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Post by Bronze Age Brian on Jun 28, 2020 0:37:34 GMT -5
I've sold on eBay since 2004. The rates have really gone up this year. So bad I call it Feebay now.
It still is a good option for selling books, but my favorite one right now is "The Comic Book Group" on Facebook. I can't figure out how to link the group, but it's the one with 18,852 members. The only problem is I end up buying more than selling on there, because the deals are so good. You post what you want to sell and can avoid the fees associated with Feebay. I have yet to see a bad deal. But just like eBay seller's are always taking a risk selling online.
I haven't had too many problems with comics on eBay, just one guy several years ago that didn't like my grading of an Avengers comic he purchased. I think I gave him a partial refund back. I now just list that I am not a professional grader, and give them my best estimation. But I see a lot of listings with no grades at all. So who knows there.
Best of luck selling!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2020 12:18:05 GMT -5
^ Didn't know about that one, thanks!
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Post by beccabear67 on Jun 28, 2020 13:08:26 GMT -5
I have noticed a lot of sellers either not grading or grading with the caveat that they are not "professional" graders. I'm maybe just old enough that thinking we would get to a point in civilization where grading comic books can be an occupation on it's own is a bit boggling to me.  The more photos of anything the better of course, and assurance that packaging will be more than minimal. My days of selling vinyl records and things online is mostly over now though, the last few times I just did things as 'set sales' through dedicated fan sites and forums. Perhaps this is a useful tip: if using corrugated cardboard for packaging run the 'grain' on one side the opposite cross to the other other. This worked extremely well for me on vinyl LPs. I still wrote 'do not bend' on them but it might've taken the Hulk to bend some of my packages. |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2020 14:53:20 GMT -5
This is a timely subject for me. I'm finally clearing out stuff I'll never read again, and I didn't realize 'til a couple months ago that 1) I have the 1st appearances of both Harley Quinn and The Thunderbolts, and 2) They're going for enough that it will actually make it worth my time to set myself up as a seller somewhere. After which, I'll probably then make a buck or two off of selling the few other HOT! KEY ISSUE! floppies I own.
As a new seller, does it make any sense to lead off with a few cheaper comics first? That way, hopefully you'll get at least a smidgen of a reputation as a legit seller before asking somebody to pay you a stupid amount of money for a comic, or does one or two feedbacks not really count any better than zero feedback?
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Post by Bronze Age Brian on Jun 28, 2020 17:11:27 GMT -5
This is a timely subject for me. I'm finally clearing out stuff I'll never read again, and I didn't realize 'til a couple months ago that 1) I have the 1st appearances of both Harley Quinn and The Thunderbolts, and 2) They're going for enough that it will actually make it worth my time to set myself up as a seller somewhere. After which, I'll probably then make a buck or two off of selling the few other HOT! KEY ISSUE! floppies I own. As a new seller, does it make any sense to lead off with a few cheaper comics first? That way, hopefully you'll get at least a smidgen of a reputation as a legit seller before asking somebody to pay you a stupid amount of money for a comic, or does one or two feedbacks not really count any better than zero feedback? You could likely make more money and not have to worry about the new seller thing by selling them on Facebook via a group like The Comic Book Group. People are mostly interested in the books, and as long as you ship them after payment, there usually won't be any problems. If you go eBay I would list 20-30 comics, both your lower and higher stock. Feedback doesn't matter too much these days unless it's a lot of negatives, especially when a buyer can buy your item through a third party program and they will never have feedback either. The biggest tip I can give today would be shipping. ALWAYS SHIP USING CARDBOARD. Slip your comics in between two slabs of cardboard or more. Secure the comics to the cardboard tightly, do not leave any corners of the comic outside of it. I've seen so many nice comics ruined because the seller just used a bubble wrapped envelope. Good luck! |
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Post by beccabear67 on Jun 29, 2020 12:26:15 GMT -5
I thought maybe an old ebay account I shared with my BF, registered under his old U.S. studio address might be good to transfer so someone isn't starting from zero, we bought stuff like Yellow Submarine and UFO Shado stickers with it, but I tried to log in with our ID and it's gone... maybe he changed the name of it and I've just forgotten.
I would definitely say establishing a few successful transactions before offering anything pricey would be very wise!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2020 14:40:30 GMT -5
The biggest tip I can give today would be shipping. ALWAYS SHIP USING CARDBOARD. Slip your comics in between two slabs of cardboard or more. Secure the comics to the cardboard tightly, do not leave any corners of the comic outside of it. I've seen so many nice comics ruined because the seller just used a bubble wrapped envelope. Good luck! If you do this, be careful. I've had mutliple books damaged recently, because the sellwr used so much tape securing the book to the cardboard that I couldn't get books out without some damage. It hasn't been enough that I've complained, but I've avoided repeat business with such sellers when I can. Also, insure your books. I bought two complete Supergirl series and a chunk of Detective Comics (some signed)from a seller I know packs well recently, and it appeared that the box had fallen off the truck and been run over. I got my money back without issue, but if the seller didn't insure he lost a good chunk of change. edit: I just got in another purchase and it brought up something. Be consistent. If you are going to bag and board some of the books, bag and board them all. This seller bagged and boarded maybe half of these books and just stuck the rest between the bagged and boarded books. There's no serious damage (and they aren't particularly pricey books), but what damage there is looks like it could've been avoided, which is kinda annoying |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2020 14:52:16 GMT -5
As a new seller, does it make any sense to lead off with a few cheaper comics first? That way, hopefully you'll get at least a smidgen of a reputation as a legit seller before asking somebody to pay you a stupid amount of money for a comic, or does one or two feedbacks not really count any better than zero feedback? As a buyer, I don't care much about feedback. The only times I've had any issues was with "established" sellers with 100% feedback. I'll check feedback on sellers with like 98%, just to see why they got bad feedback (sometimes it's like "item didn't arrive until last day of estimated window"*, which good grief), but I figure eBay is so pro-buyer at this point, that my risk is minimal. *I'm not even sure how people leave bad feedback anymore. If I've ever accidentally started to leave bad feedback eBay says I need to reach out to the seller first, and once the seller issues a refund it removes the ability to leave any feedback. |
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,867
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Post by shaxper on Jul 1, 2020 8:51:08 GMT -5
I thought maybe an old ebay account I shared with my BF, registered under his old U.S. studio address might be good to transfer so someone isn't starting from zero, we bought stuff like Yellow Submarine and UFO Shado stickers with it, but I tried to log in with our ID and it's gone... maybe he changed the name of it and I've just forgotten. I would definitely say establishing a few successful transactions before offering anything pricey would be very wise! That's very kind of you to have even considered. I do have an ebay account with tons of seller feedback, but it's all over a decade old. Not sure how much that matters these days. |
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,867
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Post by shaxper on Jul 1, 2020 8:54:37 GMT -5
You could likely make more money and not have to worry about the new seller thing by selling them on Facebook via a group like The Comic Book Group. People are mostly interested in the books, and as long as you ship them after payment, there usually won't be any problems. My real concern is what happens if there is a problem? Who steps in? One of the books I'll be selling is valued at over $3,000. I'd like to have some protection against a buyer just running to his credit card company and claiming I sent the wrong book or something. I think feedback plays into how high up on the search your auction appears, though. I don't want to be on the sixth page. As I've said previously, I have a ton of seller feedback, but it's well over a decade old. I can't figure out from online searches how much that does or does not affect how high up my auctions appear on a search query. Absolutely. And I'm sending my key books to CGC, so they will be extra protected. Thanks!! |
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Post by beccabear67 on Jul 1, 2020 13:21:52 GMT -5
eBay lets someone looking for something search by lowest prices listed first, highest prices listed first, newest listed, and ending soonest (from the options I've ever used), and people can also choose to limit search results to just the professionally graded books if that's their thing. Then there are 'sponsored' listings which will appear out of order of any search presumably near the top because the seller has paid some extra fee to have it do that. I used the least sticky tape, a masking tape, with the end bent over and stuck to itself for attaching something in a bag directly to the corrugated cardboard half of the sandwich, which makes it easy for the buyer to peel off. Some people used that light but strong foam board in place of cardboard and I would use or re-use that if I had come into some. The most expensive comic book I ever sold on eBay was either Thun'da #1 or Space Detective #1... twenty years ago now.  I had one Jumbo Comics turn out to have some kind of repair to it that I had honestly not seen and refunded the buyer who returned it, and then I sold it again successfully at a lower price with the repaired area highlighted in an additional scan. eBay didn't host images then (Amazon marketplace did though), and I went through some U.S. university that sold space on their server, mailing a money-order in advance for x amount of kbs. In fact I was paid by money-order or cash through the mail originally, not sure if Paypal existed or eBay just didn't own it then. It had a lot of problems early on according to others. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2020 14:02:18 GMT -5
The surest way to avoid potential headaches with buyers (i.e. the credit card situation shaxper mentioned) is to consign the most expensive items to be sold through a third party who would handle all the customer relations. Something like ComicsLink that someone mentioned, or consigning it to Lonestar for their monthly or bi-annual Prime Auctions. Yes, there are fees associated to pay these agencies, but they are not significantly more than the fees you would end up paying to ebay and paypal for handling the sale and transaction, and it comes with the peace of mind of not having to deal with such hassles. It also sells the item to a targeted audience that is inclined to buy it and pay market price for such an item and not bargain hunters looking to get as much as they can for a little as possible. I would highly recommend considering such a service (consigning for sale through them not selling to them outright) for selling the high end items you will be parting with. Ebay is fine for run of the mill stuff (and probably a better option for that stuff) but for high end items, keys, high grade Silver and Gold, etc. I think using a reputable seller is more likely to bring a better price and reduce potential hassles and headaches involved in the process, unless you are selling direct to other collectors via something like the CGC forums or certain FB buying and selling groups. I know at least one member here who had a lot of success consigning books to Lonestar for auction, but I am not going to name them as it's not my place to do so if they do not wish t speak of their experiences doing it. I quit selling on ebay because it seemed that just about every other sale involved an issue with the buyer, everything from returning a lower grade copy claiming damage in transit when I knew it to be otherwise, claiming the package was empty when they received it, pulling credit card/paypal shenanigans etc. and every time ebay and paypal sided with the buyer and I lost money on it. Between the headaches and ebay's and paypal's escalating fees, it just wasn't worth it anymore. Things may be different now a decade later, but some things never change. Others may have had more positive experiences though, so you have to go with what works for you. -M |
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 2, 2020 5:37:01 GMT -5
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Post by Icctrombone on Jul 2, 2020 5:57:06 GMT -5
I just finished selling some What if's? on eBay. I don't consider it much of a risk because I always list the book in a lower grade than it is. I haven't gotten burned by someone claiming it was graded higher but I don't sell key books. With high ticket items, I would follow the advice of some of the posters here and get a third party to do it for you. Of course, that means a few more hands in your pocket.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 2, 2020 8:13:53 GMT -5
The surest way to avoid potential headaches with buyers (i.e. the credit card situation shaxper mentioned) is to consign the most expensive items to be sold through a third party who would handle all the customer relations. Something like ComicsLink that someone mentioned, or consigning it to Lonestar for their monthly or bi-annual Prime Auctions. This seems like excellent advice. Unfortunately, I know absolutely nothing about ComicsLink or Lonestar's Prime Auctions. I'd love more info on the process, timeline, fees, and risks involved. CGC is shipping me a shipping kit for my first batch of submissions. I expect to have them back by the end of July. 7 books total, and based on ebay auctions, it looks like they should sell for over $10,000 combined. Thus, I really want to do this right. |
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I had one Jumbo Comics turn out to have some kind of repair to it that I had honestly not seen and refunded the buyer who returned it, and then I sold it again successfully at a lower price with the repaired area highlighted in an additional scan. eBay didn't host images then (Amazon marketplace did though), and I went through some U.S. university that sold space on their server, mailing a money-order in advance for x amount of kbs. In fact I was paid by money-order or cash through the mail originally, not sure if Paypal existed or eBay just didn't own it then. It had a lot of problems early on according to others.
