7 Simple Tips And Tricks Selling A High-priced Collectibles On Ebay
Not too long ago, a colleague asked myself to assist her cousin sell off his collection series on Lladro glass figurines on eBay. These are generally expensive glass collectors’ items and I knew next to nothing about these figurines – nevertheless I don’t have to. The actual principles for selling luxurious collectors’ items on eBay is the same, regardless of what is being sold.
Obviously, like all item on ebay, item’s owner should have a compelling auction listing together with fantastic photos. This can be often true, regardless of what the good is. Expensive collectible figurines will offer you marvelous opportunities, but will also need exceptional precautions.
1. Selling price: figure out the lowest amount of money you can settle for for each and every porcelain figurine and then set that rate as a reserve price. And then put your starting bid ridiculously low.
For instance, if you might accept $800 – get your based bid $1. There’s no risk with this, considering that you won’t have to sell unless of course the bidding reaches your reserve price, nevertheless the low value allures bidders, assuming there is demand, obviously.
Observing closed eBay listings allow you to keep track of selling prices. Often we learn about that starting off at the selling price where item’s owner hopes it will close isn’t a smart way.
As an example, a seller hopes to get $750 for his or her figurine. The based bid of $750 wouldn’t pull in nearly as many potential buyers as the starting bid of $1 and also – to tell the truth – the lower starting bid typically receives higher prices. There may be some psychology stuffs you can imagine with the low based price. It might not help make logical sense, but it’s the true fact on eBay.
2. Devote some place in your auction listing describing how you might pack your merchandise to make sure safe transit. This can be critically important because at the back of every consumer’s mind is the concern of receiving a merchandise which broken. A collectors’ items, winning bidder will finally be thinking of the trouble she’ll have to undergo – and the possible loss of purchase price – if his / her item is damaged. He / She simply needs to know that the seller has taken into consideration this issue and offers a solution.
3. For the assurance to both of you, insist the buyer pay for best suited insurance protection. Never permit this approach to be a choice. You certainly wouldn’t want the liability of a smashed collectible that costs hundreds of dollars. Actually, if your customer refuses to pay for insurance coverage, this could potentially be a warning sign. A genuine collector can be quite excited to add to his / her collection and definitely want the items to be protected.
4. We could safely presume that all online shopper has heard reports of fraud on eBay and in other places on the web. For that reason, anything that can be done to demonstrate the authenticity of your collectible is well worth your time and effort. Will there be a marking at the bottom? Do you have the original box or other container? Does it have a label? Is there a certificate of authenticity or an appraisal by a legitimate organization? When the answer to any of those is “yes”, in that case be certain to highlight the authenticity within your auction. Taking photos of your proof is very effective.
5. I do not recommend giving a guarantee except in the most common way – that is, you, item’s owner, are being truthful in regards to the product you are selling. People bidding on the collectible is knowledgeable and therefore they are fully aware exactly what they’re buying so there shouldn’t be any reason for a return. If someone expresses unhappiness and dissatisfaction and send your products back, there’s every likelihood of it being broken. You don’t want the trouble of trying to get back the damaged items or putting yourself into a litigious situation with someone that will not believe you that the collectible has been broken via return shipment.
Also, you don’t want to take a loss on your eBay charges, which might be significant if the price is high.
6. Having a really expensive item, at all times provide the choice of using an escrow service – at the customer’s expense, of course. They may not want this service, but ensure they have the choice. As a vendor, of course, know that your merchandise is authentic, nevertheless the buyer isn’t so certain. eBay recommends an escrow service that’s available to all members.
7. If you’re prepared to ship international, you need to take special steps to safeguard yourself. In the US we have AVS (Address Verification System) which gives you some protection. A very large percentage of the scam suffered by buyers happens outside of the US and you are justified in safeguarding yourself. Losing the purchase price on a $5 item isn’t a problem – but a thousand dollars worth of collectible absolutely does matter.
Your bank may tell you on how long the time it will take to confirm the international funds. Be sure you let any prospective buyer know in your auction that generally there will be a delay if they are outside of your country. Don’t let your merchandise out of your hands before you are certain the fund has been deposited successfully!
When you adhere to these ‘rules’, the chances of selling your costly collectibles at the maximum prices might be greatly increased.