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Just a quick update on some of this weeks auctions.
Two lots of vintage postcards (total 285 cards) have been sold to a gentleman in Bedfordshire bringing in a total revenue of £ 11.70. From this total I have to deduct Ebay listing fees, final value fees and postage.
The auction for the Heller Vampire model kit is due to end in about an hour and is progressing nicely.
A bid has been received for the Heller Sabre model kit and there are a large number of watchers (potential bidders) for the vintage postcards album with 200 cards. The bidding, at time of writing this post, stands at £ 9.99
Generally speaking, this has not been a good week on Ebay for sales.
You can follow the current auctions here....
Heller Vampire model kit
Heller Sabre model kit
Heller Thunderjet model kit
Job lot 175 x vintage postcards 1950's - 1970's
Vintage postcard album with 200 postcards 1900's - 1950's
Friday, 26 February 2010
Sunday, 21 February 2010
My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 21 - Album Selling Models Listed
Day 21 of My 365 Day Ebay Challenge and I am pleased to report that shortly after I listed it, the vintage postcard album received it's first bid. There are still another eight days to run on this auction.
This evening I have listed up the remaining two vintage model kits. The auctions end next Sunday. If you would like to follow these auctions, here are the links -
F-84 G Thunderjet model kit
F-86 F Sabre model kit
On the purchase side of the equation I have my eye on one more lot. It is another album of postcards but this time more specialised on one particular subject.
I don't wish to say too much at the moment in case I alert other bidders. This auction ends tomorrow evening. If I am successful in winning it, I will reveal all.
This evening I have listed up the remaining two vintage model kits. The auctions end next Sunday. If you would like to follow these auctions, here are the links -
F-84 G Thunderjet model kit
F-86 F Sabre model kit
On the purchase side of the equation I have my eye on one more lot. It is another album of postcards but this time more specialised on one particular subject.
I don't wish to say too much at the moment in case I alert other bidders. This auction ends tomorrow evening. If I am successful in winning it, I will reveal all.
Friday, 19 February 2010
My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 19 - Album Listed Up
This evening I have been feverishly slotting cards into the vintage postcard album ready for listing up.
As I mentioned previously, Ebay have been running a two day free listing promotion and I wanted to take advantage of it.
I believe on this occasion it will be necessary to include the additional pictures if I am to sell the album at the best possible price.
This evening I have also listed up one of the set of three model kits that I purchased.
I am also pleased to report that the first bid has been received on one of the bulk lots of 1950's - 1970's postcards that I listed up earlier in the week.
If you would like to follow the progress of my auctions on Ebay - or even bid on an item yourself, here are the links to my current listings.....
If you have enjoyed reading this post why not leave a comment? They are always very welcome.
Thursday, 18 February 2010
My 365 Day Challenge Day 17 - More Stock Arrives
The postman has been working overtime today. First to arrive was the empty vintage postcard album which I bought on Ebay for £ 7. I am pleased it has arrived as Ebay have a free listing promotion running until midnight tomorrow (Friday 18th February).This evening I've been sorting through the old postcards to find suitable ones to go in the album. I am hoping that they will sell for a better price if they are presented nicely in the album rather than sold as a job lot of loose cards. The proof of the pudding will be in the eating!
I'm intending to get the album listed up on Ebay tomorrow evening. For those who may be unfamiliar with Ebay, items can be listed up for 3, 5, 7 or 10 days - there is no difference in the listing fees.
I am going to put the album on a 10 day listing firstly to get maximum exposure and secondly so that the auction ends at the beginning of March and importantly after buyers have had their February pay cheque.
Later in the day, the postman returned with a parcel containing the three vintage Heller model kits that I bought on Ebay for £ 12.68 including postage.
I will get these kits listed up tomorrow, probably on a ten day listing. I am quite optimistic the kit of the Vampire in particular will go well as it is rare and sought after by model kit collectors due to the colourful box top artwork.Monday, 15 February 2010
My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 15 - Sorting out the cards
This evening I've continued to sort out the vintage cards that I picked up over the weekend.
I'm starting with what I perceive to be the least valuable of the cards - the ones from the 1950's to 1970's.
I'm hanging on to the cards from the 1900's - 1930's to sell at a later stage.
I have sorted out three initial jobs lots of approximately 150 cards each and was planning to list them for sale on Ebay this evening.
However, when I checked my e-mail there was a message from Ebay saying there will be two free listing days this week - Thursday and Friday. I am therefore going to hold off and take advantage.
It is always worth keeping an eye out for these kind of Ebay promotions which seem to occur fairly frequently nowadays. After all a penny saved is a penny earned as they say!
With a bit of luck, the vintage postcard album that I bought over the weekend may turn up by Friday and I can put some of the old Edwardian cards in it and get it listed for free as well.
I am thinking of starting the auction for the album at about £ 19.99 as this seems to be the going rate for a decent one.
I'm starting with what I perceive to be the least valuable of the cards - the ones from the 1950's to 1970's.
I'm hanging on to the cards from the 1900's - 1930's to sell at a later stage.
I have sorted out three initial jobs lots of approximately 150 cards each and was planning to list them for sale on Ebay this evening.
However, when I checked my e-mail there was a message from Ebay saying there will be two free listing days this week - Thursday and Friday. I am therefore going to hold off and take advantage.
It is always worth keeping an eye out for these kind of Ebay promotions which seem to occur fairly frequently nowadays. After all a penny saved is a penny earned as they say!
With a bit of luck, the vintage postcard album that I bought over the weekend may turn up by Friday and I can put some of the old Edwardian cards in it and get it listed for free as well.
I am thinking of starting the auction for the album at about £ 19.99 as this seems to be the going rate for a decent one.
Sunday, 14 February 2010
My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 14 - More stock!
After a very barren couple of weeks of failed attempts to win any auctions at all, I can't seem to stop winning them this weekend.
As part of my strategy to sell the postcards which I picked up on Saturday for the best possible price, I decided a few days ago to keep my eyes open for an empty vintage postcard album in which to place some of the cards.
I have noticed that some albums containing vintage cards have been selling at fairly healthy prices lately, sometimes in excess of £ 100.
Anyway, today I managed to buy a vintage album with space for up to 200 cards for the princely sum of £ 7 including postage from deepest darkest Wales.
The current plan is to put some of the best cards into this album and sell the remainder in another four of five separate lots. I am hoping to list up the first lot for sale on Monday.
My good luck did not end with the postcard album....
This afternoon, on the off chance, I thought I'd have a quick browse through the model kits listed on Ebay. Lo and behold, I saw an auction with about seven minutes left to run for three vintage Heller plastic model kits.
A couple of years ago, I acquired a large lot of about thirty of these vintage French made model kits and did very well with them as they are quite sought after by collectors.
I managed to win the auction at a total cost including postage of £ 12.68.
One of the kits alone should sell for £ 10 - £ 12 - going on past experience.
My total expenditure on stock so far is £ 79.68 leaving a further £ 20.32 available for new purchases.
If you are interested in vintage model kits, please visit my blog here!
As part of my strategy to sell the postcards which I picked up on Saturday for the best possible price, I decided a few days ago to keep my eyes open for an empty vintage postcard album in which to place some of the cards.
I have noticed that some albums containing vintage cards have been selling at fairly healthy prices lately, sometimes in excess of £ 100.
Anyway, today I managed to buy a vintage album with space for up to 200 cards for the princely sum of £ 7 including postage from deepest darkest Wales.
The current plan is to put some of the best cards into this album and sell the remainder in another four of five separate lots. I am hoping to list up the first lot for sale on Monday.
My good luck did not end with the postcard album....
This afternoon, on the off chance, I thought I'd have a quick browse through the model kits listed on Ebay. Lo and behold, I saw an auction with about seven minutes left to run for three vintage Heller plastic model kits.
A couple of years ago, I acquired a large lot of about thirty of these vintage French made model kits and did very well with them as they are quite sought after by collectors.
I managed to win the auction at a total cost including postage of £ 12.68.
One of the kits alone should sell for £ 10 - £ 12 - going on past experience.
My total expenditure on stock so far is £ 79.68 leaving a further £ 20.32 available for new purchases.
If you are interested in vintage model kits, please visit my blog here!
My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 13 - Picking up the stock
Well here it is at last - 1000 old postcards - the first lot I have actually managed to buy on Ebay following two frustrating weeks of lost auctions and technical mishaps.
As I mentioned in my previous post, the seller was located just a couple of miles down the road from my home, so on Saturday morning I set off to pick up my goodies from a lady called Pat.
She turned out to be a very nice chatty lady and rounded the total cost down to £ 60 - a saving of £ 2.16 on the winning bid. A good result coupled with the saved postage and meaning a cost per card of only £ 0.06 each.
In the evening I started the long task of sorting through the cards.
There are some nice cards included in the lot, some of which are over 100 years old as well as others from more recent times.
A few of the cards date from the First World War and it is interesting to read what the soldiers wrote home to their families or I should say what little they wrote. Most of the cards are marked "Somewhere in France" and just say with love or greetings from.... and the soldiers name or sometimes even just Dad.
I suppose time constraints and censorship prevented them from writing much about what was actually going on and by sending a postcard it was a way of quickly letting their families know they were actually still alive. Quite poignant.
I am hoping to list up some lots for sale on Monday.
Friday, 12 February 2010
My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 12 - Stock at last!
It has been a very frustrating few days for me.... until today that is, but more of that later in this post.
I had identified about ten decent lots for sale on Ebay in the last week or so that would have been ideal to resell at a profit but just had no luck whatsoever at winning the damned auctions despite employing my best tactics, honed from past experience.
My usual strategy is as follows....
1. I set myself a maximum price I am prepared to pay for a particular lot.
2. I monitor the auction closely.
3. During the last five minutes of the auction, I prepare my bid ready, but do not confirm it.
4. When the countdown gets to one minute to go (or sometimes less, if I am feeling brave!) , I
then finally confirm my bid.
The only downside of using this tactic is that there is usually insufficient time left to increase your bid if someone else outbids you at the last knockings.
This has been my problem on a number of occasions this week. I narrowly missed out on two very nice photo albums containing pictures of vintage ocean liners.
To add insult to injury, this morning I missed the opportunity to pick up a lot of three vintage Airfix kits due to a problem with my PC. I was as sick as a parrot as they sold for a measly £ 13 and I know for sure that I could have resold one of the kits alone for £ 15 - £ 20 if not more.
Anyway, as I mentioned at the start of this post, I have finally managed to secure my first items for resale.
This afternoon I successfully bid on two bulk lots of assorted postcards. In total 1000 postcards which will need to be carefully sorted before they can be resold as separate smaller job lots or even individual cards.
This is a bit of a punt although having said that, some sets of postcards have been selling particularly well on Ebay over the last couple of weeks. I did do quite well on a lot of of black and white postcards of old racing cars a couple of years ago. Some of the individual cards sold for up to £ 10 each.
I'm not expecting to earn fortunes on the two lots I have purchased today but I only paid a total of £ 62.16 - just over six pence per card.
Another bonus is the fact that the seller is only located a couple of miles from home so I will be picking the cards up myself over the weekend. This will save around £ 10 - £ 15 in postage costs.
Ebay tip - if you are looking for a particular item, you can specify a search within a certain distance from your home.
This is a particularly useful feature if you are looking for a bulky item such as a pushchair which would cost a fortune to send by post.
I will post up some pictures of the postcards once I have picked them up from the buyer.
I had identified about ten decent lots for sale on Ebay in the last week or so that would have been ideal to resell at a profit but just had no luck whatsoever at winning the damned auctions despite employing my best tactics, honed from past experience.
My usual strategy is as follows....
1. I set myself a maximum price I am prepared to pay for a particular lot.
2. I monitor the auction closely.
3. During the last five minutes of the auction, I prepare my bid ready, but do not confirm it.
4. When the countdown gets to one minute to go (or sometimes less, if I am feeling brave!) , I
then finally confirm my bid.
The only downside of using this tactic is that there is usually insufficient time left to increase your bid if someone else outbids you at the last knockings.
This has been my problem on a number of occasions this week. I narrowly missed out on two very nice photo albums containing pictures of vintage ocean liners.
To add insult to injury, this morning I missed the opportunity to pick up a lot of three vintage Airfix kits due to a problem with my PC. I was as sick as a parrot as they sold for a measly £ 13 and I know for sure that I could have resold one of the kits alone for £ 15 - £ 20 if not more.
Anyway, as I mentioned at the start of this post, I have finally managed to secure my first items for resale.
This afternoon I successfully bid on two bulk lots of assorted postcards. In total 1000 postcards which will need to be carefully sorted before they can be resold as separate smaller job lots or even individual cards.
This is a bit of a punt although having said that, some sets of postcards have been selling particularly well on Ebay over the last couple of weeks. I did do quite well on a lot of of black and white postcards of old racing cars a couple of years ago. Some of the individual cards sold for up to £ 10 each.
I'm not expecting to earn fortunes on the two lots I have purchased today but I only paid a total of £ 62.16 - just over six pence per card.
Another bonus is the fact that the seller is only located a couple of miles from home so I will be picking the cards up myself over the weekend. This will save around £ 10 - £ 15 in postage costs.
Ebay tip - if you are looking for a particular item, you can specify a search within a certain distance from your home.
This is a particularly useful feature if you are looking for a bulky item such as a pushchair which would cost a fortune to send by post.
I will post up some pictures of the postcards once I have picked them up from the buyer.
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 3 - No Luck So Far!
Well today has been rather frustrating....
This evening two of the auctions that I had been watching all week ended but I was not successful in my bidding.
As I am doing this with the intention of trying to make money on Ebay, I have to set myself strict limits and make sure I don't pay too much for anything.
The two lots I was hoping to win were vintage aircraft model kits. I have dabbled in selling model kits before and have a fairly good idea of what a particular kit will be worth. In fact I write another blog about vintage model kits....
Unfortunately I was not the only one who recognized their value this evening!
I have found another model kit which has been listed in the wrong category at £ 0.99 which usually sells for £ 20 plus. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that as it's in the wrong category it may escape the gaze of others...
Will keep you posted.
This evening two of the auctions that I had been watching all week ended but I was not successful in my bidding.
As I am doing this with the intention of trying to make money on Ebay, I have to set myself strict limits and make sure I don't pay too much for anything.
The two lots I was hoping to win were vintage aircraft model kits. I have dabbled in selling model kits before and have a fairly good idea of what a particular kit will be worth. In fact I write another blog about vintage model kits....
Unfortunately I was not the only one who recognized their value this evening!
I have found another model kit which has been listed in the wrong category at £ 0.99 which usually sells for £ 20 plus. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that as it's in the wrong category it may escape the gaze of others...
Will keep you posted.
Monday, 1 February 2010
My 365 Day Ebay Challenge - Day 1
Well today is the first day of My 365 Day Ebay Challenge.
I am still sniffing out bargains which can be resold for a profit. I currently have about a dozen lots I am watching but have not made any bids so far.
I have to make sure that I examine each lot purely on it's resale merits and in a strictly business like way, ensure I do not get attached to any of the items and most importantly ensure that I do not end up paying too much for something.
The first auctions that I am watching will be ending in the next couple of days. Fingers crossed I will have some stock to sell by the end of the week and get the ball rolling!
The position on Day 1.....
Cash: £ 100
Stock: none so far!
I am still sniffing out bargains which can be resold for a profit. I currently have about a dozen lots I am watching but have not made any bids so far.
I have to make sure that I examine each lot purely on it's resale merits and in a strictly business like way, ensure I do not get attached to any of the items and most importantly ensure that I do not end up paying too much for something.
The first auctions that I am watching will be ending in the next couple of days. Fingers crossed I will have some stock to sell by the end of the week and get the ball rolling!
The position on Day 1.....
Cash: £ 100
Stock: none so far!
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