Help!... I might be addicted to eBay

Javery

Javery

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I just started using ebay about a month ago and I think I'm addicted. I've sold a small amount of old toys - around 9 of them I think - and I've made over $500. This is all for crap just collecting dust in the basement.

Originally I told myself that I was only going to use it to get rid of some stuff instead of just throwing it away (seriously, the toys I sold were actually in a pile to go out with the trash). Now I find myself checking out other auctions and even bidding on some. WTF? I don't need this junk and I certainly wouldn't be buying it if I saw it in a store. What is going on?? Help!
 
Seriously? For crap just sitting in your basement? Maybe I should raid the attic. There's some crazy people on EBay! If I had a CC, I know i'd be addicted in the same way that you were.
 
[quote name='trustcompany1013']don't worry....it'll all end once you get screwed once or twice....it all looks so easy at first...[/quote]

it will also end once you got everything you would want :p
 
Heh. I've been dealing toys from the 70's and 80's for a few years on ebay now. Just realize that it's a fickle market, and you have to know your stuff to some degree, and you'll be fine. It's the same way of course with ebay and videogames ... values will fluctuate wildly depending on supply and demand. That said...in another respect, it's kind of sad what it's done to the collectors market (as I was doing this before ebay became so popular) as literally everyone thinks their shit is worth gold. It's also glutted the market with lots of stuff and killed TONS of profitable items. Then again there's always a catch 22, because it HAS increased the availability of a lot of desirable items. Out of curiousity, what toys were you selling?
 
So far it's just some old Transformers. I think the key is that I saved all the boxes and I have most of the accessories and instructions because I was a pretty anal kid. The thing is - they are played with and by no means in what I would call mint condition. Some of them have even been broken. I'm very honest in my item description though but people just keep bidding anyway...
 
Probably because those old Transformers toys kick ass. If I weren't such a tight wad I'd probably go bid on some Transformers right now...

I remember one kid who lived up the street from me had a ton of those toys. (I never had any myself.)

I've been selling off my Xbox games as I play them. Probably sold off 30 or so at this point and I've gotten back about $350 total (which is over half of the entire amount I've spent on every game I've had for the X.)

Video games are especially easy to sell on eBay as you just list what game it is and a blip about any problems with the condition (most of mine are mint or have nicks on the manuals - seems like 10-20% of the time when I open a new game the manual is slightly nicked :( )
 
thats how i got started off ebay too, had all this stuff sitting around the house and no money so someone told me about ebay and i started selling it all. needless to say i got addicted, there came a point where i had nothing left to sell and started searching the whole house for ANY thing i could list.

it took some time but i eased off the selling high, now i just buy/sell whenever its necessary.

EDIT: o yea i made well over $1000 for all the stuff i sold probally around 2k, it included old comps, comp parts, video games, ANYTHING i could find.
 
It's kind of interesting to watch the toy market trend...As you have found out, Transformers are a hot commodity right now - but if you'll notice, mostly series 1 and a few selct series 2 toys. Obviously, the more complete, the more desirable (just like with video games). Now I'm no market analyst, but what I've found is that the hot collectible toys can often be atrributed to certain age brackets. The reason I think the Transformers toys are hot right now is that interested kids that grew up with them are now in their 20's, are mostly unmarried,are entering the "real" jpb market, and as such have the disposable income to spend on these items. I watched the exact same thing in the Star Wars toy market - which has REALLY leveled out compared to several years back - now most of your classic Star Wars collectors are in their 30's, and don't seem to collect as agressively which has really dragged the market down from what it was. It seems that they "hot" cycle is usually 15-20 years after the toys original release - and even then, usually only the really cool toys from that period. It often leaves me wondering what the next hot collectible toys will be...Power Rangers?
 
Well, I've got 5 more Transformers up - here's hoping they sell. I've also got a box full of M.A.S.K. toys lying around but after a quick search on eBay it doesn't look like they're worth much...
 
[quote name='daikaiju']It's kind of interesting to watch the toy market trend...As you have found out, Transformers are a hot commodity right now - but if you'll notice, mostly series 1 and a few selct series 2 toys. Obviously, the more complete, the more desirable (just like with video games). Now I'm no market analyst, but what I've found is that the hot collectible toys can often be atrributed to certain age brackets. The reason I think the Transformers toys are hot right now is that interested kids that grew up with them are now in their 20's, are mostly unmarried,are entering the "real" jpb market, and as such have the disposable income to spend on these items. I watched the exact same thing in the Star Wars toy market - which has REALLY leveled out compared to several years back - now most of your classic Star Wars collectors are in their 30's, and don't seem to collect as agressively which has really dragged the market down from what it was. It seems that they "hot" cycle is usually 15-20 years after the toys original release - and even then, usually only the really cool toys from that period. It often leaves me wondering what the next hot collectible toys will be...Power Rangers?[/quote]

I'd say either GI Joe, He-man or the ninja turtles are due
 
Yeah, I had a punch of Garbage Pail Kids cards (series 1-10 maybe)...I got like over $200 for the lot. They were basically just collecting dust in my basement. I tried them on EBAY and BAM! sold.....I also sold a series 2 set by itself and it went for almost $50 I think. SO, I was pleasantly surprised by that.

Now, if I wanted to take the time to go through ALL my sports cards, I could probably make LOTS, although that market seems to have taken a crazy turn with all the "grading" of cards. Plus, I haven't collected them in years....so I'm out of the loop
 
[quote name='doubledown']Yeah, I had a punch of Garbage Pail Kids cards (series 1-10 maybe)...I got like over $200 for the lot. They were basically just collecting dust in my basement. I tried them on EBAY and BAM! sold.....I also sold a series 2 set by itself and it went for almost $50 I think. SO, I was pleasantly surprised by that.

Now, if I wanted to take the time to go through ALL my sports cards, I could probably make LOTS, although that market seems to have taken a crazy turn with all the "grading" of cards. Plus, I haven't collected them in years....so I'm out of the loop[/quote]

I've sold many games, baseball cards, and I'm trying to get motivated to list my comic books.
I was watching The Screensavers one day. They listed a set of keys found in one of the office desks. I think they sold the set for a couple of bucks. The moral is you can buy/sell anything on ebay.
 
Do comic books sell? I have 2 or 3 of the long boxes filled with them that I haven't touched in probably 10 years. I thought only the #1s (and then only some of those) were really worth anything.
 
I've only bought stuff on ebay, but I listed a few game auctions a couple of days ago. I found a couple of duplicate games, and decided to part with them. I may clean out our attic and basement, and sell some more of the stuff...
 
[quote name='jlarlee'][quote name='daikaiju']It's kind of interesting to watch the toy market trend...As you have found out, Transformers are a hot commodity right now - but if you'll notice, mostly series 1 and a few selct series 2 toys. Obviously, the more complete, the more desirable (just like with video games). Now I'm no market analyst, but what I've found is that the hot collectible toys can often be atrributed to certain age brackets. The reason I think the Transformers toys are hot right now is that interested kids that grew up with them are now in their 20's, are mostly unmarried,are entering the "real" jpb market, and as such have the disposable income to spend on these items. I watched the exact same thing in the Star Wars toy market - which has REALLY leveled out compared to several years back - now most of your classic Star Wars collectors are in their 30's, and don't seem to collect as agressively which has really dragged the market down from what it was. It seems that they "hot" cycle is usually 15-20 years after the toys original release - and even then, usually only the really cool toys from that period. It often leaves me wondering what the next hot collectible toys will be...Power Rangers?[/quote]

I'd say either GI Joe, He-man or the ninja turtles are due[/quote]

I already made a killing selling on vintage (1983-1986) GI Joe stuff on eBay. Action figures alone got me $600-700. I got several hundred more on the vehciles and playsets. Now, I'm out of good stuff to sell. I have some old Star Wars toys, but I don't have the time to list them these days. Some would probably do well, too, if I got around to listing them.
 
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