After losing almost 20% due to fees from both eBay and PayPal when I sold my Space Wolves army, I told myself I was done with selling stuff on eBay. I get almost all of my stuff at my FLGS, Grand Adventures. But when I'm looking for those old, rare, out of productions figures that I can't find locally, I go to eBay.
Recently I needed one more backpack for my Ultramarine army that I am currently building. I was looking for the old Space Marine Commander backpack with the cape attached to it. No one around here had one, so it was off to eBay to get it. I came across two of them, and both came with older Space Marine Commanders. One of them was this one, and the other looked like the old Blood Angel Captain. So I took a chance and decided to grab them both. Once I got them in, I was surprised how bad of shape the Blood Angel Captain was actually in.
And there he is after a bath in Simple Green. A huge difference! Sorry for the slightly out of focus picture, but you can still see how clean this guy came out. I cleaned him up by placing him in an ultrasonic cleaner with Simple Green automotive cleaner. I like using Simple Green because it is 100% biodegradable and always seems to work the best. I used it before on this blog when I stripped my Ultrawing. The model had a little more damage than I thought. His shoulder pads have been filed down and there is also some detail that has been removed on his upper legs. Hopefully when I get around to doing my Blood Angels I will be able to use some of the new plastic parts to make this guy look like new again.
So, remember if you come across a poorly painted figure on eBay, don't be afraid to pick it up and give it a new home. It may take a little work, but in the end you'll wind up with unique character with a unique story behind it.
How did you manage 17% fees? I'm relatively new to e-bay selling but have loads of stuff I "need" to offload... I can't think of a better method for selling?
ReplyDeleteI would also agree that you can get some awesome bargains on off chances! Not too long ago I spotted a lot of four chimeras which had two autocannon turrets (forge world) that I was after... I bought them, for about the cost the turrets alone would've cost me (including postage). When they arrived they were in top condition and two of them also had forge world rear doors & stowage! you couldn't see that in the photo! bargain!
Still haven't got around to painting them in my new scheme, but they'll end up in my imperial guard gallery soon enough
I took the final price that the item sold for and the final amount that was deposited into my bank account from PayPal after everything was said and done. Then I simply did the math to find out my percentages. EBay is a great place to find stuff and to sell smaller dollar amount items. The more an item sells for, it seems like the more you pay in fees.
ReplyDeleteYou can find some great stuff on there, and I have a few sellers saved that I have had great luck with.
If you want to unload some of your stuff, I suggest using your blog, Bartertown, or even the trading section on DakkaDakka. If you have PayPal, you can send an invoice through them to the person buying your stuff. That will at least give you a record of the transaction that could possibly protect you and the buyer.