[78-L] Auction Action: worth it?

[Cary Ginell]

> Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2011 01:39:06 -0700
> From: dennis.flannigan at gmail.com
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Subject: [78-L] Auction Action: worth it?

> I have noted shipping can cost more than eBay allows. How is that handled?> What is a minimum amount a seller should ask? Not because the record is
> worth that much, but that the cost of the sale, handling and shipping and
> other expenses make it cost more than the sale can receive.

I buy my shipping boxes and 10x10 cardboard squares from Papermart. I ship 78s in boxes that measure 12x12x4. This allows for a 78 "sandwich" (record taped in between 4 10x10 cardboard squares) to be sunk in the box surrounded by 1 inch of foam peanuts or other kind of packing material (if you don't want to use peanuts, crumpled newspaper works fine in a pinch). Cost of the packing materials themselves runs around $1.50. Media mail postage to anywhere in the U.S. costs $2.82 for one 78. I add $1.00 for each extra 78 a buyer wins. I charge $5.00 to ship the record. Overseas charges range from $8.00 to Canada to $18.00 to the UK to $20-22 to places like Spain or Japan, which always cost a little more. 

> 
> Is it worth selling any 78 rpm record if it only attract modest bids? 

That depends. Sometimes I'll list a number of ninety-nine cent records just to get people to notice the more expensive ones I am also selling. 

Is
> there a minimum value a seller better get to make it worthwhile? Examples?
> Middle interest Western Swing on Capitol (Wesley Tuttle, Jimmy Wakely) in E+
> condition. Probably a two to three dollar record for an interested buyer,
> and a dollar in the bins. So, say it sells for $3.50 + shipping. Seller then
> wraps securely in cardboard, floats it inside a box with crumpled newspaper,
> and takes it to post office, or it is picked up from the house/warehouse.
> Bidder pays $4.00 for that. So, here's $3.50 payment, less expenses for
> Ebay, time spent handling and mailing prep and costs; plus, the work/time
> required to listen, scan, grade, list/ post, review, respond to questions,
> notify winner, then mailing and on occasion arguing with buyer over
> condition, breakage, and the like. Is the real value letting collectors
> write off expenses to Record Meets, junking and conventions?

I usually scan eBay to see if someone else is already selling a similar record. No point in posting a Tex Williams Capitol if there are already 12 being sold. I also check "completed listings" after searching for a record to see what actual realized prices were. This really helps. 

> 
> Seems to me, you'll spend more than an hour with any record you post even if
> you're selling 50 p/week. If your time is even minimum wages, you'd need to
> clear $10.00 (taxes need to be paid, income reported, green sleeves
> purchased, record washing accomplished). And, how do you get over the fear
> of getting "took." I really don't care in one sense, but that idea bugs
> me. What's to do?

Not to mention the outrageous fees eBay takes, coming and going. They charge for listing a record, take a percentage of the sale price, and also take a piece of the PayPal payment. You end up only keeping about 85% of the sale price of the record (sometimes more). It's time consuming, yes, but there are shortcuts, and after doing it awhile, the process gets faster. I use eBay's TurboLister to set up boilerplate templates so that I don't have to repeat entering in all of the standard information they need to run an auction. It's free and is very useful. 
> 
> All that said, I'm 71 and come from piss-poor DNA, so one of these days,
> kaput.  Then heirs say, "What the heck do we do with all these," and they
> stumble and tumble into Goodwill bins or elsewhere. Oh, I live on modest
> retirement/soc-security, own my own clutter collection domicile and earning
> a few dollars wouldn't offend me. Thank you.

Unless you sell 78s in bulk lots, you're never going to rid of everything piecemeal. I use it as a nice supplement to my income or to bankroll purchases of my own. I've been doing so since 1998 and it's been generally a good experience. There have been some crackpots out there - people who complain about your grading, lie about not receiving a record, are demanding, etc., but if I have a real problem with someone, I merely block their user ID from bidding on future auctions and they go away. Be careful about certain items: 10-inch LPs, in particular. Japanese customers are very nitpicky about condition and will complain about every little ding or scratch if you don't mention it. As a rule, though, I've found that record collectors (especially those who collect 78s) are a particularly honest and friendly lot. Good luck!

Cary Ginell