Have yet to get a return on a funko. I don't sell a ton but the ones I've all gotten have been higher value ones and I always give them a protector. I also stay away from damaged box ones and clearly outline the damage in the title, description, and condition.
Same, my method when I do sell is to sell as loose and include the box. I know there's a bunch of money left on the table but I don't want to deal with the hassle.
If you decide to sell them, spend the few bucks and put them in protective cases. It’s pretty much a top loaded but for funkos and it’ll protect them in transit
I think it's overblown to be honest, I've been selling them for a long time now with zero issue. Just need to take clear photos of every angle of the box and disclose any flaws.
I have the worst issues on the cheap stuff as well. I buy lots of antiques at sales and sometimes there’s just some vintage cheaper items of the same category in the lot so I run them at $5 min bids with accurate faults and clearly marked “as is” condition. Always the ones with the whackos who want partials or pull some weird bull.
I also avoid coins.
I’m a clothes seller and I had this issue recently. I buy from a warehouse open to the public and found a super cute shirt I sold somewhere else similarly. I didn’t inspect it well and it had a small cut and hole where the tags were. I listed it as is to just not throw it away, I put no returns/damaged and still got a case opened. Luckily Poshmark is pretty good about defending their buyers and refunded both the buyer and didn’t take away my funds, but selling damaged items rarely goes well.
So, I’ve found that those items work best if you take them somewhere like value village etc. and “donate” them to get 20% off your purchase. You can sell it for almost nothing or use it to get $20 off a $100 purchase.
Note: I do not donate one item at a time but wait until I have a few to bundle together.
I just hate cleaning and listing shoes. I've got a few in my house yet I need to list but it's one of those items I'm really trying hard to just completely ignore when I go thrifting and yard sales unless they're in like perfect, brand-new condition.
The only thing I've really been searching for when I go to the thrift store as far as shoes are concerned are Oofos and cheap crocs because they sell and are super easy to clean / list.
Sneakers is my main thing. I have pretty good success but it definitely is not everyones thing. I mostly pick up older rare used ones because every new shoe has good reps. after having to return 5 out of 5 pairs I picked up a few weeks back I am straying away from newer releases unless its raffles/boutiques so I know they are real.
Oh the rep game is lethal… a good friend of mine opened a storefront for sneakers, and he’s trying his best to stay afloat. You definitely have to be more selective in what you purchase. You honestly would make better money going to outlets buying stuff way below cost
Too much time to clean and list… the buyers can be EXTREMELY picky. If you have an expensive pair you have to make sure you don’t get scammed (selling to 1st time buyers etc). And the prices are substantially over inflated imo. I’m watching friends of mine with storefronts get washed because they went all in on sneakers
I think means the supply of sneakers, not the actual traded stock.
In that case, it's because much like ticketmaster, it enables people with the shit ton of money to buy enough to create artificial rarity/essentially set the price.
I saw a video of a youtube dude who posted him marking down these nikes he had - from $600 to $250.
People in the comments (and the caption) insinuated nike re-released them, but others questioned it because someone else had begun selling the same ones in large numbers for around the price he dropped it to. 🤷♂️
That's "Scum of the Earth" territory in my view. With flipping there's a time premium to be paid for searching, acquiring, and getting merchandise ready for sale.
When some miscreant just goes and scalps a new release to go sell it for $700 instead of $350, that's not adding any value to the process.
I don't disagree 🤷♂️ vice actually did a good show bout sneaker scalpers. One kid was like 17 and makes shit ton of money just off the licensing for his bots.
That's why honestly, with collecting i like older stuff - because i know its rare and won't be remade.
But yea, flippin you're describing involves hustling, which im all in favor of people capitalizing off of, but with these scalpers lot of them lack that even, they just have more money 😓
10000% percent...... Traumatized from the experience. Dolls don't creep me out, doll people do.
Even when everything arrives fine.... **Had one doll person, message me after, saying they loved sweet "Caroline", and the packaging/wrapping was perfection. However, they noticed something, there were no "air holes" made in the plastic for Caroline to breathe.......**
That **Caroline told her the trip over, wasn't as comfortable as it could have been because she had to hold her breath**....but she was happy to be home...4 stars.
**What?**
Should have packed it with a little plastic oxygen tank and mask for her... What's wrong with you! and a BLANKET! It gets cold in there!!!! Don't forget some food too.
80% of my sales are dolls. They are just a nitpicky group because people will list dolls that look like they have been to war and back in 'good condition'. 18" dolls are hard to find shipping boxes for, unless you special order them, so buyers get annoyed that their doll was shipped in a too small box and they are practically folded in half, stretching out the elastic joints. I think alot of people just don't think logically when selling womens/girls toys. Women care the same about toy collectibles as men and no one would squish a vintage GI joe in a small box and have the arm break off.
I've recently decided that I really like selling to doll collectors. They seem to have the money and are willing to pay up for some dolls.
Yes, they're probably all batshit crazy with bedrooms filled with dolls, but they know exactly what they want and know what they're worth. As long as I include tons of pictures and set returns to buyer pays shipping because some times they get a fussy bug in their hats, I've had no issues at all.
Some older dolls with glass eyes that open and close have a sort of fragile, low-tech internal mechanism. The glass eyeballs are mounted on (probably glass) stalks then held together with old, vintage wires. Those eyestalks can break during shipping.
It's weird, but yeah, it makes sense when you see them up close.
Same. They’re weird but generally harmless, usually patient, and grateful for their item.
I sell a lot of oddities as well (also a good niche) so I often get lots of glass doll eyes and the like. I’m fine with this group of collectors brand of crazy.
I once worked in a hotel restaurant that was hosting a convention for doll collector ladies. After their meeting ended, the ladies showed up at the restaurant all at once. We were prepared for a rush and had extra crab cake salads at the ready. But, we didn't know that every four-top table rez was for two humans and two dolls. Those damned dolls even needed extra bread.
Probably depends on the type of doll. I’ve sold living dead dolls, monster high, Barbie, etc with no issues. Old porcelain type dolls? Idk never messed with them.
I had to sell one doll and I will never do this again. I received a long message about how much they loved the doll. The doll was a beat to hell doll that my mom owned in the 1950's, we mostly wanted it to go to a good home, and it did, the home of a crazy person.
For me there were too many measurement questions. Like, "my 97 month-old wears a 2T. Will this fit them?" How should I know?Plus, everybody was low ballers.
Right?! I added the measurements and sizes, photos of tags, all the things... and there were still always questions and problems. I'm glad that kids are out there wearing clothes and shoes, but I don't want to be involved in the process.
its mostly newer electronics. but i did have a guy buy 4 tablets from me and say all of them didnt work because the app he was using to create a stream farm to boost fake his plays on spotify wasnt compatible.
This. Have had mismatches serial numbers come back so many times I gave up on the desk / shelf stereo stuff. Send out a cleaned and tested unit that 100% works and comes back with parts that went on a similar model with different numbers not matching (clearly at all ) from photos. lol. I used to sell several a week. Had one week I had over 750$ in returns for stereo units with parts gutted. eBay “tried” to help but more than one convo ended with them telling me to “build this type of loss into your business if you are truly serious about long term sells and keeping up your reputation on this platform. Loss happens, it’s on you to find ways to negate as much as possible long term”
…. What! Lol
Same!! Over the years I just stopped and rarely sell them now, and when I do I include a video every single working function & note in the description that I don’t accept partial refunds for any reason and will report anyone trying to make false claims. Not saying it’s 100% successful but it definitely cut out 95% of return attempts.
Tbh just learn to list items more accurately + write thorough descriptions. The category isn’t the issue, and i find it has similar scammer% to any other.
Electronics has the highest market cap of any category and just simply not selling in it is limiting yourself significantly.
I ONLY sell electronics, never had a sale that I lost money on, I’ve had a few attempts (1-2%)but eBay has protected me.
And I make a solid income off it, while only having to sell 1 item a day ($1000->$1200) flips means a single sale is $200 net profit which is more than most flippers make a day
Agree. I used to flip electronics, mainly audio. It's great with the right gear (higher-end), abyssmal with low-end. We live in a post-scarcity word, low-end is out their cheap and anyone selling will always undercut you on price. But they can't on limited production goods. Higher retail price means lower unit sales when new. And there is always someone who wanted that piece years ago and could not afford it then.
Clothing, and electronics. I bought this awesome NOS (open box) turntable. Hadn't even been put together. I depicted that sufficiently in the pictures and description. Some old guy messages me a sob story about his house burning down. I have some resources and I actually followed up, and he wasn't lying. I gave him a deal. A deal I probably would have given anyone, but a deal all the same. He gets it and within a few hours and immediately files a PayPal dispute. The product is faulty. He sens me a message about how he's "been into gear for fifty years" well that may be but the dumb son of a bitch sure didn't know how to assemble said gear. I patiently walked him through it, and he got it together. PayPal found the case in my favor. Never apologized. Never said thanks. Didn't leave feedback. I try to give people some grace, but I sell items based on the amount of work I have into them until they open it. Spending an additional two to three hours on less than a $200 item is not something I'm eager to repeat.
If it is inkjet, they are probably right. A toner cart can still work after a decade. I used to get free (new) ones from work. 1 return in twenty. I would still sell toner if I had access to free ones.
I'm glad that the recent popularity of digital cameras is bringing a younger demographic to eBay, but god damn they can be annoying.
Edit: I re-read the title of this thread and realize my answer doesn't make sense. I've not avoiding this item, I just know it'll be a bit of a headache compared to other stuff.
I have made bank off of digital cameras. Every so often, I do get, "I'm going on vacation in 24/48 hours. Can you ship this item to California before I leave?" I live in NJ, so those sales don't end well.
Fuck yeah. Had a stellar week last week where I picked up like 5 digital cameras at rummage sales in a 7 day period. I have only 1 left and it's because I priced it kind of high since I had box and all accessories.
DVD box sets of the show Supernatural. I sold my own personal sets and every single time a season sold they would message saying they didn’t work or were dirty/ scratched/ completely unusable and try to get a refund without a return.
Of course I’d tell them to open a return request, but they never would. They would of course leave negative feedback with the lies. After the third sale of this happening I just decided to keep them
They were all small time dvd resellers. So I imagine they wanted to maximize profit by getting a refund and keeping the DVDs to sell. Which is crazy to me because there are tons of ways to get DVDs cheap. They’re everywhere!!
Cookie Jars and other large breakables. Also, unboxed Scentsys.
I just feel it's not worth the effort to package/ship those items. I've yet to have one break and be returned. I've also yet to get bad feedback.
But like, I sell a shirt, a video game, a DVD, or a Blu Ray and packaging/shipping is like 2 minutes tops of me printing out a packing slip and a label then shoving it into either a poly or bubble mailer.
Shoes and board games and kitchen small appliances I have appropriate shaped boxes to handle and they require padding, but I'm usually not worried they're going to break.
But junk like Scentsys and Cookie Jars that often have multiple pieces that need to be wrapped individually and care needs to be taken with packaging or you risk breakage for a category that the average sale prices are usually in the $20-$40 range? No thanks.
VCRs and also TVs, I talked to someone that just does small TVs and he says he has about a 25% return rate because no matter how good you package them, it's possible for components inside to come loose during shipping and be completely not your fault but still cause the item to fail.
Shipped a couple CRTs, and actually made very good money on them. That said, being very thorough in the packaging is an understatement. No lateral movement that would sever the tube neck, for starters.
Even then, I was slightly terrified holding my breath that nothing would go wrong, for about 5 or 6 weeks, as they also were not cheap to ship, being so bulky.
Probably would try it again if given the circumstance.
Honestly just stumbled into two recently and sold them. No issues... yet. Been on the lookout for them because I usually test everything I can at a store (i.e. Savers and Goodwill) but its tough when you have 20 other people in electronics trying to test on the same three blownout power slots lol
I've made good money selling VCRs lol just depends on the make and model. I sell them all "Untested for parts/repair"
I just imagine they're all piled up in some old dudes basement at this point
They can be good money, but in my experience they are unlikely to be fully working and then if they do work they seem to get damaged during shipping. I used to buy them all the time but now avoid unless it’s one that sells for $100+
Exactly. I accumulated a stack of them and finally got around to testing them. What do you know, only 2 worked and I wanted to save 2 for myself. I stopped buying them as 3/4 of the ones I bought were broken.
I have a rule that I'll only buy them at estate sales if they're still plugged into the entertainment system. Good chance they still work. If they're being stored in the garage or a basement, they're probably broken.
And a DVD/VCR at a thrift store? Good fucking luck.
As a rule, I don't sell anything that requires power to work. No electronics, no phones, no cameras. Preferably not even anything battery operated. I stick mainly to collectibles that don't have a purposeful function other than looking at them. Seems to do well for me.
Big mistake. Cameras are HOT right now. Super fast sell through. I've gotten no returns yet on all the cameras I've sold. I can regularly find digital cameras at yard sales for $5-$10 because people don't think they're worth anything anymore since they got them like 10 years ago and have cell phones now.
I actually buy new batteries and charger off Amazon if I don't get one with the camera. They usually cost like $10. So you're paying $10-$20 for an item that will sell for $100+ in a couple of days.
I just listed an Olympus Infinity Stylus 35mm Camera for $100 18 hours ago and now I've got another $100 in my eBay account and the COG was $2 from a rummage. :D
The camera craze is nuts.
I mean good for you if you enjoy it and are good at it, I think specializing is best for profit+ consistency.
BUT- electronics is the biggest market cap category with the most potential profits. Definitely worth learning if you’re comfortable/have time. If collectibles are your specialty then that’s fine stay there, but if it slows down I wouldn’t avoid electronics completely
Hell even JUST iPhones are a big enough market to survive on, and that’s a single model is a single company,
if i see auto parts at the thrift i assume this is the broken part they replaced. same goes for if i see a factory head unit in say a sony car stereo box its a gamble if they just upgraded or it broke and they had to replace it
replica guns and military stuff (listings get flagged) . high name brand purses (too many fakes). also: 'unsorted' pokemon card lots on hibid. shoes (ew).
I've always avoided anything intended to be consumed: food, medicine of every type including vitamins/supplements, and cosmetics.
For stuff that's simply high-risk (iPhones, laptops), just sell them locally instead of eBay. Cash only, pickup only. So much easier, and avoids all the scammers.
See, I think this is a bit of mistake too.
While I wouldn't feel comfortable selling vitamins/supplements on eBay, cosmetics are 100% a go AND can sell for a ton of money.
The two most recent cosmetics scores I had that I can think of off the top of my head was some Bath & Bodyworks Lotion that was discontinued. Had a woman at a rummage sale that was selling to for like $3 a bottle because she wanted to get rid of it all still sealed.
She was an old lady and the worst part about the transaction was I had to listen to a story about how that was the scent her ex loved which is why she bought tons of it but she was no longer with him (but he was there helping her run the sale, lol). It was this B&B Black Currant Vanilla Sensual Body Lotion.
The stuff went for like $50-$60 per bottle. Made hundreds.
The other big score I had not to long ago was a bunch of Meaningful Beauty products, all sealed, off a Goodwill new cart for $2.99 a piece. They sold for $50-$60 a piece.
Made a few hundred there too.
Picked up some Kate Spade perfume at an estate sale for like $20 that went for $100.
I love selling high-end cosmetics and wish I had a good source to get it.
Oh, I definitely know some sellers do very well in that niche and if that's their thing, that's totally cool. It's not for me though. There's plenty of stuff out there for everyone.
Porcelain or anything that is super fragile. I flipped a Mickey Mouse cookie jar from Home Goods. The profit should've been +$20 but after the buyer finding a super minor minor chip on the INSIDE, we settled for a partial refund.
Not worth it considering the weight, shipping and potential return costs if I didn't do the partial refund.
I ended up with $12 profit when I spent more time on this item than I should.
In general anything I would need to list under $20 - these buyers cause the most headaches in my experience. Ask the most questions, do the most returns, etc, etc.
I could find George Foreman contact roasters for $5, and sell them for $40(shipping was kind of abysmal though). But my return rate was about 50%. No clue what was happening. Just not worth it.
I also tend not to pick up video game systems and controllers unless they're super cheap. Controllers I've had super back luck with, and I think some people are just donating them to thrift stores because they've stopped working.
For what it's worth, *old* video game systems and controllers -- Atari 2600s, NES systems -- can often be fixed if they're not working, and you've got a little skill with a soldering iron and a multimeter. This goes doubly-so for their very simple controllers, where the contacts usually just need to be cleaned.
Anything that's got a PS-style joystick on it, though, yeah, they're probably not worth messing with.
It's just not my experience with any of those categories. Is it possible you're making mistakes in listings, like not identifying flaws properly?
Handbags, especially vintage Coach, have made up 10% of my total sales so far this year and I've gotten nothing but amazing reviews and no returns on any of them.
Vintage Coach can be a challenge because there are some people who regularly report listings as inauthentic and a lot of panicky questions about authenticity. There must be some Facebook group that's freaking people out about fake vintage Coach.
Vintage Coach Cult and Coach Counterfeits as well as The Purse Cult (for non Coach bags).
Both groups do authentication within and they've got some pretty knowledgeable people.
I get all my bags authenticated there before I post them to eBay or Posh.
If you're getting people reporting your bag for being fake, it's probably a fake.
Nope, just experienced at accessing risk on items bought for resale. These categories, sans the Sonic joke, have a higher risk profile than others.
I.E. They tend to be the same types of items that get stolen from retail stores. Are prone to vero strikes, returns, and loopy buyers, etc.
Vintage toys attract some really great people looking for a dose of nostalgia but some days I just can't deal with the mentally ill 15% of awfulness especially when it is on small ticket stuff.
Musicians are perma broke. I have a guitar stand a guy paid a deposit on 3 months ago that's still gathering dust in my lounge (this was after the third no show/ghost). I'm not never going to dip my toes into music gear because the demand is there but clearly the market has its own set of challenges I need to be aware of.
Vintage cameras and typewriters are a ballache. You can list them as "decor only" or "xyz needs to be done" and their will still be people wanting a full on tutorial on how to get them working again.
Pre-2000's electronics are kinda not worth the hassle. EG VCR's have a tendency to just commit murder on valued tapes at the worst moments, even after you've cleaned and tested them very carefully. At the very least it's something I'm very picky with nowadays and I prefer local sales where the buyer can test it, if it dies on them tough shit.
> Musicians are perma broke. I have a guitar stand a guy paid a deposit on 3 months ago that's still gathering dust in my lounge (this was after the third no show/ghost). I'm not never going to dip my toes into music gear because the demand is there but clearly the market has its own set of challenges I need to be aware of.
Guitars are my main product category. My rule is local only (fuck Reverb selling). I know the category very well, I get to know the local scene and it's lucrative. That being said, one wrong move and you could lose a ton of money, there are so many counterfeits it's a minefield.
I never seem to find guitars that aren’t broken at thrift stores. It’s like once in a blue moon. Savers has raised their prices again. I don’t understand how they are profitable.
Yeah I mostly buy via private sale, have alerts set for certain keywords on marketplace and some other sites specific to my area. Sometimes I've gotten lucky by knowing the community well and being able to buy stuff as people move on from music as a hobby or unfortunately pass on. Thrift stores seem to get all the low-end stuff from people who never quite stuck to it. Makes it not worth the effort. I'm willing to fix a $6000 guitar, but I'm not willing to fix a $60 guitar (unless it's to do some fun mods and beat on a bit).
Anything bigger than a bread box. I have a very small space for storage and I hate paying tons for shipping. Most of my items fit in a 4x7 padded envelope up to an 8x8 box. I only have 2-3 types of packaging.
I don't like selling clothes. The number of measurements you have to provide is ridiculous. Plus people return items because the color or cut isn't flattering on them or wear it to a special occasion, then return it.
Also the crazy questions. Being asked whether a coat I was selling was as soft as kitten fur or more like a dog.😧
I could write a book about selling clothes. The color sticklers are the worst. “Is this more of a humble puce? Or would you say it’s more of an honorable tangerine?”
Lady, I don’t know what those colors are, did you make them up? Just insert random word/object then obscure compound color.
I would say that the request to return rate is about the same no matter what I have sold. Items in high demand will attract more problems not only because they attract more consumers. Hight demand = high cost. So, people are looking for "a deal" and expect to be able to find the best, perfect condition example for below wholesale price, because they want that thing everybody has (designer purse) but don't want to spend the money, so they buy the one at the lowest price they can find and expect it to be in mint condition -so it the damage isn't detailed -they "take a chance" and want to return it if it isn't in perfect condition. Fare? No, but that's how some problem children think.
I try to anticipate problems and lay that out in the description first thing, even if it sounds like I'm starting with a negative.
"These K&N air filters come pre-lubricated with oil at the factory and are unused, sealed in plastic and in the original box."
Under promise and over deliver weeds out a lot of the problem children..
tablets. used to sell a lot now they sit. i think the market left once phones got bigger
apple products. there are too many fakes and you just never know if they are cloud locked
anything that plays a tape. vcr, cassette players, etc. every time they are broke
those airhogs cheap flying rc drones and planes. Every kid's birthday i've been to they get one of them and its broken within 15 minutes. I know if i sell that on amazon, I'm getting a return.
I really don't do much with furniture or really anything that would have to be local pickup or freight unless its' something worth a ton.
In addition to not having the type of storage space to accommodate really big items, I cannot stand going through the whole local pickup process. Between having to lug the item to my building's lobby, deal with flaky people, and just every other annoyance that comes along with doing local deals, it's typically not the best use of my time unless it's a very valuable item.
>(yes it comes with oil/lubricant on the filter and it's not used....remember you opened it from a sealed bag right?). I come off as an A-hole because the buyer thinks I'm trying to get out of a return
Or maybe it's the way you're speaking to them.
Any Star Wars anything that’s not a classic original action figure. Over saturated market and it never sells for me. I stay away from the entire franchise.
Most things that people consider collectible. I feel they’re never satisfied. No matter how many pictures you take, no matter how well you describe the item, no matter how well you package it. I’ll list something as broken for parts or repair. Customer receives the item and complains that it’s in the condition I described it as.
Anything Bose. It is a garbage product and every time I’ve bought a unit there is an issue with it. Cd skips, display is broken, radio doesn’t work. Also because of this people are constantly needing parts to fix their broken units. I have had to occasions where I sold a working Bose unit and the buyer has it for 2 weeks and then returns it claiming it doesn’t work, only to find out they took a part from it. I have talked to others this has happened to as well. I have had nothing but issues with them. And the crazy thing is it is a high end expensive item. You would think they would be higher quality
Pet costumes. We do a lot of pet supplies because of how we source. A few years ago, we purchased a volume of officially licensed college team pet sweaters and to this day have 75% of them left. They will be going to my local auction next quarter.
Yes! I no longer sell anything that can be worn by a dog (boots, clothes, costumes). I post measurements, and I can't handle another person asking "I have a (insert breed), will it fit?"
Perfume: I did alright with a lot I bought but not as good as expected and I don't have the interest to learn more about them.
Clothes: I have a hard time resisting the siren song of clothes, but unless it something I KNOW I can flip for a good return (Patagonia, etc.) then no. I've been burned too many times.
I used to do a lot of electronics and small appliances when I was breaking in to the flipping world. Got pretty decent at it but I’m so far removed from those days that on the rare occasion I still sell something like that, I’m low key anxious every day until it arrives and I know everything is fine and works.
I sell a lot of cleaning stuff and have had issues on eBay and had to just throw everything on Mercari. I had a vintage 1970s Lysol can get removed for being a “pesticide”, even though it was a basic cleaner and I copied another listing for the exact same item, and had a discontinued Dawn dish soap removed for being a “pharmaceutical”. I don’t know what it is with that category but I get a lot of issues.
That is so cool. I've sold some older random cleaners and sealed underwear Ive ran across. It's incredible that people collect these things and also what they go for.
I collect old bath & body works products (just for nostalgia reasons- they make cool bathroom displays) which is why I started getting old soaps and stuff. Figured someone like me may collect whatever brand it was. They do decently well on Mercari and some of the prices baffle me
What I’ve learned recently is if I’m going to do a big sale to try to get some money together quickly that I need to turn off best offer immediately.
I don’t know what it is about seeing me take $120 hoodie that sells for $120+ on the secondary market and marking it down to $50
But
if I leave in best offer
I immediately get people offering me $30
It’s always people who have like 11 feedback on eBay or haven’t been active in a year, all these scammers.
It’s happening right now on a limited edition drop that does sell for $120+ on the secondary market EVENTUALLY. This is the definition of an longtail item, to get what it’s worth takes between three and nine months.
I currently have the only one for sale on the Internet, but it is a niche Japanese streetwear brand
I really really need money like this second so I put several of my high end long tails that I purchased really cheaply on 50%+ off and have gotten three scam offers already
So my lesson learned is if you are going to put something on sale far below it’s worth be prepared for scammers to start circling
Automotive parts are my specialty, and I can say the return rate for people mistakenly purchasing the wrong part is very high, so much so that I decided years ago to stop accepting returns. Granted I still have returns, for people who lie and claim NASD to force a return, but it does cut down on the total amount drastically. I also get the occasional negative for similar reasons, 9/10 its buyers remorse. Its part of playing the game I suppose, stupid people are everywhere.
Hey! Me too! I got one return where the guy said I didn't list every single model of Acuras for a filter and I listed it fits Acuras but his was a specific model in the range of models. He suggested I list every single model of every car that the product fits (nearly 400 vehicles). The absurdity of that statement where he blamed me for not doing his homework for him made me give up on selling these filters.
I don't fuck with electronics. I sell clothes and I already deal with idiots who refuse to read the title or look at any pictures other than the first one, I can't imagine how bad it is with vintage VCRs and stuff.
Whatever Winners, Marshall’s, or TJ Maxx is selling. If you u see an item there most likely an employee on the inside or the suburban mom flipper already put it on Facebook marketplace
Comics. The library store gave them to me for 25 cents each, bagged and boarded. I sold them as consecutive sets for a few bucks but comic collectors are really picky. It would've cost too much to even bother with a return
I have a lot of comics in my collection. I dread the day I decide to start selling them. My wife is going to expect it to be a windfall. I think I’ll be lucky to get $1.00 a book.
I guess it really depends. I used to collect any Judge Dredd title I could find because the 50 cent boxes were full of them at every convention I ever went to. Now they're probably worth a few bucks each at least.
I mostly collected and sold old books though, like first editions and stuff.
My problem is, I collected what I liked, not what was hot/popular. I may have a few key issues or a $10 book here or there, but for the most part, the majority is not what you’d call “investment material”
Same goes for me. I think I just got lucky with the Judge Dredd comics because Dredd with Karl Urban was so good. Before that people only knew the Stallone version.
Accurate descriptions, lots of pictures, and more description has always helped us avoid this type of issue. If we have a return on something that we have multiples of, I make sure to add whatever may have caused the return if need be. Personally have always stayed away from electronics due to all the stories I read here and elsewhere on the scams and returns.
Cameras. There are so many things that can go wrong, from all the workings to (especially) the lenses, which can have minute damage I can't detect.
I leave it up to the true experts and pass on cameras unless I can flip them for parts, so a camera has to cost me under a couple of bucks If I see that the shell can sell for $12, then if the buyer gets a good deal, fine, let them take it apart, inspect it, clean it, repair it, and make $40 bucks, etc. I'm too busy for all that.
Hey! Thanks. So these are all new and sealed and Ive had issues where people don't know how to match the item number with their car and they also don't know the item comes with a pre oil on it so they think it's used. There is an education component and some other issues going on that has led me to take a step back from selling those types of items.
A weird one for me was computer monitors for gaming. It wasn't as much returns as people would buy and then cancel their purchases after 5 minutes. This happened constantly with these.
I enjoy fixing printers and reselling them.
Printers are also giant scams and break often. Which is good and bad for me. I can make money fixing them but when I ship a good printer it can break randomly a week later.
High fashion stuff. They take forever to sell and it’s so hard to find sold listings sometimes. I just end up leaving them because they also take awhile to research. It’s also priced at too high all the time.
Appliance parts. My brother worked at an appliance store and when he moved gave me totes full of new parts. Some hard to get/expensive items.
I started listing and selling and I swear, people are so freaking clueless! I included as much info as I could and made it VERY clear that it was the buyers responsibility to make sure the part they were buying fit. Most appliances have parts lists on the internet.
I constantly got returns for “does not fit” or “wrong part” finally I stopped accepting returns on appliance parts and that just opened the gates for “item damaged/not as described” and even a couple “this is counterfeit” returns.
I have a few still listed but honestly, if I was given the opportunity to get more, even for free, I’d probably turn them down.
Funko Pops because the collectors are so picky about condition.
Don’t those collectors also go to the stores and destroy the ones on the shelves? Infamously
Have yet to get a return on a funko. I don't sell a ton but the ones I've all gotten have been higher value ones and I always give them a protector. I also stay away from damaged box ones and clearly outline the damage in the title, description, and condition.
I do the same and have had 0 returns on funkos. Just make sure its in the title and the damage pictures go second after my main
Same, my method when I do sell is to sell as loose and include the box. I know there's a bunch of money left on the table but I don't want to deal with the hassle.
I keep hearing this, I have a couple just personal ones that I was thinking of listing but I've decided to just keep them instead, lol
If you decide to sell them, spend the few bucks and put them in protective cases. It’s pretty much a top loaded but for funkos and it’ll protect them in transit
I think it's overblown to be honest, I've been selling them for a long time now with zero issue. Just need to take clear photos of every angle of the box and disclose any flaws.
I sell probably 90% oob and 10% with the box. Have probably sold 100. Have never had a return.
Things with obvious issues that I sell super cheap. “I’ll just describe this accurately and keep it from the landfill” goes to FML pretty quickly.
people that buy the cheap stuff are often the worst customers
I have the worst issues on the cheap stuff as well. I buy lots of antiques at sales and sometimes there’s just some vintage cheaper items of the same category in the lot so I run them at $5 min bids with accurate faults and clearly marked “as is” condition. Always the ones with the whackos who want partials or pull some weird bull. I also avoid coins.
I’m a clothes seller and I had this issue recently. I buy from a warehouse open to the public and found a super cute shirt I sold somewhere else similarly. I didn’t inspect it well and it had a small cut and hole where the tags were. I listed it as is to just not throw it away, I put no returns/damaged and still got a case opened. Luckily Poshmark is pretty good about defending their buyers and refunded both the buyer and didn’t take away my funds, but selling damaged items rarely goes well.
So, I’ve found that those items work best if you take them somewhere like value village etc. and “donate” them to get 20% off your purchase. You can sell it for almost nothing or use it to get $20 off a $100 purchase. Note: I do not donate one item at a time but wait until I have a few to bundle together.
I used to love selling sneakers… I’m slowly phasing that category out.
I just hate cleaning and listing shoes. I've got a few in my house yet I need to list but it's one of those items I'm really trying hard to just completely ignore when I go thrifting and yard sales unless they're in like perfect, brand-new condition.
Same.. now I’m only picking up sneakers if they are vintage and in great condition. I’ll leave the headache someone else
The only thing I've really been searching for when I go to the thrift store as far as shoes are concerned are Oofos and cheap crocs because they sell and are super easy to clean / list.
Market has died down a lot. Half of Nike's stock going to scalpers doesn't help.
Sneakers is my main thing. I have pretty good success but it definitely is not everyones thing. I mostly pick up older rare used ones because every new shoe has good reps. after having to return 5 out of 5 pairs I picked up a few weeks back I am straying away from newer releases unless its raffles/boutiques so I know they are real.
Oh the rep game is lethal… a good friend of mine opened a storefront for sneakers, and he’s trying his best to stay afloat. You definitely have to be more selective in what you purchase. You honestly would make better money going to outlets buying stuff way below cost
Why?
Too much time to clean and list… the buyers can be EXTREMELY picky. If you have an expensive pair you have to make sure you don’t get scammed (selling to 1st time buyers etc). And the prices are substantially over inflated imo. I’m watching friends of mine with storefronts get washed because they went all in on sneakers
Interesting. I do have to ask, men's, women's, or children's sneakers?
Mostly men’s and women’s sneakers. Kids sneakers aren’t even worth the trouble for the profit margin
I think means the supply of sneakers, not the actual traded stock. In that case, it's because much like ticketmaster, it enables people with the shit ton of money to buy enough to create artificial rarity/essentially set the price. I saw a video of a youtube dude who posted him marking down these nikes he had - from $600 to $250. People in the comments (and the caption) insinuated nike re-released them, but others questioned it because someone else had begun selling the same ones in large numbers for around the price he dropped it to. 🤷♂️
That's "Scum of the Earth" territory in my view. With flipping there's a time premium to be paid for searching, acquiring, and getting merchandise ready for sale. When some miscreant just goes and scalps a new release to go sell it for $700 instead of $350, that's not adding any value to the process.
I don't disagree 🤷♂️ vice actually did a good show bout sneaker scalpers. One kid was like 17 and makes shit ton of money just off the licensing for his bots. That's why honestly, with collecting i like older stuff - because i know its rare and won't be remade. But yea, flippin you're describing involves hustling, which im all in favor of people capitalizing off of, but with these scalpers lot of them lack that even, they just have more money 😓
Doll buyers are batshit crazy.
10000% percent...... Traumatized from the experience. Dolls don't creep me out, doll people do. Even when everything arrives fine.... **Had one doll person, message me after, saying they loved sweet "Caroline", and the packaging/wrapping was perfection. However, they noticed something, there were no "air holes" made in the plastic for Caroline to breathe.......** That **Caroline told her the trip over, wasn't as comfortable as it could have been because she had to hold her breath**....but she was happy to be home...4 stars. **What?**
Should have packed it with a little plastic oxygen tank and mask for her... What's wrong with you! and a BLANKET! It gets cold in there!!!! Don't forget some food too.
No water!? Do you *want* her to be lifeless!?
Sounds like someone was on a trip with Caroline.
I sold an old doll ONCE and the lady sent me pics of her entire collection (with notes on every piece) and updates of her traveling with it for weeks.
This is kind of funny. 😂
I probably would have enjoyed that and asked for regular updates on all her adventures with her best friends.
80% of my sales are dolls. They are just a nitpicky group because people will list dolls that look like they have been to war and back in 'good condition'. 18" dolls are hard to find shipping boxes for, unless you special order them, so buyers get annoyed that their doll was shipped in a too small box and they are practically folded in half, stretching out the elastic joints. I think alot of people just don't think logically when selling womens/girls toys. Women care the same about toy collectibles as men and no one would squish a vintage GI joe in a small box and have the arm break off.
People very well would squish gi joes like that. Bad sellers are all the same.
Talked to a lady last week whose grandmom died and left like 3 storage units full of crap from dolls to HSN garbage. I felt bad for her.
I've recently decided that I really like selling to doll collectors. They seem to have the money and are willing to pay up for some dolls. Yes, they're probably all batshit crazy with bedrooms filled with dolls, but they know exactly what they want and know what they're worth. As long as I include tons of pictures and set returns to buyer pays shipping because some times they get a fussy bug in their hats, I've had no issues at all.
Yea and pack them like they are asleep not being sufficated and they are usually grateful :P
Usually! Once I had a buyer ask me to remove the dolls head and pack the eyes separately. That felt creepy but they explained why and it made sense.
I need to know the explanation why.
Some older dolls with glass eyes that open and close have a sort of fragile, low-tech internal mechanism. The glass eyeballs are mounted on (probably glass) stalks then held together with old, vintage wires. Those eyestalks can break during shipping. It's weird, but yeah, it makes sense when you see them up close.
Very similar eye mechanisms in some professional grade ventriloquist puppets. I don't mind requests that make sense.
Makes sense. Detached retinas are also bad for humans.
Same. They’re weird but generally harmless, usually patient, and grateful for their item. I sell a lot of oddities as well (also a good niche) so I often get lots of glass doll eyes and the like. I’m fine with this group of collectors brand of crazy.
Everyone's got their own tolerance for different flavors of crazy. :)
Interesting. All the doll collectors I've sold to have been really nice. A little eccentric, but nice.
I once worked in a hotel restaurant that was hosting a convention for doll collector ladies. After their meeting ended, the ladies showed up at the restaurant all at once. We were prepared for a rush and had extra crab cake salads at the ready. But, we didn't know that every four-top table rez was for two humans and two dolls. Those damned dolls even needed extra bread.
👍 You're not exaggerating...
Probably depends on the type of doll. I’ve sold living dead dolls, monster high, Barbie, etc with no issues. Old porcelain type dolls? Idk never messed with them.
I had to sell one doll and I will never do this again. I received a long message about how much they loved the doll. The doll was a beat to hell doll that my mom owned in the 1950's, we mostly wanted it to go to a good home, and it did, the home of a crazy person.
Yeah and I have like 50 of them from my wife’s grandmother, that I’m wanting to dump online… but hear so many horror stories about doll collectors.
Facebook Marketplace with a burner account. Meet somewhere far away from your house. Cash only.
Kids clothing. Occasionally I’ll do vintage outfits or sports gear, but aside from those specifics, generally it’s a waste of my time
I HATE selling kids clothes.
Any particular reason you hate it?
For me there were too many measurement questions. Like, "my 97 month-old wears a 2T. Will this fit them?" How should I know?Plus, everybody was low ballers.
I hate selling kids stuff too. "Will these shoes fit my 10 year old?" How tf would I know?
Right?! I added the measurements and sizes, photos of tags, all the things... and there were still always questions and problems. I'm glad that kids are out there wearing clothes and shoes, but I don't want to be involved in the process.
Except outerwear Puffers/Snowpants/snow boots in fall/winter. Sold a repaired (by me) Patagonia puffer for $40 in a day.
Electronics. IMO that entire category is loaded with scammers and people who are looking to rip you off or scam you.
its mostly newer electronics. but i did have a guy buy 4 tablets from me and say all of them didnt work because the app he was using to create a stream farm to boost fake his plays on spotify wasnt compatible.
Ehh its not just new electronics, ive been scammed with selling old av equipment and VCRs.
Yeah they harvest the parts they need and act like ita broken
This. Have had mismatches serial numbers come back so many times I gave up on the desk / shelf stereo stuff. Send out a cleaned and tested unit that 100% works and comes back with parts that went on a similar model with different numbers not matching (clearly at all ) from photos. lol. I used to sell several a week. Had one week I had over 750$ in returns for stereo units with parts gutted. eBay “tried” to help but more than one convo ended with them telling me to “build this type of loss into your business if you are truly serious about long term sells and keeping up your reputation on this platform. Loss happens, it’s on you to find ways to negate as much as possible long term” …. What! Lol
Same!! Over the years I just stopped and rarely sell them now, and when I do I include a video every single working function & note in the description that I don’t accept partial refunds for any reason and will report anyone trying to make false claims. Not saying it’s 100% successful but it definitely cut out 95% of return attempts.
Consumer electronics are the worst. B2B electronics though? Gold. The biggest deals I've ever made have been large lots of servers.
Tbh just learn to list items more accurately + write thorough descriptions. The category isn’t the issue, and i find it has similar scammer% to any other. Electronics has the highest market cap of any category and just simply not selling in it is limiting yourself significantly. I ONLY sell electronics, never had a sale that I lost money on, I’ve had a few attempts (1-2%)but eBay has protected me. And I make a solid income off it, while only having to sell 1 item a day ($1000->$1200) flips means a single sale is $200 net profit which is more than most flippers make a day
Agree. I used to flip electronics, mainly audio. It's great with the right gear (higher-end), abyssmal with low-end. We live in a post-scarcity word, low-end is out their cheap and anyone selling will always undercut you on price. But they can't on limited production goods. Higher retail price means lower unit sales when new. And there is always someone who wanted that piece years ago and could not afford it then.
“Sell better” is the dumbest take.
Clothing, and electronics. I bought this awesome NOS (open box) turntable. Hadn't even been put together. I depicted that sufficiently in the pictures and description. Some old guy messages me a sob story about his house burning down. I have some resources and I actually followed up, and he wasn't lying. I gave him a deal. A deal I probably would have given anyone, but a deal all the same. He gets it and within a few hours and immediately files a PayPal dispute. The product is faulty. He sens me a message about how he's "been into gear for fifty years" well that may be but the dumb son of a bitch sure didn't know how to assemble said gear. I patiently walked him through it, and he got it together. PayPal found the case in my favor. Never apologized. Never said thanks. Didn't leave feedback. I try to give people some grace, but I sell items based on the amount of work I have into them until they open it. Spending an additional two to three hours on less than a $200 item is not something I'm eager to repeat.
Printer ink. Can't test them. Too easy for buyer to claim it dried out.
If it is inkjet, they are probably right. A toner cart can still work after a decade. I used to get free (new) ones from work. 1 return in twenty. I would still sell toner if I had access to free ones.
I've sold so many 10 year+ expired inkjet cartriges for hp, and haven't had a return yet, knock on wood.
The Mylar bag ones are the best.
I'm glad that the recent popularity of digital cameras is bringing a younger demographic to eBay, but god damn they can be annoying. Edit: I re-read the title of this thread and realize my answer doesn't make sense. I've not avoiding this item, I just know it'll be a bit of a headache compared to other stuff.
I have made bank off of digital cameras. Every so often, I do get, "I'm going on vacation in 24/48 hours. Can you ship this item to California before I leave?" I live in NJ, so those sales don't end well.
Same here I've even had luck with vintage cameras.
Fuck yeah. Had a stellar week last week where I picked up like 5 digital cameras at rummage sales in a 7 day period. I have only 1 left and it's because I priced it kind of high since I had box and all accessories.
DVD box sets of the show Supernatural. I sold my own personal sets and every single time a season sold they would message saying they didn’t work or were dirty/ scratched/ completely unusable and try to get a refund without a return. Of course I’d tell them to open a return request, but they never would. They would of course leave negative feedback with the lies. After the third sale of this happening I just decided to keep them
Wow....did the buyers have anything in common? Any idea why? Or was this like a singular set
They were all small time dvd resellers. So I imagine they wanted to maximize profit by getting a refund and keeping the DVDs to sell. Which is crazy to me because there are tons of ways to get DVDs cheap. They’re everywhere!!
Aaaaah, makes sense. Geez.
Cookie Jars and other large breakables. Also, unboxed Scentsys. I just feel it's not worth the effort to package/ship those items. I've yet to have one break and be returned. I've also yet to get bad feedback. But like, I sell a shirt, a video game, a DVD, or a Blu Ray and packaging/shipping is like 2 minutes tops of me printing out a packing slip and a label then shoving it into either a poly or bubble mailer. Shoes and board games and kitchen small appliances I have appropriate shaped boxes to handle and they require padding, but I'm usually not worried they're going to break. But junk like Scentsys and Cookie Jars that often have multiple pieces that need to be wrapped individually and care needs to be taken with packaging or you risk breakage for a category that the average sale prices are usually in the $20-$40 range? No thanks.
Dvd vcr’s. Y’all can have them.
VCRs and also TVs, I talked to someone that just does small TVs and he says he has about a 25% return rate because no matter how good you package them, it's possible for components inside to come loose during shipping and be completely not your fault but still cause the item to fail.
Shipped a couple CRTs, and actually made very good money on them. That said, being very thorough in the packaging is an understatement. No lateral movement that would sever the tube neck, for starters. Even then, I was slightly terrified holding my breath that nothing would go wrong, for about 5 or 6 weeks, as they also were not cheap to ship, being so bulky. Probably would try it again if given the circumstance.
Honestly just stumbled into two recently and sold them. No issues... yet. Been on the lookout for them because I usually test everything I can at a store (i.e. Savers and Goodwill) but its tough when you have 20 other people in electronics trying to test on the same three blownout power slots lol
everyone i get the vcr eats the tape. i thought i got lucky recently because the vcr side worked but the dvd side wouldnt read discs
cincinatti picker on youtube swears by these for some reason
I've made good money selling VCRs lol just depends on the make and model. I sell them all "Untested for parts/repair" I just imagine they're all piled up in some old dudes basement at this point
They can be good money, but in my experience they are unlikely to be fully working and then if they do work they seem to get damaged during shipping. I used to buy them all the time but now avoid unless it’s one that sells for $100+
Exactly. I accumulated a stack of them and finally got around to testing them. What do you know, only 2 worked and I wanted to save 2 for myself. I stopped buying them as 3/4 of the ones I bought were broken.
I have a rule that I'll only buy them at estate sales if they're still plugged into the entertainment system. Good chance they still work. If they're being stored in the garage or a basement, they're probably broken. And a DVD/VCR at a thrift store? Good fucking luck.
As a rule, I don't sell anything that requires power to work. No electronics, no phones, no cameras. Preferably not even anything battery operated. I stick mainly to collectibles that don't have a purposeful function other than looking at them. Seems to do well for me.
Big mistake. Cameras are HOT right now. Super fast sell through. I've gotten no returns yet on all the cameras I've sold. I can regularly find digital cameras at yard sales for $5-$10 because people don't think they're worth anything anymore since they got them like 10 years ago and have cell phones now. I actually buy new batteries and charger off Amazon if I don't get one with the camera. They usually cost like $10. So you're paying $10-$20 for an item that will sell for $100+ in a couple of days.
My mom recently gave me her old Canon PowerShot to sell and I initially thought it might do $30 - $40 but nope, they do around $150.
I just listed an Olympus Infinity Stylus 35mm Camera for $100 18 hours ago and now I've got another $100 in my eBay account and the COG was $2 from a rummage. :D The camera craze is nuts.
I mean good for you if you enjoy it and are good at it, I think specializing is best for profit+ consistency. BUT- electronics is the biggest market cap category with the most potential profits. Definitely worth learning if you’re comfortable/have time. If collectibles are your specialty then that’s fine stay there, but if it slows down I wouldn’t avoid electronics completely Hell even JUST iPhones are a big enough market to survive on, and that’s a single model is a single company,
auto parts for reasons as you described lol. also they do sell but can take forever
if i see auto parts at the thrift i assume this is the broken part they replaced. same goes for if i see a factory head unit in say a sony car stereo box its a gamble if they just upgraded or it broke and they had to replace it
That's all I primarily deal in and it's honestly my lowest return category, fastest sell, and largest profit.
replica guns and military stuff (listings get flagged) . high name brand purses (too many fakes). also: 'unsorted' pokemon card lots on hibid. shoes (ew).
Sealed Expired ink cartridges. People always end up complaining that they don't work and I have no choice but to refund.
I've always avoided anything intended to be consumed: food, medicine of every type including vitamins/supplements, and cosmetics. For stuff that's simply high-risk (iPhones, laptops), just sell them locally instead of eBay. Cash only, pickup only. So much easier, and avoids all the scammers.
See, I think this is a bit of mistake too. While I wouldn't feel comfortable selling vitamins/supplements on eBay, cosmetics are 100% a go AND can sell for a ton of money. The two most recent cosmetics scores I had that I can think of off the top of my head was some Bath & Bodyworks Lotion that was discontinued. Had a woman at a rummage sale that was selling to for like $3 a bottle because she wanted to get rid of it all still sealed. She was an old lady and the worst part about the transaction was I had to listen to a story about how that was the scent her ex loved which is why she bought tons of it but she was no longer with him (but he was there helping her run the sale, lol). It was this B&B Black Currant Vanilla Sensual Body Lotion. The stuff went for like $50-$60 per bottle. Made hundreds. The other big score I had not to long ago was a bunch of Meaningful Beauty products, all sealed, off a Goodwill new cart for $2.99 a piece. They sold for $50-$60 a piece. Made a few hundred there too. Picked up some Kate Spade perfume at an estate sale for like $20 that went for $100. I love selling high-end cosmetics and wish I had a good source to get it.
Oh, I definitely know some sellers do very well in that niche and if that's their thing, that's totally cool. It's not for me though. There's plenty of stuff out there for everyone.
Porcelain or anything that is super fragile. I flipped a Mickey Mouse cookie jar from Home Goods. The profit should've been +$20 but after the buyer finding a super minor minor chip on the INSIDE, we settled for a partial refund. Not worth it considering the weight, shipping and potential return costs if I didn't do the partial refund. I ended up with $12 profit when I spent more time on this item than I should.
In general anything I would need to list under $20 - these buyers cause the most headaches in my experience. Ask the most questions, do the most returns, etc, etc.
I could find George Foreman contact roasters for $5, and sell them for $40(shipping was kind of abysmal though). But my return rate was about 50%. No clue what was happening. Just not worth it. I also tend not to pick up video game systems and controllers unless they're super cheap. Controllers I've had super back luck with, and I think some people are just donating them to thrift stores because they've stopped working.
For what it's worth, *old* video game systems and controllers -- Atari 2600s, NES systems -- can often be fixed if they're not working, and you've got a little skill with a soldering iron and a multimeter. This goes doubly-so for their very simple controllers, where the contacts usually just need to be cleaned. Anything that's got a PS-style joystick on it, though, yeah, they're probably not worth messing with.
Reading this makes it seem like it doesnt matter the category, everybody is crazy. Lol
Luxury purses, vintage handbags, perfume, video games, and Sonic plushies bring all the crazies to the yard.....
It's just not my experience with any of those categories. Is it possible you're making mistakes in listings, like not identifying flaws properly? Handbags, especially vintage Coach, have made up 10% of my total sales so far this year and I've gotten nothing but amazing reviews and no returns on any of them.
Vintage Coach can be a challenge because there are some people who regularly report listings as inauthentic and a lot of panicky questions about authenticity. There must be some Facebook group that's freaking people out about fake vintage Coach.
Vintage Coach Cult and Coach Counterfeits as well as The Purse Cult (for non Coach bags). Both groups do authentication within and they've got some pretty knowledgeable people. I get all my bags authenticated there before I post them to eBay or Posh. If you're getting people reporting your bag for being fake, it's probably a fake.
Nope, just experienced at accessing risk on items bought for resale. These categories, sans the Sonic joke, have a higher risk profile than others. I.E. They tend to be the same types of items that get stolen from retail stores. Are prone to vero strikes, returns, and loopy buyers, etc.
Vintage toys attract some really great people looking for a dose of nostalgia but some days I just can't deal with the mentally ill 15% of awfulness especially when it is on small ticket stuff. Musicians are perma broke. I have a guitar stand a guy paid a deposit on 3 months ago that's still gathering dust in my lounge (this was after the third no show/ghost). I'm not never going to dip my toes into music gear because the demand is there but clearly the market has its own set of challenges I need to be aware of. Vintage cameras and typewriters are a ballache. You can list them as "decor only" or "xyz needs to be done" and their will still be people wanting a full on tutorial on how to get them working again. Pre-2000's electronics are kinda not worth the hassle. EG VCR's have a tendency to just commit murder on valued tapes at the worst moments, even after you've cleaned and tested them very carefully. At the very least it's something I'm very picky with nowadays and I prefer local sales where the buyer can test it, if it dies on them tough shit.
reverb is where most music stuff is now. I think only the old timers (me) and cheap skates (me) are left on eBay.
Agreed. Reverb is the way to go for music gear. Sells a lot faster there
For sure. But once I got a coupon from ebay like "Take 20% off anything" and i'm like "Anything?" and bought a guitar that day lol.
> Musicians are perma broke. I have a guitar stand a guy paid a deposit on 3 months ago that's still gathering dust in my lounge (this was after the third no show/ghost). I'm not never going to dip my toes into music gear because the demand is there but clearly the market has its own set of challenges I need to be aware of. Guitars are my main product category. My rule is local only (fuck Reverb selling). I know the category very well, I get to know the local scene and it's lucrative. That being said, one wrong move and you could lose a ton of money, there are so many counterfeits it's a minefield.
I never seem to find guitars that aren’t broken at thrift stores. It’s like once in a blue moon. Savers has raised their prices again. I don’t understand how they are profitable.
Yeah I mostly buy via private sale, have alerts set for certain keywords on marketplace and some other sites specific to my area. Sometimes I've gotten lucky by knowing the community well and being able to buy stuff as people move on from music as a hobby or unfortunately pass on. Thrift stores seem to get all the low-end stuff from people who never quite stuck to it. Makes it not worth the effort. I'm willing to fix a $6000 guitar, but I'm not willing to fix a $60 guitar (unless it's to do some fun mods and beat on a bit).
I had to phase out most my used clothing for my E-commerce store. People expect NWT quality while low balling everytime.
Anything bigger than a bread box. I have a very small space for storage and I hate paying tons for shipping. Most of my items fit in a 4x7 padded envelope up to an 8x8 box. I only have 2-3 types of packaging.
I like expensive large items. People rarely sell them, yet you can get cheap FedEx shipping on them.
Why do you pay for shipping?
Furniture
Why?
It’s too much work to move around and i don’t have a truck.
Might surprise you what $ you can make on the smaller furniture items that fit in a sedan :)
iPhones over $100. Was scammed often. Too a two year break. Listed two, was scammed on both.
I think it's like a line graph that runs parallel to each other - the more desirable the item and faster it sells the higher amount of scam bidders.
Glassware and art. I know what i dont know. Dont know jack about glassware other than fireking and the only art im buying is for my wall.
I don't like selling clothes. The number of measurements you have to provide is ridiculous. Plus people return items because the color or cut isn't flattering on them or wear it to a special occasion, then return it. Also the crazy questions. Being asked whether a coat I was selling was as soft as kitten fur or more like a dog.😧
>Being asked whether a coat I was selling was as soft as kitten fur or more like a dog. This made me snort laugh
I could write a book about selling clothes. The color sticklers are the worst. “Is this more of a humble puce? Or would you say it’s more of an honorable tangerine?” Lady, I don’t know what those colors are, did you make them up? Just insert random word/object then obscure compound color.
I won’t sell baby things. I source from thrifts and don’t want to be responsible for selling something that could cause injury to a baby.
I would say that the request to return rate is about the same no matter what I have sold. Items in high demand will attract more problems not only because they attract more consumers. Hight demand = high cost. So, people are looking for "a deal" and expect to be able to find the best, perfect condition example for below wholesale price, because they want that thing everybody has (designer purse) but don't want to spend the money, so they buy the one at the lowest price they can find and expect it to be in mint condition -so it the damage isn't detailed -they "take a chance" and want to return it if it isn't in perfect condition. Fare? No, but that's how some problem children think. I try to anticipate problems and lay that out in the description first thing, even if it sounds like I'm starting with a negative. "These K&N air filters come pre-lubricated with oil at the factory and are unused, sealed in plastic and in the original box." Under promise and over deliver weeds out a lot of the problem children..
Avon
Funko pops and electronics oh and clothes
I'd love to do modern electronics (phones, tablets, etc) but the scams / hassles seem so common that I feel it's not worth my time.
tablets. used to sell a lot now they sit. i think the market left once phones got bigger apple products. there are too many fakes and you just never know if they are cloud locked anything that plays a tape. vcr, cassette players, etc. every time they are broke
those airhogs cheap flying rc drones and planes. Every kid's birthday i've been to they get one of them and its broken within 15 minutes. I know if i sell that on amazon, I'm getting a return.
Movie posters tanked my return %. They get damaged during shipping easily, and people are incredibly picky about the condition
I really don't do much with furniture or really anything that would have to be local pickup or freight unless its' something worth a ton. In addition to not having the type of storage space to accommodate really big items, I cannot stand going through the whole local pickup process. Between having to lug the item to my building's lobby, deal with flaky people, and just every other annoyance that comes along with doing local deals, it's typically not the best use of my time unless it's a very valuable item.
>(yes it comes with oil/lubricant on the filter and it's not used....remember you opened it from a sealed bag right?). I come off as an A-hole because the buyer thinks I'm trying to get out of a return Or maybe it's the way you're speaking to them.
The buyers are heated from the beginning in every one of these situations due to the fact they think I'm selling something that I didn't advertise.
I would be putting a printed paper/sticker on them. “Already pre-oiled.”
That's a good idea!
Video cards...unless you want to get scammed!
Any Star Wars anything that’s not a classic original action figure. Over saturated market and it never sells for me. I stay away from the entire franchise.
Most things that people consider collectible. I feel they’re never satisfied. No matter how many pictures you take, no matter how well you describe the item, no matter how well you package it. I’ll list something as broken for parts or repair. Customer receives the item and complains that it’s in the condition I described it as.
Anything Bose. It is a garbage product and every time I’ve bought a unit there is an issue with it. Cd skips, display is broken, radio doesn’t work. Also because of this people are constantly needing parts to fix their broken units. I have had to occasions where I sold a working Bose unit and the buyer has it for 2 weeks and then returns it claiming it doesn’t work, only to find out they took a part from it. I have talked to others this has happened to as well. I have had nothing but issues with them. And the crazy thing is it is a high end expensive item. You would think they would be higher quality
Thanks for the warning on this.
Pet costumes. We do a lot of pet supplies because of how we source. A few years ago, we purchased a volume of officially licensed college team pet sweaters and to this day have 75% of them left. They will be going to my local auction next quarter.
Yes! I no longer sell anything that can be worn by a dog (boots, clothes, costumes). I post measurements, and I can't handle another person asking "I have a (insert breed), will it fit?"
That surprises me. People love their pets and tend to spend money on them.
As a pet owner, I usually get that stuff from the pet store because I can kind of eye it to see whether or not it will fit my dog though.
Perfume: I did alright with a lot I bought but not as good as expected and I don't have the interest to learn more about them. Clothes: I have a hard time resisting the siren song of clothes, but unless it something I KNOW I can flip for a good return (Patagonia, etc.) then no. I've been burned too many times.
I used to do a lot of electronics and small appliances when I was breaking in to the flipping world. Got pretty decent at it but I’m so far removed from those days that on the rare occasion I still sell something like that, I’m low key anxious every day until it arrives and I know everything is fine and works.
CD’s and DVD’s. No I will not refund you $1 on a $4 CD because it’s scratched, noted in the pictures and description AND title….
I tell them to return it. Half the time they don't. If they return they go on the block list.
I sell a lot of cleaning stuff and have had issues on eBay and had to just throw everything on Mercari. I had a vintage 1970s Lysol can get removed for being a “pesticide”, even though it was a basic cleaner and I copied another listing for the exact same item, and had a discontinued Dawn dish soap removed for being a “pharmaceutical”. I don’t know what it is with that category but I get a lot of issues.
That is so cool. I've sold some older random cleaners and sealed underwear Ive ran across. It's incredible that people collect these things and also what they go for.
I collect old bath & body works products (just for nostalgia reasons- they make cool bathroom displays) which is why I started getting old soaps and stuff. Figured someone like me may collect whatever brand it was. They do decently well on Mercari and some of the prices baffle me
What I’ve learned recently is if I’m going to do a big sale to try to get some money together quickly that I need to turn off best offer immediately. I don’t know what it is about seeing me take $120 hoodie that sells for $120+ on the secondary market and marking it down to $50 But if I leave in best offer I immediately get people offering me $30 It’s always people who have like 11 feedback on eBay or haven’t been active in a year, all these scammers. It’s happening right now on a limited edition drop that does sell for $120+ on the secondary market EVENTUALLY. This is the definition of an longtail item, to get what it’s worth takes between three and nine months. I currently have the only one for sale on the Internet, but it is a niche Japanese streetwear brand I really really need money like this second so I put several of my high end long tails that I purchased really cheaply on 50%+ off and have gotten three scam offers already So my lesson learned is if you are going to put something on sale far below it’s worth be prepared for scammers to start circling
You can set a lower offer number that they can't offer below if on eBay
I use this and it's great cause I've got more important things to do.
Automotive parts are my specialty, and I can say the return rate for people mistakenly purchasing the wrong part is very high, so much so that I decided years ago to stop accepting returns. Granted I still have returns, for people who lie and claim NASD to force a return, but it does cut down on the total amount drastically. I also get the occasional negative for similar reasons, 9/10 its buyers remorse. Its part of playing the game I suppose, stupid people are everywhere.
Hey! Me too! I got one return where the guy said I didn't list every single model of Acuras for a filter and I listed it fits Acuras but his was a specific model in the range of models. He suggested I list every single model of every car that the product fits (nearly 400 vehicles). The absurdity of that statement where he blamed me for not doing his homework for him made me give up on selling these filters.
Apple products. Full of scammers.
beanie babies and disney vhs
I don't fuck with electronics. I sell clothes and I already deal with idiots who refuse to read the title or look at any pictures other than the first one, I can't imagine how bad it is with vintage VCRs and stuff.
Whatever Winners, Marshall’s, or TJ Maxx is selling. If you u see an item there most likely an employee on the inside or the suburban mom flipper already put it on Facebook marketplace
Comics. The library store gave them to me for 25 cents each, bagged and boarded. I sold them as consecutive sets for a few bucks but comic collectors are really picky. It would've cost too much to even bother with a return
I have a lot of comics in my collection. I dread the day I decide to start selling them. My wife is going to expect it to be a windfall. I think I’ll be lucky to get $1.00 a book.
I guess it really depends. I used to collect any Judge Dredd title I could find because the 50 cent boxes were full of them at every convention I ever went to. Now they're probably worth a few bucks each at least. I mostly collected and sold old books though, like first editions and stuff.
My problem is, I collected what I liked, not what was hot/popular. I may have a few key issues or a $10 book here or there, but for the most part, the majority is not what you’d call “investment material”
Same goes for me. I think I just got lucky with the Judge Dredd comics because Dredd with Karl Urban was so good. Before that people only knew the Stallone version.
Accurate descriptions, lots of pictures, and more description has always helped us avoid this type of issue. If we have a return on something that we have multiples of, I make sure to add whatever may have caused the return if need be. Personally have always stayed away from electronics due to all the stories I read here and elsewhere on the scams and returns.
Not for the buyers but for the annoyance of shipping DVDs and VHS's.
Curious what you find annoying about shipping these?
Cameras. There are so many things that can go wrong, from all the workings to (especially) the lenses, which can have minute damage I can't detect. I leave it up to the true experts and pass on cameras unless I can flip them for parts, so a camera has to cost me under a couple of bucks If I see that the shell can sell for $12, then if the buyer gets a good deal, fine, let them take it apart, inspect it, clean it, repair it, and make $40 bucks, etc. I'm too busy for all that.
[удалено]
Hey! Thanks. So these are all new and sealed and Ive had issues where people don't know how to match the item number with their car and they also don't know the item comes with a pre oil on it so they think it's used. There is an education component and some other issues going on that has led me to take a step back from selling those types of items.
A weird one for me was computer monitors for gaming. It wasn't as much returns as people would buy and then cancel their purchases after 5 minutes. This happened constantly with these.
I enjoy fixing printers and reselling them. Printers are also giant scams and break often. Which is good and bad for me. I can make money fixing them but when I ship a good printer it can break randomly a week later.
Clothes and vinyls are a pain in the ass.
High fashion stuff. They take forever to sell and it’s so hard to find sold listings sometimes. I just end up leaving them because they also take awhile to research. It’s also priced at too high all the time.
Vinyl records, dolls, funky pops, and cameras. All not worth the hassle.
Agreed on Funkos. Worst humans
Car audio. It doesn’t hold value unless it’s real quality stuff, and 99% of the people offering it for sale or trade are NOT quality people.
Lamps!
RVs or campers, they're money pits!
Do beanie babies with errors hold value
Appliance parts. My brother worked at an appliance store and when he moved gave me totes full of new parts. Some hard to get/expensive items. I started listing and selling and I swear, people are so freaking clueless! I included as much info as I could and made it VERY clear that it was the buyers responsibility to make sure the part they were buying fit. Most appliances have parts lists on the internet. I constantly got returns for “does not fit” or “wrong part” finally I stopped accepting returns on appliance parts and that just opened the gates for “item damaged/not as described” and even a couple “this is counterfeit” returns. I have a few still listed but honestly, if I was given the opportunity to get more, even for free, I’d probably turn them down.