that time.

 

[diggummup]

I can relate to this scenario, only my experience was with an auction listing. I just sold some (used) software. I listed it at auction towards the lower end of what others have sold for recently. I listed it for the least amount I would accept which was $49.99 (I paid $3). It ended up selling with 3 bids for $51.99. The guy that bought it sells this particular software on ebay with BIN prices that are almost triple what he bought it off me for. The orig. msrp was $279.99. This is an example of where I could have chose to list my software with a much higher BIN price and more than likely have to wait for a month or 2 or more to sell, or list it low at auction and be happy with what you get.

 

[vwayne1]

Dig, your forgetting one more option and IP already said it. List it at auction but don't put the start price at the low end of what others are getting, start it at the higher end or even higher. I do and mine sell. Not quickly some time but it sells. I generally get high end of price range or higher for my items using this technique.

 

[Tallone]

I don't get it, vwayne. Let's say I am a buyer looking at ebay for a particular item. I run my search and come up with a list of similar or (in the case of my Lakers jersey) identical items. I look at the condition of the items and find several that are all in equally good condition. Now I look at the price. Seller vwayne is asking $60 for his but seller Tallone is only asking $50. I am going to save $10 and buy Tallone's item. Why would I spend the extra $10 to buy vwayne's item? What am I missing?

 

[Iron Patch]

I don't get it, vwayne. Let's say I am a buyer looking at ebay for a particular item. I run my search and come up with a list of similar or (in the case of my Lakers jersey) identical items. I look at the condition of the items and find several that are all in equally good condition. Now I look at the price. Seller vwayne is asking $60 for his but seller Tallone is only asking $50. I am going to save $10 and buy Tallone's item. Why would I spend the extra $10 to buy vwayne's item? What am I missing?

Maybe I can help you get it.

I just bought three shirts, all three which I would consider higher end in my world .... meaning expensive for me, and I didn't search to compare prices or do anything else, I just clicked the button. I think you are giving buyers WAY too much credit for being thorough, when I believe there's just as many who are like me as the ones trying to save that last nickel. So to answer the question in your scenario seller vwayne has probably realized he can squeeze that extra bit of money just because he can. and there's not really a good reason, the things just sell.

At the end of the day you have to find the balance of getting the most out of your items, but not pricing so high that you rarely sell anything. What I do is start on the high side like vwayne, or maybe even a little higher, but as time goes on if I still have the thing I'll drop a little. Having a high price also works well when you get a question from someone who shows some interest because you have a little room to move to put them over the fence. But to sum it all up the bottom line is most people don't pay that much attention, just find the best way to play the game.

 

[diggummup]

Dig, your forgetting one more option and IP already said it. List it at auction but don't put the start price at the low end of what others are getting, start it at the higher end or even higher. I do and mine sell. Not quickly some time but it sells. I generally get high end of price range or higher for my items using this technique.

You are correct but I want to make sure it sells the first week or at least the 1st month. It all depends on how much you are willing to take for your item. And a lot of that depends on what you paid for the item to begin with. For me (with run of the mill items), if i'm buying at 10 cents or less on the dollar, then i'm content to sell that item at the lower end of the price spectrum so that I can move it fast and still make a good profit. Does that make any sense? If my supply of items to sell was hard to find or my profit margin was much less, I'd be trying to get top dollar for everything. Or ( actually more to the point), if I had the room to sort, categorize, organize and warehouse properly everything I own, I wouldn't have a problem with it sitting on a shelf for 6 months or so till it sold at top dollar. If I tried that now, I would never find that item 3 months down the road. I am seriously hurting for space and I do not want to rent another storage unit.

 

[vwayne1]

IP explained it pretty well as far as items that have multiples on eBay at any given time. Not much reasoning behind why they sell for more they just do. It may have to do with people not looking hard enough for the best deal. Also I like to think it has to do with me and my auction. I do good pics and usually lots of them. I answer questions quickly and I do good descriptions. All of this adds to the perceived value of any given item. Second point I want to make on this subject, items that may not have much or any competition. I'm not talking a truly unique piece, just a little more unusual. It might have a lot less viewers, hence less bidders. Most of my auctions sell with one bid, and that bid is always higher than a like item sold by someone else with many bids. One last thing. A good example. I recently found a butter dish. Found a couple finished ones on eBay. First one sold for $20 with about 5-10 bids. Second one sold for $50 buy it now. I think that says it all. Btw, 80% of my items sell BIN. Sorry to the OP for high jacking if I did.

 

[Tallone]

Well, I was the OP so, no problem, hijack away! Actually, I think I sort of hijacked my own thread (can you even do that?) by commenting on my pricing mistake. Anyway, this is an interesting and useful discussion.

IP, I think you may be right that there are people out there that just don't pay that much attention. In doing my price research, I sometimes run across situations where many sellers have sold the same item but one sold for WAY more than the others. In fact, I had this happen to me a few months back - but not in my favor. I bought a box lot of miscellaneous old magazines and newspapers at an auction. When I sorted through the box I found a couple of 1950s vintage pocket girlie magazines featuring a nude photo spread of Betty Page. I knew Betty Page stuff is pretty collectible so I looked up the magazines on ebay. I found several of these little pocket magazines with Betty Page photos including the identical issue of one of mine. Actually, mine was in slightly better condition. Most of them sold for $40 or so. However, the one that was identical to mine sold for $180!!! I listed mine for $175. It sat out there on ebay for about 2 months. Lots of views, no watchers, no bidders. I finally dropped the price to $40 and it sold in a week.

I agree with diggummup about the storage issue. I don't have space to store too much stuff, so I need to sell things within a reasonable period of time. I just don't have space to keep a large volume of stuff hoping that someday the right buyers will come along and pay me top dollar for my items.

 

[dumpsterdiver]

that guy might have also bought it to keep you from just generally lowering the value of his inventory. if he has that many