When Sometimes It's Best NOT to Buy and Sell Exclusively on eBay
Hi!
Flea markets, boot sales, collector's fairs and even offline auctions can be great places to offload items unsuitable for selling on eBay, because those items are too big or bulky, for example, or because they are prohibitively expensive to post. Or it could be they are perishable or unsuitable for posting, maybe profit margins are too low to justify eBay listing fees, or perhaps they appeal predominantly to local markets. Or perhaps you bought those items on eBay knowing they have much higher resell value elsewhere.
To add to the confusion, offline you will often find people buying items at one auction to resell at another offline auction, especially items that sell below market value in one area and sell at market value or much higher elsewhere. One big reason this happens is because auction houses in villages and small towns rarely attract more than a handful of local bidders and many do not advertise beyond a few miles from base. Staff at these smaller auction houses often lack specialist knowledge of the vast majority of collectibles and antiques which, along with low bidder numbers on the day, can mean immensely valuable items being sold for a tiny fraction of the price those items might fetch at larger auction houses (or on eBay) with specialist staff and hundreds or thousands of eager and very rich bidders.
Sometimes items sell locally at below market value because they relate to subjects unlikely to interest local buyers, such as topographical items relating to areas outside the immediate catchment area as, for example, where a piece of porcelain commemorating a major 19th century exhibition in Sheffield is sold in a tiny auction house in some sleepy Scottish village. Almost certainly the buyer in Scotland can take his miracle find south of the border and generate a fabulous profit from selling his porcelain at boot sales or flea markets, even collectors' fairs and auctions in Sheffield or close by.
Sometimes items sell better locally than on eBay because many people prefer buying at flea markets and other physical events where they can inspect items, pay for and take them home without having to pay postage and wait for items to arrive or sometimes go missing in the post.
There are people who won't ever buy on eBay, mainly for the 'jumble sale' image sometimes and very wrongly attached to eBay, often because they fear scams or don't know how to use eBay and don't want to learn.
Potential for Items Banned on eBay
Some items banned from selling on eBay, such as nazi memorabilia, are among the most popular and profitable items at collectors' fairs and flea markets. I won't suggest you intentionally buy eBay banned items, but if they are included in whatever else you buy, then flea markets are the best place to offload them. Do not upload those items to eBay or your listings will be removed.
Other banned items on eBay may also sell well locally and you can read a full list of what is allowed and what is now allowed on eBay at: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/policies.html
How to Begin Selling at Flea Markets, Car Boot Sales, Collectors' Fairs, etc.
You'll be pleased to know that becoming a successful buyer and/or seller at flea markets and the likes is much easier than actually selling on eBay. Anyone can do it. All you need is information about what type of events exist, where they are held, who the organiser is, how to get a stall, how to trade.
Here's how it's done:
- It's best to start out with local venues, mainly to make sure you enjoy the business and also to reduce time and money spent travelling to more remote areas. These local events are also a rich source of non-local items to resell on eBay.
- It's also wise to begin trading at non-specialist events where thousands of different products of all ages are traded, following which you can consider turning up to buy and sell at specialist events such as postcard fairs, doll and teddy bear auctions, train collectors' swapmeets, and so on. This lets you develop basic trading knowledge and helps you learn more about different product types to help you decide where best to buy and sell specific products in future.
- You'll find nearby events advertised in local newspapers, both county and town issues, usually among the classified advertisements under 'Days Out' or similar. National events are well promoted in antiques and collectors' magazines of which you'll find plenty on newsagents' shelves. Any display advertisements you find among the classifieds or elsewhere in local publications indicate most popular organisers for you to consider first.
- Visit as an observer first, look for regular traders at specific events (a sign the event is profitable), investigate the busiest stalls (make sure money is changing hands), study other traders' prices and stock turnover, notice how often they reduce prices on long standing items. At end of day, look for traders leaving early (a sign they haven't made money), study others standing round in groups discussing their day with fellow traders - if they're smiling, they've had a good day; if they're laughing they've had a very good day! All are tell-tale signs of hugely profitable and not so profitable events.
- Ask the organiser for a diary of forthcoming events (even if you've already got one from the Internet; you are just looking to make personal contact with organisers today). He or his representative is usually the person taking entry fees or moving from stallholder to stallholder with an open book and shoulder bag and obviously taking stall fees. Incidentally, the best organisers gather fees late in the day, when most traders are already in profit. Some organisers operate at one specific venue, some operate in one county, others travel extensively, some work nationwide; a tiny few operate worldwide. It's a good idea to visit several venues with the same and with different organisers to see if particular traders appear every time at specific locations. A regular band of followers is the most obvious sign of a professional organiser who spends plenty of time and money on advertising and helping traders to prosper.
- Contact the organiser by phone or approach them direct at events to book your first stall. Sometimes, but very rarely, there is a waiting list, which is actually very good news, it indicates a profitable, well organised event. Put your name on the list right away and be available to jump in at short notice if another person stops trading or fails to appear, always pay your fees on time without argument, be friendly to customers, and you'll soon be offered a permanent stall.
Suitable Products for Selling at These Events
- Local topographical items.
- Tea Trays packed with rubbishy bits and bobs that are not worth listing on eBay but might sell fast in bulk to members of the public or to fellow traders. Good examples include condiments sets without a popular theme and otherwise not collectible; books and pamphlets you've tried unsuccessfully selling on eBay but only if worth £1 or less; heavy items like small pieces of furniture, large toys and other children's hardware that's too bulky and too costly to post; household plants, old curtains, kiddies' cast-off clothing.
- Small electrical goods but be careful as you could be in trouble if items you sell turn out to be defective or even dangerous.
- Car parts, computer peripherals, and other items that many people buy second hand but which do not always sell well on eBay.
- Your First Big Day
- Pack everything you are selling into large plastic stacking storage boxes, the kind you might use to store vegetables or toys, you'll find them in all major supermarkets. These can be used, upside down, as staging for your stall. They are also stronger and sturdier than cardboard boxes which disintegrate in wet weather and which can fall apart between car and stall and render your valuables utterly worthless.
- If you have a garage attached to the house it's usually safe to load boxes into your car the evening before the sale. You should not load up and leave the car out of sight or out of earshot or you will be broken into. Not might, you almost definitely will be broken into, especially when locals and fellow traders, the dishonest kind, find out what you are doing!
- Price everything before the event, many potential buyers won't even look at unpriced goods and will just move to the next stall. Don't place sticky price labels directly onto your items, they are hard to remove and leave nasty marks and glue residue. Instead use labels with tiny holes though which to place string or cotton and tie these loosely onto your goods. Items like stamps and postcards, books and pictures, can be covered with see-through plastic and sticky price labels placed on the plastic.
- Arrive at the fair several hours before doors open to the public to lay out your stall and leave time to inspect other traders' stocks. Park as close to the loading door as possible and never leave your vehicle unlocked. It's best to have someone watch your stock inside the hall if you have to return to the vehicle for more stock. If you are alone, look for a big trolley to carry everything in one journey or pay someone to watch your stall while you unload. Most reliable dealers trading at the event will do this for you free of charge, but a friend or relative is best. Stay within sight of your stall at all times, or leave someone reliable in charge. Theft is not uncommon between traders.
- Be very careful about your own security and that of your goods. Rarely does it happen but I have known traders being followed home and robbed of their goods when they go into the house intending to unpack later. Worse still I have known people being followed from the event and stopped, attacked and robbed on route. Try always to vary your route home and avoid travelling alone. Most important of all, if you are stopped or you are threatened in any way, give up the goods, don't put up a fight, do not risk life or limb to save your stock.
- If you buy from traders, wait until end of day to pay them and reserve early profits to pay for items brought in by the public.
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- Book events with just one or two major organisers and ask for a regular pitch where visitors with goods to sell will see you first. Next to the door where entry fees are taken is best, also close to the bar or toilets.
- Determine your most profitable venues and book well in advance.
- Investigate new venues where you will reach fresh buyers and sellers.
- Choose one high profit event over several modestly profitable fairs and earn more money faster, leaving you plenty of time to run your eBay business.
- If you book just one day at multi-day events make it the first. The biggest spending customers and almost all private sellers arrive within minutes of opening time. Expect to make twice as much money on day one than on subsequent days.
- Produce a printed list of events you will be attending, as well as items you want to buy. Keep a pile on the side of your stall, hand them out freely to browsers and buyers, package them with goods sold and in all outgoing communications.
Happy eBaying
Avril!