Advice on Selling a large 3.5 collection? - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Advice on Selling a large 3.5 collection?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
HeavensThunderHammer
Mar 29, 2011 23:08:10
Hi Guys,

I'm looking at selling a large collection of D&D 3.5 books on ebay and am wanting some advice on how to best package them. I'm not interested in setting up one by one sales, but I do think that putting them altogether would put up the net price too high and put off potential buyers with too much stuff they don't want.

I'm thinking my options are:

1.) Sell everything in one big bulk package.

2.) Sell things in maybe 2 or 3 packages, each with a "theme", but I get lost here.

Any suggestions/advice would be fantastic. I should note that the quality of the books is by and large "good" or "excellent", with a few"acceptable".

magical item compendium
spell compendium
rules compendium
DMG
DMG 2
PHB
PHB 2
ELHB
HBGB
MM 3.0
MM 3.5
MM 2
Unearthed Arcana
Book of Iron Might
Complete Adventurer
Complete Arcane
Complete Champion
Complete Divine
Complete Mage
Complete Warrior
Fields of Blood
Heroes of Battle
Heroes of Horror
city works
Stronghold BGB
dungeonscape
frostburn
Manual of the planes
sandstorn
stormwrack
wildscape
draconomicon
dragon magic
drow of the underdark
Weapons of Legacy
d&D for dummies
dragonlance campaign setting
WoW D20 Revised
Red hand of doom
shattered gates of slaughterguarde
the banewarrens
#2
pigknight
Mar 29, 2011 23:34:02 People are looking for singles. If you want to sell them you should sell them individually.
#3
Robin_Hoodlum
Mar 30, 2011 6:42:24
People are looking for singles. If you want to sell them you should sell them individually.

Strange. I am also looking for singles but I wouldn't mind getting them in groups.

#4
Robin_Hoodlum
Mar 30, 2011 6:43:09 Give them to charity.
#5
zombie_babies
Mar 30, 2011 8:58:29 Build a fort and then play D&D in it. You may need to take parts of the fort down if you run into any rules questions, though.
#6
pluisjen
Mar 30, 2011 9:01:36 You could try to sell it all to a university roleplayinggames club. They´re often on the lookout for affordable books and don´t mind duplicates that much since there´s often multiple groups playing anyway.
#7
HeavensThunderHammer
Mar 30, 2011 11:13:19
eBay.

And as someone that used to sell toys and such on eBay here is my suggestion.

Popular books, sell as single items.

Less popular but good books, sell as single items.

Less popular, but not so good book, give away or include with other items.

Don't try and do it all in one swoop, because the chances of someone wanting at least 50% of those books, slim.

You could try that at first, and see what happens, it won't cost you anything or at best a few dollars.

You've already lost the money for these books. Anything you get back is gravy at this point, so don't be greedy. Mark them at a reasonable price. If people really want them, they will go up in price.

Don't be a jerk and make extra money off of shipping. Don't say it's $14 dollars shipping, and then when it gets there it turns out you only paid $5. Be reasonable, do your research on what it would cost to ship. A general range is acceptable, like if you know the average book will cost say, $6 to ship, listing it at $7 is fine.

Thanks for the suggestions!

I also have gone through both Amazon and Ebay and computed what if sold individually at the lowest price (at least as of March 29th 2011)Shipping NOT included and the totals are:
Ebay: $967, Amazon: $880, Min(Amazon,Ebay):$827
On April 19th Ebay is reducing their insertation fees AND their cut 9% on the first $100 instead of 9% on everything (if I'm reading it right).

See part of my problem/advantage is that I live a mile away from the US border in Canada. So, I can cross the border (but I have to walk across, not drive, or I get charged $15) and walk to the post office in Sumas (not too far) but I don't want to have to go 38 times (heck, even about 10 would be really pushing it.)
#8
Robin_Hoodlum
Mar 30, 2011 11:31:57 Wait a minute....

You don't need to get a passport to walk to the US, but I have to get one if I cross over the Niagra Falls bridge to visit Canada for half an hour?
#9
HeavensThunderHammer
Mar 30, 2011 11:38:23
Wait a minute....

You don't need to get a passport to walk to the US, but I have to get one if I cross over the Niagra Falls bridge to visit Canada for half an hour?

Where did I say I don't need a passport? You better believe I cross with one!
#10
zombie_babies
Mar 30, 2011 11:40:04 Last time I went to the Falls the Canadians were far more tolerant of us going there than the Americans were of us coming back. The Canadian border peeps asked us where we were going, where we we from, checked how many smokes we had and then said - and I quote - ' have a good one'. On the way back, though? We were grilled mercilessly, told a military ID wasn't good enough, a birth certificate wasn't good enough (even though it was at the time) and told that they could keep us out of the country until such time as we had acquired a passport. So yeah, IME the Canadians are far more hospitable at the border.
#11
EscherEnigma
Mar 30, 2011 11:46:23 Hrm... last time I went to Mexico it was the same... walking in was just a wave to the federali, walking out was a long slow line. 'course, that was tenish years ago, so it was before they ramped up border patrol stuff.
#12
HeavensThunderHammer
Mar 30, 2011 11:53:28
Last time I went to the Falls the Canadians were far more tolerant of us going there than the Americans were of us coming back. The Canadian border peeps asked us where we were going, where we we from, checked how many smokes we had and then said - and I quote - ' have a good one'. On the way back, though? We were grilled mercilessly, told a military ID wasn't good enough, a birth certificate wasn't good enough (even though it was at the time) and told that they could keep us out of the country until such time as we had acquired a passport. So yeah, IME the Canadians are far more hospitable at the border.

Was this before passports were mandatory? The americans were a lot more harsh on me for crossing with a driver's license at the time than the Canadians.

Btw: The guy was giving you a hard time, no American border guard has ever refused an actual american entry into the country. The right of return is pretty powerful. I know this because a friend of mine isn't really a proper canadian or american (due to complex family issues/drama), and has a seriously hard time crossing the american/canadian border.
#13
zombie_babies
Mar 30, 2011 11:54:59 It was before passports were required. And of course he was giving us a hard time, that was the point of my story!
#14
bone_naga
Mar 30, 2011 19:04:05 Use ebay and offer incentives for buying several books. Consolidated shipping is normal, but maybe if they buy 3 or more books you offer free (noninternational) shipping, or something like that.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 HeavensThunderHammer Mar 29, 2011 23:08:10	Hi Guys, I'm looking at selling a large collection of D&D 3.5 books on ebay and am wanting some advice on how to best package them. I'm not interested in setting up one by one sales, but I do think that putting them altogether would put up the net price too high and put off potential buyers with too much stuff they don't want. I'm thinking my options are: 1.) Sell everything in one big bulk package. 2.) Sell things in maybe 2 or 3 packages, each with a "theme", but I get lost here. Any suggestions/advice would be fantastic. I should note that the quality of the books is by and large "good" or "excellent", with a few"acceptable". magical item compendium spell compendium rules compendium DMG DMG 2 PHB PHB 2 ELHB HBGB MM 3.0 MM 3.5 MM 2 Unearthed Arcana Book of Iron Might Complete Adventurer Complete Arcane Complete Champion Complete Divine Complete Mage Complete Warrior Fields of Blood Heroes of Battle Heroes of Horror city works Stronghold BGB dungeonscape frostburn Manual of the planes sandstorn stormwrack wildscape draconomicon dragon magic drow of the underdark Weapons of Legacy d&D for dummies dragonlance campaign setting WoW D20 Revised Red hand of doom shattered gates of slaughterguarde the banewarrens
#2 pigknight Mar 29, 2011 23:34:02	People are looking for singles. If you want to sell them you should sell them individually.
#3 Robin_Hoodlum Mar 30, 2011 6:42:24	People are looking for singles. If you want to sell them you should sell them individually. Strange. I am also looking for singles but I wouldn't mind getting them in groups.
#4 Robin_Hoodlum Mar 30, 2011 6:43:09	Give them to charity.
#5 zombie_babies Mar 30, 2011 8:58:29	Build a fort and then play D&D in it. You may need to take parts of the fort down if you run into any rules questions, though.
#6 pluisjen Mar 30, 2011 9:01:36	You could try to sell it all to a university roleplayinggames club. They´re often on the lookout for affordable books and don´t mind duplicates that much since there´s often multiple groups playing anyway.
#7 HeavensThunderHammer Mar 30, 2011 11:13:19	eBay. And as someone that used to sell toys and such on eBay here is my suggestion. Popular books, sell as single items. Less popular but good books, sell as single items. Less popular, but not so good book, give away or include with other items. Don't try and do it all in one swoop, because the chances of someone wanting at least 50% of those books, slim. You could try that at first, and see what happens, it won't cost you anything or at best a few dollars. You've already lost the money for these books. Anything you get back is gravy at this point, so don't be greedy. Mark them at a reasonable price. If people really want them, they will go up in price. Don't be a jerk and make extra money off of shipping. Don't say it's $14 dollars shipping, and then when it gets there it turns out you only paid $5. Be reasonable, do your research on what it would cost to ship. A general range is acceptable, like if you know the average book will cost say, $6 to ship, listing it at $7 is fine. Thanks for the suggestions! I also have gone through both Amazon and Ebay and computed what if sold individually at the lowest price (at least as of March 29th 2011)Shipping NOT included and the totals are: Ebay: $967, Amazon: $880, Min(Amazon,Ebay):$827 On April 19th Ebay is reducing their insertation fees AND their cut 9% on the first $100 instead of 9% on everything (if I'm reading it right). See part of my problem/advantage is that I live a mile away from the US border in Canada. So, I can cross the border (but I have to walk across, not drive, or I get charged $15) and walk to the post office in Sumas (not too far) but I don't want to have to go 38 times (heck, even about 10 would be really pushing it.)
#8 Robin_Hoodlum Mar 30, 2011 11:31:57	Wait a minute.... You don't need to get a passport to walk to the US, but I have to get one if I cross over the Niagra Falls bridge to visit Canada for half an hour?
#9 HeavensThunderHammer Mar 30, 2011 11:38:23	Wait a minute.... You don't need to get a passport to walk to the US, but I have to get one if I cross over the Niagra Falls bridge to visit Canada for half an hour? Where did I say I don't need a passport? You better believe I cross with one!
#10 zombie_babies Mar 30, 2011 11:40:04	Last time I went to the Falls the Canadians were far more tolerant of us going there than the Americans were of us coming back. The Canadian border peeps asked us where we were going, where we we from, checked how many smokes we had and then said - and I quote - ' have a good one'. On the way back, though? We were grilled mercilessly, told a military ID wasn't good enough, a birth certificate wasn't good enough (even though it was at the time) and told that they could keep us out of the country until such time as we had acquired a passport. So yeah, IME the Canadians are far more hospitable at the border.
#11 EscherEnigma Mar 30, 2011 11:46:23	Hrm... last time I went to Mexico it was the same... walking in was just a wave to the federali, walking out was a long slow line. 'course, that was tenish years ago, so it was before they ramped up border patrol stuff.
#12 HeavensThunderHammer Mar 30, 2011 11:53:28	Last time I went to the Falls the Canadians were far more tolerant of us going there than the Americans were of us coming back. The Canadian border peeps asked us where we were going, where we we from, checked how many smokes we had and then said - and I quote - ' have a good one'. On the way back, though? We were grilled mercilessly, told a military ID wasn't good enough, a birth certificate wasn't good enough (even though it was at the time) and told that they could keep us out of the country until such time as we had acquired a passport. So yeah, IME the Canadians are far more hospitable at the border. Was this before passports were mandatory? The americans were a lot more harsh on me for crossing with a driver's license at the time than the Canadians. Btw: The guy was giving you a hard time, no American border guard has ever refused an actual american entry into the country. The right of return is pretty powerful. I know this because a friend of mine isn't really a proper canadian or american (due to complex family issues/drama), and has a seriously hard time crossing the american/canadian border.
#13 zombie_babies Mar 30, 2011 11:54:59	It was before passports were required. And of course he was giving us a hard time, that was the point of my story!
#14 bone_naga Mar 30, 2011 19:04:05	Use ebay and offer incentives for buying several books. Consolidated shipping is normal, but maybe if they buy 3 or more books you offer free (noninternational) shipping, or something like that.