Help With My Auctions On Ebay

Could someone take a look at my auctions on ebay an tell me what I'm doing wrong. Or what I can do to improve my auctions. Please review the rules. I'm open to anything constructive. For an example. I got a stamp off of ebay for $2.50. I then put it back on ebay and only got 60 cents. So what am I doing wrong.

I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish with your ebay sales. You have lots of new stamps on there and most of them have bids on them. You have very reasonable shipping rates, that I can see, and your auctions are starting very low, and are attracting bidders.
You say you bought a stamp off ebay then tried to resell it, and lost money. If your are trying to speculate on stamps, and flipping them, like you would a house, then I think you are fighting a loosing battle.
Penny starts such as yours will attract buyers looking for a bargain. I think it's rare that the price of a stamp will skyrocket from 1¢ to hundreds of dollars (exaggeration for effect)
I don't think you'll get rich doing this, if that's your aim.

SILVERSLIVER ------I don't know were to start with your offers on ebay. But lets start with the basics ----first your not making any money because your selling the wrong stuff ,your selling stuff below your cost ,your just spinning your wheels .
You need first to stop working for nothing . Start out figureing what your time is worth . Then you need to get a education about stamps and then the stamp market ,spend 5 to 10 years learning both .

The first auction really threw me -- buy two (mint?) $10 stamps and get one free? Why bother with a stamp anyone can buy at the Post Office? And who would want 3 copies of such a relatively expensive stamp? Let me look further down the list.

So now I see there are many more "waves" stamps offered, and several Emancipaton forever stamps. How can you possibly make any money paying ebay fees, selling items below face, postpaid?? This doesn't make sense. Yes, you will get lots of bids starting so low, but what's your time worth? I suggest you re-think the whole enterprise.

You have a good Feedback reputation, you've been a member for 7 years -- capitalize on your strengths, and offer items that have some collector value, and build a clientele. And no more horribly damaged 2c Columbians starting at 11 cents, please. Then forget about selling stamps you can buy at the Post Office. Auctions like that destroy your credibility.

I didn't look but agree whole heartedly that selling anything that can be still bought at post office is a waste of time and money. There are a very limited few exceptions . For Canada a couple odd items such as imperf between coils were made and I believe the baseball imperfs of the US garner a bit more than original selling price. The high dollar waves may fetch above face if postally used on package but still not something to waste time and money on.

The best items to sell on ebay are specialist-interest that are seldom seen. Trying to sell items that 'almost everybody has' for lower prices than any competitor is a loosing game. If all you have is the latter, by all means don't acquire any more!
I would recommend charging a minimum 1$ postage/handling - If they don't sell it's better than free shipping on a 25 cent item. Even if ebay has inducements for zero-shipping sellers, it foregoes the few cents profit you might make.

Thanks you all for your inputs. I'll try to adjust.

I sell on ebay not to make money..(i have other things working) but to try and deplete my duplicates and stamps I do not need..so I guess I should not be confused with someone who is in the business.. so I sell my stamps at 1/3 scott catalog and my covers for a dollar or two. I am sure plenty of people will say its not worth my while..and yet I have friends on Wensy who spend much time listing 5 cents stamps..How much money could they be making ? I could make more on ebay but I don't have the belly for it...if someone bids an item up that I am selling I usually give them free shipping..or at least at cost. Most dealers are not going to give that break !!

What Stamps in your opinions would you like to see on my auctions. And where do I aquire these stamps so that I can make a profit.

Ahhh, the Million dollar question. Like any business in order to make Money you must buy low and sell high, create a demand for your supply, and be able to source fresh material and turn it over quickly as time is Money. Let us know when you figure out how to make money at this game, we've all been trying to figure out how.

Silversliver..in the 90's I used to go to Dutch Country Auctions in Wilmington Delaware with 5 or 6 hundred dollars in my pocket..in those days you could buy 4 large boxlots for that money...the dealers came in from Philly and Baltimore with their cargo vans and 6 or 7 thousand to spend...they bought everything..junk I would not bid on...i asked one decent guy how he did it..he told me he took what he wanted from the lots and brought everything else back for the next auction in 6 or 7 weeks...this is these guys livlihood...there is no way I could compete !

You all have great inputs. I see nice stamps on ebay asking 100's of dollars but I don't see anyone buying them up. Is that maybe we're all broke? Or maybe people want it for "Free" cheap.

Nice stamps on ebay that are worth 100's of dollars still sell.

There are all sorts of reasons why stamps listed at 100's of dollars aren't selling...no certificate, poor scans, faults, poor centering, above-market pricing, little demand...it is a long list.

If they see a great deal..it makes sense for the person to "buy it now" ,so you would not see most of those transactions..

Hi silversliver5000




It is an apprenticeship selling on ebay. There is lots of good advice on this thread here for you.

For us here there is no ebay stamp market this year as yet and things will not start to move again until March.

I sell Australia from the 1800's to 1935 and then from 1990 to now, all used stamps. We do not sell stamps from the 1930's to 1989 as their are very few stamps that are worth anything because so many stamps were printed. We have over 1.5million stamps from this era that basically worthless.

We have never been a buyer on ebay!

We search for what is selling on ebay and why over long constant time frames.

Our 1st year at selling was very difficult. But now starting our 3rd year apprenticeship we are hoping to make as much as the guy flipping burgers at maccers this year maybe!

Hi

I have used ebay for years and I admit that I do not know how to search for a specific dealer (unless I have used them in past and saved them using the save dealer function).

Also, is there a thread or category on here where all you folks who deal on ebay list your trading name? That would be helpful because I am sure myself and others would be happy to lend support when we head out into the marketplace to shop.