Posts Tagged ‘children’s boutique items’

Dear eBay Queen;

I’ve sold a few things here and there on eBay. I’m not really a serious seller.  I just buy things when I need them, and sell thing when I want too.  That being said, I have a diamond ring that I would like to sell.  It’s a 1.5 carat solitaire with a total 2 carat weight of diamonds. It’s not really an engagement ring, and not really a cocktail ring. I’m thinking I would like $5,500.00 for the ring. What is the best way to sell this?

I am also a little worried about my protection as a seller.  I see there is protection in place for buyers, but how can I be sure that if I send my ring to someone, they won’t switch the diamonds and then return the ring to me?

John
Dear John:

I’ve been selling for almost 14 years on eBay.  I still believe eBay’s philosophy, “That people are basically good.” If you decide to sell your ring on eBay, I would make sure that the ring has been appraised (recently).  This way if in the unlikely event that a dishonest person purchased your item and wanted to return it, you would have the appraisal with the drawing and photos of the ring.

There is seller protection, but not from what you are concerned about.  There aren’t any guarantees that someone wouldn’t switch your ring. Every sale on eBay involves risk.  Some other options for you might be Craigslist.

Dear eBay Queen:

I was in your eBay class at the beginning of the year.  You told a story about a friend of yours that purchased a childrens boutique store that was going out of business.  I kept thinking that might be the way to accumulate eBay inventory.  I’ve been browsing Craigslist, local newspapers and Freecycle.  I ended up with a couple of different things.  I was wondering if you could help me figure out the best way to sell these items?

We purchased a large quantity of rubber stamps.  I think this was from a serious scrapbooking person or maybe from a store.  I tried to get the story behind them, but when I went to pick them up the guy just said “They are my wife’s, I don’t know much about them. Glad they are leaving here.” The stamps are all different, and range in sizes from 1 inch square to 6 inch stamps.  Most of these are new most new, and I would say that 95% of them are unused.  There are probably 600 rubber stamps total, not including the sets.  I have a variety of themes including Christmas, Valentines, Hanukah, Fourth of July, and the rest are miscellaneous.  This lot cost me a total of $45.

The next lot of items we purchased was a lot of NEW hardback books.  There are 225 books, and each book has no more than 2 duplicates. Most of these are current best sellers, some fiction, and some nonfiction.  I bought these at an auction, and paid $35.00 for the whole lot.

How would you eBay them? Would you sell them in one huge lot with a Buy it Now with Best Offer? Should I separate them out and sell them individually?

Trina; Tonganoxie, KS

Dear Trina:

Those sound like some great buys!  In a situation like this, you need to decide how long you want to mess with these.  If you sell them individually, you will be writing each one up, and they may not sell the 1^st or 2^nd time.  If you sell them in a lot, you may not make all the money on them you would have if you sold them individually.  The best thing to do is check out what some of the ending prices or completed listings of these items are.

I would check into selling the hardbacks on Amazon.com and eBay.  It’s easy to list books on Amazon, and there is no cost to list them for 30 days.

Strange eBay item of the week: eBay item: 170700262000 (enter this number in the eBay search box in the top right corner of the home page.) Do you love Halloween Decorations? Check out this vintage Halloween Screen Stand Up.   SOLD $1525.00 HERE

Suzie Eads is a nationally known eBay marketer and eBay trained Education Specialist. She lives in Rantoul. Do you have a question for the eBay Queen? Email: questions@asktheebayqueen.com