Such a thing as ebay consignment shop?

[kabert]

OK, let's say I don't want to take the time to figure out how to set up a fancy EBay auction with great pictures, etc. yet I've got some good things that I'd rather sell on EBay than give to my brother or to the thrift shop. Is there some seller on Ebay who takes stuff and sets up the auctions for a reasonable flat fee? Someone who could list not only that cashmere Oxxford blazer I can't fit into any longer but also some rare books. I recall reading somewhere once about a company in California that does this, but can't recall the name of it. Does anyone know of such a seller/company?

 

[AlanC]

Well, our own Andrew Harris is "World Class Consignment", but I don't know what his terms are and I doubt he does books. I believe this folks consign, though: http://feedback.ebay.com/ws1....6434874 All I know about them is that I watched one of their auctions recently.

 

[bryce330]

There is a company called auctiondrop that will sell items for you. They are located inside UPS Stores (formerly Mailboxes Etc.) - I'm sure there is a location near you. I have no idea how much they charge or whether it is a flat fee or a percentage of the auction value. www.auctiondrop.com

 

[shoreman1782]

There's quite a few companies now acting as points of entry for ebay merchandise. They'll photograph your stuff and set up the auctions. I think they charge some hefty fees though, and the fees are percentages, not flat rates.

I'd google search for ebay and your location, or a large city near you. I don't think there's any national chain of auction point places, and I'm not sure if they thrive. I saw one in Manasquan, NJ (mid-Jersey shore) and the merch was kind of weak.

Also, if it's specialized stuff like clothing, you'll probably want to make sure they're giving it its due; these places have to be generalists. You don't want the Oxxford sportcoat auction to read "Fantastic Blazer by English designer Oxford. Free old books with purchase...."

EDIT: Well there ya go. Bryce, you're good.

 

[johnnynorman3]

I'd sell it yourself -- I always am suspicious of consignment shops selling on Ebay because they tend to overrate the condition/age of the items they sell. Sort of a lemon effect o the prices that the goods fetch, IMO. There are the rare sellers like A. Harris, but the corner Ebay seller is going to do a poor job compared to what you could get yourself.

 

[kabert]

I just checked out the website for auctiondrop.com. Their fees are ridiculously high. I wouldn't consider them unless I had a huge amount of expensive stuff to sell, which I don't.

 

[Bradford]

There's quite a few companies now acting as points of entry for ebay merchandise. They'll photograph your stuff and set up the auctions. I think they charge some hefty fees though, and the fees are percentages, not flat rates.

I'd google search for ebay and your location, or a large city near you. I don't think there's any national chain of auction point places, and I'm not sure if they thrive. I saw one in Manasquan, NJ (mid-Jersey shore) and the merch was kind of weak.

Also, if it's specialized stuff like clothing, you'll probably want to make sure they're giving it its due; these places have to be generalists. You don't want the Oxxford sportcoat auction to read "Fantastic Blazer by English designer Oxford. Free old books with purchase...."

EDIT: Well there ya go. Bryce, you're good.

There is a place here in Scottsdale that does this, but I don't remember the name. I'll check and see if I can find some info for you.

Bradford

 

[aybojs]

Bradford:
Is that that "asisaz" seller (who is located in Scottsdale)? Back in the day I remember he would have about 10 different numbered accounts constantly selling dozens of random clothing items. I hadn't seen him on a while until just recently, when I saw one of the accounts selling a bunch of ties.

kabert: Barring lack of access to a digital camera, there's really no reason why listing it yourself would not be the best approach. It takes maybe an hour at most do all the photography, picture editing, and auction writing. You also likely know the item far better than some general consignment shop would, and you don't have to fork over an unreasonable sum to get the blazer sold.

 

[Carlo]

FWIW - if you have a LOT of feedback fine, but if not maybe have a friend who does list it. Gotta have clear pictures and accurate measurements.... we spend a LOT of time making our ads.

May your bidders get into a "mine is bigger than yours and you can't outbid ME." pissing contest and pay promptly

 

[A Harris]

I just checked out the website for auctiondrop.com. Â Their fees are ridiculously high. Â I wouldn't consider them unless I had a huge amount of expensive stuff to sell, which I don't.

Actually, their fees are low, if anything. Consider that ebay ends up taking 12-15% of the high bid when you factor in relisting fees, fees for "additional features", and paypal fees (and that is based on a pattern calculated from 5yrs of sales totals vs ebay fees paid, not on their "fee structure".) Then consider that in order to make a good presentation, therefore maximizing the sale price, a professional seller will end up investing a minimum of two hours of skilled labour, per item, before it's all said and done. Three hours in many cases. Not to mention the MANY other associated expenses. Ebay consigners are providing a very valuable service - they enable your items to be sold to a world market. Local consignment shops will charge you the same 40-50%, price the items at half what they go for on ebay, and simply hang them on a rack, where they will languish for 6-8 months, finally selling for a pittance, or worse, donated to a thrift store. But, I'm sure there are a few poor suckers out there that haven't figured out that consigning for 20% or so of the high bid is a losing proposition. Best way to find them is to search ebay's  Trading Assistant directory.

It takes maybe an hour at most do all the photography, picture editing, and auction writing.

If you are really good, and have a good system in place, you can take the pictures, edit the pictures, measure the item, write the auction, download the pics to the internet and list the auction in an hour. But that's if everything goes as smooth as silk (nothing needs to be retaken, you didn't miss any needed measurements, didn't make any mistakes in writing the auction, your listing programs are working and don't need to be updated, etc.) And you still have to answer a million questions via email, make payment demands, pack and ship the item, deal with any complications... I very much doubt there is ANY other way of selling an individual item that requires more labor than putting it on ebay. Finally, to sell high end clothing, you not only need to invest time, you also need to know what you are doing. We've all seen the auctions put up by those who don't have a clue, and those who try and make up for not having a clue by lying...

 

[A Harris]

Is that that "asisaz" seller (who is located in Scottsdale)?  Back in the day I remember he would have about 10 different numbered accounts constantly selling dozens of random clothing items.  I hadn't seen him on a while until just recently, when I saw one of the accounts selling a bunch of ties.

Nope, those guys are jobbers. And BUYER BEWARE when dealing with them. They had an incredible lot of merchandise from Bergdorf a couple of years ago. I bought three items - two were damaged, one severely, and the third item was fine, but they had written (sloppily and in ballpoint pen) a retail price that was double what the item sold for originally, and claimed that was the real price. They gave me some incredible BS when I tried to get my money back, it was a huge hassle. I won in the end, but mainly because my urge to stick it to them won out over the fact that I had to waste a lot of time.

A lot of the things they sold were first quality and a great deal, but since you can't trust them, it's a gamble.