Question - Any Tips To Improve Selling Your Extra Stamps On Platforms Such As Ebay?

I have been collecting stamps since 2019. As a result I have plenty of extras. I have been selling them on ebay with mix results - most times the profit is slim or I about break even (If I did not account for my time to prepare the listing and then send out stamps sold). I don't mind the situation as it is a vehicle to help reduce excess stamps. I also send some to postcardcrossers who collect stamps as well occasionally donate them (Stamps for the Wounded and will plan to do so for the World Stamp Show Boston).

My question is if you have any tips to improve presentation and hopefully sales. I use my scanner for photos and scan both back and front of stamp as well as any details that may be relevant (microprint, date, plate number). I avoid selling stamps before 1940 and leave it up to the buyer to determin if some of the stamps I sell them may or may not have tagging errors. My focus is really recent stamps from the past 20 years and those bought from reputable dealers or USPS to reduce the chance of selling counterfeits.

Here is a link to my store - it is a small one as I do not aim to make selling stamps a part-time job. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ssn=alphachris

DON'T!

@chris_s Your listings are well done, but maybe your items are competing with thousands of other listings done by less professional sellers, and that tends to drive sales down. For example, I click on your listing for Scott 4672 (Bobcat) and I get presented with four promoted listings by other sellers for the same base S4672 in various quantities and configurations. Now I've got to wade through a load of listings to find "the best deals at the lowest prices". I hate that slogan!

Maybe sell something else, and use the earnings to buy the stamps you want. Buy really cheap and sell cheap, and wrap what you're posting in acid-free tissue paper (the buyers love that). As the old-time antique dealers* said the money's made at the bottom and top of the trade. Sell junk or the very best.

*The late Ed Welch, Maine.

Here is a problem. I can take any of your listed stamps, go to Bardo's to shop an awesome, organized, non-cluttered website for the same stamps, and pay half your price. It is cheaper, easier and I'm not bombarded with BS sponsored listings and exposed to other ebay rubbish. I don't think I am alone in realizing this. ebay is a fee heavy slog with whack job customers and scammers tossed into the mix. Long ago I sold there, worked my butt off trying to do the right thing by buyers and was kicked in the teeth anyway.

I've been looking around ebay for sometime now and have noticed a few problems.
1. The seller hikes up the price irrationally e.g. Scott values a common stamp at $0.25 is listed for $15 without justifying the price.
2. To make up the cost for listing the item at $0.25, a shipping price is bumped up to make-up for the "Loss". i.e. A $0.25 cent common stamp is listed as $0.25 but the shipping is bumped up to $5 or even $15.
If you choose to sell on ebay, consider selling at the USPS Mail Letter rate of $.78 (the new postage rate as of July 13)

There is no listing fee for the first 250 items listed ( ebay USA) - After that, there is a listing fee of $0.35 per item. Of course, when your item sells, you pay a fee.

John

Looking at what sold, you need to list more of that. Then use everything currently listed as postage to mail the lots sold.

Your pointing out that items are off sale by the USPS it pointless. What it really means is that what is offered is just discount postage.

If you want to minimize your losses, which includes the time spent doing the work listing and shipping, just put them all into one or two groups, sell as discount postage and be done with it.

There is a reason new issue services have faded away....

Your shipping charges are too high!

As 'Joannehasstamps' stated, you should use USPS standard rates.

For me, some of the shipping for these listings is $18+, for a $1 strip of modern stamps. This is the kind of thing I avoid, because even if I really want an item and politely ask the seller about the shipping (there is no reason for an envelope to cost that much to post), they usually get very rude with me. Buyers like me will see the item, maybe be interested, see the postage, and simply not bother. The items are not worth that much, and neither is the true cost of postage. I assume you get these rates from ebay, which is known to be extortionate as they make a profit from it, so they try to make their rates as high as possible.

stamporator -- thanks for showing me that. I don't recall charging that much!!! Possibly a typo on my part. Will change that asap/ Thanks.

And thanks to everyone else for your input. Will mull it over.

Ok I am not sure what listing you chose stamporator but I offered for that particular one FREE shipping. My shipping fees reflect NON-MACHINABLE FIRST CLASS MAIL. I do this to avoid the chance the USPS machine damages the letter and contents.

Rogdcam - I see your point for the pane of 1 cent Tiffany. I am selling 20 panes of 20 at about $10. Forgot to add that to the title of the listing so the price did look overinflated. Bardo charges $3 for EACH pane (https://www.bardostamps.com/modern-...talog-3749).

Flags on Barn stamps I sell are a bit lower than Bardo (note the price at Bardo's site does NOT include delivery charges, I know as I have ordered from him and he offers great quality and excellent service) bardo listing https://www.bardostamps.com/modern-...687;%205687a

So I do try to sell a little less than Bardo - in fact I go to that dealer for an idea of retail price for stamps.

But I agree - ebay is less than satisfactory. Maybe it would be best to switch to another platformn such as Hipstamp.

Flightle Bee - great and simple advice. Thanks.

That will make all the difference.

Seriously, you have little knowledge about how ebay works.

Here is what you see when you check your listing on ebay and I must ask do you understand what you are looking at (rhetorical
as the answer is "No" even though you do not know it):
This from: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ssn=alphachris


This from: https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_nkw...2/31/2024%21


This from: https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_...2/31/2024%21


What is the difference? The first shown is what you see; note the URL shows it is from ebay.com which is what is the default logging on in the USA. Next is the listing the URL shows is from ebay.ca which is Canada. Lastly that URL is ebay.co.uk which is for the United Kingdom (England).

While you are listing free shipping if purchased in the USA , when someone logs on in another country, you are NOT offering free shipping so ebay defaults to the basic shipping charge for that country. If you wish to ship for free to other countries, you need to contact ebay customer service to learn how or check out one of the explanatory boards for answers. I trust you are aware that shipping to other countries as letters of small packages is done at postal rates at least twice the cost of domestic.

1oz letters are $1.65; 2oz ranges from$1.65 to $2.98.
1oz large envelopes are $3.15; 2oz range from $3.55 to $4.48.
1oz package (items stiff or non-uniform thickness) range $17.85 to 19.35 for packages with weight up to and including 8oz. This is where "non-machinable" lands.

So your $3.49 strip of kitties with free shipping really drops your profit or increases your loss when shipping non-domestically.

Edited for adding or subtracting a letter here and there as well as this: I did not include a screen shot of ebay.ie as Ellie88 mention the general cost already which 17.81 Euros.

Standard shipping cost to the EU will include customs clearance charges. Most EU ebay domains will also show a line below the price stating '+x% VAT.' Other platforms may show lower postage but that, in part, may just hide customs clearance costs.

The question is how relevant that all is to OP. If buyers of his stock are US citizens, the whole discussion about those high charges are irrelevant. If OP is fine targeting only US citizens, the high charges abroad remain irrelevant. If not, OP might have to accept that governments have found new milk cows.

Printed paper used to be exempt from customs duties. I'm not sure that is still the case- reading customs regulations gives me a headache.

There was a difference of opinion regarding what exactly was 'printed paper'. To me, it's paper that's been printed on. To the postmaster, and presumably every other government official, it's books and magazines only. It may be, now, that the printed word is no longer exempt.

The ebay Global Shipping Program did add customs duty to books. If an item sent by GSP was not allowed to be imported into the destination country (example: mahogany camera to Germany) it would be stopped at the depot and the buyer refunded. The item would then be sold on, or passed on, to a contracted business who would sell it at auction or even relist it on ebay.

Stopped US-Canada items were relisted on ebay by a business nearby the US GSP hub.

Postage stamps, in the EU, that included the UK until a few years ago, are "stamps for collection" or "postage stamps" and have never been printed paper.