Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

Hello UYDers,

I am going to sell my comics and collectable stuff on eBay.

I am starting this “maka's eBay comics auctions” thread for two reasons:

1) To promote my auctions with you all
2) To document my eBay experience in one place

My rules for myself:

I will explain in detail how much it cost an individual seller (me) to list auctions on eBay, what are all the fees (ebay listing/final value; paypal and USPS postage), and personal time it takes to list auctions and prepare items for shipping. We will see the true profit (hopefully) verses the winning bid and effort.

I will approach this with “sunk cost” philosophy – the original cost of the comics / item isn’t factored into the auction. The starting bid will always start at $0.99 and it will be a no reserve auction. The current collector’s market will determine the value, if any.

I will only list one or two auctions a week on average. I find if I try to do more than that it take more time than I’m willing to spend.

I am not selling my Usagi Yojimbo stuff. UY bring me a lot of joy for a lot of reasons (one of the main reasons are the people who participate on this board). I have not interest in parting with UY comics.

Any comments you have as this progresses is appreciated. And if you get tired of this thread, let me know and I’ll consider moving it to a blog.

The first auction is up for this week:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=006

It initially cost $0.40 to list (0.15 listing for .99 auction; 0.15 for the second picture [dave's signature] and 0.10 for having it listed on Sunday instead of Friday when I submitted my auction).

A signed copy Dave McKean sketchbook from 2006 that I bought at Budplant.com. I paid $15 + tax + shipping for it but budplant has it on sale right now (although I don’t think they are signed copies currently) for ½ that price. I became a big fan of Dave McKean because of his sandman/hellblazer covers and work with Neil Gaiman (Violent Cases, etc.). Then Hellraiser 27 came out and blew me away. And his Cages story was beautiful as well.

Peace, maka

Thank you for documenting your experience. I have never bought or sold anything from eBay, but have wondered at what fees are and is it worth the bother or not?

Dear Readers,
Please consider starting your auctions on Tuesday and ending them on Tuesday.
Saturday and Sunday people are busy, often spending time and money elsewhere.
By Tuesday people are more settled down and at their computers.
Those who find your offering on Saturday and Sunday will bid and waiting until Tuesday will give more people time to think and bid. This idea comes from a friend who is very successful selling on eBay.
Ebay is seasonal. Now people are spending their extra money on summer vacations. Next back to school and change of seasons take money, too. The best time to make money on eBay is March and April. People are coming out of winter and are ready to spend their extra fun money they acquired after the winter holidays. Please consider selling your more costly items in March and April.
Please consider grouping 5 or more $.99 items in one auction starting at 4.99. You will use one fifth the effort on many small packages and individual buyers and payments.
I hope you get top dollar for your goodies.
Best wishes to all!
go

Ebay does on offer free listing days or additional pic's for Free. But you have to keep an eye out for those.

A single Good photo's with a very good description is usually more than enough to sell an item. To avoid additional photo fee's you could have the bidder email you for a photos. But then again .15 cents saves you the trouble to send out emails.

Don't forget to consider your Shipping and Handling cost. It's great to win an item for say $2.00 but then have to pay $6.00 for Ship & Hand. Most ebay bidders do take into consideration the S & H cost with the purchase price of the item. But how do you think that person will feel if he paid the $6.00 to have his/her $2.00 item mailed in a plain envelope.

I think ebay auctions seem to do better if they end on the weekend and/or in the 9 - 12 pm range. And yes ebay is quite seasonal and it is better to sell before and after Christmas. Also late spring after tax refunds. But the person selling is the one who needs some $$$.

If post at too slow a rate will miss opportunity of sales. When a bidder makes a bid on 1 item, more likely than not they will check out what else you have to offer. If nothing else up now - you lost a potential bid.


As for Mr. Sakai never posting on eBay... there are many artists who do and seems they reach a lot of people- worldwide. When sellers obtaining con sketches and then reselling on ebay led to the shutdown - it left a huge hole. How was this gap filled? By people doing fakes, scribbling off the "to:" or the "for:". Other people stepped in to fit the demand. I can imagine a few posts on eBAy that would be sure sellers in many ways - the artist gets a profit, the UY gets publicity, fans get something closely held by Mr.Sakai.

There was mention of an overstock of i think UY 1 - so slap a COA, and perhaps autograph and number em -
Straight from the Stan Sakai comic files
that's just for books ....
Another idea: which a few artists are doing is art plus books
see David Golding posts

If these are suggestions worth exploring lemme know if need specific assistance.
I am sure others can add to the ideas.

Hello UYDers,

The final value of the signed copy Dave McKean sketchbook auction was $23.05 + $5.00 for shipping/handling

The winner has not paid with paypal, so I am assuming the check/money order is in the mail. If this is the case I will not have to pay any paypal fees / credit card fees.

The final value fee was $2.02
The auction listing fees $0.40
The shipping cost was $2.76 (media mail)
The envelop & packing supplies $3.99 (I could have saved money but I was in the hurry)
Paypal fee. $1.11

Total expenses $10.28

Total profit $28.05 - $10.28 = $17.71

Total time listing, contacting winner bidder, preparing package, driving to post office ~ 2 hours (I'm very slow).

I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow, so I'm just going to send this off and trust that the winner has sent payment.

----

Thanks for everyone's comments.

go wrote: Please consider starting your auctions on Tuesday and ending them on Tuesday.

I never tried this. I've always thought auctions that end on Sunday nights were best. I'll give this a try.

go wrote:Ebay is seasonal. . . . The best time to make money on eBay is March and April. . . . Please consider selling your more costly items in March and April.

I completely agree. Good idea. But nothing I have will go for much more than $100 (most will be under $10, I think). My main goal is to get rid of the excess stuff that is just sitting around.

go wrote: Please consider grouping 5 or more $.99 items in one auction starting at 4.99. You will use one fifth the effort on many small packages and individual buyers and payments.

In general, I say a good rule is to price your auction at what price you are willing to let things go for. It's worth it to pay the higher listing fees and if it doesn't sell, you are only out a few bucks and your time.

yee28 wrote:Ebay does on offer free listing days or additional pic's for Free.

When I didn't have a job, I loved free listing days. But now days, I rather pay the fees for the convenience.

yee28 wrote:A single Good photo's with a very good description is usually more than enough to sell an item. To avoid additional photo fee's you could have the bidder email you for a photos. But then again .15 cents saves you the trouble to send out emails.

Using basic HTML code is an easy way to avoid photo fees. But this also requires you host the photos somewhere else. I used to take the extra effort. I decided it is not worth my time anymore.

yee28 wrote:Don't forget to consider your Shipping and Handling cost. It's great to win an item for say $2.00 but then have to pay $6.00 for Ship & Hand. Most ebay bidders do take into consideration the S & H cost with the purchase price of the item. But how do you think that person will feel if he paid the $6.00 to have his/her $2.00 item mailed in a plain envelope.

It is very important to give people good value in s/h cost. I package my items very carefully to protect the items from damage.

One of the risk of selling something for $2.00 is that low priced auctions attract people who really care about every nickel. They may be quick to assume that I am just trying to rip them off. They don't price into the time, gas, and energy in to the s/h cost. And they maybe quick to leave negative feedback on your eBay account which will affect your future auctions.

ricksam wrote:If post at too slow a rate will miss opportunity of sales. When a bidder makes a bid on 1 item, more likely than not they will check out what else you have to offer. If nothing else up now - you lost a potential bid.

This is true. I think when I sell some more collectable comics (like The Dark Knight Returns or early run of 70's swamp thing issues) I will sell those individually instead of a set. When I sold my complete collection of Miracleman (full runs of Moore and Gaimen series and the anthologies) I sold them as one set. I pretty sure I could have probably doubled my money if I sold those individually. But it was right before my first daughter was born, so I didn't want to have to prepare 30 individual comics for shipping.

----

There is also software out there you can pay for that help design nice looking auctions.

iSale
http://www.aspyr.com/games.php/software/isale

GarageSale
http://www.iwascoding.com/GarageSale

For me, eBay is a way to get rid of stuff that I no longer want. But it does take work and time (writing descriptions, taking photos/loading, answering questions, preparing, driving to the post office). That can be a pain. So I happy to just list one or two auctions at a time.

Peace, maka

Hello UYDers,

Here's the next 7 day auction. It is the Akira Portfolio and The Legends of Mother Sarah: Tunnel Town Graphic Novel by Katsuhiro Otomo. Starting bid at $0.99 with no reserve. Domestic shipping $5.

Initial eBay cost:

Insertion fee: $0.15
Picture fee (three pictures - first is free): $0.30
Schedule Listing Fee: $0.10
Total listing fees: $0.55

I'm trying Go's suggestion to start this auction on a Tuesday.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... CA:US:1123

One mishap with my last auction. The seller didn't pay me before I left for my two week vacation. So I sent the book to the address listed in the eBay winner's notification email.

But then the seller paid me a last Sunday, using paypal and a different mailing address.

I contacted the buyer via email letting them know my mistake (three times) via email. I first apologized. I gave them my cell phone number, the USPS tracking number, the address it was mailed to. I asked them to email me back or call me. But I have not heard back from them yet. All of this was done using my first generation iPhone (slow [like dial up] EDGE network but best cell phone web experience).

I will return home on Thursday and see if the package was returned or not.

If not, I will contact the winner again and see if she wants a refund or I can send one more copy of the book.

The lesson learned is to not send out books without receiving payment, even if you are trying to be a good seller. And DON'T list auctions that end three days before you leave for a two week vacation.

I can see why people don't like doing mail order if they are the solely responsible for doing it. A lot of factors [when are people going to pay, what if they are not satisfied, etc.] make it a pain. I support Mr. Sakai not selling commissions via mail order.

Peace, maka

I am typing this on a my In-Law's PC - nice to have high speed internet and the "cut and paste" feature.