HipStamp... Actually Pleasantly Surprised With The Results After A Month.

It's no secret that I've been a rather loud naysayer of the Hipstamp site. Between abysmal sales results the last time I tried selling there back when it was still Stampwants, and the (still) horrible layout of the item pages that forces you to play clicking games because all of the information is split across multiple tabs rather than a single continuous page, I've avoided it.

At the beginning of last month I decided to give the site a shot again from a selling standpoint for a month, figuring that my downside risk was minimal: (1) a basic store subscription was only $5 for the month with no long-term commitment, unlike ebay, and (2) with some minor tweaks I could sync my ebay inventory without any manual listing on Hipstamp proper.

I did have some trepidation, as the last time I did this in earnest, the sync between Stampwants and ebay was buggy AF, omitting listings, not removing ebay listings when something was sold on Hipstamp and vice versa... so I didn't know what to expect.

Well, a month in I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. The sync with ebay has worked 100% in all respects:

1. When I started sync, all my ebay listings within the stamps hierarchy were ported over within 24 hours, retaining the shipping costs I had specified on ebay.

2. When I add a new listing on ebay, it shows up on Hipstamp within an hour.

3. When a item is sold on ebay, it is removed from my open listings on Hipstamp; I haven't checked the timing of this.

4. When an item is sold on Hipstamp, it is de-listed on ebay with a "[SOLD]" tag added to the front of the title, which is handy when browsing closed/unsold listings on ebay.

5. When I delisted me entire ebay inventory on Nov. 30, all the listings were removed on Hipstamp, and when I relisted them all on ebay on Dec. 1, they were dutifully added on Hipstamp.

I've made many more sales in the first month on Hipstamp this time around, not necessarily in number of items (about a dozen total), but the dollar amount was well worthwhile, above $400, with virtually all of the items being ones that had languished unsold on ebay for relatively long periods of time.

My only real complaint is that the post-sale actions aren't as streamlined on Hipstamp as they are with ebay; it's a more manual process: leaving feedback, marking as shipped, etc.

All things considered though, the faults are minor at this point.

Given that it's a virtually labor-free endeavor and the cost of entry is nominal, I have to do a 180 on my previously held opinion: for anyone that has an existing ebay store, it's worth trying out Hipstamp at least for a month or two.

Thanks for the update. Any feedback on HS sales vs. ebay sales for the same time period?
Don

Good information and I will have to give them a look.

ebay sales were considerably higher, but it's not an apples-to-apples comparison, as I sell things other than stamps on ebay, whereas I cannot on Hipstamp. Within the stamps category, I would say they were comparable.

But there are a couple of factors here that bear watching over time:

1. How sustainable is sell-through after the holiday shopping season is over, i.e., what will the sales volume be during lower traffic seasons/cycles?

2. My entire inventory is "new" on Hipstamp, whereas it is not on ebay. Once the first-time viewer "bump" has passed and the newness wears off, what will sales be like?

As long as sales exceed cumulative costs (store sub plus final value fees) by a decent margin, I'll keep it going, as it truly is a hands-off secondary sales platform for me.

I like what I saw there and put a bid on an item I think I can use. Thanks

One difference I've found between the two platforms is that on ebay, sales are regular with me ending up packing up and sending out covers pretty much daily. On HipStamp, there seems to be lulls in sales for several days, then all of a sudden, a buyer or three step in and buy a load of items all at once. My best was some Gent in Florida bought up 76 (!) covers in one swoop. Of course, this is all anecdotal, but this pattern has been going on for quite some time.
My only complaint is that I barely have enough time to work on my own collections...

That's how I buy on Hipstamp when I'm looking for low CV stamps to fill in empty spaces. I'm not going to pay a high shipping charge for one common stamp with a CV of under $1.00. Many stores have a high shipping charge for one stamp and little or no charge for additional purchases. So I look for a store that has a number of things I need and click away. My record is 40+ when I was looking for some common Brazilian and Irish commemorative stamps.

Dan

As I have noted in the past.
I have been a past buyer on Hipstamp, and found the experience almost 10/10.
Prices good, dealers so easily dealt with, and records of transactions, nicely set out and readily accessed.

It is very nice to see it broadcast, that someone's experience can change,
and it shines well on you, to have commented on it.
Well done you.

PS: I havn't purchased recently, due to the Aussie dollar, but I recall the biggest complaint for me, was the abundance of listings without images.

As a buyer only, I always check for what I am looking for first on Hipstamp; but have had a rash of issues (most solved, but nonetheless a pain) lately with sellers there. The wish list is actually a useful feature for buyers as you get alerted when something you are looking for is listed rather than having to check constantly.

I think the newness factor is not really a factor, as most people are usually searching for specifics (US revenues) rather than new sellers. Now, there are buyers on one platform that are not on the other. Still, there are plenty of people that use ebay, Hipstamp and delcampe and can recognize material common to more than one platform. I think it's important that you have a constant flow of new material more than anything else; you'll get bookmarked by buyers who will look at your offerings first. That's what I do, anyway.

I do like the fact that sellers can afford to carry the cheapest and cheaper stamps on Hipstamps. Hopefully a store will also have some more better things (say, $5 up) I want/need also. I'd like to see more postal history on Hipstamp, but that probably takes more expertise and realistic pricing than is around nowadays. There are a fair number of sellers of nothing but what looks like their very common duplicates, but their stores tend to be tiny and unchanging over time.

Very well done revenuecollector!

Great explanation and a solid direction in using different stamp sales platforms.

Agreed as far as low-value stamps are concerned, but I was talking postal history / covers ranging in price from $5 - $10, with several out of the 76 being over $50.

Hip Stamp had nice promotion on Thanksgiving Day. 15% off on total purchase of $99 or more across any number of sellers, on top of any discounts already offered by sellers. Simply place the items in a cart as you go, then checkout when you are done. One transaction for you, Hip Stamp takes it from there. You do have to pay shipping as quoted from each seller but it worked pretty slick. Not only for the buyer, but sellers I would have never looked at independently were blended into the total package. Win, Win for buyer and seller.

I'm pretty sure that checkout experience isn't exclusive to Hipstamp. On ebay I can put items from multiple sellers in my cart and pay for them all at once. The only times there are problems and you have to separate are:

1. The sellers use different currencies, or

2. You want to use different payment methods for one purchase vs. another.

Never knew that! The 15% discount was the major attraction plus Hip stamp also encourages sellers to discount, compounding the incentive to shop.

I was successful in making some small purchases on their recent auction. Pleased with the process and results. Bid on many items and was out bid on most of them.