Shipping Excellence - Is It Possible To Get All 5's On eBay?

If you are a seller on eBay, you know that eBay has taken away the power of the reciprocal feedback (i.e., you leave me negative feedback, I leave you the same). Bummer! In today's eBay marketplace, the buyer has all of the power. I call that "eBay Buyer's Dominance" - "EBD" for short. It is absolutely ridiculous. For example, today I received some new feedback "points" for some stuff I sold recently.

Here is the actual feedback left for me:

FAST Shipping, item exactly as described! Good job ! Thanks Great deal!!!
Buyer: dada2d ( 355) Dec-10-08 17:09

FAST Shipping, item exactly as described! Good job ! Thanks Great deal!!!
Buyer: dada2d ( 355) Dec-10-08 17:09

FAST Shipping, item exactly as described! Good job ! Thanks Great deal!!!
Buyer: dada2d ( 355) Dec-10-08 17:09

The best seller on Ebay, a great transaction!!
Buyer: josephcardone ( 602) Dec-10-08 13:49

Nice Condition! Thanks for the careful shipping 5 Star Seller
Buyer: gorillacookiegirl ( 1284) Dec-10-08 13:23

the figure looks great, very pro seller thanks Ed
Buyer: trainmancat ( 302) Dec-10-08 12:54

an excellent seller, will visit again, thanks, Ed
Buyer: trainmancat ( 302) Dec-10-08 12:52

Now that's what I call excellent feedback. Each buyer basically says, "Kevin, you are the man!"

So riddle me this Batman. Why did my overall "Detailed Seller Rating" go down? The answer is simple. eBay's new system SUCKS! Only in this messed up auction universe (where it costs me more money to sell an item than I make in profit) can a seller be "punished" for being "the man" (or woman, as the case may be).

It is so frustrating. Makes me almost want to send my next package out like this:

Yes, guys and girls - that toy was actually mailed just as you see it (the white is covering up the "to" and "from" addresses)! At first I thought that this was just a joke. However, I tracked the package on usps.com (tracking number 0307 3330 0001 7125 0234) and it was actually accepted, processed and delivered by our United States Postal Service!

And to think: my local post office gives me a ton of crap because I like to recycle boxes (you know, trying to reduce my carbon footprint at the same time saving money)! What's more sad than that? It appears that the toy arrived in better condition than 50% of the packages I receive when I'm an eBay buyer!

Cardback Auction - Flipping Update #1

I just opened the package containing the cardbacks that were included in the cardback auction. Felt like Christmas had come early! The auction included 310 cardbacks, bringing my "per cardback cost" down to around $1.24 (310 cardbacks at a total cost of $384.51). Included in the auction were a few really rare cardbacks. Here are four backing cards that I had no idea were included as they were not pictured in the eBay listing:

Do not let the fact that there are four of the same cardback pictured here fool you. These Clipper 45 Backs are extremely rare! In fact, when I was actively collecting cardbacks, I was paying $50-$250 each, regardless of the character or condition. The cool thing about these is that the fourth one of the right is actually a variation of the other three as the name plate and blister area is orange instead of red. Nice!

Cardback collectors tend to be more frugal now (except for recent sales of Lily Ledy cardbacks) so I certainly do not expect to sell these at the top end of that range. However, the bottom end would be just as nice!



Another amazing cardback that was included in the auction (but not pictured) was this Empire Strikes Back 3-Pack. I've never even seen one of these come up for sale. Awesome!



Getting these on eBay right away to test the waters. Wish me luck!

Buying For The Sole Purpose of Selling - My First Flipping Efforts Of This Challenge

I am a collector at heart. Trust me. When I buy something, it is because I think it will "fit" nicely in my collection. My passion: Vintage Star Wars toys. Why you ask? Let me answer a question with a question. Why not?

My wife hates it. I have a hole garage full of my "collection." Sometimes, however, even I have to admit that I am a packrat first, a collector second. I would like to start focusing on quality over quantity. For me, that is a very tall order. One of the purposes of this challenge is to force me to clear out my garage and narrow my collection down to a true collection.

However, my daily searches - ok, I will admit it - my hourly searches of eBay yield so many things that I can (or at least I think I can) flip for a profit. My problem is that when I purchase an item to resell, I usually stick it in a box in my garage only to open it months down the road and think Christmas has come early.

In any event, I ran across an auction on eBay the other day that I just "had to buy." It was advertised as "Star Wars Card Backs Darth Vader Han Solo Leia Organa." For those of you that do not know, the cardboard packaging that came with the vintage Star Wars toys (from the years 1977-1985), even without the action figures, is in itself collectible and highly sought after by die hard Star Wars collectors. Up until about a year ago when my areas of interest changed, I had one of the largest and best (at least in my humble opinion) cardback collections around. [For those of you who are interested, my new passion is Star Wars bootlegs].

The auction description stated: "This auction is for a mixture of Star Wars card backs. Card backs in this set are from the Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Star Wars, a few Tri-Logo card backs, and a Jawa Meccano card back. There are over 200 card backs in this lot. There are no action figures included, just the card backs."

Here are the pictures that were included. See anything interesting?





I did. That is why I did what it took to win the auction. :)

Final purchase price, including shipping and handling: $384.51. Yep, you read that correctly: Three Hundred Eighty Four Dollars and Fifty One Cents. Assuming there are 200 cardbacks included in the auction, each cardback cost me approximately $1.92.

Anyone (besides my wife) think I am crazy? Well, at least it should be fun. The package came in the mail today. Let the flipping begin!

Paypal eChecks - DO NOT SHIP UNTIL THE CHECK CLEARS!

Let me start by apologizing for the yelling (ya know, all of the capital letters in the title of this post). Just trying to get your attention.

Now, I know this seems like common sense but let me tell you what an idiot I am. I sold a 12" Luke Skywalker from the Collector's Edition series which was released in 1995. The link is here. The selling price was, in a word, "disappointing." However, because I am trying to clear out my excess inventory (my wife calls it "the junk in the garage"), I am not too concerned about making a profit on stuff I purchased over a decade ago.

After the auction ended, I received a message from the buyer that he was having "internet difficulties" and that he would pay soon. Two weeks later, I received notification from paypal that I had received an eCheck from the buyer. For those of you who do not know, an eCheck is just like receiving a written check, only you receive it (and the payor sends it) through the computer. It is also called an "electronic funds transfer" because the money is withdrawn directly from the payor's bank account.

Now, because paypal is such a nightmare (see my earlier post regarding their refusal to release my money), I decided that since I had never had an eCheck "bounce" before, I would send out the package BEFORE the eCheck clears. That would accomplish a few things for me. First, I would have it done. With me traveling on the Thanksgiving holiday, the importance of that fact cannot be under-estimated, especially since that meant I would not have to make another trip to the post office. Also, I was thinking that an eBay buyer, even in this new world of eBay buyer's dominance ("EBD"), might actually give me all 5's on the eBay Seller's Report Card.

Needless-to-say, the eCheck bounced! Accordingly, here are the results:
1. I lost the eBay fees associated with selling the item;
2. I no longer have the item to resell;
3. I wasted valuable time going to the post office to ship it (although, admittedly, I was there shipping other stuff at the same time); and
4. I haven't received positive feedback or any communication from the buyer. Since I sent the item using delivery confirmation, I know he has received my item.

Back in the day, I would at least have the satisfaction of hitting him with some nasty negative feedback. However, since eBay's CEO is a genious, sellers cannot leave anything but positive feedback. How stupid is that?

I know: just about as stupid as I am...

Week One Update - Making Money Yet?

Well, week one sort of sucked! I have had to front all of the shipping charges because paypal won't release my funds for twenty-one days or until the buyers leave positive feedback and/or paypal gets around to confirming that the packages have reached their destinations. I'm so glad paypal has decided to get into the shipping police business. They should just leave me alone, save themselves the effort, and charge less money for the "service" they provide.

To top it off, eBay has actually already sent me an invoice for fees incurred so far. Seriously? They own paypal (or vice versa), the same company who is holding my money ransom, and they have the nerve to send me a bill for fees that they won't give me access to. Somethings is seriously wrong with this entire system.

Anyway, here's a breakdown of the 12" Star Wars Action Figures I listed:

(1) Star Wars 12" Darth Vader - Sold for $20.00 and charged $6.50 for shipping, for a total of $26.50. eBay fees (including the insertion and final value fees) were $2.10, paypal fees were $1.07, and actual shipping costs were $8.00, for a total of $11.17. Net realized: $15.33.

(2) Star Wars 12" Luke Bespin - Sold for $4.99 and charged $6.50 for shipping, for a total of $11.49. eBay fees were $0.79, paypal fees were $0.63, and actual shipping costs were $7.42, for a total of $8.84. Net realized: $2.65.

The next two items I sold to the same buyer: (3) Star Wars 12" Sandpeople (with Stick) - Sold for $8.50. eBay fees were $1.09. (4) Star Wars 12" Sandpeople (with Gun) - Sold for $5.51. eBay fees were $0.83. For these two items, I charged $8.50 shipping, for a total to me of $22.51. The paypal fees were $0.95 and the actual shipping was $8.98. Net realized for both toys: $10.66.

(5) Star Wars 12" Ben Kenobi - Sold for $6.24. eBay fees were $0.90. Paypal fees were $0.67. Actual shipping charges were $6.10 (I charged $6.50 for shipping). Net realized: $11.17.

(6) Star Wars 12" Luke Farmboy - Sold for $7.05. eBay fees were $0.97. BUYER HASN'T PAID YET. Net realized: $Unknown (for now).

(7) Star Wars 12" Han Solo - Sold for $8.50, plus $15.00 shipping. eBay fees were $1.09. Paypal fees were $1.22. Actual shipping charges were $16.90. Net realized: $4.29.

(8) Star Wars 12" Lando - Did not sell. eBay fees were $0.35. I'm going to relist it so maybe it will sell the second time...


As you can see, my initial though that I had made $51.84 that I could use to pay towards the credit card (or purchase additional inventory) was flawed. When I backed out all of my actual expenses, these auctions netted me a grand total of $44.10. Like I said, week one sucked!

Paypal - Making Changes To Screw The Seller All of the Time!

Wow! Paypal sure has changed and not for the better. I started receiving payments for the 12" Star Wars figures I sold. Because eBay is starting to make all users deal exclusively with paypal, each of the buyers paid with paypal.

Here's the kicker: since I started a new paypal account for this challenge, paypal is holding my payments for 21 days! The only way I can have the payments released before that time is to prove delivery of the items (i.e., tracking number which confirms delivery) or receipt of positive feedback on eBay for each specific item. That sucks! What if I didn't have extra money laying around and I needed the shipping expenses, paid by the buyers, to ship the items?

Just another example of why eBay and paypal are nothing like they were in the good old days (i.e., until recent management took over). But I digress...

The items will be shipped tomorrow so I'll be able to use that money soon.

Star Wars 12" Classic Series

DARTH VADER:
I purchased this Darth Vader (along with the rest of the figures pictured below) back in 1995 along with everyone else dying to infuse our collections with anything Star Wars. The purchase price was $19.99. Having decided that I want to sell anything that doesn't "fit" in my collection anymore, this was my "first" sale on eBay using "the_higher_standard" eBay handle.

Sales Price: $20.00 on November 2, 2008. Unfortunately, this was the best result I received on these auctions.

LUKE SKYWALKER (BESPIN ATTIRE):

Purchase Price: $19.99

Sales Price: $4.99

LUKE SKYWALKER (FARMBOY):

Purchase Price: $19.99

Sales Price: $7.05

SANDPEOPLE (Blaster Weapon Variant, Sticker Warning):
Purchase Price: $19.99

Sales Price: $5.51

SANDPEOPLE: (Gaderffii Stick Variant, Sticker Warning)

Purchase Price: $19.99

Sales Price: $8.05

OBI-WAN (BEN) KENOBI:

Purchase Price: $19.99

Sales Price: $6.24

RESULTS:

Six 12" Star Wars figures, originally purchased for $19.99 each (or a total of $119.94), sold for a mere $51.84. There are three ways of looking at this: (1) a loss of $68.10 (probably the most sound way); (2) one less box in the garage taking up space (definitely a plus in my wife's eyes); or (3) $51.84 that I can use to: (a) pay towards the credit card; or (b) buy something else to sell to try to increase that profit margin. I like option number three. Now I have to decide whether to use 3(a) or 3(b). I'll let you know.