All I want to do is talk about Sportlots

[ScottBreaks]

Definitely been a slow month for me, but also haven't added any inventory. Have had a few larger sales that have made the month not a complete bust at least.

[Tom Oates]

Originally Posted by nam812

Right up to the 17th I thought this was going to be my best month ever (number of sales, not dollar amount), but on the 18th it was like someone shut a switch and sales have gotten super slow. Hope everyone has been doing better than me since the 18th.

It's my fault. I put my store on vacation on the 18th. I ruined everyone's good mojo. I was only gone five days and things REALLY dried up on me. It always feels like my sales drop off for a week or two after vacation mode. I'll have to test next time and do some searches for cards that I know are fairly unique and exist in my store.

[longhornjunkie]

Had another bad comment left on a positive feedback on an auction. My fault, I guess, but I'm still going to vent. The auction system only allows 4 pictures and doesn't have any formatting capability in the description - it has seemed to me like buyers of lots don't really read it anyway. So I suppose the lesson learned here is to do a better job spelling out what's in the lot and squeeze as many cards into the 4 pictures as possible... not sure of the best approach in a 250 card lot...

I know the comments are not visible to the public but it's a good repeat buyer of mine, I reached out to him for some perspective.

[smanzari]

Originally Posted by longhornjunkie

Had another bad comment left on a positive feedback on an auction. My fault, I guess, but I'm still going to vent. The auction system only allows 4 pictures and doesn't have any formatting capability in the description - it has seemed to me like buyers of lots don't really read it anyway. So I suppose the lesson learned here is to do a better job spelling out what's in the lot and squeeze as many cards into the 4 pictures as possible... not sure of the best approach in a 250 card lot...

I know the comments are not visible to the public but it's a good repeat buyer of mine, I reached out to him for some perspective.

Being as vague as possible has worked for me. I had a similar situation where the buyer said I didn't send all the cards; only for them to send me an apology message stating they found them a day later (it hit my accuracy score too!)

[byronscott4ever]

If I have a few thousand commons and lesser cards, is that something
a Sportlots seller would buy? Obviously not looking for a ton, just trying to clear space at the moment

[nam812]

Originally Posted by byronscott4ever

If I have a few thousand commons and lesser cards, is that something
a Sportlots seller would buy? Obviously not looking for a ton, just trying to clear space at the moment

That's a very vague description.

[byronscott4ever]

Originally Posted by nam812

That's a very vague description.

Question for Sportlots sellers—would you buy thousands of commons? Or am I better off selling them on FB so that I can get rid of them?

[nam812]

Originally Posted by byronscott4ever

Question for Sportlots sellers—would you buy thousands of commons? Or am I better off selling them on FB so that I can get rid of them?

What I meant by vague is.......what kind of commons are they? 2023 Topps? 1957 Topps? 2012 Bowman Chrome? etc...

Do you see why your question, as vaguely you asked it, can not be answered?

[byronscott4ever]

Originally Posted by nam812

What I meant by vague is.......what kind of commons are they? 2023 Topps? 1957 Topps? 2012 Bowman Chrome? etc...

Do you see why your question, as vaguely you asked it, can not be answered?

Let’s say mostly basketball in the last 30 years, hodge lodge mix. My vagueness was somewhat intentional because I’m just trying to find out how Sportlots sellers get inventory. Would they buy thousands of commons from 92-93 Stadium Club basketball? Should I bother looking for a SL seller locally or just sell them on FB?

[sthoemke]

Originally Posted by byronscott4ever

Question for Sportlots sellers—would you buy thousands of commons? Or am I better off selling them on FB so that I can get rid of them?

Are they vintage, 1970's, junk wax era, modern, current year, etc?

Sorted? All same brand? Mix of years?

Condition?

A lot depends on price. (and shipping cost)

A little info would be helpful.

[RustyGreerFan]

After using sportlots for years, I finally am having to do a return. I had no idea it's buyer beware on sportlots in that if you get the wrong card you are liable for the postage to return the card. Furthermore, if you return it without tracking, then you are still depending on the seller to refund you. It's not guaranteed. If you send it with tracking, you automatically get refunded when it arrives back to the seller, but then you've spent $4 on shipping.

Do I have this right?

[nam812]

Originally Posted by RustyGreerFan

After using sportlots for years, I finally am having to do a return. I had no idea it's buyer beware on sportlots in that if you get the wrong card you are liable for the postage to return the card. Furthermore, if you return it without tracking, then you are still depending on the seller to refund you. It's not guaranteed. If you send it with tracking, you automatically get refunded when it arrives back to the seller, but then you've spent $4 on shipping.

Do I have this right?

As a sportlot seller, if I send the wrong card I usually tell the buyer to keep it (as long as it wasn't expensive) and then I send the correct one. If t is a card that I need returned to me, then I compensate the buyer to mail that card back to me when I send him the correct one. It should never cost the buyer money if the seller sends the wrong card. That's just my thoughts though, other sellers may do things differently.

[tribefan26]

Originally Posted by nam812

As a sportlot seller, if I send the wrong card I usually tell the buyer to keep it (as long as it wasn't expensive) and then I send the correct one. If t is a card that I need returned to me, then I compensate the buyer to mail that card back to me when I send him the correct one. It should never cost the buyer money if the seller sends the wrong card. That's just my thoughts though, other sellers may do things differently.

That’s the way I do it. I would never make a buyer pay to return a card that is my fault.

[RustyGreerFan]

Here is what they had to say. I don't know if any of this is true:

Sportlots - "Our issue resolution process is very similar to PayPal because almost everyone uses Paypal for Payment. Like PayPal, when you file a "Not Described" issue, the seller can require that you (the buyer) pay the return shipping costs.

The seller does have the option to provide you some money to pay your return shipping costs, but that is optional on the sellers part.

If you return with tracking, the system automatically provides you with a full refund, included your original shipping costs within 24 hours of providing a tracking number.

If you return without tracking, then you are relying on the seller to manually adjust the order once the cards arrive back to them. If they claim they never received the cards, without tracking proof there will be no refund."

Me - I ask if I have it right and send them the post I made above

Sportlots - That is correct. Basically the same policy as PayPal's issue resolution process for "Not Described" issues.

[RustyGreerFan]

And more...

"No. If you return the card with tracking you get the refund AND completely refunded for the return postage. In fact, sometimes they will even send you the shipping code so all you have to do it take it to the post office and have them scan the code to pay for shipping. There is nothing where the seller gets to choose how much they'll contribute to return postage, if anything - at least in my experience. *Update - Sorry, I thought you meant ebay."

Sportlots - "If that's true, that is new to me. Why don't you file a Paypal dispute and see if this is true. If it is, I will for sure change our policy.

However, you are correct, there isn't anything where the seller decides how much to refund. That (at least I thought) was an added benefit for buyers and was an optional thing outside of what PayPal offered.

But again, if I'm not correct and the seller is required to also pay the return shipping costs, then that is news to me and we'll have to change our policy. Again, please go ahead and file the "Not Described" dispute and we'll see what happens."

Are they saying they want me to research return policies and provide sportlots with a recommendation so they can update their policy? LOL

[nam812]

Are any other sellers seeing 0 cards listed and 0 cards sold when they look at their own report card?

[nam812]

Today is my 4th day in a row with no sales. Anyone else experiencing a slow down (or full stop)?

[Tom Oates]

Originally Posted by nam812

Today is my 4th day in a row with no sales. Anyone else experiencing a slow down (or full stop)?

I average about 35 transactions per month so it’s common for me to go a few days to a week in between orders. Especially towards the end of the month when sales tend to trend down. I have received an order or two in each of the last four days. Overall it has been a slightly above average month for me and I have not added any new inventory in a few months.

[ScottBreaks]

I haven't added any inventory so i expected a slow down. Definitely ending the month with more sales than i expected tho.

[nam812]

When I compared my stats from the first 5 months of 2022 and the first 5 months of 2023 I found that my volume (number of sales) is up 45% but my sales ($$ amount) is only up 10%.

Many smaller orders appears to be the soup of the day so far this year. Hope everyone is doing well.

[Tom Oates]

Originally Posted by nam812

When I compared my stats from the first 5 months of 2022 and the first 5 months of 2023 I found that my volume (number of sales) is up 45% but my sales ($$ amount) is only up 10%.

Many smaller orders appears to be the soup of the day so far this year. Hope everyone is doing well.

Had a decent order drop in at the 11th hour. Finished the month about double my normal average. I’m small potatoes so $140 was a good month.

[longhornjunkie]

Sportlots auctions can be a wild ride.

Have a low end RC listed that was on day 3 about to end at $1.50... small bidding war between 2 previously uninvolved users got it to $5.50... now a 3rd new bidder has it at $6.00.

This item was listed May 20.

[tribefan]

Is the player search function working for anyone?

[nam812]

Is anyone else having trouble accessing sportlots this morning?

Edited to add: Nevermind, it's back up now.

[dblack]

Sportlots sellers, when you ship PWE (1 - 4 cards), how are you packing the cards? penny sleeves, semi-rigids, neither, both, top loaders, etc. And do you pay for the standard 1st class stamp OR doing non-machinable? Thanks!