I make a sizable chunk of my living by buying and selling Stuff. Living in a rural area with few job opportunities, this is partly survival, but I also simply enjoy it.
Most of what I sell are collectibles, usually dolls, action figures, and their accessories, though sometimes I branch out into other toys. Most fans are also collectors of Stuff of various descriptions, and when they find out about my store I I frequently get asked, “How do I sell my stuff online?”
Well, actually, I get asked, “How do I sell my stuff on eBay,” but one of the things I’ll cover is that eBay isn’t the only (or often even the best) place to sell stuff online.
For Firefox News’s reboot I thought I would post something useful to our core readers. There are lots of reasons to sell your collectibles. Perhaps you’ve got a closet full of childhood toys, collectibles from a fandom you’ve lost the love for, you’ve got some bills to pay, or you’re moving. Perhaps your collection of stuff has just gotten so big that some of the stuff needs to move out or you do, because there’s no more room for both you and it! Maybe you got swag at a con that you don’t want, or maybe you just have some duplicates.
You’ve decided it’s time to sell it … so now what? Selling stuff the first time online can be very intimidating.
If you have collectibles you’re trying to sell, these are the basic considerations you will need to take into account:
⦁ What is it? (Identify it accurately)
⦁ What is it really worth?
⦁ Is it worth the effort of selling?
⦁ Auction or fixed price?
⦁ How do I get paid?
⦁ Photographing and describing the item
⦁ What are the specific risks to selling a particular widget?
⦁ Where am I going to sell it?
⦁ How am I going to ship it and how much will shipping cost?
⦁ Domestic sales only, or international?
⦁ Buyer and Seller protection
⦁ Murphy’s Law (what can go wrong …)
As an example, I’m going to use this little animal figurine and walk you through the entire process of selling it. I picked this guy up (along with a bag of his friends) at a thrift store recently.
The same process for selling him will apply to everything from a childhood Barbie (I can — and probably will — write a whole novel’s worth on selling dolls) to a convention t-shirt. Stay tuned for the nitty gritty details on how to sell your stuff!
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