Treasure or Trash?

Selling on eBay and other sites can be a lot of fun.  I personally love the thrill of the hunt.  Finding unusual collectibles really jazzes me!  I've gotten to the point where I can feel it in my gut when something is going to be a winner at auction.  Yes, I still mess up, but not as badly as I used to.  It used to be that I'd come home with my van packed full every Saturday.  I'm sure that some of the people who run estate sales locally loved to see me coming.  I bought up tons of stuff that no one else wanted.  Sometimes I'd get some really great stuff and end up making a profit for the week.  Other times though, I just ended up with a big pile of other folks' garbage.  This post will focus on one of my weaknesses and how to learn from my mistakes.  (I'm sure there will be more posts like this coming up!)

I thought it might be a good idea to share some advice about how to judge the value of the merchandise you have purchased.  It is tempting sometimes to buy up every old thing you see, but you've got to think about your bottom line, and you also have to consider how much space you have to store things.  You don't hear about that too much, but let me tell you, it is darn easy to get yourself buried in WAY too much old stuff when you enter the eBay selling game.  You can end up with way more stuff than you could ever reasonably expect to list and sell.

My Love of Vintage Ephemera

One of my favorite things to buy and sell is ephemera.  That is old stuff, usually paper, that was never really meant to be collectible.  It could be anything from old gum wrappers (for collectors of advertising) to love letters written by soldiers to their wives during one of the World Wars.  There is a market for some of this stuff, but not all of it.  I wrote about a couple of such items.  You might want to check out my posts on vintage Valentines and matchbook covers.   My problem was, I tried to buy all of it.  Who could blame me?  I would find boxes full of the stuff and get it at outrageously cheap prices (sometimes).  At one point, I probably had 15 or 20 boxes of old ephemera stacked up in the garage and game room.  That is way too much.  I was listing many of these things as individual items.  Think of how many auctions that is.  How many pieces of paper can fit into a moving box?  Right.  A lot!  I ended up throwing away a lot of it during one particularly severe purge.  I had reached my snapping point as I moved boxes for the 20th time looking for one of my kids' toys.  I sort of regret throwing everything away like I did, and I don't recommend that approach.  There is a better way to handle your inventory.  Deal with it as you buy it and don't get attached to it!

Trash or Treasure?

The best way to learn what sells and what doesn't is to study the closed listings.  Items that are related to some famous event from the past have a good chance of selling.  That old high school musical program?  Not so much.  I listed several of them and rarely made any money.  Now, when I get a box full of ephemera, I go through it that very day.  Similar items get bundled together.  Sometimes a LOT of old high school programs (or similar items) might get a little bit of interest.  Old bank statements, pay stubs, etc. also get put together.  You should look at each of these individually as you sort though.  If there is something "special" about an item it could be valuable.  This could include things like a connection to a famous person or event.  If something about an item catches your eye, do a little bit of research online and see what turns up.  It is sort of a pain in the neck to do this, but it can pay off if you find a winner.  I once followed a hunch like this with a postcard I found.  It turned out that it was sent by a man who got on the Titanic and died a week later.  It ended up selling for a few hundred dollars!  I think it had cost me about a nickel.

My new approach is to offer my "common" ephemera items as a lot.  I'll show plenty of images in my listings and give lots of details to attract people.  If it doesn't sell, I get rid of it.  If you have an eBay store, you may want to list them individually, but I'm just not up for that anymore.  I can't take the clutter.  This same advice also applies to things other than ephemera.  If you are buying up a bunch of merchandise dirt cheap, realize that some of it just won't sell.  You try to buy with the idea of making a profit.  If you can sell most of what you are buying, you are doing pretty good.  Try to buy at prices that won't hurt too bad if you take the occasional loss.  Also, don't let yourself get attached to the idea that something has value if it is becoming obvious that no one is interested in buying it.  If the stuff you have bought still has some real, practical value, you can have a garage sale or donate it to the Salvation Army, otherwise, sometimes it is best to realize that some things are ready to head to the trash bin.

I think a key to staying sane in the eBay selling business is knowing when to get rid of things.  I used to convince myself that someone probably would want every piece of paper I had.  The result was making my garage look like something from an episode of Hoarders.  You've got to know when to cut your losses or you will end up buried in trash.

Category: Expert Interviews and Advice