ISSUE 1: October 01, 2002
Yard Salers and eBayers: Premier Issue! 1.1 - Oct. 1, 2002
Welcome!
Welcome to the very first issue of Yard Salers and eBayers! First I want to sincerely thank you for joining my free newsletter, and say that because you are the one of the very first subscribers to this newsletter, I am going to give you some of my favorite eBay tips right off the get-go! So all that good stuff is to come…the "In This Issue" Contents list is just below my editor's letter here if you want to skip ahead.
What is this Newsletter?
What is "Yard Salers and eBayers"? This newsletter is for people like you and me, who enjoy any or all of the following: buying/selling on eBay and other auction sites; going to yard, estate, or rummage sales; collecting anything and everything; and in general just enjoying talking about the whole fascinating world of reselling things.
What means the most to you…what is worth a lot and what only seems like it would be worth a lot? What sells surprisingly well and what is a dud hiding in expensive sheep's clothing? What joys can be found by venturing forth on a Saturday morning to the yard sales in your neighborhood? These are some of the existential questions we will be trying to answer in this newsletter. We'll also occasionally laugh at ourselves (or you can laugh along with me laughing at myself) and just try to have fun.
Currently the plan is to put out this newsletter at least once a month, but not more than twice a month. So you won't get overwhelmed with email.
And, I'd love to encourage comments, letters, and questions from you. If you have a question, I will do my best to track down the answer and share it with the readership in a subsequent issue.
Good health and happiness to you all, and happy hunting!
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In This Issue:
1) Julia's Favorite and Sneakiest Tips
2) What Some eBayers Wouldn't Pass Up
3) To Snipe or Not to Snipe?
4) Reader Mail Section
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1) Julia's Favorite and Sneakiest Tips
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Me and You and a Typo Named Boo
OK, I promised you some of my best auction tips. Most of you are familiar with my ebook, "What Sells on eBay for What," which has various tips and strategies for selling on eBay.
Here is a tip which I do not believe I have yet put in the book: typos and transpositions, my good men and women! (This is more a buyer's rather than a seller's tip, although you can also use it to pick up inventory for resale). That means when you are searching for items, do a search on common misspellings of the item, and also variations of spelling and transpositions.
For example, I like DKNY brand clothing. Transpositions are the most common typing error, so a seller in a hurry may accidentally list such an item as a "DNKY" instead of a "DKNY." This leads to many fewer people finding this item than would normally, which leads to less competition, fewer bids…and a better chance that you will get the item for a good price.
This summer on one of my "DNKY" searches led me to a great pair of DKNY sunglasses for only around $4. This was a great deal! (I still wear the sunglasses and they are currently my favorite pair).
I also love the Lilly Pulitzer brand (this brand is highly collectible and has great resale value…even the "vintage" styles, some of which look like they are even too Jackie O for Jackie O). Lilly P. is known for her bright, in-your-face, preppy clothes, most of them with a beachy or resort look. They ain't cheap new! But, I made a great find this summer as I did a search on the misspelling "Pulizter" and brought up a wonderful bathing suit with a sarong...I got the whole lot for about 1/5th of what it would have cost me new. What a great find!
But granted, these types of errors don't come up all the time. That's why if there are certain brands or styles you just love, it behooves you to do regular searches on the various spellings and misspellings of that item. You never know when it will be your lucky day and that Vuitton bag comes up as "Vuiton" with no bids! (Of course, if we are talking Vuiton we have to be wary of the growing army of fakes out there…and man these fakes are getting sneaky! But…that's a whole 'nother piece for another newsletter).
You can even do these type of searches to look for cheap items to "flip" on eBay or another auction site. (Of course, you're going to spell it correctly and get all those great bidders when *you* list it!).
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2) What Some eBayers Wouldn't Pass Up
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Some sellers have been chatting about the kinds of things they wouldn't pass up, and the surprising things that have done well on eBay.
Let's take a look at some of them, shall we?
- Nike Air Jordan shoes. One seller reports picking up one pair for $1 and one pair for $2. They sold for between $150-200.
- Books about Norway (OK I don't get this one, but since I am 25% Norwegian I can appreciate it). :
- Old metal pencil sharpeners. ("Who'd have thought they were worth anything? :")
- Plus-size maternity clothes. "They are so hard to find and they do very well."
- Don't read this one if you are easily weirded out: Vintage Diapers. One lady bought a case of diapers from her local A&P, which was going out of business. She actually sold 1 case of diapers (@80-90 diapers)
for $150.00. Evidently they were "VINTAGE" pampers, dated 1994-1995. ("I guess over 5 years is vintage."). She just HAD to ask her auction winner...WHY SO MUCH? The buyer said she could turn around and sell them in her "shop" for double that price. WHY? Because there are people out there who are "Adult Babies". "They wear these diapers and have mommies, etc." (The buyer told her in the future she should list all her diapers as Private auctions.) (OK, enough on THAT!).
- nice fountain pens, especially vintage - e.g. Shaeffer, Parker, Waterford, Mont Blanc, etc. (Shaeffer: talk about a word that's going to get misspelled!).
- leotards, e.g. girls' dance outfits.
- Power Rangers are still "extremely popular after all these years."
- vintage alligator purses
- Coca-Cola memorabilia (I love those old glass bottles, myself!)
- Vintage Jem dolls (evidently these are like pseudo-Barbies from the 80s? I don't know anything about them, but supposedly they sell well).
- a vintage omnichord
- anything with pheasants on it it…a lady sold an old rug with pheasants on it for much more than she expected. (It seems some people collect pheasant things).
- Carhartt clothing (I had never heard of this one either…evidently it's a rugged menswear breand. Th stuff looks pretty cool, from what little I looked at). (Hmmm "Carhartt" with two "t's"..can you say "search for typos"?)
What have you sold at more than you expected? Let me know and I'll share the results in a future issue!
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3) To Snipe or Not to Snipe?
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OK, I'm gonna keep this one short, because I promised I wouldn't suck up too much of your time. Or, I'm promising that now.
Do you snipe? (Shall we snipe? On a bright cloud of bidding shall we fly? Apologies to Rogers and Hammerstein).
I just started sniping and I must say it is very gratifying. Sure, there's that tiny twang of guilt when you realize that poor bloke on the other end of the bidding war isn't gonna know what hit him, or her. (Or more likely, he will, and will know what a wily devil you are).
But I found that without sniping, lately I was starting to lose most of my auctions at the last minute. Either everyone else is sniping, or they're sitting by their computers with fingers frantically poised, like a teenage girl wed to her phone.
So I got myself over to www.auctionsniper.com (they didn't pay me to write this). They will give you three free snipes, and let me tell you, after those snipes I would be surprised if you didn't go back for more.
Here are their payment details:
"New users are not charged for the first three auctions they win using Auction Sniper. Thereafter, we charge only 1% of the final auction price with a minimum fee of $0.25 and a maximum fee of $5.00 for only the auctions that you win. Dutch auctions are charged $1.00 regardless of the quantity or cost of the items won."
Auction won that ended at $25.00 or less: $0.25
Auction won that ended between $25.01 and $499.99: 1% of final price
Auction won that ended at $500.00 or more: $5.00
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I don't know about you, but I'm willing to pay those fees, when it's something I really want. I won't use the sniper all the time, just when I really really want the thing.
My feeling about sniping is that it's best to not bid more than once on something you want until the auction gets close to the end; then you put in your snipe. Why? Because if you and the other people who are bidding get into an early bidding war, it's just going to drive the price of the thing up more, as you keep trying to top each other.
If you put in a snipe, so you are the phantom bidder 'til the end, the item will have that much less bidding driving its price up.
The trick, though, is to put in a high enough bid in your snipe to ensure that you get the item. If your bid isn't high enough, of course you won't win. And you need to ask yourself the most you're willing to pay. I lost one auction because I didn't put a high enough bid price into my snipe. But, then I had to ask myself, was I willing to pay that anyway?
So, bottom line: if you haven't yet, consider sniping. It's a competitive world. ;)
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4) Reader Mail
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This section is going to be short and sweet in this issue because we have no reader mail. At least, not yet. So…please..email me! If you want. Tell me about yourself and how and why you got into eBaying and yardsaling. Tell me what you like or don't like about this newsletter. (Just please, be gentle). ;)
That's all for this issue! See you within the month.
Happy yardsaling and eBaying!
Julia
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eBooks by Julia L. Wilkinson:
[all my ebooks are offered at substantial discounts from their regular price of $8.95 to the subscribers of this newsletter. Only $4.95 each! If interested in any of them, please email me at juliawilk@aol.com.]
New eBooks:
- Over 100 Books that Sell for $50-$100 on eBay
- Making Big Bucks off Catalogs on eBay
- Selling Kids Clothes on eBay
Julia Classic:
What Sells on eBay for What
My Life at AOL (available at amazon.com and 1stbooks.com)
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Copyright 2002 Julia L. Wilkinson
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Unsubcribe: Just email Julia at juliawilk@aol.com until she masters this Topica newsletter software.
[technical note: because I am having problems with Topica at the moment, I am publishing this issue via simple email. Future issues should be sent out via a publishing program, however].
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- - What types of clothes sell best, and what is the most important thing to understand about selling clothes on eBay?
- What old records, cassettes, and CD’s will sell the most, and why are Beatles records so valuable?
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Julia
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