Ebay Sales Down

[prospectorgems]

Originally Posted by longhornjunkie

Pisses me off to no end when I upsell additional items and they get dinged for promoted listing. eBay didn't do anything to promote them to this buyer - I did.

Edit: I understand/assume it's because the original purchase was from a Promoted listing, but stand by my statement! They shouldn't get credit for the additional sales.

I hear you! Ebay loves their fees!

[paulcarlcards]

I finally got all my numbers done for 2024. Did ~45k in revenue in my first calendar year of only lots (plus some random $5-10 singles and some slabs). ~$8500 net at a profit per hour of about $63. Gunna try to source a ton more for 2025 and see how high I can run it up. Video on what I did in 2024 and what I'm planning for 2025 is here: https://youtu.be/mTops1uj0VE

Going to try to build a sports card sorting robot this year too like that one guy did way back.

[Crosby 87]

Originally Posted by paulcarlcards

I finally got all my numbers done for 2024. Did ~45k in revenue in my first calendar year of only lots (plus some random $5-10 singles and some slabs). ~$8500 net at a profit per hour of about $63. Gunna try to source a ton more for 2025 and see how high I can run it up. Video on what I did in 2024 and what I'm planning for 2025 is here: https://youtu.be/mTops1uj0VE

Going to try to build a sports card sorting robot this year too like that one guy did way back.

So if I'm reading this correctly you put in 134 total hrs in for the year of sorting, sourcing,packing, shipping and coding in?

[paulcarlcards]

Originally Posted by Crosby 87

So if I'm reading this correctly you put in 134 total hrs in for the year of sorting, sourcing,packing, shipping and coding in?

I don’t count coding since that’s its own biz. Almost everything I listed last year was on consignment and it comes in pre-sorted, I just open the box and run it through the scanner. Only did ~3500 listings for the entire year. ~134 hour plus or minus 10% is my best estimate based on the time it takes me to list, pick/pack/ship, plus some padding for a few experiments.

A few hundred listings were the result of coding/testing so I guess I cheated there.

[jkampis]

Along similar lines, I was looking at ways to move cards better in 2025 and I’ve started doing new listings that are game changers for my business — ~300ct medium flat rate boxes full of cards in top loaders and card savers. These are a mix of old and new, good and mediocre, and priced at $149.99 each, with $19.99 shipping. I’ve sold quite a few in just the past week for $125 to $135 each. No single card is worth more than a few bucks, with a few autos/relics and billed as “card show ready.”

[Raleigh504]

Originally Posted by jkampis

Along similar lines, I was looking at ways to move cards better in 2025 and I’ve started doing new listings that are game changers for my business — ~300ct medium flat rate boxes full of cards in top loaders and card savers. These are a mix of old and new, good and mediocre, and priced at $149.99 each, with $19.99 shipping. I’ve sold quite a few in just the past week for $125 to $135 each. No single card is worth more than a few bucks, with a few autos/relics and billed as “card show ready.”

What do you think the value of each box is (when breaking them down per card)?

I typically sell singles but have done boxes in various ways and sports with mixed results. Sometimes it would sell for $10 (plus shipping) and others it would be $50 (plus shipping). I have had several get bid up and then not paid with a bs excuse the second it ended.

[Raleigh504]

Originally Posted by paulcarlcards

I finally got all my numbers done for 2024. Did ~45k in revenue in my first calendar year of only lots (plus some random $5-10 singles and some slabs). ~$8500 net at a profit per hour of about $63. Gunna try to source a ton more for 2025 and see how high I can run it up. Video on what I did in 2024 and what I'm planning for 2025 is here: https://youtu.be/mTops1uj0VE

Going to try to build a sports card sorting robot this year too like that one guy did way back.

I wanted to go more all-in this past year but had to pull back with it since my job started to transition from remote to hybrid. Was able to do some listing/packing/shipping during the day when I was slow for work. Now with commuting/getting more ready for work and all, it takes an extra 15 hours from the week for me to do.

I will probably slowly start to end my store this year if I either get a new job/role or continue the same hybrid schedule. Or maybe just scale down the store significantly to either the starter or just close it. I am thinking that I may just transition to card shows only (do a few more but around 4-8 a year) with just a massively scaled down store.


To empty out/scale down the inventory, depending on what I decide to do, I would first end all the cheaper listings (under $3) and align it with an upcoming show. Place all those cards in my $1 BIN. I have a larger lot of vintage singles that I will just lot up by year (maybe pull some of the higher dollar ones like over $10 to sell at a show or keep it in the store). Then just start to create flat rate mailer boxes for the cheaper items that don't sell at shows. I like to have quarter boxes so will go through it too with my store and make it much better and sell off in bulk the ones that don't make it.

[rwperu34]

Originally Posted by jkampis

Along similar lines, I was looking at ways to move cards better in 2025 and I’ve started doing new listings that are game changers for my business — ~300ct medium flat rate boxes full of cards in top loaders and card savers. These are a mix of old and new, good and mediocre, and priced at $149.99 each, with $19.99 shipping. I’ve sold quite a few in just the past week for $125 to $135 each. No single card is worth more than a few bucks, with a few autos/relics and billed as “card show ready.”

I like this idea! I might give it a shot with some of that type of stuff. Lord knows I have a surplus of toploaders.

[jamcas997]

My 1000 card super buyer from October has came back and mad a 24 card purchase today. His first since early November. I am stoked and hope they are gonna get more.

[jkampis]

Originally Posted by Raleigh504

What do you think the value of each box is (when breaking them down per card)?

I typically sell singles but have done boxes in various ways and sports with mixed results. Sometimes it would sell for $10 (plus shipping) and others it would be $50 (plus shipping). I have had several get bid up and then not paid with a bs excuse the second it ended.

While I don’t focus a ton on the total value of the box as I have so much bulk I’m happy to get rid of (as the owner of a card shop it definitely piles up, trust me), I’d estimate the overall value is around 75 cents to a dollar per card if averaged out. So it’s around 50 percent of comps, but with so much time saved and chaff eliminated.

[jkampis]

Originally Posted by rwperu34

I like this idea! I might give it a shot with some of that type of stuff. Lord knows I have a surplus of toploaders.

I generally use my lower end toploaders for these — marks, tape, yellowing— so it also serves to get rid of toploaders I would not use for showcase cards. But I think every card in these lots being in a toploader or semi-rigid is also a selling point for these boxes.

[rwperu34]

Originally Posted by jkampis

I generally use my lower end toploaders for these — marks, tape, yellowing— so it also serves to get rid of toploaders I would not use for showcase cards. But I think every card in these lots being in a toploader or semi-rigid is also a selling point for these boxes.

Definitely. The toploaders themselves are only worth $20 brand new, but I think the biggest thing is the time savings for the buyer of not having to put all the cards in the toploader. You just put them in the $ box and go.

I can tell you, I sell 600 count lots not in toploaders and they go for $30-$60, depending on how many autos and other quality issues. Moving half of the cards for double the amount when I've got tons of toploaders lying around sounds like a good proposition to me.

[fungi2510]

Originally Posted by jkampis

Along similar lines, I was looking at ways to move cards better in 2025 and I’ve started doing new listings that are game changers for my business — ~300ct medium flat rate boxes full of cards in top loaders and card savers. These are a mix of old and new, good and mediocre, and priced at $149.99 each, with $19.99 shipping. I’ve sold quite a few in just the past week for $125 to $135 each. No single card is worth more than a few bucks, with a few autos/relics and billed as “card show ready.”

Do you have a link to view these? I would like to see how you listed them and all.

[Raleigh504]

Originally Posted by rwperu34

Definitely. The toploaders themselves are only worth $20 brand new, but I think the biggest thing is the time savings for the buyer of not having to put all the cards in the toploader. You just put them in the $ box and go.

I can tell you, I sell 600 count lots not in toploaders and they go for $30-$60, depending on how many autos and other quality issues. Moving half of the cards for double the amount when I've got tons of toploaders lying around sounds like a good proposition to me.

Agreed, after my show this weekend. I will need to slim down the $1 box and less along with my several shoe box full of top loaders. I figure I can add it a few $3-5 cards that should move the needle on the boxes too.

[f2tornado]

Originally Posted by rwperu34

I like this idea! I might give it a shot with some of that type of stuff. Lord knows I have a surplus of toploaders.

I might give this a shot this weekend since it's gonna be stupid cold in my area and I have three days off. I have piles of stars, parallels, and inserts that really are not worth the COMC listing fee. Also a pile of top-loaders from my various eBay, shop, and show purchases. A good way to clean out the closet if they actually sell.

Slabbed cards I put on eBay since Christmas sold relatively quickly at my BIN price. The only problem now is I'm running out of slabs while waiting on PSA to push out my largest order in a while. This should be less an issue going forward as I plan on sending stuff every few weeks to keep a somewhat regular supply of new stuff to replace the sold stuff.

[jkampis]

Originally Posted by fungi2510

Do you have a link to view these? I would like to see how you listed them and all.

I’m having trouble finding links on mobile, but if you see my store Cullman Sportscards on eBay you should be able to view.

[jkampis]

Just sold two more for $120 each. Game changer, I say!

[rwperu34]

Originally Posted by jkampis

Just sold two more for $120 each. Game changer, I say!

I was wondering how many of your watchers/views are from this thread, then I checked sold listings. That's 10 in the last week. Wowza! It does look like the price is coming down though. I wonder where it will settle?

Has it been all different buyers or is it mostly a few people buying over and over?

[jkampis]

Originally Posted by rwperu34

I was wondering how many of your watchers/views are from this thread, then I checked sold listings. That's 10 in the last week. Wowza! It does look like the price is coming down though. I wonder where it will settle?

Has it been all different buyers or is it mostly a few people buying over and over?

I don’t think many views/watchers come from this thread, as every box I’ve posted has drawn a lot of eyeballs. I think the key is listing lots of players and teams in the item description. (To be clear, I piggybacked on similar listings I saw on eBay, so this is not my original idea).

I’ve only actually had two different buyers so far, but every box has had offers from multiple other eBay buyers of at least $100. If I can get at least $100 for these boxes I’m very happy. If you’ve checked the listings and seen the overall quality of the lots, I’m pretty sure you’d agree.

[brev87]

I'm so over ebay buyers with random user names offering half off on cards

[thenightman]

Does anyone else find it weird that sellers are listing all of their cards as “Excellent” for the item condition? Like, shouldn’t that reduce the sales price on auctions and make it harder to sell at BIN?

There’s a seller who has every listing as Excellent, but states in the description that flaws would be noted, which none are in any of the listings. Under eBay’s condition, Excellent means the card has noticeable wear.

[Bosoxfan5990]

Originally Posted by thenightman

Does anyone else find it weird that sellers are listing all of their cards as “Excellent” for the item condition? Like, shouldn’t that reduce the sales price on auctions and make it harder to sell at BIN?

There’s a seller who has every listing as Excellent, but states in the description that flaws would be noted, which none are in any of the listings. Under eBay’s condition, Excellent means the card has noticeable wear.

They’re likely just trying to be safe listing it EX instead of NM-MT for those PITA buyers who would make a stink for any minuscule issues with the card.

[jkampis]

Originally Posted by Bosoxfan5990

They’re likely just trying to be safe listing it EX instead of NM-MT for those PITA buyers who would make a stink for any minuscule issues with the card.

This, almost undoubtedly.

[prospectorgems]

Originally Posted by brev87

I'm so over ebay buyers with random user names offering half off on cards

Happens all the time and then when you counter about 95% of those just let the offers expire.

[brev87]

Originally Posted by prospectorgems

Happens all the time and then when you counter about 95% of those just let the offers expire.

Factual!! So annoying