What to Sell on eBay: Fabric Yardage

Cuttin' it up.

The extent of my knowledge of sewing and fabric is this: 

That is to say, I know nothing of fabric, sewing, and notions. Heck, I'm even surprised the word "notions" in a sewing context is in my vocabulary. But there is one thing related to fabric that I do understand. Flipping that yardage for a profit.

In my ongoing quest to find items I can resell for extra cash in my spare time, no genre of item is ruled out. Some items aren't practical, some aren't worth the effort, and some I just don't know are valuable. But none are dismissed out of hand.

Case in point, a few years back I spy some neatly rolled fabric at a yard sale a while back. I'll be honest, the only reason even glanced at it is that is had pictures of Darth Vader on it. The day was late, my pickings thus far had been slim, and I was offered three different lengths of Star Wars material for a fiver.

I took a risk and bought the fabric, thinking that a worse case scenario would be my wife could maybe sew me up some pajamas (yes, I'm that cool). 

Fortunately, I took a little time researching the fabric and making a quick listing on eBay because...

The Force was strong with that one.

I write this not to brag about my good fortune (well... in addition to bragging about my good fortune), but to clue you in on another whole genre of flippable items just waiting to get picked. I still know very little about fabric, but I have since picked and flipped yardage of fabric several times with decent results.

The more you know off-hand about fabrics, the better equipped you are to find those perfect picks. So how does an idiot like me make it work? I often check the manufacturing info on the selvage. 

The selvage (or, in the UK, "selvedge") is the the edge of the fabric running lengthwise across the whole. On the bottom selvage is usually some information about, in the least, the manufacturer, the year, and name of the print.

Using this info alone, along with all measurements, a solid description, and plenty of good photos (it can be good to throw a ruler in there for relative size comparisons), you have got yourself a pretty solid listing.

Be honest about what you know (or how little you don't), be sure to mention any defects, and if that fabric smells funky, wash it first (also say that you washed it ). Trust me, if I can make some profits flipping fabric, anybody can.

Fresh Funds for Old Tools on eBay

Nothing makes me happier than finding out about some new item that I can find cheaply at thrift stores and garage sales that has big upside potential on eBay. So I get really happy on those occasions when I scratch the surface to discover a whole genre of inventory to pick.

Which brings us to Old Tools!

I'm not much of a handy man, I'm more of a 'beat-it-to-fit-paint-it-to-match' kind of guy. Therefore, I don't really know a quality coping saw from a busted-ass power drill. I wouldn't know valuable hand tools if they smashed my fingers, which they usually do. However, I do know who knows what's what in the tool department. That's right - the completed auction listings on my eBay smartphone app.

Man, all those years I was just passing by all those bins of hardware and tools... better late than never. And unlike books and vintage toys, the 'tools' inventory is not a viciously sought by every flipper in town, so there are a lot of deals out there for the grabbing. 

If you have storage considerations and a complete inability to repair motorized things like me, you're going to want to primarily focus on smaller hand tools. And my best picks thus far have been older tools in great condition. Small items like tape measures, wood planes and chisels, hand drills, and specialty tools for leather crafts and the like, have done real well for me. For example, here is a sweet tape measure I bought from the reuse center for $3 and sold for:

That says $29.50

I'm not averse to picking small power tools as well if the deal is sweet enough and I'm confident on what it will net me online. Most stores or sales will let you plug in a power tool to at least see if the if it seems to be running smooth. If you know what you are doing with it, go ahead and give it a full test when you get home and be sure to take photos for proof in your listing description. But if you're like me and using anything beyond a drill will likely result in lost digits, no sweat, just make sure to be honest with your listing and report that this tool has not been thoroughly tested. Some of these tools will still get you decent dollars even when being sold in "As-Is" or even "For Parts of Repair" condition.

I made over $100 for this power planer I picked-up for $10!

And, if you're really rugged, you can make some big profits flipping heavy duty tools like generators, air compressors, and tablesaws. These types of items are generally too big for easy, affordable shipping, so it might be Craigslist for those.

So get those gloves on and start digging in that crate of old nails and screws. There just might be some old gold in there.

Guest Post: Kathrine's eBay Store

This isn't Katherine... or is it?     It isn't.

I hope everybody out there is having a fun and productive time picking, flipping, finding deals and making friends. I know I've been having a blast and coming up on some decent scratch in the meanwhile. Best of all, I've gotten to know some real great folks out there as well as some real great folks on the net through this here blog. You all have some great stories and inspiring ideas. I've particularly shared some insightful emails with a fellow picker named Katherine. She was kind enough to write up her thoughts on eBay Stores for us, so here is our first ever Guest Blog on Part Time Picker:

I've been selling on eBay for so long it's become a way of life, and during those years I've seen many changes - some good, some bad, and some entirely unnecessary!

When eBay Stores first started I signed up enthusiastically, but within a few weeks closed my Store and went back to auction-style listings.  Why? Because back then stuff in Stores got no visibility.

If I remember correctly, Store items were tacked onto the tail end of all the auction listings. An insignificant link said something like See Matching Items in eBay Stores, so if you had a popular or common item, the odds of selling it out of your Store were somewhere between zero and a snowball's chance in hell.

So that was it for me. I ignored eBay Stores for years and discouraged anyone from opening one, for reasons that have now become obsolete.  Recently I've talked to a number of eBay Store owners who wouldn't sell any other way, so I investigated.

So what are the advantages of opening an eBay store?  

You can save money on listing fees – IF, and only if, you keep a minimum of 67 items listed all the time.  EBay's monthly fee for a basic store is $19.99 for a max of 150 listings.  For most non-store listings, you’re charged 30 cents. Multiply 67 x 30 cents and there’s your $19.99.  Pay by the year and it works out to $14.95 a month, an even better deal.

That means items you add to your store – from numbers 68 through 150 – are the equivalent of free to list. Cool beans.  Even better, final value fees (FVFs) are slightly lower with a store. In addition, you get a number of useful analytical and marketing tools and the ability to send newsletters to your subscribers.  You can also run sales if you need some fast cash or dump a bunch of dead stock and potential buyers can see that the price has been reduced.

Generally your listings run for 30 days, although you can opt for a shorter duration.  You could let your listing roll until sold (or you die), but I suggest that after 30 days you should change the main photo, adjust the price, and change the font and/or tweak the description. People will think it’s a brand new listing.

The other cool thing is, if you sell on Amazon, you could list your items in your eBay Store too. Some people shop for bargains exclusively through one or the other... why not get exposure to both? This, of course, won't work so well if you are using FBA.  

If you 'dual-list' with both Amazon and eBay you must be on the ball though to avoid complications from 'double exposure'. The instant something sells on one site, you’ll have to remove it from the other.  That means keeping your smart phone by the bed, if you get heavily into this – but what’s the chance something will sell on both sites at the same time?  Very little, but I hate tempting fate.  By the way, it's easier to cancel a sale on Amazon than it is on eBay, if that should ever happen.

Listing 150 items on eBay is very time-consuming, so if you have a mind to open an eBay store, start stocking up now. Don't do what a friend of mine did: open a store and list four items. Duh, that's a $5 listing fee per item, per month, fool.

In a recent interview on NPR, one of eBay's head honchos said that over 60% of listings are Buy It Now. The bidding novelty has worn off for many consumers. And besides, most people hunting for things on eBay want them NOW, so I haven’t run an auction-style listing in months.

I've sold a couple of 'local pick-up only' items too. There's an app people can use to find anything listed locally, and it can pay off. There are too many weirdos trawling Craigslist, so I don't mind paying eBay's FVF to get a serious buyer who has paid up front.

So maybe an eBay store would be right for you. With enough research, trial and error, and yes, even minor setbacks, you will find the right zone for your online business.  As they say: Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.

Gone Fishin': Selling Vintage Lures on eBay

I'll tell you everything I know about fishing.

Worms are gross, fish are slimy, fish hooks can hurt, boats make me nauseous, and you can easily purchase and eat tasty fish at a restaurant so I really don't need to fish if I don't want to.

Also, vintage fishing lures can sometimes sell for a lot of money online.

I once bought a tackle box full of old lures for ten bucks at a yard sale. It was stinky and dangerous and full of hooks and fishing line all tangled up. But at the bottom were a few old Heddon lures that I thought looked cool so I saved them for years and years. When I later started sorting all my junk and seeing what I could sell on eBay, I was delighted to find these things can reel in some decent dollars. 

Now, unfortunately I didn't have any of those ultra-rare lures that can catch you hundreds of dollars, but I put the bunch of them up on eBay and walked away with over 50 bucks. Since then, I've been careful to always check in any tackle boxes or tool boxes at every junk store or yard sale.

Another good tip to find antique fishing lures is whenever you see a fishing rod for sale, ask if there are any lures or tackle. Folks often keep the lures and hooks aside to make sure some kids doesn't accidentally get pierced.

Some brands of old lures that can be worth a bit include Heddon, Creek Chub, Shakespeare, South Bend, and Pflueger. There are also lots of smaller companies. And, of course, if the lures you snag aren't worth a ton individually, I recommend saving up a box of them to sell as a lot.

Books That Are Better for eBay than Amazon

The general principle for flipping books is pretty easy. Check your book values on Amazon and if you can make a decent profit from the picking, do just that thing. But there are exceptions to the Books-Get-Listed-On-Amazon rule. Occasionally, some books are better suited for eBay.

In general, eBay gives you a greater sales pitch opportunity for you items. With Amazon, you get to list condition and maybe add a sentence or two to describe the defects. Not much chance to make your item stand out. But with eBay, you can put up all the photos you want, throw down all kinds of related keywords, and smooth talk your way into a big sale. In exchange for this freedom to add flair, the process to get an item listed on eBay with all those enticements can take a significant amount of time. So what books are worthy of the time that it takes?

Antique and rare books: Some folks do quite well by selling there antique, collectible, rare, or autographed books on Amazon. For me, on the very rare occasion that I do I come up on an early edition or a signed copy of a popular book, I like the advantages that come with the auction format. Some quality photos of those classic illustrations or embossed cover can go a long way. A quality listing will stand out and perhaps net you a few extra impulse bids or purchases.

Books that are restricted by Amazon: Some books and movies are just straight-up blocked on Amazon, particularly if you aren't paying the $40 monthly charge to have a Pro-Merchant account. This happen most often with DVDs, and will happen even more in the future. And then there are all kinds of hurdles to selling collectible books or toys during the holidays and on and on. When I hit against this wall, I just slide those bad boys over to eBay and count my money. Those fees could have been yours, Amazon.

Weirdo art books and editions that aren't even on Amazon: Despite having over 20 million books listed on Amazon, I regularly find myself with an opportunity to pick some obscure art title or self-published monogram or zine that isn't in their database. Now, an obscure book is obscure all over, so don't expect eBay to perform miracles... but somehow these things have a way of finding their way to the right person when listed with proper connective keywords.

Lots of books on a similar subject: See the picture of those old Qabalah hardcovers up there. Two of them are available on Amazon for less then $7 each, and one of them isn't even on Amazon at all. Not really worth a pick. But the whole is worth more than the sum of the parts (or whatever that idiom is). Put them together with some tasty photos, some choice words in the subject line, and some mystical wording on Qabalah that I found with a quick online search, and someone was putting over $60 into my Paypal by the end of the week.
There is a really good blog post about selling themed lots of throwaway books on eBay over at FBA Mastery. Do not interpret my posting of this link as an endorsement for all those overpriced eBooks promoted on that site, however.

Amazon is still my go-to spot for selling books and movies. But it is not a bad idea to keep these eBay-book picking thoughts simmering on the back burner when your out there picking. Have a good time and feel free to let me know any thoughts you might have on books that belong on eBay.

The Color of Money: Selling PRISMACOLOR Pencils on eBay.

Color me slightly wealthier.

Here's an easy one that has been raking in side-cash for me for years now... big lots of colored pencils. But not just any old brand of colored pencils. I specifically seek out, pick, and flip Prismacolor pencils.

I find these things all the time and can usually get them for 10 cents each or even less. They are normally sold in sets 12, 24, 36, 64 or 132 originally (and also individually) and can be quite costly to get new at an art supply store. But, alas, once a few of the pencils from the set are used up or lost, the rest sit around a desk drawer for years. Once the long, slow path towards perceived uselessness is complete, they are donated to a thrift store or left in a box at a garage sale or just thrown away.

After all, who would want to spend a couple quarters on eight or nine random colored pencils? You, that's who! These suckers cost about $1.50 each new, and folks will usually pay nearly a buck each for them on eBay, particularly if offered as a large lot.

And they don't even have to be unused to fetch the dollars. As long as they are long enough (say, over 6 inches), they are a solid pick.

After flipping (and occasionally coloring pictures) these things for years, I finally got a bit curious about why Prismacolor pencils are made by different brands. So here is a little history: Prismacolor started in 1938 by the Eagle company, then changed name to Berol in 1969. It was bought by Empire in 1986 and finally by Sanford in 1995. Sanford is currently owned by Newell Rubbermaid, but the current Prismacolors have the Sanford name on them. In the UK and Canada they kept the Berol name until recently, and they were also called Karismacolor (and they have oak colored barrels rather than solid colors).
Update: The day this post published, I came across Scholar Prismacolors! So look for those as well.

I have had no problems mixing Prismacolors of all brands into a single lot. In my experience, a vintage Prismacolor with the Eagle name does not sell any better or worse than the others, so there is no need to separate them into a different lot. I also will include doubles (and triples or more) of colors in my lot. They do not all need to be different colors to be sold together.

There are currently 150 colors offered in the Prismacolor line. This isn't really relevant to them being flipped, but I just thought that was an interesting tidbit to share.

You will also find other types of art supplies with the Prismacolor name, such as watercolor pencils and markers. While I have had more picks of the straight-up color pencils, I don't see why these others things won't do well in a large lot if you can snag them on the cheap. Just make sure to test those markers, because they will dry up on you.

What I haven't done well with, however, is flipping lots of other brands of colored pencils. So leave those Prang and Crayolas alone.

So don't be afraid to get dirty digging in the pencil drawer. If there are other art supplies or inexpensive items that are pretty easy to collect in lots that you have had success picking and flipping, let me know in the comments. Have fun out there.

Feedback-pocalypse: eBay's new Detailed Seller Ratings

Everybody panic!

August 20th, 2014 has come and eBay's new Detailed Seller Ratings are in effect. What this means, and I'm still not entirely clear about it myself, is that all that the right to sell on eBay, and the benefits entitled wherein, can now be revoked or otherwise altered based on those five star ratings, which are now combined with regular old feedback to create the new "Transaction Defect Rate".

People seem really shocked and appalled in particular by the new requirement that eBay doesn't consider your packages shipped until the shipping service scans them in. So, basically, the seller is on the hook if the post office drops the ball.

A sampling of the 'blogosphere' shows reactions to this new evaluation / consequences system varying from rage-filled tirade-comments against eBay threatening to never use the service again (nothing new there) to utter relief that the sun did in fact rise this morning and we are still somehow free to sell junk online.

So how is your boy here at Part Time Picker reacting to all this? By not worrying about a damn thing. Here's why:

• I always describe my items accurately and try to take multiple good photos. I do this because it helps get me more bids, more sales, and helps my items show up more often in searches within eBay's Cassini Search system
• I don't gouge on the shipping charges. If I'm not doing Free Shipping, I keep those charges at or below what the actual costs will be. Nothing turns a buyer off faster than insane shipping charges. And in that very rare instance when I do accidentally overestimate and overcharge on shipping, I refund the overage to the buyer right away, even if they don't ask for it.
• I usually ship the next day after the auction ends (or the item is bought). Why wait?
• I also always get tracking on my shipments. Always.
• I respond to all inquiries, questions, and other contact the same day, usually right away if I can. I don't like having some unresolved issue hanging over my head. And with my smart phone, it is super easy to respond from wherever I am. If you don't have a smartphone, you should just stop reading this and go back to gathering nuts and berries to store in your cave because the winter is coming.
• I generally give great service. It's called being good at business and everybody should be doing it. It's how you get repeat customers. It's how you succeed. 

If you are already doing a good job at communication, item description, and shipping (which you should have been doing all along), you don't need to do a thing in regards to eBay's Transaction Defect Rate. Just be cool and keep picking the deals. Sure you'll occasionally get screwed by the post office or some idiot buyer who just gives you an unjustified bad rating, but, take a deep breath, everything will be ok. I promise.

There is a pretty good and even tempered blog about all the DSR controversy over at FlippingaDollar.com that you might enjoy as well.

What to sell: Magazines

Come to Papa.

There they are: under the coffee table, cluttering the shelves, in the bathroom, on the mantle, in your bag, all over your office... magazines are all over the place. They have a very limited time-frame of usefulness and are basically designed to be read once and tossed.

I'm not going to tell you to hoard magazines. For for love of all things sacred get rid of your old magazines. But before you dump them all in the recycle bin, take an extra moment to see if they can get you a spot of cash on the 2nd-hand market.

And once you notice what magazines are selling on eBay, you can often pick them for next to nothing. After all, magazines are rightfully considered wasteful clutter pretty quickly.

So what magazines have value (other than that National Geographic of the girl with the haunted eyes)? With a bit of research, I've discovered there are lots of mags that can be flipped for bucks. Few magazines will get big dollars on their own, but if you are paying very little (or nothing) for them, you can make a few bucks of profit pretty easily.

• First, the obvious. Vintage and antique magazines (and catalogs). While an old magazine is not guaranteed to fetch a high price, it is a good place to start. Make sure to take good photos and describe the contents in your listing. Many people are more interested in the images of celebrities or the advertisements in old magazines than the articles.
• Specialized interest and industry magazines. These can often be very expensive new and not exactly common at the newsstand, so folks will buy them online. Whether the topic is dentistry or fly fishing, there are professionals and hobbyists who need that back issue.
• Art magazines. Some of the more high-end art magazines have massive retail prices when new, but can later be found for a few coins at a garage sale or library clear-out. I have personally made a killing on several occasions reselling Raw Vision folk art magazines that I bought for only a dollar each.
• High end Knitting Magazines. My wife loves these things but usually will just photocopy a few pages she likes and then pass them on to me to for online sale. Some of these issues sell for over $20 each!
• Fashion and design magazines (or any magazines, really) from overseas. Again, these things have a hefty price tag when bought new at the newsstand in the US, but lose their value real quick afterwards.Same with UK music magazines like Mojo. 
• Recent issues of magazines. I gleaned the knowledge of reselling recent issues of magazines from the Suzanne A. Wells blog. Sometimes issues from the past year can be resold for decent bucks. The celebrity on the cover is a big selling point for some of these so make sure to put their name in the subject of your listing. If your friends have a subscription, ask them if they will give you their issues when they are done rather than recycling them. 
• Bulk Lots of magazines. And, of course, the classic. Any regular readers of this blog know that I don't like taking the time to list items that are only going to fetch me a buck or two in the end. That's why I'm a big fan of selling small profit items in lots. While I won't bat an eye at a magazine flip for $4, selling a lot of ten mags for $40 profit will get my blood pumping for sure.

A few other things to remember about picking and selling magazines:

• Use the old standby of completed items eBay search to do quick research. Realize that you may not get the same results you see, particularly if there is a small sample size of completed listings.
• Some specific magazine back issues can be sold through Amazon. Particularly for those giant 'book-sized' (and 'book-priced') magazines.
• Ask your doctor, dentist, or other waiting room having professional if they are recycling their old magazines. If they are, maybe they will let you have them.
• Magazines without a mailing label (or remnants of adhesive from a label) will get better dollars.
• Magazines don't qualify as Media Mail (because they have advertisements in them), so set your shipping charges accordingly.
• Magazines can always be put in the recycling bin later, so if you have a chance to get them for free, go for it. Free magazine issues are basically a no-risk pick. 

So there you have it. Keep you eyes open for possible magazine picks and you'll be padding up the paypal account in no time.

Relist for Success

Don't worry, just hit 'Relist', sit back, and relax

If there is one thing that season after season of finishing at the bottom of my fantasy baseball league standings has taught me, it is that past performance is no guarantee of future performance. What's true in make-believe sports team management is often true in selling on eBay. Just because something has sold for big bucks in previously completed eBay auctions, that doesn't promise a repeat performance. Fortunately, the opposite is also true.

This was illustrated pretty dramatically when I recently auctioned off pack after pack of unopened, but expired Polaroid 600 instant film. As I've posted about before, Polaroid film frequently fetches $20 per pack, so when I was listing a pack on eBay every week for 6 weeks in a row, I expected to have grossed around $120 bucks when all was said and done.

I started each auction at $9.50, a price I thought would be low enough to get a good deal of 'watchers', but high enough that I would still make a profit if it went for only the opening bid. Week One's auction closed at $22, right on target. But the next week the same pack of film only brought me $13. What gives?

Even more curious, no one bid on the film pack the next week. Not a single bid. Had the market for Polaroid film crashed? Was somebody else offering the same item much cheaper? Was my computer malfunctioning? I couldn't figure it out.

My head really started to spin when, the following week, that same pack that had not garnered one bid the previous week sold for $35! The remaining three packs of film sold for $18, $25, and $22.50 (averaging $22.58 for all six packs). So the prices I was fetching varied by over 20 bucks from week to week.

This statistics-filled tale is an illustration that prices can fluctuate without much reasoning. With that in mind, it is always best to set your listing price at a comfortable level, making sure you are assured the profit you need for that item. It is better to not sell an item than sell it for too little.

Sometimes items will sometimes go from no bids at all to a bidding war after a quick relist.

Similarly, items that don't seem to interest anybody in an auction format can sell like hotcakes with 'Buy It Now' pricing. Certainly there are a great deal of people who want to purchase that item right now and are willing to perhaps surpass a deal for the immediacy of a purchase guarantee. Some folks don't want to wait days to see if they may or may not have won an auction... they literally want to buy it now.

And I won't even begin to launch into the fact that certain items fetch much higher prices in different venues. I know several sellers who purchase vintage things on eBay just to turn around and flip them for profits on Etsy. Remind me to write about that later.

So don't be discouraged if nobody seems interested in your treasure. Click that 'Relist' button and be patient. Try a 'Buy It Now' price. Maybe change a few words in your subject line. Good things come to those who wait, so don't sell your pickings short.

Big Score: Yashica Film Cameras

Now that you're all keyed up from my recent post about how film cameras as prime-time Picking gold for a big-bucks eBay flip, let me share two of my recent 'Big Scores'.

The Yashica T4. This looks like a crappy point-and-shoot camera that can't be worth very much. Well, how does $170 sound? That's right, the T4s (as well as T3s and T5s) fetch huge dollars on eBay. They are easy to spot because they have a viewfinding window on the top. If you see this camera, you get it!

I'm always juiced when I find an inexpensively priced medium format camera. These things are sought after by serious photographers. It isn't very common to find one priced on the low-end, but I was able to pick this Yashica Mat 124G up at a garage sale for $40. When all was said and done, it sold for over $150 in "As-Is" condition. Not bad. 

So, what kinds of big camera scores have you come across?

What to Sell: Film Cameras on eBay

35mm film cameras are dead.

Except, they're not. In fact, 35mm (as well as medium format and Polaroid) cameras are at the perfect place in history for you to make some big-time profits on.

1910 selfie by Harold Cazneau

It's true that the average consumer (and most professionals) have made the complete switch to digital photography. Heck, most folks forego cameras completely and just take pictures with their phones nowadays. But this doesn't mean that there is no market for quality film cameras. Lots of people are still shooting on film. There are whole artistic movements about shooting with film. These people want film and film cameras.

Now, the most folks are looking in their closets, seeing that old film camera that they haven't even considered using for a decade and think "This thing is worthless. Do they even make film anymore?". Oh boy! This is your big chance to exploit the gap between something being unpopular and without value to the average consumer, but still quite valuable in a specialized marketplace. Just like we discussed with Rapidograph pens, remember.

So how do you know which cameras are worth the big bucks? Just look it up on your phone, dummy. A quick eBay search of completed auctions can give you a guideline of average selling prices.

Now, there's somthing you need to contemplate before you start counting your money.

First, test the shutter, focus, glass, and film-advancing mechanisms. Even if those check-out, realize that unless you plan on shooting and processing a test roll of film, you are going to need to sell you cameras "As-Is", which will inevitable net you less dollars.

Alternately (and this is my preference), you can be very generous, understanding, and clear with your return policy, allowing the buyer enough time to shoot and develop their own roll of film. 30 days should be plenty. Sure, you may have to occasionally need to accept a return and eat-it on the shipping costs, but this has been surprisingly rare with me. Even better, the buyers who have purchased cameras that eventually were revealed to have light-leaks or something were so pleased with my full-refund policy that they left positive feedback.

not my photo

And why stop at cameras. I've made some great flips by picking lenses. accessories, and even unexposed (yet expired) film. Old 35mm cameras that are fully functional but no longer being used are all over the place.Go out and get em.

Stay tuned for my next Part Time Picker post where I share a few of my favorite big camera scores.

What to Sell on eBay: Lego MiniFigures

Mini-figures, big bucks.

Back in my day, we didn't have all these fancy Lego figures with expressions and haircuts and major motion picture relevance... we had one guy. He was all yellow and always smiled. He was either an astronaut, knight, pirate, or just a regular dude. But nowadays, there are thousands of different Lego men and women... and aliens, skeletons, monsters, celebrities, and just about any variation you can think of. Lego has become the best selling toy of all time and its popularity has exploded in recent years thanks in no small part to the expansion of those little people, known to collectors as Minifigs.

As of 2010, there were over 3600 different Minifigs, and over 4 billion have been manufactured. I imagine these numbers have risen dramatically in recent years, especially when you consider that these figures are popular enough to have their own major motion picture!

People are nuts for Lego out there, and you can make a tidy sum by picking Lego at local thrift stores and garage sales and reselling. It all sells, be it complete sets, bulk lots of bricks, weapons and accessories, or Minifigures. I know two local toy stores that sell bulk bags of bricks on consignment for over $10 a pound.

If you find Lego on the cheap (and make sure they are authentic Lego), buy it! There is a huge second-hand market for it. Almost every parent has accumulated a big plastic bin of loose Lego bricks for their kids, so once the children are grown and the toys are no longer being played with, they are often sold very cheaply at yard sales.

Your average Lego figure will sell on eBay for $1 - 4. Some specialty themed sets, like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars, can go for $5 - $12 each! Some rare figures with their accessories can fetch up to $100 and beyond.

As you know from my previous post on selling in lots, I'm not a big fan of getting only a buck or two on an eBay auction. I like to hoard a big bag of Minifigs to sell in a lot. If I am able to identify figures that go together in a certain set, I'll put them up together. Otherwise, I'll put them up in lots of anywhere from 20 to 60 figures at a time.

Make sure you take a lot of photos to go with your auction, and include the words "Minifig" and "Minifigure" in your title, as people might search for using one term or the other. As always, be honest about the condition of your items, and describe any missing hands or damaged figures. If your figures seem to consist of mismatched parts, no problem, just say so in the description.

I've probably sold several hundred Minifigs since I started picking. They're small and don't take up much storage room. They are also a great example of an item that is not terribly valuable on it's own, but worth a bundle when you can acquire enough to sell in bulk.

So keep an eye out for Lego, my friends. They are the building blocks to picking riches!

What to sell on eBay: Vintage Department Store Catalogs

I want all this stuff even more now than I did as a kid.

An amazing thing happens to an object after about 20 or so years. It is not longer "outdated" or "antiquated"... it has magically transformed into the desirable category of "vintage".

While experts may argue as to what exactly makes an item "vintage", unless you are dealing with wine (where the term originates from), we are generally applying the label to items from 20 to 100 years old. So anything from the 1920 to the early 1990s can reasonably be considered vintage.

Anything more than 100 years old has been further elevated to the echelon of "antique". Now, some folks will bend these rules and call their 1940s gear "antique" and their 1st generation iPod "vintage". People will throw around all sorts of marketable adjectives, but that don't make it so.

And I know it may be painful to acknowledge that items from your childhood are vintage. Heck, it still hurts me to think the grunge music of my teenage years is now considered classic rock. Don't be hurt; Vintage is good. Vintage means dollars on otherwise useless items.

Exhibit A: The 1980 Aldens Christmas Catalog.

Honestly, until I grabbed this catalog from a recycling bin I had no idea what Aldens was. But a quick check at the contents and it was clear I was holding a fully illustrated color catalog of a defunct department store.

This thing is chock full o' pictures and descriptions of toys, dolls, clothing, housewares, audio equipment, lingerie(!), shoes, and kitchen stuff, jewelry, and everything else your 1980 heart desires.

Vintage catalogs from department stores can regularly fetch up to $30 or more on eBay. The secret trick to getting the big bids (or quick sales) is to take lots of great pictures of the cool items featured in the pages, and make a comprehensive list of all the categories of items. My Aldens catalog sold not to a vintage catalog collector, but a Star Wars nut.

Many advanced eBay shoppers know to search the words within the listings, not just the listing title alone, so be sure to put lots a great keywords in there. The vintage appeal within these old catalogs is quite wide, so it is worth it to take the time to fully describe all the contents.

What to sell on eBay: Expired Polaroid Film

Technically, this photo features a Kodak Colorburst 100 Instant Film camera, not a Polaroid.

However, I'm going to allow it.

Remember a world before digital photography? Remember loading film, only having 24 or so precious images per roll, and then waiting for a week to get your prints only to discover you screwed-up all the exposures?
And if you needed a quick image right now (i.e. a couple of minutes from now) there was one go-to option; good old Polaroid Instant Film.

Well, those days are dead and gone. What used to be the standard product for impatient photographers is now relegated to the world of artists and nostalgic hipsters. The Polaroid Corporation, after being sold and restructured and filing several times for super-bankruptcy and having its parent company get criminally investigated, stopped making cameras in 2007 and then stopped production on the popular instant film in 2009.

With expiration dates set usually a few years after production, it is easy to reach the conclusion that every single package of Polaroid instant film has already expired. But this doesn't mean they are all worthless. Quite the opposite. Polaroid film, if stored properly, can often last many years beyond its expiration date. And with no new stock being produced, collectors (the previously mentioned artists and nostalgic hipsters), will pay big bucks just to gamble on an unopened pack of 10 instant photos.

Check a search of completed links for expired Polaroid 600 film. Go ahead, I'll wait...
There, you see. $20 to $25 easily on packages of film that expired over 10 years ago! I find these things all the time at garage sales. Most folks think they just don't have any value in the digital age. But you and I know better.

Strangely enough, most old Polaroid cameras, particularly those that take the 600 film, aren't worth very much themselves. It's mostly just the film the draws a bidding frenzy. And all this still happens despite the fact that there is a group called The Impossible Project that is currently making superior, non-expired instant film in the old  Polaroid factory in Europe.

The near-complete domination of digital photography has put a lot of high quality and collectible photo gear on the local reuse marketplace, and it is often priced a antiquated junk. Some of it is, but a lot of it can be sold for dozens, even hundreds of dollars on eBay. I'm talking cameras, flashes, lenses, film, medium format, even camera cases.

So next time you're a a yard sale and you seem some decent 35mm camera or unopened pack of Polaroid film, get that smartphone out and get picking!

What To Sell on eBay: Calculators

Make sure to save one to calculate all your profits.

One rainy afternoon, after a particularly fruitless quest at my local thrift store for any books to pick and resell, I stumbled dejectedly into the aisle that carries used office supplies. While I have purchased second-hand scissors and rolls of half-used packing tape from the messy bins before, I had never considered any of these items worthy of an eBay listing. Desperate and dejected from my failure to find anything on the bookshelves, I grabbed a particularly complex looking calculator and punched the model number into the search bar of my eBay app.

My eyes nearly burst from my head when I saw the results. What I thought was some worthlessly outdated 1980s hunk of junk was consistently fetching over $40! When I brought it up to the register, the clerk charged me 50¢. 

Fifty. Cents.

Even better, when I got home and put a new battery in, the sucker still worked. Well, I polished it up, took some photos, and listed it on eBay that very night. A week later the auction ended for over $50, nearly all profit. You can bet I was searching every nook and cranny for old calculators from then on, and still do. 

Since that fateful rainy afternoon, I've picked and sold a few dozen more calculators (amongst other office supplies). I've sold some vintage 1970s for big bucks (sometimes over a c-note!), and I've been able to make a decent profit putting several old non-working calculators into a lots to resell. I've sold HP, Casio, Sony and others, but, by far, the most common calculator to find and resell are the Texas Instruments Graphing kind. The ones with the big screen and the removable plastic face guard. If you find one that has a USB input, you're really happy!

Almost all high school and college students (or their parents) are required to buy on of these at some point, and they are rarely used again once classes are dismissed in the summer. They are one of those kind of items that are stupidly expensive to get new, yet are often overlooked as a big-ticket item on the local resale market. 

Just look at some of these common selling prices on used calculators I gathered from completed eBay listings just now:

• TI 83 Plus: $30-35 each
• TI 84 Plus: $45-60 each
• TI 86: $30-40 each
• TI 89: $55-65 each

Plus other, non-graphing calculators like the BA II Plus or the TI 35 Plus can get you $15-30 each. Some of the lesser calculators can even get you a fiver each, which is worth it if you are paying pennies on the dollar. Especially if you hoard a bunch to sell as a lot. And don't forget the big money being paid for working vintage calculators!

Calculators are just one of the many atypical items that can be commonly found cheaply in person and quickly flipped for a healthy gain. Stay tuned to Part Time Picker for more great items you may not have considered. If you have an uncommon category of items that you have profitable picked (and you're willing to share it), please send me an email or leave a comment.

Happy hunting!

...and don't forget the Little Professor.

The only issue of National Geographic you should ever try to sell on eBay

So collectible that they are nearly worthless.

If you have ever been to a thrift store or garage sale that is selling used magazines, you have likely been looking at a whole lot of yellow. Of course I'm talking about shelf after shelf of National Geographic magazine. With a US circulation of over 5 million per issue, multiplied by 12 issues per year, multiplied by over 120 years equals a damn big pile of magazine just about anywhere you might find yourself looking for something to pick. So something this popular must be worth some big bucks, right?

Well, not really.

Sure, if you find some mint issues from the 19th century (before they even had the yellow covers) you can flip them for some real dollars. But, generally speaking, you aren't going to make much in total unless you are selling these suckers in lots of about 50 years worth at a time. Have fun shipping that.

A current issue of Nat Geo has a newsstand  price of $6 (although you can get a subscription of 12 issues for $15). After it has been looked at once it is worth about 25 cents on the resale market. This is true for nearly every issue published after World War II. Great magazine, sure, but just too common to really have much value.

But for every antique issue you are lucky to come across, you will see thousands of modern issues, mostly from the 1980s to current era. But don't look away in despair just yet, there may be a nugget of gold in that mountain of yellow.

The issue you are looking to pick is June 1985...

There it is, staring right at you.

It's the famous Afghan Girl with the crazy eyes. That photo is so famous that people are willing to pay about $20 for a copy in good condition. And they really aren't any more uncommon than any other issues from the 1980s. The date is right there on the spine, and I find that while thrift stores aren't in the habit of arranging their magazines chronologically, issues from similar years are usually in close proximity to each other.

A local thrift store near me sells National Geographic published after 1970 for just 10 cents each. Over the past few years I have picked the June 1985 issue and resold it for nearly $20 on six separate occasions! This magazine is consistently selling well and rarely costs more than dollar in the store. Pair it with the April 2002 issue (where the Afghan Girl is "Found" 17 years later) and you may even score a few extra bids.

Remember, that's June 1985.    So now you know.

 

Selling on eBay: To Lot or Not To Lot

I once read in some book (I think it was 1000 eBay Success Secrets) that you should never sell in lots what you can sell individually. I don't still have that book for reference, but I think the logic was that you will always make more money selling each item individually than you would putting everything together in one "Lot" auction. People expect discounts for buying in bulk. On the surface, this advise is good, but I find that I often prefer to sell things in lots.

The reason I sometimes prefer lots is simple... it is much easier to sell things all at once. I'm usually willing to sacrifice a couple of bucks to save myself hours of work.

Let me give you an example. Suppose I have come up on a big box of, say, 100 shoelaces. This is a hypothetical... I've never actually sold shoelaces on eBay. The scenario is that I could likely sell each and every one of the shoelaces of $2.00 each. That is, if I was willing to list, sell, and relist a single shoelace 100 times. At the end of the entire series of sales, I would have $200.

The first problem you can see right away. That is a lot of paperwork, a lot of packaging, a lot of trips to the post office, and a lot of potential problems. Even with the ease of one-click relisting the item, it would still take a lot of time and effort, all added up, to make that $200. And don't think that you can just list all 100 shoelaces at the same time, at least not as an auction. You're going to be competing with yourself.

And, frankly, I don't want to list anything that will only make $2, even it that's 100% profit. $200 is great, but not in $2 increments. I wouldn't do this with another item I had only one of, so why would I do it 100 times in a row?

But there is another way. Perhaps these shoelaces will sell nearly as well when divided into Lots. It may so happen that I can sell a Lot of 20 shoelaces for $35.00. Now, $35 is a real decent amount to be making on one auction. And I can do that 5 times in a row and end up with $175, total.

I may make $25 less than if I sold each shoelace individually, but I'll be dealing with 1/20th of the hassle (5 listings instead of 100)! For a guy like me who likes his free time, that sounds like a bargain.

I do this all the time. I'll often collect certain items until I have enough to make a Lot that will fetch enough money to justify the energy of listing it. I've sold many things this way: video game cartridges, pens, pencils mini-discs, action figures, art supplies, audio tapes, DVDs, dice, kids books, and lots of other stuff. These things weren't worth the time to sell individually (some stuff wouldn't even sell at all), but get a box of them together and you'll get some bids.

So, sure, you can often make more money, all in all, if you sell similar items one by one. But at what cost?

Blue and Gray = Green

I rarely go looking for pickables at antique stores. The dealers running those shops are pros. Most have been picking (or buying and reselling from pickers) since before I could walk. One is more likely to find affordable stuff to resell on eBay or Amazon in the dumpster than over at the antique shop. In fact, you can usually find items similar (or exactly the same) as those in antique stores for much, much less on eBay.

So, low and behold, my wife really wanted to check out this vintage lamp she saw in the window at a nearby antique store, and I figured I would tag along and maybe get a few ideas about items that may be more valuable than I have previously anticipated. You know, do some recon. Antique stores may not be good for picking, but you can definitely learn a thing or two about cashing in on old junk there.

I usually spend my time checking out old toys or metal lunch boxes in these situations, and sure enough, in a dusty corner I find a relatively dilapidated box of some old civil war toy soldier playset from the 1970s. The box was chock full of little plastic soldiers and cannons and even a tin house, all in great condition.   I'm sure you know what I did next.

That's right, a quick iPhone check and I learned I was looking at the Sears Heritage The Blue & The Gray play set made by Marx. I also quickly learned that this set appeared nearly complete (I didn't actually count the pieces there in the store). Most importantly, I got to see that previous completed auctions of this exact toy, with a box often in much worse condition (or no box at all), had sold on eBay for over $100!

I inquired with the proprietor of the store about the price, and he told me $30. Did I buy it on the spot? Hell no! I brokered a deal the brought the price down to $25 bucks. I did, however, end up paying his full asking price for the lamp for my wife. Can't win 'em all.

Later that week, I counted all the pieces (a few were missing from the complete set), took lots of photographs, did a little more research, made my eBay listing, and crossed my fingers. How does this story end?

Click image to enlarge. Hint: $190 plus shipping!

What NOT To Sell: Records on eBay

Making millions selling rare translucent red vinyl 45s? Pure fantasy.

We all hear tales of obsessive music collectors and the small fortunes they are willing to pay for a chance to obtain some otherwise boring record that has a rare varient label or something. You might have glanced through an issue of Record Collector Magazine and thought to yourself that this is a business you should be part of. Perhaps your hippie parents have a whole basement full of boxes of rock and roll records that, despite their musky odor, must be worth tons of money. Well, you had better drop those thoughts form your head right now. Here's why:

• Vinyl Record Collectors are an obsessive, picky bunch. They spend all their free time talking about rare variations and foreign printings and limited editions. They thrive on this info. I'm don't think they even listen to their records very often. That would be way to risky. If you don't know your shit, these people will eat you alive. Unless you are already an obsessive vinyl collector and greatly enjoy the excruciating minutia of the hobby, stand clear.
• Every record you own is in terrible condition. You think your vinyl is in minty condition with no scratches. You are wrong... And you will pay dearly for your misjudgment. Unless your LPs are all still brand new and sealed straight form the factory (and even then), they are going to be graded much stricter by record collectors than you can possibly imagine.
• Almost all records aren't worth much. I know the Beatles' Abbey Road changed your life, but it ain't worth squat. I know you heard that Black Sabbath's first album is rare, but it isn't. That rare variant label on some random Fleetwood Mac record; you don't have it so don't bother looking. Even those early Elvis 45s aren't fetching much. And don't even get me started on Sergio Mendes.
• Records aren't easy to ship. Sure, they qualify for media mail, but if you thought you could just put your record in some cardboard and send it off, you obviously haven't dealt with a vinyl collector before.
• Most folks think their records are valuable. This can make it difficult to find a good deals when you are out picking. Almost all garage sales have a box of old showtunes on vinyl for a couple bucks each. All of those records are worth nothing. Hey, if you love the soundtrack to My Fair Lady, go ahead and buy it for a few bucks. But don't fool yourself that these are worth picking to make a profit on.
• You will never make money reselling records bought at Used Record Stores. Those stores know what they are doing. Many of them sell their best finds on eBay. If it's in the "dollar bin", it's there for a good reason.
• Information on valuable records is not as easy to access as you would hope. Do you know the difference between a 1st pressing and later pressings? How about a pressing from another country? Is it worth more or less? Little details like these can be the difference between a big score and a big burn. There are thousands of these details, and the aren't nearly as easy to find using an iPhone as you would hope.
• The rare records that are worth something can take a long time to list. On the off-chance you do end up with some valuable vinyl, you're going to need to list every freaking detail about the record, the label, the cover, the printing... everything. With lots of photos. Record collectors don't take risks when paying premium prices. You'll need to accurately grade your records. You'll need to listen to them all for any subtle surface noise. And you'll probably still screw up the listing somehow anyway. 

But all is not lost for a Part Time Picker looking at a cheap stack of records. While a Used Record Store won't give you nearly what the records are worth, you can still turn a tidy profit if you know the kinds of things they want to buy. While 1960s rock and roll (with some exceptions) are fairly common and not valuable, 1980s metal and punk records can get you some serious bucks. Record albums from the 1990s, when vinyl was more or less not being produced, can fetch huge prices.

Certain record stores specialize in jazz or punk or whatever and pay decent bucks for used records and singles. Ask them what they are generally looking for, and keep your eye out those things. Let them deal with the obsessive record collectors. We are looking for a quick flip for profit here. Trying to maximize your record picking with individual eBay auctions can be a real hornet's nest. Like I said before, if you don't know your shit inside and out, you will get eaten alive.

What To Sell: Rapidograph Technical Pens

Draw me some money.

I enjoy drawing. I keep a sketchbook and illustrate most greeting cards I send with a little doodle or two. I even go so far as to keep a miniature set of watercolors with me when I travel. This doesn't make me special or anything, in fact, many of my friends draw regularly in sketchbooks or journals. And, like most of my drawing pals, at one point or another I wasted money on an expensive technical drawing set.

A set like the Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph seen above is purchased or received as a gift with visions of all the amazing illustrations that will magically flow from it. One or two pens actually get filled with ink. Within a few days they get clogged. The pens are inevitably put in a drawer or closet and forgotten. Eventually this virtually unused art supply set is donated to a thrift store or sold at a garage sale or given to a friend and the cycle continues.

So, basically, what we have here is an art supply (a genre of consumer items notorious for being over-priced and bought on impulse) that is frequently seen on the second hand market in excellent condition. Most folks reselling these items locally just aren't aware of the ridiculous costs of these things. The suggested retail (list) price of this set of 7 pens new is over $150!!!

These pens are very high maintenance, and clog easily, so they just aren't practical for most casual creative types. Because they are often sold (and resold) in sets, usually 4 or 5 of the 7 pens are 100% unused. And those clogged ones can be cleaned. Check the recent completed eBay listings: As of the time of this posting, we're looking at $20-$50 dollars for a decent used set, easy!

I find these things all the time, usually for well under $10. If you live near an art college, I even recommend doing a little dumpster trolling when the school year ends. Twice I've seen a Rapidograph set in great shape, complete with packaging, in the garbage.

Technical pens are a great example of an item that has great value differences in regards to context. They are pretty common and inexpensive to pick used locally, and then sell very well for decent dollars on the online reuse marketplace. The demand for these high-end art supplies is much higher when offered to the global world of potential buyers online, whereas your local thrift store might be hard up to find someone who casually will drop big bucks on some old drawing pens.

Here are a few more pictures of technical drawing pen sets that I've resold for decent cash from other brands like Mars Staedtler and Reform:

UPDATE: I've recently had an auction of a complete set of Rapidographs go horribly awry when the ink exploded during shipment. I was lucky that the buyer was understanding and only wanted a partial refund. So, either wrap that ink up really airtight in a separate baggie or maybe don't even include it in your action at all.