My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 53 - Quick Update

Just a quick update on day 53 of My 365 Day Ebay Challenge.

Sales this week have been going well with just over £ 67 received for model kits, old postcards and some of the militaria that I listed up.

The "star item" this week has been a Bren gun magazine which came as part of the job lot of model kits and militaria. That sold this evening for just over £ 19. The good news is, I have another identical one to sell!

I am still on the look out for another empty vintage postcard album and have placed a few bids. Fingers crossed I will be successful in picking one up at a reasonable price in time for Easter.

In the ideal world I would like to fill the album up with some of the remaining vintage cards I have in stock and get it relisted up over the Easter break.

From past experience, it pays to have items listed up for sale during public holidays as people are at home and tend to spend time browsing Ebay.

My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 46 - Lots of items listed

Over the last few days I have concentrated on getting a number of items listed up for sale including some of the new militaria and model kits stock.

This weekend (20th/21st March) is another free listing day so I will try and get some more items listed up then to take advantage of the promotion.

On the buying side, I am still trying to purchase another empty vintage postcard album. I still have several hundred vintage postcards to sell that I bought a few weeks ago. I found that by presenting the cards in a contemporary album, they sold for a premium.

Here are links to the auctions that I currently have running....

Vintage Postcards

24 x Vintage German Cards

HMS Kingfisher

Nostalgia Cards

24 x Vintage London Cards

7 x Tucks Cards

Model Kits

Airfix HMS Belfast

Airfix Coastal Defence Fort

Italeri Dakota

AIM Supermarine Spitfire PR Mk XIX

Militaria

Bren Gun Magazine

Band of Brothers DVD Box Set

Royal Tournament Souvenir Brochure 1979

Royal Tournament Souvenir Brochure 1990

War Picture Library action comic

My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 41 - New Stock Pictures

As promised, here are a few pics of the stock I picked up last weekend....

An unidentified (so far) steel helmet. I have found a forum run by military enthusiasts and will see if they can help me find out what it is exactly. Will keep you informed of any developments.

Band of Brothers box set. Well worth a watch if I say so myself!

Ammunition pouches, possibly German...

A souvenir brochure for the 1979 Royal Tournament at Earls Court.

The Royal Tournament was a tattoo held annually by the British military between 1880 and 1999, when it was killed off by the Labour government ostensibly due to cost cutting, but equally likely for not being "politically correct".

I can remember being taken to a Royal Tournament at Earls Court when I was a kid and having a whale of a time. One thing that sticks in my mind was a performance by an Iraqi Army pipe band!

I will be listing up some of these items tomorrow and will post the links to the various auctions in case you wish to follow their progress.

My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 38 - Update

Just a quick update on my Ebay activities since the beginning of this month.

On 1st March the vintage postcard album sold for a total of £ 45.45 including postage but taking into account the Ebay listing and Paypal fees.

This was a good result as the album and cards it contained only cost £ 19. I am now actively looking out for more empty vintage postcard albums as I still have another 300 + vintage cards remaining in stock and I am sure that they will sell for a better price in an album than loose.

Last weekend, I drove out to East Malling in Kent to pick up a lot of model kits and assorted militaria (the best way to describe it!) including some Bren gun magazines and a steel helmet of unknown origin.

Yesterday I received the Airfix model kit in the post. Unfortunately the seller had skimped on the packing and it arrived looking like it had gone ten rounds with Ricky Hatton :-(

The seller will get a suitably worded feedback pointing out the error of his ways!

Despite the condition of the box, the item should still sell for a reasonable profit.

I will try to post up some pics of this new stock later this week.

Update of the financial and stock position as of today....

Sales to date (including the album)

Total - £ 84.11

Less postage and Ebay final value fees

Total - £ 22.19

Balance

Total - £ 61.92

Stock

Approximately 340 vintage postcards - cost price £ 20.40

Various model kits/militaria - cost price £ 51.00

Airfix box set - cost price £ 3.99

Total - £ 75.39

Based on the above, the initial £ 100 stake is now worth (on paper at least), £ 137.31.

I'd better not rush off and book the world cruise just yet but it is going in the right direction.

My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 29 (part 2) - Listing & Buying

Further to my earlier post , I have had a busy few days on Ebay.

Last night I listed up some more of the old postcards that I bought earlier in the Challenge. Here are a few pictures to give you an idea.....

Vintage views of Plymouth.

Cards produced by the British Museum.

Royal Navy Patrol Boat - HMS Kingfisher

Very early 1900's postcards of London

If you would like to follow this weeks postcard auctions, the links are here...

Vintage views of Plymouth

Nostalgia Postcards

Tuck's Postcards - York / Durham

British Museum Natural History Cards

Vintage London Postcards 1900's - 1950's

HMS Kingfisher

Apart from listing the cards up yesterday, today I have been back on the buying trail to get some new stock lined up for future sale.

This morning I bought a very unusual lot which I came across by accident whilst looking for something else. I have bought a job lot of model kits and, what I can only describe as, military paraphernalia!

The lot consists of a steel helmet of unknown origin, some ammunition pouches, some Bren gun magazines, some webbing, various war film DVD's, some Royal Tournament brochures, a complete Churchill's World War II and various other items.

This is a complete move away from the sort of things that I normally sell on Ebay but I suppose if I stick with what I find safe, it won't be much of a challenge!

I am hopeful that the helmet and some of the other items will be worth decent money but I haven't taken too much of a punt as the model kits alone should resell at £ 30 or so and I only paid £ 51 for the lot.

The seller is located just up the road so I'm planning to pick the items up next weekend and I will post up some pictures.

This evening I bought an Airfix box set of three model aircraft kits that the seller had listed in the wrong category for a total cost of £ 3.99 including postage. If he'd listed them in the correct category I would probably have had to pay at least £ 10 for this item.

My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 29 - Selling

It has been a busy finish to the first month of My 365 Day Ebay Challenge.


Firstly, a number of the auctions I had running ended at the weekend and I am pleased to say that all the items listed sold despite it being a fairly slow week on Ebay.


Here are the figures for the sales with paypal/listing fees deducted but still including postage charges -


3 x bulk lots of 1950's - 1970's postcards - £ 19.13


Heller Vampire model kit - £ 10.17

Heller Thunderjet model kit - £ 4.88

Heller Sabre model kit - £ 4.48


Total - £ 38.66


The position at the end of February is roughly as follows -


Remaining cash from the initial £ 100 fund = £ 20.32

Sales to date = £ 38.66 (as detailed above)


Total - £ 58.98


From this total will need to be deducted my postage costs for the items and Ebay's final value fees. Final value fees are Ebay's commission on items sold through their site and are invoiced separately on a monthly invoice.


I still have remaining "in stock" approximately 540 (mainly vintage) postcards including 200 in the vintage postcard album. The auction for the album is ending this evening and at last check was at £ 26.00 with many watchers in the wings.