My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 181

Day 181 of My 365 Day Ebay Challenge and I must apologise (once again) for the dearth of posts lately.

Unfortunately my spare time has been scarce due to the requirements of the day job and helping to keep my 3 year old son amused.

July has been a pretty quiet month as I kept back some listings until after the World Cup had ended. I will write up the scores on the doors for the end of July once I have details of the applicable Ebay final value fees which don't come through until a few days after the end of each month.

During this quiet period I did buy some new stock consisting of three small lots of model kits including the Airfix one of George Washington below, looking resplendent on his horse.


These kits have now all been separately listed. The details of the auctions are as follows -

Airfix George Washington

Airfix Handley Page Hampden

Airfix Heinkel He 111 H20

Airfix Consolidated Catalina

Airfix Ford Trimotor

My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 162 - End of June Report

Due to the World Cup I have held back from listing a number of items over the last few weeks as many males of the species would no doubt have been preoccupied and totally uninterested in Ebay!


Despite the football sales have been steady amounting to over £ 50 for the month. The four vintage Airfix "map top box" kits that I acquired sold for a 50% profit.


As a result, total sales since the start of My 365 Day Ebay Challenge (net of postage and Ebay fees) totalled - £ 225.99


Stock as at the end of June consisted of -


225 vintage postcards - cost price £ 13.50


Various model kits - cost price approx £ 35.00


Airfix box set - cost price £ 1.33 (only one kit left to sell)


Total - £ 49.83


Based on the above, the initial £ 100 stake is now worth £ 275.82


In the last couple of weeks I have managed to buy some more kits at good prices which I intend to list for sale during the latter half of July.

My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 134 - The World Cup Effect

As I wrote in my last blog post, I recently purchased a set of four 1980's vintage Airfix kits, one of which is pictured above.

I have already listed all four kits and they are selling well - details of the auctions which are due to end next Sunday 20th June can be found at the bottom of this post.

Last Sunday evening I had a number of auctions ending and managed to dispose of a good chunk of the remaining model kits and one job lot of vintage French post cards for reasonable money.

Now another topical Ebay tip.... In my last post I wrote about the importance of auction timings whether you are buying or selling.

This is even more important during the World Cup. I have armed myself with a World Cup fixture list, courtesy of the Radio Times, to ensure that none of my auctions end during an England match (or indeed any of the other major matches). As most of the items I am currently selling are male oriented, I risk losing a large number of potential bidders if my auctions end when the football is on telly.

Conversely, as I am not mad on football myself, I might take the opportunity of checking the auction listings whilst England are playing for any potential bargains I can pick up.

Auction details....

Airfix Westland Whirlwind

Airfix Gloster Meteor III

Airfix BAE Harrier GR.3

Airfix Bristol Blenheim

My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 125 - New Stock and an Ebay Tip

Today I have successfully managed to win an auction for four 1980's issue Airfix aircraft model kits for a total cost of £ 13.49 including the sellers' postage and packaging fees.

These Airfix kits have the "map top box" design on the lid. For those of you, probably the majority, who have no idea what I'm twittering on about, please have a look at this example on my sister blog about vintage model kits.

A quick tip which is relevant whether you are buying or selling on Ebay...

I managed to win the auction today because the seller had listed the item with an auction expiry time which fell around 4.30 pm. At this time on a Saturday afternoon the large majority of people have more pressing things to do than check whether they have been outbid on Ebay.

I placed a bid on the item earlier today and lo and behold managed to win as it would appear none of the other bidders were watching.

The tip is, if you are selling, think about the time and day your auctions will end.

If your auction ends during working hours on a weekday, the number of potential bidders will be greatly reduced. I usually try to make my auctions end in the evenings between about 7.30 pm and 10.30 pm. I also try and have auctions ending on Sundays as many people are busy on Saturdays.

Conversely, if you are buying on Ebay, keep an eye out for auctions which are ending during the working day, very late in the evening or very early in the morning as you may pick up a bargain.

I will post up pictures of the model kits once I receive them.

My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 124 - End of May Report

Here are the "scores on the doors" after the first four months of My 365 Day Ebay Challenge .

Sales to date (net of postage and Ebay fees)

Total - £ 173.01

Stock

345 vintage postcards - cost price £ 20.70

(I actually got around to counting them properly this time which explains the slight increase in value over last month!)

Various model kits/militaria - cost price approx £ 15.00

Airfix box set - cost price £ 3.99

Total - £ 39.69

Based on the above, the initial £ 100 stake is now worth £ 212.70

Steady progress given the little amount of time I have to spare due to work commitments.

This Sunday (6th June) there is another free listing day on Ebay. Once more I am planning to take advantage and get several lots listed up. I am thinking of selling the remaining vintage postcards in several fair sized lots to clear them.

This may not necessarily be the way to get the highest price but it will enable me to reinvest in stock which is easier/quicker to turn around such as model kits. I have identified several lots of model kits which I will be bidding on over the next few days. If I am successful in winning any of the auctions I will keep you posted.

My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 107 - Quick Update

Just a very quick update on the auctions which ended last weekend.

Total sales netted around £ 35.

The vintage postcard album has found a new home in the far north of Scotland near the fishing port of Peterhead.

I will be listing some more items for sale later this week, time permitting. I will also have to have a look out for some new stock to buy as the current inventory is beginning to run low again.

My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 100 - This week's auctions

Day 100 of My 365 Day Ebay Challenge and I thought I'd give you all an update on a few of the items I have listed for auction this week...

This week's "star" item is the above postcard album which I have filled with vintage postcards dating from the 1900's to the 1950's. The album has already attracted a bid at the auction starting price of £ 9.99 and has a large number of watchers (some of whom will hopefully later become bidders!).

Please click here to see the auction and further photos of the album.

A few weeks ago I bought a job lot of militaria from a chap in East Malling, Kent which included a number of plastic model kits such as the 1/72 scale Afrika Corps pictured above. These plastic model soldiers are popular with war gamers.

Apart from the Afrika Corps soldiers, I have also listed a set of World War II RAF personnel and a set of World War II USAF personnel.

Links to these auctions can be found here...

Afrika Corps

RAF Personnel

USAF Personnel

The majority of this week's auctions are due to end on Sunday and I will post an update then (if not before).

My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 98 - End of April Report

Here is a quick position update on My 365 Day Ebay Challenge as at the end of April...

Sales to date (net of postage and Ebay fees)

Total - £ 121.06

Stock

Approx 300 vintage postcards - cost price £ 18.00

Various model kits/militaria - cost price approx £ 15.00

Airfix box set - cost price £ 3.99

1 x vintage postcard album - cost price £ 9.50

Total - £ 46.49

Based on the above, the initial £ 100 stake is now worth £ 167.55

Not stellar progress to date but my Ebay activities have unfortunately been severely curtailed by my day job which has been extremely busy over the last few weeks.

This weekend there was an Ebay free listing promotion and tonight I have made a number of new listings to take advantage. Included in the new listings is the vintage postcard album which I have filled with cards. I am optimistic this will bring in a good price. The auction is due to end next Sunday.

With a bit of luck, I will make another post tomorrow evening and list out the auctions which I currently have running so that you can follow their progress.

My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 79 - Success at last!

This evening I have finally managed to win an auction for another empty vintage postcard album after numerous attempts over the last few weeks.


For some reason empty vintage postcard albums have been selling at silly money recently on Ebay and as the primary aim of My 365 Day Ebay Challenge is to make some money, I have had to duck out of many auctions.


The seller is located quite close to me so I am hoping to pick it up on Sunday, fill it with around three hundred of the remaining vintage postcards I have in stock and list it up for sale on Ebay as soon as possible.


This strategy worked well last time I tried it so I am hoping for another profitable result.

My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 74 - Helmet identified and listed

I apologise for not having posted to the blog much lately but my time has been mostly taken up with the day job.

Anyway, with the assistance of some very helpful people at the War Relics Forum, I have managed to identify the steel helmet that I purchased as part of a job lot a few weeks ago.

I am reliably informed it is a Swedish M26 steel helmet. Well they do say you learn something new every day!

This evening I have listed it up on Ebay with a start price of £ 9.99 and it would appear that it is the only one currently for sale in the UK.

I have had to be careful with the listing description.... If I'd just put "Swedish Helmet", it may well have attracted the wrong sort of visitors!

If you would like to follow the auction, the link is here.

My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 63 - End of March Report

Yes I know it's April now but I've been a bit busy!


Here is a quick postion update on My 365 Day Ebay Challenge as at the end of March...


Sales to date (net of postage and Ebay fees)


Total - £ 107.29


Stock

Approx 300 vintage postcards - cost price £ 18.00
Various model kits/militaria - cost price approx £ 25.00
Airfix box set - cost price £ 3.99

Total - £ 46.99


Based on the above, the initial £ 100 stake is now worth £ 154.28


On the purchasing side of the equation, I have bid on another two empty vintage postcard albums this evening. So far I have not had any luck winning any auctions for albums at a sensible price.


I am keeping my fingers crossed.

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 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.

My 365 Day Ebay Challenge Day 26 - Auction Update

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

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.

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.

Normally when I am listing up an item I only include one picture to keep fees to a minimum but in the case of the postcard album I have included several different ones.

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.....

Job lot 150 x postcards 1950's - 1970's

Job lot 135 x postcards 1950's - 1970's

Job lot 175 x postcards 1950's - 1970's

Vintage postcard album with 200 cards

Vampire model kit

If you have enjoyed reading this post why not leave a comment? They are always very welcome.

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.