Vehicle & Playset Sale!!! Vintage MOTU, TMNT, Hot Wheels....

[IMJ]

Listing here or click on image! Thank you!

[IMJ]

Listings here end this weekend! Great opportunity to own several vintage pieces including vehicles, parts, playsets and more! Thank you!

[IMJ]

Listings here end tonight! Some great opportunities to pick up some cool stuff!

[depluto]

How did the sale go? Interested to hear about results vs. expectations.

[IMJ]

How did the sale go? Interested to hear about results vs. expectations.

Well, it was a themed sale and I hit my personal "sales goal" that I set for these events, so I'm okay with that. The "branded" toys generally all sold as I expected although I thought the Technodrome would've sold for insignificantly more than it did. I would've guessed just over $200 before shipping. I think it sold for 180....

The biggest grey area I had were the 1:64th scale stuff. I have basically no expertise or market study from that domain of collecting. If every 1:64th car I listed sold for a buck, I would've been ecstatic. But only a few of them sold for the price of the initial bid, but I planned for that with some prepped shipping strategies ahead of time and the selling price was fine. And, I started those at .99 rather than .01 because I knew I was in unknown waters, so I wasn't going to chance losing those at a penny and .99 is still a solid buy, so it was a just-in-case win-win pricing. I'm surprised that the Stomper didn't sell at all as I was able to find some history for that one in particular even though it was only a mini. There are actually Stomper guys out there.

I'm cool with the Go-Bots bases as they went because although they were functional and decent, they are incomplete. The Star Wars lot did better than I thought - I have significant access to a lot of vintage Star Wars stuff much in the same vein as what I listed - parts builder stuff and from the market for that (that is to say in the Chicago area), that stuff sold better for me than it would have in "a" store grab bin or at the Kane County Toy Show. I think that the Snake Mountain sold as it should have, given the pieces that were missing and also that the market has tanked on that one a bit because I think Super 7 is actually making a Snake Mountain now. If I cared about a bigger return on that one, I could've sold it a year ago, but I was doing other things. No biggie.

I'd say that most of the time I sell above the curve on eBay and that it's been this way for 15 years now. I know how & where to market my stuff, and I'll never trade my reputation for a cash grab. I don't need the money that bad. So basically people always, always get what they pay for from me, and I'm cool with that. I've got a formula that revolves around "fair" and "no tricks" and that helps even if buyers don't know that I operate that way. For example, I start listings at a penny (or otherwise cheap), and if someone wins at that price I keep my end and ship it. My end of the bet is that things won't stay at a penny because I give everyone a shot at bidding by starting there. It's the perception of the possibility of a deal, while maintaining some possibility of a deal. I list shipping as fairly as I can predict, and I usually er on the low side (guys, I shipped the Barbie bus for 11 bucks, I think - go look at the real shipping costs for that). But I'm not afraid to go through my accounts with all of the shipping services to get something to someone in the right amount of time for the right price. There's no way I'll ship a Barbie motorhome priority mail for 55 bucks when it can ship FedEx home delivery in the same approximate time for 17 bucks. I look for win-wins.

So all of this is to outline that my expectations for these sales are multi-factored several ways deep, as opposed to "this Go-Bots headquarters must sell for this or that". I can see the patterns and often play them, so where something looks like a loss to one person, I know that the configuration of sales I pulled wound up grossing me a grand which puts me ahead as I used the small scale losses just to put eyes on listings. I'm sure a few Hot Wheels guys that scoffed at my crap condition Shark Shifter threw down bids on the Firehouse. I killed it on the slot cars and the Ferrari.

So I did okay. I could replicate it. My next thing is probably another video game sale. As I see it configured in my mind's eye right now, I'll target about 1300 gross when I line up the shots for that one in a few weeks. I'll take a small loss or break even on a few of the PS4 games, but those will put eyes on a few systems I have that should not only compensate, but put me ahead.

This is all in line with eventually populating an eBay store that I don't expect anyone to actually buy stuff from - it will be populated with eye catchers - a few 10k items, a few 7k items, stuff intended to bring people in to eventually land on the listings as I pace them out. Along the way if someone drops 10k on an authentic Iron Man prop, or 5k on a cgc, then that's fine even though it's not my intention to sell them (if it's my intention to sell something you'll see me marketing it, MBA style with graphics and pomp and circumstance and updates, etc).

So there's method to my madness, but that method is usually setup for a buyer-seller win-win. Historically it's worked out for me over the years as I sell. If I hit a round where I truly get my *SQUEE* kicked, then I mis-timed the market or didn't do my due diligence and I'll cool off on the selling until I can regroup. I've done that too to walk from the loss before it deepens. And therefore there's no real loss because a reconfigured return will see a profit that outpaces the previous loss.

I've also got a method I exploit regarding my shipping supplies to keep costs to near zero on that front. But I do try to ship like a legit shipping and receiving department most of the time.....

Motorhome Pre-Shipment Reinforcement. Boxed and foamed after this configuration:


Bullet-proof shipping on the Firehouse with original box (which is stretch wrapped and padded in - you can't see it here


People like that. Dropping the coin on a collectible and receiving it in a manner that feels like they still bought a "product" rather than a garage sale item. I think things like that help me out too. I invoice appropriately too - that helps minimize late or even non-payers. Although I will say that firehouse guy hasn't paid me yet and he's a high feedback buyer, so that's weird. Command Center guy hasn't either but he's been asking me for shipping quotes varying from here in the U.S. to Canada, so I'll wait on him to see what he decides.

On a last note, if I did learn anything from the 1:64th scale forray? Sell them single only if you've got a chase or short-pack car, or if they are basically mint or somehow clearly market movers. Other than that moving 1:64th might be best done as a collection or lot. But again, I'd have called the 1:64th a success if I sold all of them for between .75 to a buck. I didn't have high expectations there. Everything else did just fine against the dollar amounts I was into stuff for - but that's another point to that mental algebra about "seeing the patterns" I mentioned above. The way I buy stuff (or in some cases have held onto stuff). That Barbie motorhome? It was free when I acquired it.... So there's a nugget for ya. If I told you what I paid for the Technodrome, even after I bought two parts for it....

Thanks for asking. I don't often word vomit my philosophies about this stuff, but normally people don't ask. Also, if some of my experiences and philosophies here help you guys out at all, I'm cool with that too.

[nycjadie]

Thanks for this summary. I’ve sold collectibles over the years and now just focus on comics. Your comments resonate with me. I’ve moved mainly to BIN sales for comics, because they actually move. I also noticed that when I list things every week or so, the stuff that sits there for ages actually moves. It’s weird, and I do think when you accurately describe condition, ship safely, and keep up on it, people really appreciate it. I get guys sending me thank yous for the shipping care, especially on the cheap items. They mean something to them.

Still, there is always a guy you can never please....

[IMJ]

Still, there is always a guy you can never please....

Yeah.... Every round of sales I always have some degree of anxiety about "that" guy.... I've got a story right now that you guys wouldn't believe. Seriously if I can get around to telling it you're going to be reading the screen with a blank stare and dropped mouth. But I want to wrap up the weirdness first so the story has a conclusion when I tell it.

[nycjadie]

I love those stories. My last guy got really upset with me losing a couple books in a lot of Bronze Age books I sold for $4, and I offered him the whole thing for free. He claimed that I pulled them when I realized they were worth more. *SQUEE*. Honestly, I sell comics on eBay because I enjoy it, and I enjoy participating in the community. Me selling comics that nobody else does is really a favor to him. He was so rude and belligerent. Claimed he was going to report me to his friends at eBay. Thing is, I have friends at eBay too, and they are real

[maraxusofkeld]

Still, there is always a guy you can never please....

Yeah.... Every round of sales I always have some degree of anxiety about "that" guy.... I've got a story right now that you guys wouldn't believe. Seriously if I can get around to telling it you're going to be reading the screen with a blank stare and dropped mouth. But I want to wrap up the weirdness first so the story has a conclusion when I tell it.

I have had plenty of stores like what you are describing. Back in 2012, I had a scammer buy a complete GI Joe 1985 Mauler Tank, steal all the small parts and ebay forced me to take the return and there wasn't anything I could do about it. Now I mostly sell any vehicle/playset as parts or sell the bigger stuff on Facebook locally.

[putz]

I have had plenty of stores like what you are describing. Back in 2012, I had a scammer buy a complete GI Joe 1985 Mauler Tank, steal all the small parts and ebay forced me to take the return and there wasn't anything I could do about it. Now I mostly sell any vehicle/playset as parts or sell the bigger stuff on Facebook locally.

Wait a sec. Did I read that correctly?
You sold someone a complete item, parts and all. Shipped it to them. They returned with without all the parts?
Thats just a no-good piece of crap there.

Do you guys take pictures of the stuff before you ship it? Or do you guys ship so much stuff its not worth the time to do that and then have to track the pic's with the items.

I've seen where people buy Christmas trees at Lowes and Home Depot and then return them. They are figuring they are using the tree and then getting their money back.
Its interesting that the companies would use AI to try to get us to buy stuff but seems it would help by identifying the "return" guys patterns.

[IMJ]

Do you guys take pictures of the stuff before you ship it?

I absolutely do, actually yeah. You've got to sell on eBay and act like Batman or Iron Man. Secret prep for any eventuality.

Or do you guys ship so much stuff its not worth the time to do that and then have to track the pic's with the items.

You can ship all sorts of stuff, but taking out your phone and snapping a pic before you tape a box shut is just a smart move.

I've seen where people buy Christmas trees at Lowes and Home Depot and then return them. They are figuring they are using the tree and then getting their money back.
Its interesting that the companies would use AI to try to get us to buy stuff but seems it would help by identifying the "return" guys patterns.

See, I've got a return situation right now for the Go-Bots Thruster-1 I listed as part of this vehicle and playset event. This person doing the return is a complete moron attempting some kind of manipulation.

So Thruster-guy has the winning bid for the Go-Bots Thruster-1. Thruster-Guy pays, I ship immediately and Thruster-guy gets his Thruster I think in two days. I'm on top of things like that. So Thruster-guy emails me saying that there's a problem. He says the sound effects don't work as described and that Thruster is missing his wings. I message back and say that all electronics were tested, per the listings description and pictorial evidence, and I respectfully ask if the buyer tried new batteries in the unit. I also tell the buyer that I'm shocked about the wings, although I'll need to check the listing because I don't recall that they were included. I know full well that they weren't, and that they weren't pictured nor claimed to be part of the listing, but I take this "I'll check" positioning simply to catalyze Thruster-guy looking again at the listing with his own eyes to see that he is wrong. So, basically this person is a piler-on and I'm slowly disassembling his straw-man piece-by-piece and politely.

So, Thruster-1 guy replies saying that he checked the listing again, and that he "guess[es] that the wings were never part of the listing", but that he was "expecting a complete Thruster". He also now adds that the electronics do work, but that the "motion sensing feature" does not. Sudden, new information there. I stop myself from replying with something like well you should have expected precisely what I listed and not invented some nonsense expectation outside of reality. But obviously I don't say this. I politely tell this person that I'll be happy to authorize the return, which I did.

Once it comes back, it will have to be in 100% the same shape it was in when I sent it out. If it is, I'll issue the refund and then without telling the buyer, I will block the username so as to have one less manipulator have the capability of pulling buyer's BS ever again.

There's always something. I've got another story from this Vehicle and Playset event too, but that one is even crazier......

[maraxusofkeld]

I have had plenty of stores like what you are describing. Back in 2012, I had a scammer buy a complete GI Joe 1985 Mauler Tank, steal all the small parts and ebay forced me to take the return and there wasn't anything I could do about it. Now I mostly sell any vehicle/playset as parts or sell the bigger stuff on Facebook locally.

Wait a sec. Did I read that correctly?
You sold someone a complete item, parts and all. Shipped it to them. They returned with without all the parts?
Thats just a no-good piece of crap there.

Do you guys take pictures of the stuff before you ship it? Or do you guys ship so much stuff its not worth the time to do that and then have to track the pic's with the items.

I've seen where people buy Christmas trees at Lowes and Home Depot and then return them. They are figuring they are using the tree and then getting their money back.
Its interesting that the companies would use AI to try to get us to buy stuff but seems it would help by identifying the "return" guys patterns.

Yes, I did all of those things but it did not matter. I had to just grin and bare it unfortunately.

[IMJ]

Yes, I did all of those things but it did not matter. I had to just grin and bare it unfortunately.

I think the taking pictures of your shipments thing is more of a defense against an accusation that something was missing or not included. It's a defense for those instances where maybe eBay would get involved because you are denying a return or a refund because you believe the buyer might be trying to scam you and you say to eBay, "here's an image of my packing method with the items clearly in the box".

It's not a perfect defense because now you are in the territory where someone could go off the deep in and say that you took the pictures and then removed the item, but most reasonable people just don't do that. Unfortunately, for as many good people are in this hobby, this hobby also gets into that very shallow end of the gene pool sometimes. You guys should check out TMNT and Indiana Jones fandom sometime.