Nice video, very informative, i started selling on ebay a few months ago, and I really want to go into action figures. Now I know where to start, thanks.
I'm retired, but during my employment years, I worked in the Marketing Depts of major banks and collected bags of Promotional gifts (key rings, calculators, lights, toys, etc). Does anyone believe there are collectors for such items? Some of these banks are no longer in existence. Thank you, Zen for perking my memory that I still have these items.
It's definitely a possibility. I have been absolutely shocked at what people are willing to pay for (like people will collect all sorts of weird things - including me!). Matchstick books from casinos, old books - I broke a ceramic soup mug that was a family momento and spent $40 for a replacement. It's absolutely worth giving it a try! Thank you for the feedback!!
@@craftystax Thanks for the encouragement...I now have to learn how to create a store, sell on eBay. Have you done a step-by-step vid as yet for us eBay neophytes? thanks again
Great video I’m obsessed with action figures especially neca my obsession started around 20 didn’t have money as kid but now that I buy more I start to understand the action figure industry there’s good profit if you know the market !
Thank you for making this video. I've been taking time to observe trends while pursuing my love of the hobby and often buy a couple of figures knowing that later on I can make back what I spent for my copy and perhaps some extra. It is very fun! I play the long game and actually buy quite a bit below retail on eBay. Great advice regarding the store exclusives. I'm also learning as much as I can about customizing too. If you know how to sew and paint that's where it's really at. The amount people are willing to pay for 1/12 & 1/6 outfits, accessories and capes alone is incredible and there also aren't that many people catering to that niche market.
100% agree!! I paid a 3D printer a few bucks for some custom-made weapons for a few of my figures and it is a great niche to be in! Accessories (especially on vintage figures) are huge!
Great video thank you i'm going to watch that again. I've been selling used action figures on ebay for around a year and a half now. I'm going to try this because I'm having a hard time sourcing enough used figures. Thanks for the great info 👍 Also there seems to be an opportunity in selling customized figures and parting out figures for customizations.
I’ve looked at eBay several times. I worked at Canada Post and collected horror books for years. However, I thought that the cost of shipping in Canada was too expensive. I’ll look at it again.
It's a good question - I typically try to list stuff where I am making at least $20 profit per sale at minimum, so I would say I've made at least $2,000 profit. Last Christmas was busy, I was shipping 1 or 2 packages a day for an entire month and definitely was making $20-40 per package.
In the USA it's a dream as the U.S. post office provides free shipping boxes. In Canada, I typically go to the liquor store (they have boxes piled up from floor to ceiling). I also save Amazon boxes that come to the house!
Please! Talk about shipping. How can you run a profitable business on Ebay when, for example, shipping a 15-inch ×14-inch × 9-inch package, weighing 3 pounds 15 ounces from Texas to Seattle, can cost up to 55 dollars? If you buy an item for, say, $80 and then resell it on eBay for $150, it seems those $70 extra are gonna be used mostly to cover shipping expenses and Ebay fees. Is there something I'm not understanding? Am I misscalculating shipping? Am I pricing the item too low?
I don't live in the U.S. but I can say from a Canadian perspective, that sounds really really high. There are USPS flat rate boxes that are like $20 US. I am jealous of the shipping in the U.S.! There is a shipping calculator here: postcalc.usps.com/
Most of the time I list as buy it now. I find that most people don't want to wait for an auction - if it is priced appropriately, they want it now (as opposed to waiting days for an auction to end, and they maybe don't win it).
Those fees are ridiculous. I use PayPal as well. After packing materials and shipping, I didn’t make much and dealing with eBay buyers was a mostly bad experience. I sold a lot but then just dumped most of it at a local toy store, taking a loss but it is what it is Edit: international shipping isn’t worth it either
Yes ebay fees are definitely high. Some people try selling their vintage toys on Etsy (which is only 5%) - might be something for anyone out there thinking about trying it.
I'm not sure what you mean by risk - if you sell on Etsy, there is always a risk that your account can get banned (because Etsy owns the platform). If you don't sell any copyright or trademark-infringing designs, you stand the best chance of not getting a strike. Hope that helps.
Yes the big complaint against ebay (at least in my opinion) are the fees are really high. It stinks because trying to flip stuff can be a lot of work to make $20-30 a flip, especially factoring in the time.
No not me, although there's a guy on RUclips who busts scammers (people phoning up elderly people and trying to take their money). One of my favorite channels! I'm sticking to teaching these days!
Hey there - if you are looking at buying bulk action figures, typically the toy company has a distributor - for example, Hasbro shop.hasbro.com/en-us/where-to-buy has a "B2B" section on their site.
I personally like this one: www.reddit.com/r/ToyCollectors/. There are lots of Facebook groups that are toy-specific as well (just search for the toy like G.I. Joe, Masters of the Universe, etc).
Nice video, very informative, i started selling on ebay a few months ago, and I really want to go into action figures. Now I know where to start, thanks.
Just started getting into selling Transformers after rediscovering them last Christmas. My first 2 listings are on eBay now. Thanks for the video !!!
Awesome, I love Transformers!! Thank you for your feedback!
I'm retired, but during my employment years, I worked in the Marketing Depts of major banks and collected bags of Promotional gifts (key rings, calculators, lights, toys, etc). Does anyone believe there are collectors for such items? Some of these banks are no longer in existence. Thank you, Zen for perking my memory that I still have these items.
It's definitely a possibility. I have been absolutely shocked at what people are willing to pay for (like people will collect all sorts of weird things - including me!). Matchstick books from casinos, old books - I broke a ceramic soup mug that was a family momento and spent $40 for a replacement. It's absolutely worth giving it a try! Thank you for the feedback!!
@@craftystax Thanks for the encouragement...I now have to learn how to create a store, sell on eBay. Have you done a step-by-step vid as yet for us eBay neophytes? thanks again
Great video I’m obsessed with action figures especially neca my obsession started around 20 didn’t have money as kid but now that I buy more I start to understand the action figure industry there’s good profit if you know the market !
NECA are such great figures!! Agreed!
Thank you for making this video. I've been taking time to observe trends while pursuing my love of the hobby and often buy a couple of figures knowing that later on I can make back what I spent for my copy and perhaps some extra. It is very fun! I play the long game and actually buy quite a bit below retail on eBay. Great advice regarding the store exclusives. I'm also learning as much as I can about customizing too. If you know how to sew and paint that's where it's really at. The amount people are willing to pay for 1/12 & 1/6 outfits, accessories and capes alone is incredible and there also aren't that many people catering to that niche market.
100% agree!! I paid a 3D printer a few bucks for some custom-made weapons for a few of my figures and it is a great niche to be in! Accessories (especially on vintage figures) are huge!
@@craftystax yes I forgot to mention 3D printing! I found some printed batman armor recently that just blew me away.
awesome content Crafty Stax. I killed the thumbs up on your video. Maintain up the awesome work.
This information is so interesting and helpful! Thank you!
Great video thank you i'm going to watch that again. I've been selling used action figures on ebay for around a year and a half now. I'm going to try this because I'm having a hard time sourcing enough used figures. Thanks for the great info 👍 Also there seems to be an opportunity in selling customized figures and parting out figures for customizations.
I’ve looked at eBay several times. I worked at Canada Post and collected horror books for years. However, I thought that the cost of shipping in Canada was too expensive. I’ll look at it again.
What was your (below the line) net profit after the 10k worth of sales? I just hate the high Ebay fees? Do you include those in your markup?
It's a good question - I typically try to list stuff where I am making at least $20 profit per sale at minimum, so I would say I've made at least $2,000 profit. Last Christmas was busy, I was shipping 1 or 2 packages a day for an entire month and definitely was making $20-40 per package.
Where do you get shipping supplies? Boxes mostly
In the USA it's a dream as the U.S. post office provides free shipping boxes. In Canada, I typically go to the liquor store (they have boxes piled up from floor to ceiling). I also save Amazon boxes that come to the house!
Please! Talk about shipping. How can you run a profitable business on Ebay when, for example, shipping a 15-inch ×14-inch × 9-inch package, weighing 3 pounds 15 ounces from Texas to Seattle, can cost up to 55 dollars? If you buy an item for, say, $80 and then resell it on eBay for $150, it seems those $70 extra are gonna be used mostly to cover shipping expenses and Ebay fees. Is there something I'm not understanding? Am I misscalculating shipping? Am I pricing the item too low?
I don't live in the U.S. but I can say from a Canadian perspective, that sounds really really high. There are USPS flat rate boxes that are like $20 US. I am jealous of the shipping in the U.S.! There is a shipping calculator here: postcalc.usps.com/
There is way around it. Even with all the rebates it's still a lot. You will have to use local only.
Do you list using. Buy It now or do you auction items off and start them at a price that you're comfortable with so you come out on the plus side?
Most of the time I list as buy it now. I find that most people don't want to wait for an auction - if it is priced appropriately, they want it now (as opposed to waiting days for an auction to end, and they maybe don't win it).
Very informative video!
Are there other toy companies that offer membership exclusives like Mattel???
Yes I know of at least one: Hasbro has some awesome exclusives: hasbropulse.com/collections/hasbro-pulse-exclusives
I love how this works for you and nice idea, but I have bad experience with Ebay ... alot of return and scammers.
I love this!
Those fees are ridiculous. I use PayPal as well. After packing materials and shipping, I didn’t make much and dealing with eBay buyers was a mostly bad experience. I sold a lot but then just dumped most of it at a local toy store, taking a loss but it is what it is
Edit: international shipping isn’t worth it either
Yes ebay fees are definitely high. Some people try selling their vintage toys on Etsy (which is only 5%) - might be something for anyone out there thinking about trying it.
(can you answer me please)
Is digital product a risk to your account etsy
I'm not sure what you mean by risk - if you sell on Etsy, there is always a risk that your account can get banned (because Etsy owns the platform). If you don't sell any copyright or trademark-infringing designs, you stand the best chance of not getting a strike. Hope that helps.
Great video Im a reseller who’s starting to get into POD. eBay manage payments takes there 3% just like PayPal for there money processing fees :/
Yes the big complaint against ebay (at least in my opinion) are the fees are really high. It stinks because trying to flip stuff can be a lot of work to make $20-30 a flip, especially factoring in the time.
Hi, I just saw your video on my feed and you sound just like a youtuber i follow on another channel. Do you troll scammers by any chance lol
No not me, although there's a guy on RUclips who busts scammers (people phoning up elderly people and trying to take their money). One of my favorite channels! I'm sticking to teaching these days!
hello how to find US supplier ?
Hey there - if you are looking at buying bulk action figures, typically the toy company has a distributor - for example, Hasbro shop.hasbro.com/en-us/where-to-buy has a "B2B" section on their site.
But with all the fees??
Yes the fees can be rough (especially starting out - it took me a while to become an expert with shipping options).
Any idea where i could join on facebook, Instagram, Reddit these bad distributions of toys or iteams ? Thanks in advance
I personally like this one: www.reddit.com/r/ToyCollectors/. There are lots of Facebook groups that are toy-specific as well (just search for the toy like G.I. Joe, Masters of the Universe, etc).