Packaging figures when selling on eBay

MJ · Post by MJ » 21 May 2004 20:15

Hi all,

Well, I've finally catalogued and photographed my whole AF collection, and will be posting auctions on eBay over the next few weeks. Made me quite nostalgic sorting through it all, and I'm almost loath to part with it now, but we need the space.

However, I was wondering what you chaps recommend for packaging figures. I've got lots of foam/bubble lined hard disk drive boxes and the like which will be ideal for vehicles or batches of figures, but I've got quite a few rare figures that I want to sell individually. I was thinking that A5 Jiffy-type bags would be suitable, but my local WHSmith's charges an arm and a leg for them and the online retailers I've seen only want to deal with businesses. I very vaguely remember my mail-only figures like the Commander and Skeletron coming in little white figure-sized cardboard boxes: are these available anywhere?

What do you guys use when trading figures? Know of any good local stationers/online retailers that supply small quantities for sensible prices? Also, do you feel it's fair to add an extra charge onto your auctions to cover the cost of packaging materials?

Many thanks, MJ.

(BTW, another big thankyou to Steve as I couldn't possibly have catalogued everything without this excellent site).

The Baron · Post by **The Baron** » 22 May 2004 16:28

Yeah I recycle the jiffy's I get from buying on ebay, just slap on a label and some parcel tape and voila. Might be an idea to bag up loose accessories in a resealable bag, you can get about 500 or so from a supermarket if you get them as Freezer Bags.

MJ · Post by MJ » 23 May 2004 12:15

Newswseller wrote:Personally I just use any boxes that I have lying around to post things out.. Im quite well known at my Post Office for being the "Cereal" box boy

Cereal boxes? This opens up a whole new question as to whether Sugar Puffs or Rice Krispies are the better packing material

I hadn't even considered buying my packing stuff from ebay, so I had a look around and found quite a few major sellers offering decent prices on Jiffy bags, bubble wrap and the like. I really had no idea that businesses were using ebay in this way instead of having their own websites - thanks Jonathan.

I picked up some of those little resealable bags, Baron - will do nicely for preventing guns and the like going astray. I might be going a bit overboard on the packing, but my AF has survived in good condition for 20 years, so it would be a real shame to see it get damaged on its final journey through the post.

So... I'm ready to go now. I've got some great stuff to be put up for auction including some Skeletrons, a complete escape armour and a complete Z-Force base. I'll be ebaying as mj_loft_sale. Look forward to trading with some of you guys!

stevebullman · Post by **stevebullman** » 24 May 2004 18:59

i sell stuff on e-bay, not action force but all kinds of stuff. i always add on plenty to cover packaging as well as postage, then theres your personal time involve packing the item and getting it off to the post office.
charge what you want, so long as you list the charges beforehand and stick to them, people can see the cost and if they aint happy with it they simply wont bid.
dont sell yourself short

plastik · Post by **plastik** » 25 May 2004 11:31

stevebullman wrote:i sell stuff on e-bay, not action force but all kinds of stuff. i always add on plenty to cover packaging as well as postage, then theres your personal time involve packing the item and getting it off to the post office.
charge what you want, so long as you list the charges beforehand and stick to them, people can see the cost and if they aint happy with it they simply wont bid.
dont sell yourself short

but on the other hand , it really cheeses me off when I pay ?3 for P&P on ebay and the package arrives with a ?1 stamp on in a box that looks like if was found in a ditch.

Postage should be just that, if you have a reasonable expence with the packaging then this should be included too, your time and trip to the post office should be out of the profits you make from selling the item.

If you went to your local supermarket to do your shopping, got to the till and they charged you a fee for the carrier bags and an additional surcharge for the cashiers time to scan your items whilst talking to her friend doreen on the next till you would be mightily peeved and rightly so too, these are just running costs and overheads, just like the fees ebay charge you for selling.

The point of ebay is that you do not want to turn away bidders just to make a few extra quid profit on postage.

unless I am selling something in jiffy bags(and if have to buy lots of them) I do not charge for packaging as I try and reuse what I have and I do not markup the postage either, (if I am weighing the items at home I might add a few pence to allow for the fact that my scales are not calliberated to the ones in my post office) and I do tend to get higher bids becasue of this,

And as a bidder I will look at the p&P price and bid accordingly.

And don't get me started on sellers who try and pass on the 4% paypal surcharge to the winning bidder, although it looks like ebay has taken steps to rectify this.

phew I can get of my soap box now

The Baron · Post by **The Baron** » 25 May 2004 13:18

Yeah I do the 4% thing too, when you're dealing in small auctions Paypal just chop it to bits. First time I sold stuff on ebay I recycled all of my old jiffy bags from my winnings, and forgot to charge a single penny for 'em.

plastik · Post by **plastik** » 25 May 2004 14:10

Newswseller wrote:
And don't get me started on sellers who try and pass on the 4% paypal surcharge to the winning bidder, although it looks like ebay has taken steps to rectify this.
I've got to disagree with this.. As a seller there is no advantage in taking payments from other UK users through paypal.

Why I should loose a further 4% of my profit, just because someone is impatient and too lazy to post a cheque?

the benefit is that the seller receives the money instantly, not two days later with a further 3-5 days to wait for a cheque to clear and no trip to the bank every couple of days to pay them in.

Independant shops are charged by the credit companies everytime you use your card there, yet they do not pass this charge directly on to you at the till.

I'm not a fan of paypal so I don't want to defend it by any means, my point was some sellers see the P&P to make extra profit.