How do they profit?

[RaiderMike]

What is the secret to people that post cards for .99 with like 50 cents or 1.00 shipping?

How the Hell do you profit off that?

Us little guys that use nickel and dime cards to profit can't compete with that.

[LRV]

Not a card but I just bought 2 custom decals from an ebay seller for $.99 each & free shipping.

They were sent Priority Mail that cost like $6.00 :confused:

[RaiderMike]

Not a card but I just bought 2 custom decals from an ebay seller for $.99 each & free shipping.

They were sent Priority Mail that cost like $6.00 :confused:

Just doesn't make sense.

[TSJCT]

they are shipping in PWE with a .49 cent stamp. hard to make money but they are making a little and selling in qty.

[RaiderMike]

they are shipping in PWE with a .49 cent stamp. hard to make money but they are making a little and selling in qty.

Isn't that a no-no?

[Cavaliercards]

Isn't that a no-no?

If they don't care about the eBay discount then it is not and you refund people that claim they don't get it. If it is above $5.00 they probably discount.

There is a certain sales level where they are clearing enough that the loss of the discount no longer matters.

[LoveItCards]

Listing low end cards at like $1.99 to $2.49 auction style with free shipping is a decent strategy. Sometimes bidding may get to $3 or $4. It's great for pesky parallels that are fairly worth a buck or two. I've shipped many cards like this in a plain white envelope. Not an issue to date. If it were to go over $5, I'd upgrade it to a padded envelope and two stamps. So generally these buyers understand this approach. One thing as a seller is if you don't provide tracking for an item, it inhibits the ability to be a "Top Rated Seller" which I heard would get listings even more exposure in searches?

[4SeamCollect]

You can profit by setting your PayPal account to accept micro payments. As long as your average sale is below $10 then you save tons on fees. You have to call them and see if you're eligible but it changes the fee structure to where you can profit from doing PWE stuff.

[LoveItCards]

You can profit by setting your PayPal account to accept micro payments. As long as your average sale is below $10 then you save tons on fees. You have to call them and see if you're eligible but it changes the fee structure to where you can profit from doing PWE stuff.

Sweet! Didn't know that.

[4SeamCollect]

Sweet! Didn't know that.

It's really great if you're mainly selling basic inserts, commons, etc.

[RaiderMike]

You can profit by setting your PayPal account to accept micro payments. As long as your average sale is below $10 then you save tons on fees. You have to call them and see if you're eligible but it changes the fee structure to where you can profit from doing PWE stuff.

Wait, what is a micro payment?

[4SeamCollect]

Wait, what is a micro payment?

Micro payments are for when most of your sales are below $10. It changes the fee structure so you're not eaten up and can still make a profit. It's a setting that PayPal can do for you if you call them.

[RaiderMike]

Micro payments are for when most of your sales are below $10. It changes the fee structure so you're not eaten up and can still make a profit. It's a setting that PayPal can do for you if you call them.

Ok, I will... thank you for this.

[shrevecity]

Isn't that a no-no?

Nope there is no rule against it, you just wil not get the TRS. I was doing it on cards and the increase in sales far made up for the discount I was losing.

A micropayment account is key. instead of paying 30 cents off the top you are charged 5 cents with a higher percentage. If the item gets over 12.80 or something like that it becomes more expensive, but under that Paypal fees are cheaper.

Another thing they rely on is multiple purchases. Its costs basically the same to ship 3 cards via PWE as it does to ship one card.

[RaiderMike]

Nope there is no rule against it, you just wil not get the TRS. I was doing it on cards and the increase in sales far made up for the discount I was losing.

A micropayment account is key. instead of paying 30 cents off the top you are charged 5 cents with a higher percentage. If the item gets over 12.80 or something like that it becomes more expensive, but under that Paypal fees are cheaper.

Another thing they rely on is multiple purchases. Its costs basically the same to ship 3 cards via PWE as it does to ship one card.

What about neg/neutral feedback? And do people claim they never got it?

[Stifle]

Therefore when I purchased a box of Elite at a LCS at $105 in 2006 and didn't pull a auto, how many of those so called commons or even the game used card of Chad Johnson I pulled would be purchased at .49 cents ? I would have been lucky to have paid my 6% tax on top of the box. To many people who have never or rarely sold on EBay, decide to comment after those who attempt to provide other collectors with a inexpensive ( collectors could attempt to bust open packs and boxes in order to find what the want ) form of locating what they need. Those people who critique a sellers ability to gain a fraction of what is spent must believe that every lottery ticket is a winner !
Be thankful that their is members in our hobby that are willing to put in the time and energy to risk extremely small returns for the rest of us. If a seller is able to have roughly half of the auctions sell then where does that seller place the other selling fees onto ? If a seller decides to realist the auction and it does t sell, the seller is charged Again, ( at least that was the rules back in 2003 ).

[shrevecity]

What about neg/neutral feedback? And do people claim they never got it?

Most people who buy them know there is always a risk. When I was selling about 1200 cards a month like this I would get maybe one claim of non-receipt every couple of months. The loss was just a cost of selling on Ebay. I would get more complaints for non-receipt on items where the tracking showed delivered than those sent PWE.

As long as you are clear how the items will be shipped there should be no issues with feedback. If you do then you just block and move on. When you have a high transaction count a few negs are going to happen no matter what you do.

[shrevecity]

Therefore when I purchased a box of Elite at a LCS at $105 in 2006 and didn't pull a auto, how many of those so called commons or even the game used card of Chad Johnson I pulled would be purchased at .49 cents ? I would have been lucky to have paid my 6% tax on top of the box. To many people who have never or rarely sold on EBay, decide to comment after those who attempt to provide other collectors with a inexpensive ( collectors could attempt to bust open packs and boxes in order to find what the want ) form of locating what they need. Those people who critique a sellers ability to gain a fraction of what is spent must believe that every lottery ticket is a winner !
Be thankful that their is members in our hobby that are willing to put in the time and energy to risk extremely small returns for the rest of us. If a seller is able to have roughly half of the auctions sell then where does that seller place the other selling fees onto ? If a seller decides to realist the auction and it does t sell, the seller is charged Again, ( at least that was the rules back in 2003 ).

If it sells by auction listing fees are credited back to the seller.

With the right templates in place a seller can list 75 to 100 cards an hour. So time is really not a factor. Used to set them up in Turbo Lister while watching TV and then right as I went to bed hit upload and just leave it til morning.

[LoveItCards]

For those using Turbo Lister, do you pull images from a computer using a scanner or somehow transfer images from a smart phone to the computer?

[Stifle]

Shrevecity, My dad has a favorite saying " If If's and But's were Candy and Nuts, it would be Christmas every day". Since the card didn't sell the first time, what are the percentages that it would sell the second go around. Sometimes a card may catch fire but just check what people are looking for on Blowout. It's not the common cards, it's the 3% of what may move in a box.
Why are card companies producing super high end products ? Blowout members are asking for National Treasures, etc not 97 Score Board or multiple other lower end products.

[shrevecity]

Shrevecity, My dad has a favorite saying " If If's and But's were Candy and Nuts, it would be Christmas every day". Since the card didn't sell the first time, what are the percentages that it would sell the second go around. Sometimes a card may catch fire but just check what people are looking for on Blowout. It's not the common cards, it's the 3% of what may move in a box.
Why are card companies producing super high end products ? Blowout members are asking for National Treasures, etc not 97 Score Board or multiple other lower end products.

Blowout makes up only a small percentage of the card collectors out there. Everyone has their niche. Some buyers only buy low end cards. To me I make more money in the low end than the high end. You can do an Ebay search and the cards sold for under 10.00 out does card sold for over 100.00

Right now in the baseball main category there are 8,496,000 items sold(changes quickly so not gonna be totally accurate) if you cap it at 10.00 then you have about 1.5 million sold listings, set a low side of 100.00 and you have only 75,000. So that tells me that the bulk is between 10 and 100.00 but there are far more buyers of 10.00 or less items than 100.00 or more item.

Many COMC sellers will tell you the sweet spot is 3.00 to 5.00 dollars there.

I have an anchor store so I get 2500 free listings off the top and only pay a nickel after that, Right now I have 1700 listings up but very very few cards as there are other items that are low cost, easy to list that sell much better and with less drama.

[Cavaliercards]

If it sells by auction listing fees are credited back to the seller.

With the right templates in place a seller can list 75 to 100 cards an hour. So time is really not a factor. Used to set them up in Turbo Lister while watching TV and then right as I went to bed hit upload and just leave it til morning.

We use ink frog and when we get in a groove can do around 75-125 in an hour, it is very easy.

[harlem86]

Thanks for mentioning micro payment processing. I totally forgot that option. I have had almost 1000 listings on ebay that sold at about $1.00 which I've been giving up 33 cents immediately to paypal. Didnt leave much profit on those sales but how else can you sell a cheap rc or auto on ebay.

[LoveItCards]

Blowout makes up only a small percentage of the card collectors out there. Everyone has their niche. Some buyers only buy low end cards. To me I make more money in the low end than the high end. You can do an Ebay search and the cards sold for under 10.00 out does card sold for over 100.00

Right now in the baseball main category there are 8,496,000 items sold(changes quickly so not gonna be totally accurate) if you cap it at 10.00 then you have about 1.5 million sold listings, set a low side of 100.00 and you have only 75,000. So that tells me that the bulk is between 10 and 100.00 but there are far more buyers of 10.00 or less items than 100.00 or more item.

Many COMC sellers will tell you the sweet spot is 3.00 to 5.00 dollars there.

I have an anchor store so I get 2500 free listings off the top and only pay a nickel after that, Right now I have 1700 listings up but very very few cards as there are other items that are low cost, easy to list that sell much better and with less drama.

You mess with filling in item specifics for each new item posted?

[shrevecity]

You mess with filling in item specifics for each new item posted?

If its something like cards once you have the basic template set up unless there is a major change I don't bother with changing them for every item.

[Stifle]

Shrevecity, we have a disconnect ? What is the percentage of cards in a box that will sell over $5 in a non Super high end product ? Forget the under $10, the majority of commons & inserts pulled from a box are .99 cents or as Loveitcards stated "$1.99 to $2.49". The only difference in a lottery ticket to purchasing a box or pack of cards is that there isn't a market for vintage lottery tickets that I'm aware of. If sellers decide to purchase cards outside of busting packs / boxes then they do have the ability to avoid commons but will be paying heavy prices on the high end cards that move.
Two friends of mine attempted different routes for a living in the card market, LCS / on line / shows and the other on line / shows. It's a struggle to scratch a living and becomes more of a labor of love. I guess what I'm trying to point out is that those who critique sellers who are keeping cards available to collectors who don't have the funds to spend National Treasure money in order to remain in this hobby. This hobby needs all ends of collectors to remain a hobby.

[shrevecity]

Shrevecity, we have a disconnect ? What is the percentage of cards in a box that will sell over $5 in a non Super high end product ? Forget the under $10, the majority of commons & inserts pulled from a box are .99 cents or as Loveitcards stated "$1.99 to $2.49". The only difference in a lottery ticket to purchasing a box or pack of cards is that there isn't a market for vintage lottery tickets that I'm aware of. If sellers decide to purchase cards outside of busting packs / boxes then they do have the ability to avoid commons but will be paying heavy prices on the high end cards that move.
Two friends of mine attempted different routes for a living in the card market, LCS / on line / shows and the other on line / shows. It's a struggle to scratch a living and becomes more of a labor of love. I guess what I'm trying to point out is that those who critique sellers who are keeping cards available to collectors who don't have the funds to spend National Treasure money in order to remain in this hobby. This hobby needs all ends of collectors to remain a hobby.

I get what you are saying. The low end sellers who don't make much are just as important to the hobby as the high end sellers, if not more important. Player and team collectors with limited resources love the low-end sellers. I am not bashing low end or taking any from them as I have said I have found the 1-5.00 cards to be the least stressful and most enjoyable part of the hobby overall.

[4SeamCollect]

Another option is to send in your stuff to COMC as long as you know it'll probably sell for more than $0.75. With the new crossover listings it can save the headache of listing all your cards. I've honestly done just as well with my COMC stuff on eBay as I've ever done just listing them myself. (Note: I've never really listed more than about 250 items at a time on eBay though)

[LoveItCards]

There does seem to be a good count of casual collectors that enjoy spending just a few bucks here and there. By the way sent PayPal an email for micropayments.

[Branesergen]

There are a ton more low end collectors than high end. At shows I sell high end to 1-3 people and my quarter and dollar boxes make more than all the high end combined and there's always 3 or 4 people digging.