eBay

amethyst1415 · ‎07-17-2014

I lose money (sometimes) on my listings BUT HOW can I compete with the person who is selling their PS3 games for $1.29? I price mine to include free shipping which means that I can take $13 off the money I get (shipping in Canada) and the rest is mine. It's still not profit as my husband paid 40-60 for these games. Why do people sell them for that? There is no way they are making money when they have to ship.

dinomitesales · ‎07-18-2014

Here are Canada Post's rates for Lettermail:

http://www.canadapost.ca/cpo/mc/personal/ratesprices/postalprices.jsf

I suggest printing this out and keeping it for reference. Since video games are thicker than 5 mm (the cutoff for "Standard Lettermail"), they need to be sent by "Oversized Lettermail" - you can see the corresponding row in the above chart.

0-100 g: $1.80

101-200 g: $2.95

201-300 g: $4.10

301-400 g: $4.70

401-500 g: $5.05

Over 500 g it needs to be sent as a parcel, but I have yet to come across a standard video game that exceeds 500 g.

Note that of the five weight classifications above, only one of them has it's own 'dedicated stamp' with the exact value - $1.80. For all the other weight classes you will need several stamps, usually about four, to make up the required denominations. The most common stamp values I use are $0.05, $0.10, $0.25, $1.00, $1.80, and $2.50.

You need a scale if you're going to do this regularly. There's no way to get around it, just buy a scale. Even a cheap kitchen food scale will work - that's all I use for video games/media since they aren't that big or heavy. The savings from sending a couple of your items Lettermail over Regular Parcel will more than pay for the cost of a shipping scale.

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mdf_jersey · ‎07-17-2014

do you have the item number?

reallynicestamps · ‎07-17-2014

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

The average IQ is 100, which means half the population is below that.

Seriously though:

It's still not profit as my husband paid 40-60 for these games.

And then he played them? And the value dropped just like driving a new car off the lot. Or wearing a $10,000 wedding gown. Prices in the second hand market are much much lower than the primary/new market.

Also as we've learned from Brandee and others , dealers in this kind of digital/ electronic stuff buy by the pallet. And they don't pay $40 each for a pallet of thousands of items. Some of the product is going to be unsaleable. Some is going to be solid sellers. Some is going to be an unexpected goldmine.

So if the used game is one you don't want anymore, it doesn't matter what you paid for it, its current value is nothing. If you sell it for $1.29 you are now $1.29 richer.

With a low cost like than (ie 'free') you can afford to ship by letter/light packet without tracking. You might add a nickel to the postage cost for self-insurance in case of the occasional loss or damage claim.

So maybe those guys are in the over 100 IQ after all.

tobyshitzu · ‎07-17-2014

Your games retail for $5-$10 used. Some of them have been cleared out new as low as .99 at national stores in Canada. They've all been $10 or less. Nothing depreciates faster

tobyshitzu · ‎07-17-2014

There are only a very few non disc only ps3 games in canada below $5 total cost FP and they are worthless ones

amethyst1415 · ‎07-17-2014

I attached a screen shot.

amethyst1415 · ‎07-17-2014

No, you can't ship it out as a letter/light packet. The post office tries to put it through their measuring plastic thing and say it is too big for letter/light packet and then they charge me $13. I'm not lying.

amethyst1415 · ‎07-17-2014

I just sold a game (almost fell off my chair) a week ago and this is what they told me (about the shipping cost). I even taped down all the sides and it still did not fit.

whitestar*entertainment · ‎07-17-2014

Was it in a bubble mailer or a box? Any PS1, Ps2, Xbox, PS3 slides through the oversize lettermail slot. 2 cm or less I believe. My new angle is pairing up similiar type games as two pair lots as you can fit 2 through in a 9 1/2 to 13 1/2 bubble mailer.

atvds1210 · ‎07-17-2014

Take a chunk of cardboard and make yourself a template that is the size of the Canada Post guidelines, and it is simple to check at home if you meet the thickness guideline or not. The ones that do not, you may consider putting together for sale as a lot that can support the higher shipping cost.

38e_avenue · ‎07-18-2014

@reallynicestamps wrote:

If you sell it for $1.29 you are now $1.29 richer.

Are you sure?

The shipping costs around 12 dollars, so the final value from 12+1.29 will be around 1.20.

Add the PayPal fee, add the cost of packaging - and you will will suddenly notice, that you are not 1.29 richer, but about 1 dollar poorer!

I have a similar "problem" with one of my competitors - I even bought some items from him to see how is he making money.

And you know what? He paid for the shipping MORE than he got from me for the item AND the shipping!.

Now, I regularly buy his 1 dollar items and sell them for 10+, some even for 20+.

And I am not trying anymore to understand "WHY"? Maybe some people just love to give items for free, have some kind of mission? Want to make the world a better place?

amethyst1415 · ‎07-18-2014

It was in a bubble mailer, tight around the game. It would not go through the slot. DVD's (YES) PS3 Games (NO)

amethyst1415 · ‎07-18-2014

Maps?

dinomitesales · ‎07-18-2014

"No, you can't ship it out as a letter/light packet. The post office tries to put it through their measuring plastic thing and say it is too big for letter/light packet and then they charge me $13. I'm not lying."

Your problem is that you took it directly to the post office. Simply buy some stamps, put your game in a bubble mailer, tape it up, apply said stamps, and drop in your nearest mailbox. It will send through Lettermail/Light Packet every time.

Seriously. I've sent hundreds of video games within Canada and to the U.S. simply using stamps (or a light packet label if to the U.S.) and dropping it in the mailbox. Never had a single one returned to me, or a single one charged additional payment upon delivery.

It's definitely a close fit if trying to slide these through the 'slot of doom'. Unless it slides through cleanly then the postal clerk will insist on sending it parcel, which, as you noted, can increase the price up to 5x (ridiculous). Avoid them like the plague for Lettermail. The mailbox is your best friend.

dinomitesales · ‎07-18-2014

One other thing - all of your video games are 'Used', yet you use stock photographs and provide no description, and no indication of what condition the game is in, or what's included. Many video game players are also collectors, and are very particular as to what they spend their money on - how are they supposed to know exactly what they are receiving from you?

mr.elmwood · ‎07-18-2014

@reallynicestamps wrote:
I've said it before and I'll say it again:
The average IQ is 100, which means half the population is below that.

Seriously though:
It's still not profit as my husband paid 40-60 for these games.
And then he played them? And the value dropped just like driving a new car off the lot. Or wearing a $10,000 wedding gown. Prices in the second hand market are much much lower than the primary/new market.
Also as we've learned from Brandee and others , dealers in this kind of digital/ electronic stuff buy by the pallet. And they don't pay $40 each for a pallet of thousands of items. Some of the product is going to be unsaleable. Some is going to be solid sellers. Some is going to be an unexpected goldmine.

So if the used game is one you don't want anymore, it doesn't matter what you paid for it, its current value is nothing. If you sell it for $1.29 you are now $1.29 richer.

With a low cost like than (ie 'free') you can afford to ship by letter/light packet without tracking. You might add a nickel to the postage cost for self-insurance in case of the occasional loss or damage claim.

So maybe those guys are in the over 100 IQ after all.

That has always been my inventory valuation system. Until it becomes cash, there is no value. I cannot spend an "implied" value, at the store.

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.
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amethyst1415 · ‎07-18-2014

Well, for one thing, eBay gives you stock photos to use and fills in all the information. I don't know if you actually clicked on my listing but each one has a condition...so you know exactly what you are getting.

pierrelebel · ‎07-18-2014

It is a matter of perspective.

Sellers who list regularly on eBay as a business - the purpose is to make money - look at things differently from the "casual" seller who lists a few items from time to time and sells the odd ones for a few dollars.

Selling 14 items for a total value of $100 out of 120 listings over a three months period gives you a perspective. Many of the "regular" posters here list and sell thousands of dollars worth of "stuff" every month. Their approach will be different.

amethyst1415 · ‎07-18-2014

I will try that next time I sell one. Just one stamp? Knowing my luck it will be returned.

tobyshitzu · ‎07-18-2014

The $1.29 one was an auction, there is no relevance to the bid at any point until the end. The auctions end up bid to the same price as the FP ones, which is still $10 or less gross for that one...because you can go into any bestbuy or futureshop and buy it for $9.99

If you put stamps on you have to put enough on to cover the proper rate.