Advice On Selling High Grade Album

I know used albums have a limited market but I have nearly a full set of Lighthouse hingeless album pages for Great Britain up to 2005 that I am wanting to list on ebay. I usually use the auction option but am now wondering if I might get a better result if I decide on a reasonable selling price and offer this lot as a Buy it now with offers accepted? I have taken that approach a few times before and always get a lot of ridiculous offers. That's to be expected I guess.

Just wondering; many of you are more experienced sellers and your input would be appreciated.

If you can come up with a reasonable price I'd recommend listing it Fixed Price and if it doesn't sell in a month send it to auction.

I don't list Fixed Price very often because I can't really figure out a fair price on my stuff but when I do use Fixed Price I set it to automatically reject offers below 50% of asking price. I just don't need the stress!

Good luck!

Just for what it is worth. I think that used hingeless albums do very poorly on ebay. I would count on no more than 1/3 of original retail, no matter if they were ever used, or not. You have to have that one special buyer who is looking for the exact album(s) you are selling, otherwise everyone with any interest at all will try and low ball you. Very frustrating, especially when you are sure of the quality of what you are selling... I would try other sites (such as this one) before going this way. If you do a BIN with best offer on ebay, you will get tons of low offers, so KRelyea's advice above is very wise. Set a threshold to automatically deny paltry offers and you won't get pestered too much. In addition, take lots of photos and talk up the condition in the listing. Just some ideas.

John

Stamps1962, I sent you an email.

One of the problems you may run into is many people may only want the 1st set of the early pages and don't want to spend money on more modern hingeless albums for 20 cent stamps.

Many times, you can buy the albums with stamps and get the albums for almost nothing.

I'd second the caution re hingeless albums and unrealistic sales expectations. Last month I listed and ultimately sold, a like new immaculate Lighthouse album for DDR Germany 1949-1969; I bought it from a discount dealer in Germany two years back and paid s bit under $300.I listed it at a start of $35, assuming I'd wind up with $75-100 or so. It went for $37, one advance over the minimum with just two bids. Granted it is not the most popular collecting area these days but still..

I think this just goes to show you that album publishers are charging too much. They have fundamental problems with their business model, where they have high fixed costs, and declining market.

I concur with the above posts regarding really low selling prices for nice hingeless albums online. I have picked up a few nice hingeless albums without specifically searching for them (or even thinking I wanted one) but happily have been pleased with the purchases I've made. I prefer three-ring binders and pages (more interchangeable with other types of binders), and Lighthouse brand, but Davos and others are fine too.

I'm wondering if you included a few stamps in your Great Britain albums (for instance a bunch of Penny Reds or even a Penny Black and or some other early desirable stamps, you might generate more interest.

For instance, someone who originally was looking only for a Penny Black might consider purchasing an album for, say, fifty dollars or so more, if it had a decent specimen of the world's first adhesive stamp.....it worked for the sellers of those hingeless albums to me over the years! Your albums would thus show up in a search for Penny Blacks, so you are casting a much wider net!

Keep in mind shipping costs for heavy albums can be a deal-breaker, especially for someone outside the USA. If you provide free shipping (to US addresses) remember you can often buy discount postage at less than half of face value online or elsewhere these days to help defray your shipping expenses!

Good luck selling your hingeless albums; maybe it will be someone at SCF!

--Jim Wentzell
stampguyaps177-681

Stockbook collections have an upside financially given that albums generate so little return. I have piles of quality hingeless albums from bulk auction purchases collecting dust and taking up space and occasionally I chuck some overflow into the dumpster.

I got 3 nice Germany Lighthouse albums earlier this year that way. Basically paid an estimated $50-75 each for the albums beyond what I paid for the stamps included. Much cheaper than buying new from the supplier.

I don't know the answer, but maybe someone does. Can you ship and empty album by media mail, certainly would cut down on shipping costs in the US.

Willwood
That is frowned upon by USPS as would sending stockbooks by media mail. Media mail is for printed matter only.

Rich