Best way to list sterling silver flatware on eBay
April 7, 2013 4:09 PM Subscribe
I want to sell my sterling silver flatware on eBay. Much agonizing within, but the basic question is whether it would be better to list each place setting and serving piece separately, or to lump them all into one listing.
I have 8 five-piece place settings, plus a cake server, a gravy ladle, and a serving spoon, all in like-new condition. Replacements.com will buy them all for ~$1500, and it would cost ~$3160 to buy them from Replacements; eBay sold listings for this pattern are somewhere in between.
My thought is to list them on eBay, set the reserve at the Replacements.com price, and hope for the best, and if it doesn't sell on eBay then sell to Replacements. What I can't figure out is how to list them. I'm really trying to maximize what I get as I'm trying to come up with the money for a frivolous purchase that I can't otherwise afford. Pros and cons:
Listing everything separately: If it doesn't all sell on eBay, then I can always sell the rest to Replacements, but some of it could sell at a higher price. Plus, the serving pieces seem like the kind of thing people would go looking for individually.
Listing it all together: If you're trying to put together an entire set, seems like you'd want to buy it all from the same person, so the pieces would have the same amount of wear. Plus, it's wedding season--maybe someone would buy the whole set as a wedding gift? Probably not, though, huh. Also, by listing it all together, I'm limiting the market to people who want to buy a whole set.
Is there some way to have my cake and eat it too?
In case it's not obvious, I'm not that familiar with buying and selling this kind of thing on eBay, although I have tried to study the sold listings to divine the answer (with no luck). Thanks so much for your help.
I have 8 five-piece place settings, plus a cake server, a gravy ladle, and a serving spoon, all in like-new condition. Replacements.com will buy them all for ~$1500, and it would cost ~$3160 to buy them from Replacements; eBay sold listings for this pattern are somewhere in between.
My thought is to list them on eBay, set the reserve at the Replacements.com price, and hope for the best, and if it doesn't sell on eBay then sell to Replacements. What I can't figure out is how to list them. I'm really trying to maximize what I get as I'm trying to come up with the money for a frivolous purchase that I can't otherwise afford. Pros and cons:
Listing everything separately: If it doesn't all sell on eBay, then I can always sell the rest to Replacements, but some of it could sell at a higher price. Plus, the serving pieces seem like the kind of thing people would go looking for individually.
Listing it all together: If you're trying to put together an entire set, seems like you'd want to buy it all from the same person, so the pieces would have the same amount of wear. Plus, it's wedding season--maybe someone would buy the whole set as a wedding gift? Probably not, though, huh. Also, by listing it all together, I'm limiting the market to people who want to buy a whole set.
Is there some way to have my cake and eat it too?
In case it's not obvious, I'm not that familiar with buying and selling this kind of thing on eBay, although I have tried to study the sold listings to divine the answer (with no luck). Thanks so much for your help.
Keep in mind that both eBay and Paypal take hefty fees. Paypal is about 3%; eBay's fees just went up, but are around 10%. You pay these fees on the entire payment you receive from the buyer, including shipping. So you would need to set your reserve (or even better, your starting bid, as many buyers hate reserve auctions) at least $1700 to match the price Replacements is offering.
If you are not in a huge hurry, I'd put them on eBay and Craigslist (it's free, why not try) and see what kind of interest you get.
posted by payoto at 5:45 PM on April 7, 2013
If you are not in a huge hurry, I'd put them on eBay and Craigslist (it's free, why not try) and see what kind of interest you get.
posted by payoto at 5:45 PM on April 7, 2013
on eBay, set the reserve at the Replacements.com price
Do you mean the price that Replacements has offered you, or the price that Replacements is selling this for? (If the latter, why would anybody buy from an eBay seller over a well-established store with no discount involved...? But the other option there makes no sense either -- why not just sell to them if you're good with what they're offering?)
Maximum profit will be from listing each piece individually on eBay. That will involve a lot of work; how much time do you want to devote to this? Sometimes small and uneven (at least four full place settings, but maybe with five knives and six spoons) sets of my cutlery go on eBay for as low as $125ish, but single pieces sell alone for $20. If you have the time and patience to parcel it out bit by bit, go that way.
Etsy is another potential venue; much cheaper than eBay.
posted by kmennie at 6:47 PM on April 7, 2013
Do you mean the price that Replacements has offered you, or the price that Replacements is selling this for? (If the latter, why would anybody buy from an eBay seller over a well-established store with no discount involved...? But the other option there makes no sense either -- why not just sell to them if you're good with what they're offering?)
Maximum profit will be from listing each piece individually on eBay. That will involve a lot of work; how much time do you want to devote to this? Sometimes small and uneven (at least four full place settings, but maybe with five knives and six spoons) sets of my cutlery go on eBay for as low as $125ish, but single pieces sell alone for $20. If you have the time and patience to parcel it out bit by bit, go that way.
Etsy is another potential venue; much cheaper than eBay.
posted by kmennie at 6:47 PM on April 7, 2013
Response by poster: Do you mean the price that Replacements has offered you, or the price that Replacements is selling this for?
No, I mean the price that Replacements has offered me, with the idea that I might make more than what they're offering, and at least won't make less.
I had no idea I could sell it on Etsy. Off to look into that now.
posted by HotToddy at 7:35 PM on April 7, 2013
No, I mean the price that Replacements has offered me, with the idea that I might make more than what they're offering, and at least won't make less.
I had no idea I could sell it on Etsy. Off to look into that now.
posted by HotToddy at 7:35 PM on April 7, 2013
Response by poster: Huh! There's a ton of silver flatware on there! Is this something (or rather yet another thing) that the whole world knows about except for me? My concept of Etsy until this evening was art/handicrafts & crap fraudulently resold as art/handicrafts. Am I as likely to find a buyer there as on eBay?
posted by HotToddy at 7:44 PM on April 7, 2013
posted by HotToddy at 7:44 PM on April 7, 2013
PriceGeek might help you crunch some ebay numbers (or at least help the searching.)
I just discovered it last night, but it aggregates all the auction information for you, including completed auctions and the actual listings.
Is this something (or rather yet another thing) that the whole world knows about except for me? My concept of Etsy until this evening was art/handicrafts & crap fraudulently resold as art/handicrafts. Am I as likely to find a buyer there as on eBay?
You are not. I just found a few pieces of stoneware there that I'm getting ready to sell on eBay, so I'll be looking into that.
Replacements.com will buy them all for ~$1500
I also have a set of silver flatware to sell (I need Ask to help me identify it first) and had no idea about replacements.com.
Please update us after you sell!
posted by Room 641-A at 8:09 PM on April 7, 2013
I just discovered it last night, but it aggregates all the auction information for you, including completed auctions and the actual listings.
Is this something (or rather yet another thing) that the whole world knows about except for me? My concept of Etsy until this evening was art/handicrafts & crap fraudulently resold as art/handicrafts. Am I as likely to find a buyer there as on eBay?
You are not. I just found a few pieces of stoneware there that I'm getting ready to sell on eBay, so I'll be looking into that.
Replacements.com will buy them all for ~$1500
I also have a set of silver flatware to sell (I need Ask to help me identify it first) and had no idea about replacements.com.
Please update us after you sell!
posted by Room 641-A at 8:09 PM on April 7, 2013
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posted by atropos at 4:28 PM on April 7, 2013