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Old Guy Wants Help Using This Forum

Started by ParkRaven,

120 posts in this topic

DR.X

DR.X

Posted
Posted

just dont like how some of you say rude comments to new members and some of you.....little janet troll the boards to buy books that people sell too low by mistake. these boards are suppose to help people and enjoy the hobby. Not rip people off and eat popcorn all day when someone actually speaks the truth.

 

o.k. slow down killer. where is the rude comment you speak of? and who is RIPPING people off because they sold a book too low?

 

I've made mistakes on lots of books I've sold because I didn't do enough research and the book spiked. Buyers even pointed it out but I sold it for price X and that's the end of story, but that's just how i do stuff. Now continue.

 

It was probably the "go fist yourself" battlecry which was associated with OldGuy or OldMan or whatever, which you would probably only get if you've been around here awhile.

 

going outside to brush up on my boomerang throwing.

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jbud73

jbud73

Posted
Posted

Sigh :/ ok here is my two cents. Read the pinned 'what you need to know threads'

 

I'd submit Mike (aka Dr. Banner) knows what's he's doing. His current FS thread is here Dr. Banner HG BA thread

 

Happy to throw my last sales thread out there as I've sold hundreds of books through this forum jbuds August sales thread

 

Selling comes down to three things, especially here.

 

1. A good, Hi res SCAN. Not too big, not too small, Id say 200-300 DPI is fine on the scanner. I only scan the back cover if there is something I want to show defect wise, or if its a higher $$ book, BUT I also have a lot of good will here and will note things that the scan doesn't show (staple pop, interior page issues, etc) Need to host the scans somewhere. Photobucket is what I use its cheap/free and fairly easy, just google photobucket and sign up.

 

2. And this is the big one. You have to assign a GRADE. Now I do not believe it officially states this in the rules,but in reality you have to do it. This is really what tends to scare some people away. Not knowing much about the books or the original poster it will depend on your comfort level. My general mantra is, "you are not your books." Meaning for sale books should be treated just like the word sale implies. These are books that you are selling for someone else to take ownership of so the 'rose colored glasses' need to go away. Be honest, disclose hidden defects, I try and treat every book like I'm the buyer and opening the package with an expectation of the grade I bought the book in.

 

3. Communication. There are a lot of things here, but a few of the primary are as follows; Private Messages, or PMs. Sooner or later someone will PM you about a book fr sale in a sales thread, they are usually doing this to try and make a deal.

 

My three steps for PMs: 1) Respond to all of them as quickly as you can; if I'm posting book after book in a thread I may not see the little flashing envelope, but I will get to it as soon as I take a break. 2) On offers it depends on what the offer is in terms of the listed price and how long the book has been listed in the thread. For example if I've just listed a book and someone asks for 50% off and free shipping, I'm probably going to PM back a simple "No" however if they offer to buy 5 books = $200 and just want free shipping I'm probably going to say yes. 3)As soon as the deal is done, I immediately post that the books are sold via PM in the thread, In the past I had let the buyer do it, but sometimes they delayed and someone bought the book by posting a :takeit: while we were exchanging PMs. This is something that really causes problems; so as a general rule (that I seem to break very often) I do not do many PM deals on a book until is has been active in the thread for at least a few hours.

 

Invoicing, this is probably the last bit of communication that there is no set template for. All Invoices are done via Private message, so you have to keep a list of the books sold, what they sold for, and who bought them. I think there is a general explanation on how to send a PM so I will leave that. I PM the person a list of books they bought, shipping cost and total cost, add my PayPal address and mailing address if they want to pay by check.

 

I usually stipulate up front that you have 7 days to pay, however if ppl PM saying they need more time, I'm good with that, I believe the regulation is all transactions have 30 days, but most ppl pay within the first 3-7 days.

 

Misc

Summaries: I do one after everyday, on multiple sales day thread, or after every 30 books or so on 1 day thread. You can see an example of a summary of what's left in my sales thread link posted at the start of the thread.

 

Format: For smaller thread you can just make one thread and list the say 5-10 books for sale in there. Usually anything over 10 books, I will make a single post for each book.

 

Discounts: I do offer them, usually on all the books remaining a few days after I have listed them all, on smaller threads people will reduce on a book by book basis. Be very clear what the % discount is and what books, it does or does not apply to. If I have 100 books left and want to apply a discount but maybe only to 98 of them, I have in the past removed the books not available for discount from the thread, its just cleaner that way.

 

And my last piece of advice, ESPECIALLY for your first sales thread.

 

HAVE EVERYTHING PREPPED IN ADVANCE OF LISTING THE FIRST BOOK :makepoint: Meaning everything graded, priced and scanned. So then its just creating posts, listing a book, scan, grade and price.

 

Well, that's my 2c hope you have a great sales thread and experience selling here on the CGC forums.

 

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Mapleleafvann

Mapleleafvann

Posted
Posted
Sigh :/ ok here is my two cents. Read the pinned 'what you need to know threads'

 

I'd submit Mike (aka Dr. Banner) knows what's he's doing. His current FS thread is here Dr. Banner HG BA thread

 

Happy to throw my last sales thread out there as I've sold hundreds of books through this forum jbuds August sales thread

 

Selling comes down to three things, especially here.

 

1. A good, Hi res SCAN. Not too big, not too small, Id say 200-300 DPI is fine on the scanner. I only scan the back cover if there is something I want to show defect wise, or if its a higher $$ book, BUT I also have a lot of good will here and will note things that the scan doesn't show (staple pop, interior page issues, etc) Need to host the scans somewhere. Photobucket is what I use its cheap/free and fairly easy, just google photobucket and sign up.

 

2. And this is the big one. You have to assign a GRADE. Now I do not believe it officially states this in the rules,but in reality you have to do it. This is really what tends to scare some people away. Not knowing much about the books or the original poster it will depend on your comfort level. My general mantra is, "you are not your books." Meaning for sale books should be treated just like the word sale implies. These are books that you are selling for someone else to take ownership of so the 'rose colored glasses' need to go away. Be honest, disclose hidden defects, I try and treat every book like I'm the buyer and opening the package with an expectation of the grade I bought the book in.

 

3. Communication. There are a lot of things here, but a few of the primary are as follows; Private Messages, or PMs. Sooner or later someone will PM you about a book fr sale in a sales thread, they are usually doing this to try and make a deal.

 

My three steps for PMs: 1) Respond to all of them as quickly as you can; if I'm posting book after book in a thread I may not see the little flashing envelope, but I will get to it as soon as I take a break. 2) On offers it depends on what the offer is in terms of the listed price and how long the book has been listed in the thread. For example if I've just listed a book and someone asks for 50% off and free shipping, I'm probably going to PM back a simple "No" however if they offer to buy 5 books = $200 and just want free shipping I'm probably going to say yes. 3)As soon as the deal is done, I immediately post that the books are sold via PM in the thread, In the past I had let the buyer do it, but sometimes they delayed and someone bought the book by posting a :takeit: while we were exchanging PMs. This is something that really causes problems; so as a general rule (that I seem to break very often) I do not do many PM deals on a book until is has been active in the thread for at least a few hours.

 

Invoicing, this is probably the last bit of communication that there is no set template for. All Invoices are done via Private message, so you have to keep a list of the books sold, what they sold for, and who bought them. I think there is a general explanation on how to send a PM so I will leave that. I PM the person a list of books they bought, shipping cost and total cost, add my PayPal address and mailing address if they want to pay by check.

 

I usually stipulate up front that you have 7 days to pay, however if ppl PM saying they need more time, I'm good with that, I believe the regulation is all transactions have 30 days, but most ppl pay within the first 3-7 days.

 

Misc

Summaries: I do one after everyday, on multiple sales day thread, or after every 30 books or so on 1 day thread. You can see an example of a summary of what's left in my sales thread link posted at the start of the thread.

 

Format: For smaller thread you can just make one thread and list the say 5-10 books for sale in there. Usually anything over 10 books, I will make a single post for each book.

 

Discounts: I do offer them, usually on all the books remaining a few days after I have listed them all, on smaller threads people will reduce on a book by book basis. Be very clear what the % discount is and what books, it does or does not apply to. If I have 100 books left and want to apply a discount but maybe only to 98 of them, I have in the past removed the books not available for discount from the thread, its just cleaner that way.

 

And my last piece of advice, ESPECIALLY for your first sales thread.

 

HAVE EVERYTHING PREPPED IN ADVANCE OF LISTING THE FIRST BOOK :makepoint: Meaning everything graded, priced and scanned. So then its just creating posts, listing a book, scan, grade and price.

 

Well, that's my 2c hope you have a great sales thread and experience selling here on the CGC forums.

 

Excellent advice....in fact, I will print it off and keep it handy if I sell anything in the future---thanks for posting such a thoughtful and thorough perspective.....

 

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HarveySwick

HarveySwick

Posted
Posted
Children,children :facepalm:

 

WTF is going on around here now. I was out in back last night testing a new high powered boomerang I invented and on its first test it came up behind me and knocked me unconcious for 24 hours. Someone fill me in. Krap, I have a big knot on my head. :insane:

 

 

eh, not much. Evidently someone peed in Solar Boys Wheaties this morning :devil:

 

no one peed in anything.....just dont like how some of you say rude comments to new members and some of you.....little janet troll the boards to buy books that people sell too low by mistake. these boards are suppose to help people and enjoy the hobby. Not rip people off and eat popcorn all day when someone actually speaks the truth.

 

w9gtnm.jpg

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skypinkblu

skypinkblu

Posted
Posted

hm

 

So a new person shows up, asks for help, disappears after 2 posts and ...we have 87 zillion other pages and Tim is inventing a new boomerang?

 

I also may never eat cereal again...

 

I think I'll go empty the pantry now, at least I can put comics where the cereal used to be. :facepalm:

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SOLAR BOY

SOLAR BOY

Posted
Posted
hm

 

So a new person shows up, asks for help, disappears after 2 posts and ...we have 87 zillion other pages and Tim is inventing a new boomerang?

 

I also may never eat cereal again...

 

I think I'll go empty the pantry now, at least I can put comics where the cereal used to be. :facepalm:

 

Don't have any of my cereal Sha......supposedly someone peed in it.

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