EricJ Posted November 1, 2007 Report Posted November 1, 2007 ok, so I just had hoped to pick up a few tips for ebaying minis. I just don't have the space to have my old ones sitting around, so I am going to start selling off pieces that have already competed in contests. So what do I do to get the most interest? I guess it's an ego thing more than a money thing really, but I'm scared I'll be selling off my GD winners for $30 if I do it all wrong. Any tips? Horror stories? Anyone wanna buy something? Quote
Ritual Posted November 1, 2007 Report Posted November 1, 2007 Just put "pro-painted" in the subject! Quote
EricJ Posted November 1, 2007 Author Report Posted November 1, 2007 real advice! I want real advice! Quote
lauth81 Posted November 1, 2007 Report Posted November 1, 2007 Using the reserve price option is the obvious choice here ... This way you don´t sell anything below a price you think is too low. Quote
Nathan Caroland Posted November 1, 2007 Report Posted November 1, 2007 PUt a price tag on them and then slap them on your account, blog, various sites and let that sit for a bit and see who the interested parties are perhaps. Might take longer but you sell them at what you feel comfortable with. Or, just put a BUY IT NOW at the price you want and offer nothing else in options. Or put a minimum reserve on it so that if it doesn't get to the monetary amount you want, you aren't obligated to sell it. Quote
Lordfishbane Posted November 1, 2007 Report Posted November 1, 2007 A few things I can recomend: Dont use a reserve, the one thing that seems to turn off bidders is the chance of not winning the item they are bidding on. Start the bidding at what you comfortable letting it go for, use a flat rate for shipping AND handleing so if the shipping is a bit off then no one can complain about being gouged $1.50 more then what it cost to ship. Make sure to list any contests it placed in or won, and by all means toot your own horn in the description of oher contests you have place in or won to show the proof/means of quality. Quote
gi6ers Posted November 1, 2007 Report Posted November 1, 2007 Pimp the hell out of it on any forum that'll let you...CMON, FOD, here, Frothers etc. Use a pic in auction listing and put lots of keywords in there. Quote
matty1001 Posted November 1, 2007 Report Posted November 1, 2007 Use as many pic's as possible. Ebay lets you use 12 max I think. If you arn't going to be using photobucket to host your pics. Fill up all the slots. Better to have 12 photos from different angles than just a front and back shot IMO O and yea, I never bid on stuff with has a reserve price. I just hate it. I like to think that if I bid, i will get it. (or be outbid etc..) Quote
Jabberwocky Posted November 1, 2007 Report Posted November 1, 2007 Anyone wanna buy something? I'll be bidding... Quote
Wren Posted November 1, 2007 Report Posted November 1, 2007 You've got a strong enough rep that I think FF's route is worth trying. Saves you Ebay fees, as well. I've had collectors contact me privately asking me to sell stuff I've posted on CMON or to do commissions, so it's ended up that the only thing I've sold on Ebay was for a charity auction. I have to think you've had offers like that too, and that you'll just have to get the word out a little to have more. I have been paying note to advice from Ebay sellers for when I do jump into the pool, though. If you do go the Ebay route, start with something that's good but not spectacular. I'm told people will bookmark artists they like, so you'll build up a little more of a following of customers after a couple of sales. Since your stuff is high-end you'd probably want to Ebay one or two at a time rather than several at once, so potential customers who might want to own multiple pieces have the opportunity to do that instead of just being able to afford to bid on one. Figure out if you want to ship outside the US. If you ship inside, you have postage options of delivery confirmation and insurance (be sure to include those in the cost of the shipping in the listing and let people know they're included). Confirmation options are usually absent or limited when shipping to other countries because it depends on their arrangement with USPS. And if you get insurance then you have to list the accurate price on the customs form, which for your stuff would likely be higher than what's allowed under 'gift', and the recipient will have to pay additional taxes when picking up the parcel. My charity auction went to an outside the US customer, and I got away with the insuring it for more than customs amount by explaining to the clerk that it was a charity auction and the actual value of the item was much less, but I don't think I could make that fly every time. There's some advice from display painters for selling on Ebay in this thread on Reaper forums, and I think there are a few other threads in the same forum section. Look for posts by Vaitalla (Anne Foerster, Reaper staff painter and used to sell a lot on Ebay), ixminis, Elouchard (Eric Louchard) particularly, but there are also comments from buyers. Quote
EricJ Posted November 1, 2007 Author Report Posted November 1, 2007 Thanks Wren, that's really helpful, and everyone for their feedback, I think it might be time to make a web page and do it that way...ebay might be just a little too scary for me Quote
matty1001 Posted November 1, 2007 Report Posted November 1, 2007 Plus you have stupid eBay fees, which can mount up when figures start getting higher. But; I won't bid on anything with a reserve. And, I won't bid on anything with out decent pictures. It's common sense really, the better the info you provide. The better chance it has to sell. Quote
demonherald Posted November 2, 2007 Report Posted November 2, 2007 It's all about pictures and reputation.....And a kick ass description buyers have the ability to filter items that come up in their searches by criteria such as 100% positive feedback only .... Reserve/non reserve ..... feedback 100-200-300 The more of these criteria you meet the higher the price goes up .. I'm currently running 553 100% positive and each band has seeen prices rise... getting the title right is crucial... Pro painted has turned into a bit of a joke these days but is still a poular search option.. serious collectors tend to skip it.... in the title basic minimum is "painted" "insert system name" "insert model type" "conversion"if converted" or "unique" Subtitles are also useful especially with a reputation like yours ..painted by multiple demon winner "insert name" as a subtitle... pictures ,.. clear and covering all angles.....even some relatively crap minis sell well when the pictures are good because people like to know what they are buying....I have always used picture pack as it allows gallery pic and large pics at a lower price... Description of the model anything and everything to pimp it...simple as that..the better it sounds the better it sells and again cover all the description notes above..system model conversion work comps everything.... start price..This is always a stickler....have a look at CMON and see what people do there.. watch a few auctions.. There are so many greedy people who think there work is worth more than it is and 9 times out of 10 they get no interest at all...a low start means that lots of people watch it early on and the interest generates....The risk is you don't get what you want..but like any auction it is a total lottery.... postage keep it low but don't lose out..cover P&P costs as you will already be paying ebay fees paypal fees etc etc.... and this is the killer...the fees can really pile up...this means you have to factor this in..so many people forget that...and a lot of the time it can really make ebay not a good option. a couple of things to note....there aren't actually that many srious collectors ? Money spenders around ebay...if you look at all the highest price selling things it is only a few names that share them.....however what ebay does do well is show the serious collectors you are willing to sell your work and they will often contact you that way... whatever you do as soon as people pay make sure things are sent quickly and safely the reputation as a seller is different to the rep as a painter and cannot be overstated. the Blog and forum mentioning ideas will be just as good for someone with a name such as yours though.... The point wren mentions is also a biggy.. Don't put your most precious stuff on to start with... until the reputation is built.. It's actually interesting watching the new BIG name on ebay... Studio McVey ..they are currently just starting off and most of their listings are for unpainted spare models and the odd tester paintjob here and there... This is establishing there names and rep as sellers and you can almost here the anticipation of the collectors to own some McVey pieces... phew that was a long one.. and it's now 5 a.m so I'm gonna try get back to sleep.. night.. Quote
Dragonforge Posted November 3, 2007 Report Posted November 3, 2007 I haven't much to add but I thought this little eBay spoof was hilarious.. http://www.break.com/index/ebayit23.html :ciao: Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.