Do I have a problem?

[october]

Cheap labor!

[sterlingcomics]

In another couple of years I will make my son earn his keep by setting him up at flea markets with a table and 7 long boxes of cheap books. Don't call me to come pick you up kid until you've cleared $200!

 

Nothing wrong with getting a good work ethic and/or paying his keep.

[Jeffreykli]

Once you get started and build some momentum, it can be done. I'm about finished selling 20 or so short boxes on eBay, and I'm happy to just move the books. Nothing earth shattering, but I've been accumulating for the past 10 years or so, and these are just the extras or recent common books. But, I made the decision to just get rid of the books and free up space (both physical and mental).

 

My technique? Open a eBay store and try to do 60 auctions a week. Set them all at the same day (mine end on Tuesday starting at 5:30 pacific). Build up scans and and schedule the listings. (It's $0.10 per listing, but I figure that's acceptable to me). I bring a kraft mailer of books to the office, and scan them using the high quality scanner at work, which sends the jpeg to my work email.

 

If that's against the office rules for you, you'll have to figure something else out. This would be the biggest hurdle; there simply isn't time to scan at night effectively with kids, work, etc.

 

Then I eat lunch at my desk, and create the listings for the approximately 20 books each day. If you do this 3 times a week, you're set for the next week's auctions. I've found that I can do this most days of the week, so quickly built up a week or two's buffer. After that, I just started running 80-100 auctions a week.

 

I like auctions ending on Tuesday night so I can pack and ship out books Tuesday and Wednesday (most likely to get paid fairly quickly after the auctions end). I'm in CA, so I drive, and I can drop off the packages at a local post office during lunchtime. My weekends are generally free of comic shipping.

 

Relist unsold auctions at a higher BIN with best offer, and just accept reasonable offers to move the books.

 

I've been doing this for the past 6 months, and have another two months or so to go. Thus far, I've cleared $20k.

 

 

[the blob]

Ebay is really pushing stores offering short-term discount deals, but I'm torn on whether they are worth it unless you have a great sell-through given they give you 50 freebies a month and are so frequently giving out 500 freebies, etc., offers that you don't get if you have a store (which always pissed me off when I did have a store). Once the discount goes away, those extra 200 listings basically cost 10 cents each, which is better than 30 cents, true...I'll probably go ahead and open one up again.

[Dick Pontoon]

Given the difficulty you have getting books scanned and listed, I wouldn’t open a store. As you know, you already get 40-50 free listings a month and ebay regularly offers extensions of free listings; I just got one today for an additional 500 items this month. Ease into it. Shoot for scanning and grading 10 books a week. After 3-4 weeks, offer them here. Whatever doesn’t sell, list on ebay using your free listings, and repeat the process.

[grebal]

^

 

^ ^

 

Yeah, I was going to skip the Ebay Store, but I'm still on fence. [probably will build up to 100 BIN for 30 days and 20 or more no reserve auctions per week (probably 10 days, starting Wed/Thur, so there is overlap during weekends of 2 rounds of listings).]

 

 

Pro to opening "store": can qualify for 1% lower FVF (fees).

Con: must ship within 24 hrs. from payment. I can generally be sure to ship within next day of payment, but sometimes the ebay computer tracking is weird and gives you a STRIKE anyway even if you shipped next day. A strike or two (I forget) and lose the 1% saved.

Also, might need a certain volume to be large enough to qualify for the 9% FVF instead of the 10% for those w/o stores.

 

 

[the blob]

Given the difficulty you have getting books scanned and listed, I wouldn’t open a store. As you know, you already get 40-50 free listings a month and ebay regularly offers extensions of free listings; I just got one today for an additional 500 items this month. Ease into it. Shoot for scanning and grading 10 books a week. After 3-4 weeks, offer them here. Whatever doesn’t sell, list on ebay using your free listings, and repeat the process.

 

I do get spurts where I can scan 50, 100 books and get them up. I always maintain 50 listings anyway on ebay. But you're right. When I did have a story I was good about filling it up initially...got 250, 500 listings in there, etc. whatever the level was. But I was not good about restocking.

[Point Five]

We've had this chat before, but Mycomicshop was my answer to the time/accumulation problem. Every few months I ship them a box of random books for consignment, then just sit back and eventually the checks roll in. MCS has been terrific to deal with, and more than earn their keep in the time they spend shipping my books out to dozens of buyers. (Only downside is their policy is to only take books worth $50 and up for consignment, though there's sometimes a bit of wiggle room there.)

 

 

[Jeffreykli]

Another option would be to take a few pictures with your phone camera, especially if they're not high dollar books. I agree that your biggest challenge will be taking pictures or scans, as well as packing up the orders when the books sell. Good luck!

[grebal]

Another option would be to take a few pictures with your phone camera, especially if they're not high dollar books. I agree that your biggest challenge will be taking pictures or scans, as well as packing up the orders when the books sell. Good luck!

 

As you say, none of it is really hard.

 

But the part most daunting when I get ready to list more rounds is cutting up the boxes into cardboard 8.5 x 11 rectangles.

 

Think I'm going to switch to just buying them, cheap a s s that I am.

[F For Fake]

Another option would be to take a few pictures with your phone camera, especially if they're not high dollar books. I agree that your biggest challenge will be taking pictures or scans, as well as packing up the orders when the books sell. Good luck!

 

As you say, none of it is really hard.

 

But the part most daunting when I get ready to list more rounds is cutting up the boxes into cardboard 8.5 x 11 rectangles.

 

Think I'm going to switch to just buying them, cheap a s s that I am.

 

I started buying pre-cut cardboard a couple of years ago and it's one of the best decisions I ever made. Got so tired of cutting up boxes, really, it's worth spending a few cents per pre-cut piece just to not have to deal with it anymore.

[the blob]

We've had this chat before, but Mycomicshop was my answer to the time/accumulation problem. Every few months I ship them a box of random books for consignment, then just sit back and eventually the checks roll in. MCS has been terrific to deal with, and more than earn their keep in the time they spend shipping my books out to dozens of buyers. (Only downside is their policy is to only take books worth $50 and up for consignment, though there's sometimes a bit of wiggle room there.)

 

 

my problem isn't that I am tripping over dozens of boxes of $50 books...I wish I had that problem!

 

It's the boxes of $1-$2 books.

 

I'm a lazy , I have come to accept this. I bust my hump in spurts for my job, but that's about it.

[Point Five]

Honestly, in the last few years I've given away or donated most of my $1-2 books. I really recommend it. October is right -- it will take the rest of your life to piece them out given your vast inventory. Your time and your peace of mind are worth much more than that.

 

 

[the blob]

Honestly, in the last few years I've given away or donated most of my $1-2 books. I really recommend it. October is right -- it will take the rest of your life to piece them out given your vast inventory. Your time and your peace of mind are worth much more than that.

 

 

These are books I bought for $1-$2 (or 25-50 cents if we go back into the earlier 90s...). Most of them I would sell for $5-$15. But I need to take a good look at some of these and cull, sell some lots, etc.

 

Back in 1998 or so I was largely organized. Of course, I only had about 15-20 boxes then.