Make Money Selling Stamps

Hi KGV and all I agree that bulk buying is the best way to get stock, and that is what I am doing now, never ever give up. That is my motto to. In 2009 I had a convulsion passed out in the plane. Broke my legs when it happened and I was sitting down. Found out I had zero calcium in me which is dangerous and the doctors never picked it up. My hip bone fused itself onto my right femur but I was still limping around. My wrists are fused and I have a crushed bone in my neck causing me to slouch forward. Also my left cartilage in left should is worn out and the arm has begun fusing. I cannot even touch the floor. Had a total right hip operation last year, they had to cut the bones apart. Then I got sick was in the cancer ward last year, bone marrow test etc. I was 4 hours from death but they discovered one of my medications was causing me to get sick. Did not eat much for a month. I still have trouble because my I have hypothyroidism and need chemotherapy to treat it. Despite it all I still kept a sense of humour with it all and tried to hold down a job till the end of this month. Anyway all the help from KGV and everyone else here has given me hope that I can Make Some Money doing this. So thank you everyone for all advices thus far. I really have to give this 99 cent start price some thought. I have 20 Indiana old postcards to list maybe I should try it with them? I would still have to charge for the shipping though. What do you think?

ebay selling is an apprenticeship. A five year apprenticeship. I am at the beginning of my 2nd year.

1st year: most buyers buy 1 lot off you at a time. You can not take to many chances. Your feed back is growing. You need to cover your costs and that includes mailing. Risk taking at this point could see the end of selling on ebay. You are still getting use to the whole idea of it all. It is new and strange in many way. People are saying all sorts of confusing things. It is all going round and round. Then things start to make a little sense.

well my apprenticeship is only 2 months so I got a long way to go before I catch up to you John (KGV). Happy Stamping.

statement above------"BULK BUYING IS THE BEST WAY TO GET STOCK"
.........That is the point most E-BAY sellers don't understand .....bulk what ,were to buy,how to buy and how to price it............................When I purchase large lots ,I can usually cause a E-BAY seller to choke up,and cry .Remember Im buying for entertaintment if I pay $2,000 or $3,000 for the lot,it doesn't matter because im selling it in 20 years or so .
A ebay seller is priceing out the whole lot and going to bid a fraction of it ,were im looking at parts of the lot and saying that would be fun to play with.........how do you feel if your spending time to price it ,maybe two hours or three hours to go thru 6 or 10 boxes and I spend ten minutes and out bid you ,thats the real world out there .

Im not looking to T off anybody but you got to spend as much time thinking out your plans on supply as you do on selling .Know were to be the first in line to purchase a bulk lot and not become another buyer of a e-bay sellers who is already making his profit before you can make a profit.Three wholesalers in the supply chain leaves nothing for you as a retailer selling on e-bay . gee..... maybe im saying too much with these two postings .

I get my stamps for free. I sell packets of current used issues that a local business saves for me. I take the money I earn from those meager sales (maybe $1000 a year) and use that to look for bargains anywhere I can find them. I then turn around and sell that material (except for what I add to my own collection). It's not a huge profit maker, but I do make enough to build my own collection and have a bit extra.

Matt

When I buy bulk lots at public and postal auctions. I am buying mostly from vendors that do not understand the ways of the computer because of the age group they are in. Many lots are from deceased estates etc.

I have never seen an auction lot in person before I have bid on a lot.

I have become so use to the way people who do the descriptions at many of these auctions, to the point I can piture what the lot is like. I take great pleasure in this.

I use to bid at over 13 of these auction houses but have cut it down to my favorites.

This style of auction is dieing out very quickly now as this age group becomes the past, sadly for many reasons.

I think Australia is one of the last places in the world with so many auction like this but not for long.

In 10 years I will look back and say those were the days.

I'm not telling which auction house I buy from

I am not as well!

But I think we are safe.

We seem to bid on different types of lots.

Yes keep the auction places secret I just won 5 box loads from my favourite auction place. I like to dive into the boxes and see what is in them.

On page 7 half way up the page, on this thread, Puzzler posts links to Duncan's ebay.com store and to the ebay.com store I have.

They set out totally differently can anybody tell me the why and how of this please.

I do believe my store set up suits what I sell and I also believe Duncan's store set up suit what he is selling but the difference is very interesting.

If you don't we won't bid on your Auctions.

Well as a wannabe stamp seller, i've tried ebay a few times.
The adventure ended badly with 0 bids on 4 or 5 auctions

Few weeks after that I realized my mistakes:
1. A newbie seller - no rating seems to discourage people
2. Unattractive items - Vatican and Iran stamps seems to have low interest
3. Having only 2 auctions active at the same time - customers love to combine 2 or more auctions especially from overseas sellers.
This of course makes sense if you won a bid on item for 1.5$ and then you need to pay 3$ for international shipping, then yes please combine with more of the same seller.

Hopefully after my project is finished https://goscf.com/t/14377, i'll try it again with ebay. Main idea is that I want to sell duplicates found during project.
Ultimate goal is to reinvest the potential earnings in new stamps for my collection and any extra dollar will be appreciated by home budget.

Cheers !

Making money selling stamps ? I tried it on a shoestring..does not work...can not get a steady flow of the stuff collectors demand...and everyone wants something different...so you need a very extensive stock...i don't mean to sound negative..i sell dollar and two dollar items on the internet...sure it takes hundreds of sales to amount to ANYTHING..but I am not going to burn the stuff or put it in the trash...so selling it makes me feel better..profit is not an issue...something is better than nothing !!

Interesting discussion ,but it sounds like people here purchase their supply from regular estate auction firms and not invouled in the major philatelic auctions ,which is the only place to get major holdings ,each to their own .