Begin Selling Slabs on EBay

[aj583]

Hoping to get some board advise. I’ve recently started CGCing my collection. ...(funny how I’m now obsessed with slabbing now).

I’d like to start selling some of them on eBay (and on the board for good valiant issues). I’ve had an eBay account since 2006, but have only used it recently to buy the sporadic comic over the last year.

How should I start up on EBay, as I’m afraid I won’t get good market prices for CGC books without some seller history? Suggestions?

Here are some of my thoughts:

1) start selling some random stuff to build some history and positive comments first.
2) start selling some slabs with the understanding I’ll get below market price, and then sell my better stuff later (eg, maybe infinity gauntlet slabs now, and in-demand Spider-Man and Deadpool comics later)
3) start selling raw runs of marvel and valiant first until I have history and positive comments.
4) other?

I’ve bought enough eBay comics and comics from this board where I know how to pack and how to ship. Just need a plan on how to start it up on EBay.

Thanks.


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[apacseller]

I definitely think you need to build up some feedback, but these days I don't think the average person looks to see whether your feedback is from buying or selling, so I wouldn't stress too much about it. Especially for books in the $50-$100 range. Once you start selling $500+ type of stuff, they will want to see that you have some experience selling big dollar items. But once again, ebay has taken such strides to protecting the buyer no matter what, that it really isn't as much of an issue anymore (pro for the seller in some regards, but major con in others). I spend WAY more time making sure I am not selling to a scammer these days, than I do worrying about my seller status. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it sucks.

I would:
1.) Make sure you have 20+ feedback, so buy some small random stuff if you want, just try not to be <10. Or put a note in your description about just getting started. The more real your listing looks, the better.
2.) Start by selling some stuff that is quick moving, and easy sells.
3.) Feel free to list your big stuff anyway. I was astounded to find that like 75% of my customers use the ebay app for purchasing, which means they likely never even saw my feedback or that I had been selling for 20+ years.

Make sure to understand the seller requirements (signature service on $500+, etc). As a seller on ebay, you need to be very cautious about people scamming you. If you are only selling Valiant, you should be okay as it's a pretty niche market. But when you get into more mainstream stuff, it can be a little harrowing.

Start slow, make some small mistakes, and you'll be fine. Good luck! Just make sure to factor all your costs in: 13-14% fees, shipping etc. It can hit your margin pretty fast, and harsh!

*PS* If you are doing live auctions, instead of buy it now, your feedback will matter a lot more, and you run the risk of having some auction end low. So keep this in mind.

[aj583]

I definitely think you need to build up some feedback, but these days I don't think the average person looks to see whether your feedback is from buying or selling, so I wouldn't stress too much about it. Especially for books in the $50-$100 range. Once you start selling $500+ type of stuff, they will want to see that you have some experience selling big dollar items. But once again, ebay has taken such strides to protecting the buyer no matter what, that it really isn't as much of an issue anymore (pro for the seller in some regards, but major con in others). I spend WAY more time making sure I am not selling to a scammer these days, than I do worrying about my seller status. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it sucks.

I would:
1.) Make sure you have 20+ feedback, so buy some small random stuff if you want, just try not to be <10. Or put a note in your description about just getting started. The more real your listing looks, the better.
2.) Start by selling some stuff that is quick moving, and easy sells.
3.) Feel free to list your big stuff anyway. I was astounded to find that like 75% of my customers use the ebay app for purchasing, which means they likely never even saw my feedback or that I had been selling for 20+ years.

Make sure to understand the seller requirements (signature service on $500+, etc). As a seller on ebay, you need to be very cautious about people scamming you. If you are only selling Valiant, you should be okay as it's a pretty niche market. But when you get into more mainstream stuff, it can be a little harrowing.

Start slow, make some small mistakes, and you'll be fine. Good luck! Just make sure to factor all your costs in: 13-14% fees, shipping etc. It can hit your margin pretty fast, and harsh!

*PS* If you are doing live auctions, instead of buy it now, your feedback will matter a lot more, and you run the risk of having some auction end low. So keep this in mind.

Thanks so much for this feedback. Very helpful. I will start as you’ve suggested. What kind of scammers do you see? If you require PayPal payment before shipment, doesn’t this mitigate your risk?

Also, can you give me a tip on how you ship your slabs? USPS 2 Day Priority via small flat rate box is how I see most ship. You can fit up to 3 or 4. Do you add other sevices such as insurance or delivery confirmation?

Thanks again.


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[apacseller]

I might have exaggerated the danger of scam buyers, as that seems to occur more often when shipping electronics (iphones/ipads), large lego sets to Russia, etc. I just recommend protecting yourself if you can (if you're suspicious, use signature service or insurance- though I am not sure insurance works if the recipient doesn't cooperate). If over $500 use signature. If shipping something super expensive overseas, you might have to use priority express (as a customs label will not suffice for Ebay).

That said, as long as you have good tracking, and signature (over $500) ebay will usually stand behind you. Trust your gut. If you get a $1000 bid from a zero feedback seller with an account opened that day, might be worth a phone call to ebay to find out how to protect yourself. I've been doing ebay for almost 20yrs and getting scammed on the buyer side is rare.

As I mentioned before, pay attention to your fees and shipping. Selling on ebay is $$$$$$$. You will give back 14-20% of your profits (once you add up tape, bubble wrap, trips to PO, fees, etc), so be careful (especially on live auctions), make sure not to end them on a random wednesday at 4am eastern. I think a Harbinger DMG went cheap the other day because they ended on a holiday weekend, at a random time.

Shipping slabs is important too. I typically wrap the book in a padded envelope and then surround with some bubble wrap. I always double box them (small priority box inside larger priority box) and make sure they are tight and can't jostle around. I've never had a book arrived damaged. Or use a larger box with peanuts. I ship from the east coast, so using flat rate box only makes sense for long range destinations (TX, WA, CA, AZ), and then usually only by $1-2. If you are shipping 2-3 slabs than flat rate will likely be cheaper, but shipping multiple slabs is rare, and don't think you will be able to upsell that often. People occasionally will get buy happy and make multiple offers to save shipping, but I find most people want one item and one item only.

Insurance I figure into my costs (it's like $15 per $1000 or something like that). I do it for $1000+ books (when selling for a long time, I can mitigate a loss or two), and almost always do signature on anything over $500. Ends a lot of disputes quickly. I don't sell raw books, so all this might change with those.

Last tip: These days the "customer is always right" has been taken to extreme levels. People will treat you as if you are a billion dollar business when complaining or making returns. Try not to let it make your blood boil (which is hard). It's just part of dealing on the internet. Tons of people are looking for a deal, and lose all morals and kindness when dealing with an online seller. Just be polite, try to be sympathetic instead of confrontational, and you can usually work out most situations. But be prepared to suck up the occasional $10-$20 loss when someone insists on a return. It sucks. Just move on and deal with it. Ebay will often side with them anyway, so I try to be nice instead of confrontational. "Hey man, I mentioned in my ad no returns on CGC books, and I'm sorry you don't want it anymore. But if you ship it back to me I can accept it." [Like I said, this sucks, but at least might help you avoid paying the $15 return shipping] Btw, this kind of corner case rarely occurs, but when it does, it's usually by "that guy." But you can always call ebay ahead of time to see if they might decline the return (if the buyer uses the wrong reason for returning, sometimes ebay will side with you).

99.x% of all transactions go fine, so I wouldn't worry about this stuff too much. Typically someone bought your item for a reason and wants to keep it. Just do a good job, keep honest open communication and you'll be great!

[aj583]

I might have exaggerated the danger of scam buyers, as that seems to occur more often when shipping electronics (iphones/ipads), large lego sets to Russia, etc. I just recommend protecting yourself if you can (if you're suspicious, use signature service or insurance- though I am not sure insurance works if the recipient doesn't cooperate). If over $500 use signature. If shipping something super expensive overseas, you might have to use priority express (as a customs label will not suffice for Ebay).

That said, as long as you have good tracking, and signature (over $500) ebay will usually stand behind you. Trust your gut. If you get a $1000 bid from a zero feedback seller with an account opened that day, might be worth a phone call to ebay to find out how to protect yourself. I've been doing ebay for almost 20yrs and getting scammed on the buyer side is rare.

As I mentioned before, pay attention to your fees and shipping. Selling on ebay is $$$$$$$. You will give back 14-20% of your profits (once you add up tape, bubble wrap, trips to PO, fees, etc), so be careful (especially on live auctions), make sure not to end them on a random wednesday at 4am eastern. I think a Harbinger DMG went cheap the other day because they ended on a holiday weekend, at a random time.

Shipping slabs is important too. I typically wrap the book in a padded envelope and then surround with some bubble wrap. I always double box them (small priority box inside larger priority box) and make sure they are tight and can't jostle around. I've never had a book arrived damaged. Or use a larger box with peanuts. I ship from the east coast, so using flat rate box only makes sense for long range destinations (TX, WA, CA, AZ), and then usually only by $1-2. If you are shipping 2-3 slabs than flat rate will likely be cheaper, but shipping multiple slabs is rare, and don't think you will be able to upsell that often. People occasionally will get buy happy and make multiple offers to save shipping, but I find most people want one item and one item only.

Insurance I figure into my costs (it's like $15 per $1000 or something like that). I do it for $1000+ books (when selling for a long time, I can mitigate a loss or two), and almost always do signature on anything over $500. Ends a lot of disputes quickly. I don't sell raw books, so all this might change with those.

Last tip: These days the "customer is always right" has been taken to extreme levels. People will treat you as if you are a billion dollar business when complaining or making returns. Try not to let it make your blood boil (which is hard). It's just part of dealing on the internet. Tons of people are looking for a deal, and lose all morals and kindness when dealing with an online seller. Just be polite, try to be sympathetic instead of confrontational, and you can usually work out most situations. But be prepared to suck up the occasional $10-$20 loss when someone insists on a return. It sucks. Just move on and deal with it. Ebay will often side with them anyway, so I try to be nice instead of confrontational. "Hey man, I mentioned in my ad no returns on CGC books, and I'm sorry you don't want it anymore. But if you ship it back to me I can accept it." [Like I said, this sucks, but at least might help you avoid paying the $15 return shipping] Btw, this kind of corner case rarely occurs, but when it does, it's usually by "that guy." But you can always call ebay ahead of time to see if they might decline the return (if the buyer uses the wrong reason for returning, sometimes ebay will side with you).

99.x% of all transactions go fine, so I wouldn't worry about this stuff too much. Typically someone bought your item for a reason and wants to keep it. Just do a good job, keep honest open communication and you'll be great!

Thanks! You are a wealth of knowledge. Very helpful and much appreciated.


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[maraxusofkeld]

Any high dollar books, I would sell on either this board, the CGC board, or Comiclink to avoid buyers remorse on ebay. They can file a paypal complaint for 6 months after purchase.

[aj583]

Any high dollar books, I would sell on either this board, the CGC board, or Comiclink to avoid buyers remorse on ebay. They can file a paypal complaint for 6 months after purchase.

Thanks. What do you consider a high value book in terms of sales price?


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[mkb28]

I would also add that it is hard to get feedback from buyers on eBay. I would say that I only get 3 or 4 out of 10 buyers who will take 20 seconds to leave feedback. This has been very frustrating for me as a small Seller who does not have an eBay store. The feedback just trickles in even though I always leave feedback when I buy and sell on eBay.

[maraxusofkeld]

I would also add that it is hard to get feedback from buyers on eBay. I would say that I only get 3 or 4 out of 10 buyers who will take 20 seconds to leave feedback. This has been very frustrating for me as a small Seller who does not have an eBay store. The feedback just trickles in even though I always leave feedback when I buy and sell on eBay.

I agree with this, buyers rarely leave feedback anymore.

[maraxusofkeld]

Any high dollar books, I would sell on either this board, the CGC board, or Comiclink to avoid buyers remorse on ebay. They can file a paypal complaint for 6 months after purchase.

Thanks. What do you consider a high value book in terms of sales price?


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Anything over $250 should have a signature per PayPal's policy. I would seriously just try the mentioned boards first before considering ebay.

[aj583]

My first eBay post. Thanks for the advise all.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/173256024788" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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[mkb28]

My first eBay post. Thanks for the advise all.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/173256024788" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


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I like how you ask for feedback. I might give that a try.

[aj583]

My first eBay post. Thanks for the advise all.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/173256024788" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


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I like how you ask for feedback. I might give that a try.

Thanks. I’m just glad I’ve got bids. You fear someone will pay $25 when comps are going for $150. I have a bunch of Venom early issues I’ll also post prior to the Venom movie to try and capitalize in the interest.


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[nycjadie]

I've had really good experience on eBay, and I've been using it since year one. After thousands of transactions, I've had maybe half a dozen bad experiences.

For slabs, be very up front. Anything more than $150, maybe photograph both sides of the slab. I ship medium flat rate priority up to 3 slabs. Use lots of bubble wrap, or grab those free bubble mailers from DHL, FedEx and USPS. I do! And I also pick up recycled bubble wrap from around the neighborhood. I use NextDoor.

Feedback is less important for slabs than raws, where people will question your ability to grade. If you undergrade, buyers will often leave positive feedback. I've gotten a lot of those over the years ("way better grade than expected"). I like to think that helps, but have no hard metrics.

Buy it now seems to work better for me than auctions for comics. eBay has changed significantly over the years.

I like to buy direct from people I know. You might have luck on this board.

Good luck!

Best,
Steve

[aj583]

I've had really good experience on eBay, and I've been using it since year one. After thousands of transactions, I've had maybe half a dozen bad experiences.

For slabs, be very up front. Anything more than $150, maybe photograph both sides of the slab. I ship medium flat rate priority up to 3 slabs. Use lots of bubble wrap, or grab those free bubble mailers from DHL, FedEx and USPS. I do! And I also pick up recycled bubble wrap from around the neighborhood. I use NextDoor.

Feedback is less important for slabs than raws, where people will question your ability to grade. If you undergrade, buyers will often leave positive feedback. I've gotten a lot of those over the years ("way better grade than expected"). I like to think that helps, but have no hard metrics.

Buy it now seems to work better for me than auctions for comics. eBay has changed significantly over the years.

I like to buy direct from people I know. You might have luck on this board.

Good luck!

Best,
Steve

Thanks Steve. Very helpful. I think that is a brilliant approach to raws. I’ve been thinking about this question due to all my raw runs. Here is my thought process:

1) I hand picked my comics in the late 80s / early 90s during the popular marvel runs. I was extremely hyper and combed for the best books on the stands (didn’t have a box). Most of these raws are CGC worthy. I’m going to list these raws as VF/NM.

2) For the books and runs I didn’t hand pick and bought from others, I’m going to list as VF to NM-. Most are still NM, but I can’t vouch for all of them and don’t want to check them all.

3) For Valiant, ill probably take a look at all pre-unity ... post unity are all hand picked so I know they are nice...ie VF to NM.

Great tips on slabs. Thanks!


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[nwoslave]

any tips on determining shipping costs?

[aj583]

Folks recommended me to do Medium USPS Priority Box for the flat $13.65 rate on all slabs. Up to 3 in a box. Insurance between USPS and Amazon covers you up to $100 I think. When you start selling expensive slabs best to add insurance through USPS and charge a bit more. I’ve seen $15-$20 on more expensive slabs.


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[markie7235]

Feedback, while still nice, is not as important as it once was. Between eBay and Paypal, both offer money back guarantees basically at this point, so there's less risk for buyers now than ever previously. In fact, eBay is highly weighted in favor of the buyer. In fact, a buyer can claim an item is a fraud or not as described and get their money back with little investigation done. Not widely known, but there are definitely some unscrupulous buyers out there that know this and use it to their advantage. I've personally experienced individuals using it to leverage me giving them some money back to avoid them filing a report (even though the pictures clearly showed any defects and me mentioning items weren't mint). This is why for some collectibles you see so many people now say they refuse to offer a grade and to look at their pictures, because they don't want a buyer to claim it wasn't as described (though it honestly doesn't matter still).

I can tell you I did buy a collectible where the seller was selling a counterfeit item. I felt bad for them a little because they bought it from someone else and sold it stating they didn't know it was real. However, upon contacting them after receipt, they refused to work with me. Ebay sided with me because other items of the same collectible they had taken the easy steps to validate they were counterfeit, but not on the item they sold me?!? They also were charging a price implying it was the real deal. Ebay agreed with me and reimbursed me in full, agreeing with my argument that if they knew well enough to check the other items for authenticity, then they most likely checked the one sold to me also and chose to make the statement in their description in order to fraudently sell the item as legit while claiming they didn't know. The kicker though, ebay reimbursed me and despite my push to do so, told me not to send the item back to the seller or to turn it into authorities or ebay. In other words, they gave my money back AND let me keep it....I highlight this only as an example of how little diligence eBay really does to validate claims by buyers (though in my case my claim was legitimate).

Anyways, in terms of selling, one pointer I would make is don't underestimate the appeal of offering free shipping. Many buyers get turned off by high shipping costs, or shipping costs in general. I personally have found taking the hit on shipping moves items for me much faster. Plus, let's say I am selling an item for $100 and I paid $40 for it. Is losing $10 of my money for shipping and taking a $50 profit over a $60 profit really a huge deal? Maybe, maybe not, but free shipping does tend to move items faster. Also, don't forget to account for eBay fees and Paypal fees. Those can eat into your profits. So another option, since shipping isn't charged the fee, is if it will cost $10 to ship, instead of offering free shipping, subtract your shipping cost off your buy-it-now price, so a buyer still gets that deal. So in my example above, instead of $100, make it $90 with $10 shipping. Savvy buyers will recognize that if the item is worth $100+, they're still getting a fair deal.

[The Dirt Gang]

Anyways, in terms of selling, one pointer I would make is don't underestimate the appeal of offering free shipping. Many buyers get turned off by high shipping costs, or shipping costs in general. I personally have found taking the hit on shipping moves items for me much faster. Plus, let's say I am selling an item for $100 and I paid $40 for it. Is losing $10 of my money for shipping and taking a $50 profit over a $60 profit really a huge deal? Maybe, maybe not, but free shipping does tend to move items faster. Also, don't forget to account for eBay fees and Paypal fees. Those can eat into your profits. So another option, since shipping isn't charged the fee, is if it will cost $10 to ship, instead of offering free shipping, subtract your shipping cost off your buy-it-now price, so a buyer still gets that deal. So in my example above, instead of $100, make it $90 with $10 shipping. Savvy buyers will recognize that if the item is worth $100+, they're still getting a fair deal.

I agree with this as a buyer. I'm annoyed when I see the price of something only to realize it has high shipping.