Yesterday I managed (somehow) to get the digital camera to work long enough to take my pictures of "Lot 1", and between yesterday and today got them all up in the store. Now to wait for the orders...Here, orders! Here, boy!
I'm trying a couple of experiments this week. First off, I have several comic book auctions up which will end on Friday night. I don't know if that will be a good idea or not. We'll see. Second, I am not putting any Magic cards on auction. Instead I have moved several over to Fixed Price (basically the same idea as a Store item, as it has a Buy It Now price, but it will show up in searches more prominently). I put up 10 cards which will hopefully prove to be popular in searches, and may lead to more traffic to the store. Again, we'll see.
Lot update: I have sold three cards from "Lot 2" for a total of $9.25 so far. Only $89.75 still to go to break even :-) Nothing sold yet from "Lot 1".
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Sunday, July 09, 2006
MtG: Flooded Strand - Onslaught - RARE
This is the title of a listing which came as a bit of a surprise when I was entering the cards from the second lot that I purchased (the one I ran down to Arlington to pick up).
The way I type up items is that I enter the descriptive information: title, set and rarity for the item title; what the card does and its condition for the text description. Then I research the card on eBay to see what other people are offering them up for. I then price mine such that they aren't the cheapest available, but are a bit below what seems to be the average.
Well, when it came to research Flooded Strand I found that this card is, for some reason, extremely popular. My price ended up being $15 for the blasted thing! Very pleasing to find that there was such a valuable card in the lot that I was unaware of. The puzzling thing is that I cannot tell why it's so popular! It seems to me to not be such an incredibly useful card. The only thing I can think of is that someone must have used this card in a deck to win a tournament or something similar. If a card is a key card in a winning deck like that, it suddenly gains a massive popularity world-wide as people scramble to recreate or improve on that winning deck.
Anyway, the point to this post here is that last night I completed the listings for "Lot 2" (as I've been calling it) and got them all up in the store. Suddenly "the Sundry" has a lot more categories available, as most of these cards were from sets that I didn't previously own any cards in.
Now I need to tackle "Lot 1" - that set of mostly common cards I won a while back. The problem? Our digital camera has started acting up, and I am unable to take photos at the moment. I ended up scanning the last few cards I wanted to get up today (a few Slivers that I took out of a deck), and the scans are just too grainy. I have abandoned that as a viable option. So, now I either hope our camera starts behaving itself, or look into buying a cheap digital with no bells & whistles (since I don't need anything fancy for my purposes). SIGH.
The way I type up items is that I enter the descriptive information: title, set and rarity for the item title; what the card does and its condition for the text description. Then I research the card on eBay to see what other people are offering them up for. I then price mine such that they aren't the cheapest available, but are a bit below what seems to be the average.
Well, when it came to research Flooded Strand I found that this card is, for some reason, extremely popular. My price ended up being $15 for the blasted thing! Very pleasing to find that there was such a valuable card in the lot that I was unaware of. The puzzling thing is that I cannot tell why it's so popular! It seems to me to not be such an incredibly useful card. The only thing I can think of is that someone must have used this card in a deck to win a tournament or something similar. If a card is a key card in a winning deck like that, it suddenly gains a massive popularity world-wide as people scramble to recreate or improve on that winning deck.
Anyway, the point to this post here is that last night I completed the listings for "Lot 2" (as I've been calling it) and got them all up in the store. Suddenly "the Sundry" has a lot more categories available, as most of these cards were from sets that I didn't previously own any cards in.
Now I need to tackle "Lot 1" - that set of mostly common cards I won a while back. The problem? Our digital camera has started acting up, and I am unable to take photos at the moment. I ended up scanning the last few cards I wanted to get up today (a few Slivers that I took out of a deck), and the scans are just too grainy. I have abandoned that as a viable option. So, now I either hope our camera starts behaving itself, or look into buying a cheap digital with no bells & whistles (since I don't need anything fancy for my purposes). SIGH.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Star Wars Giga Pets Yoda NIB Tamagotchi Tiger
This was the title of one of the toy items I mentioned in my last entry ("NIB" is "New In Box" for the uninitiated). My Mom had found this item at a thrift store or flea market for "almost nothing" as she put it. She thought I might enjoy playing with it, or else sell it on eBay. That was about a year and a half or two years ago.
When I researched this item I found only two similar listings on eBay - one current auction which was only bid up to $1, and one which had sold for a final bid of around $18. Both of these were (from the picture) not "NIB" so I figured mine could probably go for higher. I considered asking $20, then decided to go for $25 and see if I'd get it.
I did.
Less than three hours later.
Now I have mixed emotions - equal parts elation that I sold it for $25 and dread that I probably could have gotten more. Ah, well - a good profit any which way. I called my Mom and told her the good news, and also told her to keep an eye out for any such items in the future (she's a glass dealer on eBay, so she's constantly at flea markets, thrift stores, antiques shoppes, etc. looking for a good deal). I'll resell them for her for a percentage :-)
When I researched this item I found only two similar listings on eBay - one current auction which was only bid up to $1, and one which had sold for a final bid of around $18. Both of these were (from the picture) not "NIB" so I figured mine could probably go for higher. I considered asking $20, then decided to go for $25 and see if I'd get it.
I did.
Less than three hours later.
Now I have mixed emotions - equal parts elation that I sold it for $25 and dread that I probably could have gotten more. Ah, well - a good profit any which way. I called my Mom and told her the good news, and also told her to keep an eye out for any such items in the future (she's a glass dealer on eBay, so she's constantly at flea markets, thrift stores, antiques shoppes, etc. looking for a good deal). I'll resell them for her for a percentage :-)
New stuff in the store!
Well, I've gotten quite a few new things up in the store over the last couple of days. Mostly in the form of cards from "Lot 2" as I'm calling it (the set of cards I hopped on the Metro down to Arlington for). In fact, one of them has already sold (for $1.50) so I'm on way to recouping the $99 I spent on them! I still have more to get up, but it's begun.
The thing I'm most excited about is a couple of toys and some comic-related buttons that I've added to the inventory. These are things I've had lying around for some time now. A couple were presents to me, some I picked up as freebies, others I bought. Most have few or no competition on eBay that I can find. The buttons in particular I found no others up for sale. This makes it hard to set a price - what is reasonable?
I finally decided to ask a what seemed to me to be a higher-end price, figuring "what the heck?" - they may sell there! If I'm the only game in town, then they have to pay my price or not get them, right? Actually, my big fear is that it will turn out that my asking price is a bargain and I could have gotten much more for them!
The other REALLY big news is that a friend of mine (hi, Alan!) has asked me if I'd be interested in selling his Magic collection for him for a commission. WOW! He has LOTS of good cards, which would 1) bring in a lot of money, and 2) attract a lot of traffic to my store. What I'd like to do is give him a fair price and buy the collection from him outright, then I wouldn't have to keep such meticulous notes on what sells, etc. as I do my Dad's audiobook sales...but I don't know if I've got enough cash to make him a decent offer. We'll see.
Well, I'm off to add more cards from "Lot 2" so that I can get on to Lot 1. Speaking of which - it arrived on Monday. Almost all common cards, I'm afraid, which will make it difficult to turn a profit on the set. SIGH. Perhaps I am not meant to add stock to my store by buying lots off eBay. :-(
The thing I'm most excited about is a couple of toys and some comic-related buttons that I've added to the inventory. These are things I've had lying around for some time now. A couple were presents to me, some I picked up as freebies, others I bought. Most have few or no competition on eBay that I can find. The buttons in particular I found no others up for sale. This makes it hard to set a price - what is reasonable?
I finally decided to ask a what seemed to me to be a higher-end price, figuring "what the heck?" - they may sell there! If I'm the only game in town, then they have to pay my price or not get them, right? Actually, my big fear is that it will turn out that my asking price is a bargain and I could have gotten much more for them!
The other REALLY big news is that a friend of mine (hi, Alan!) has asked me if I'd be interested in selling his Magic collection for him for a commission. WOW! He has LOTS of good cards, which would 1) bring in a lot of money, and 2) attract a lot of traffic to my store. What I'd like to do is give him a fair price and buy the collection from him outright, then I wouldn't have to keep such meticulous notes on what sells, etc. as I do my Dad's audiobook sales...but I don't know if I've got enough cash to make him a decent offer. We'll see.
Well, I'm off to add more cards from "Lot 2" so that I can get on to Lot 1. Speaking of which - it arrived on Monday. Almost all common cards, I'm afraid, which will make it difficult to turn a profit on the set. SIGH. Perhaps I am not meant to add stock to my store by buying lots off eBay. :-(
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