How do I sell a beanie?

December 28, 2005 11:32 AM

A friend of mine has asked me to sell her beanie babies on Ebay, and I know nothing...

...she is disabled, so she has asked me to take care of this for her. I have never sold anything on Ebay, and I know nothing of beanie babies.. She has over 100 of them, and has said that they are all in good condition, with sealed tags, and many of them are from when they were first released, but she does not know their generation information or anything that a collector should know.

Does anyone have any tips for making this as painless as possible? I know this is a broad question, but I don't even know where to start.

Thanks!

posted by eas98 to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (12 answers total)

Using Turbo Lister streamlines the process of listing a large number of items, especially when they are all similar. Also, make sure that you take pictures of the items and prominently display them; it has been shown to significantly increase interest in the item.
posted by charmston at 11:43 AM on December 28, 2005

Eas98, is she looking to make money doing it or is she just wanting to get rid of them?

As a first time eBayer, you'll probably going to be able to get rid of them, but it takes a while to learn how to sell on eBay well AND to generate a rating on eBay that is high enough for people to trust you.

If she wants to make money, I suggest that you seek out a service that sells things on eBay FOR people, taking a small part of the profit. Then she makes money and it is painless for you. There may be a local company or you can google for one.

If she just wants to get rid of them, you need to practice selling something on eBay as a test... so sell a shirt or something small that you don't care about. This will teach you the ins-and-outs of eBay selling, at least a little bit.

Some general tips if you decide to sell them yourself:

- sell items during the week and try to have the auction end at a time that works for the most time zones (I like 7:30pm Pacific).

- take pictures: lots of them.

- price low - this will make people fight over the item. I like to price things at $0.99 and see where it goes.

- don't do a reserve for stuffed animals.

- do eBay searches for BBs with the same name -- see what they are selling for.

- read other Beanie Baby auctions and see what people list. maybe there is information about generations. Maybe Beanie Baby buyers like to know that it is from a smoke-free home ??

_____

If I were you, I'd ask a service to sell them and tell your friend not to get her hopes up for tons of money.

And as a final note, I don't think that BB are really worth much anymore. :(
posted by k8t at 11:51 AM on December 28, 2005

As for the Beanie Babies, there are a lot of resources online that could probably help you discern their generation, if they are retired or not, and what their market value is. There's something also about having them authenticated if they are some of the more coveted items. Googling will help too, I think.

A good practice on selling anything on eBay is to gauge the market by searching for the item on eBay and see what the other auctions are fetching.
posted by jerseygirl at 11:52 AM on December 28, 2005

You could also try to sell them as one big bunch as well.

Looks like this person is selling 60 of them and the auction is up to $400.

Here 178 beanies are going for $200.


But a quick search on eBay shows that they aren't really selling all that well anymore... the trend has ended.

Maybe your friend should wait 10 or so years until they may become valuable again?
posted by k8t at 11:55 AM on December 28, 2005

Here's an up-to-the-minute price guide that apparently pulls from many sites. I can't vouch for its reliability, but I found it in a simple google search for "beanie baby price guide".
posted by MeetMegan at 12:13 PM on December 28, 2005

My past advice on selling on eBay.
posted by dobbs at 12:17 PM on December 28, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks for the info so far. I never considered using a service that sells them for you. Are these reliable? Do they take a large cut?

Eas98, is she looking to make money doing it or is she just wanting to get rid of them?

I do not know.. I have a feeling she is simply in need of money. She has no idea what they are valued at, but she certainly would like to get maximum value for them.
posted by eas98 at 1:13 PM on December 28, 2005

The service that a friend of a friend used took out 10%, but for all the work involved, it was reasonable, I think.

I bet that there are 1 or 2 that might be worth something, but just wandering around on eBay, it doesn't look like the market is still there.
posted by k8t at 1:44 PM on December 28, 2005

One word - craigslist.

I've found it to be so much easier than eBay with consistently good results.
posted by SoftSummerBreeze at 2:09 PM on December 28, 2005

If you want help selling on eBay, there are at least two routes to go:

* Individuals, who eBay calls "trading assistants". Some do list their fees; others you'll have to ask. Some will help sell everything; others specialize (their listings will so indicate). You want someone who has sold a lot (say, at least 1000 items) and has a good feedback score, of course.

* Companies: i-soldit.com [inane hyphenation]; quikdrop.com, SnappyAuctions, and others, I'm sure (try searching on google using "ebay drop off").
posted by WestCoaster at 12:31 PM on December 29, 2005

The few services I looked into around Madison, WI had fees that I would consider astronomical (example).
posted by fief at 11:01 AM on December 30, 2005

I was at the UPS store yesterday and their eBay listing service required that the item be worth more than $75!
posted by k8t at 11:35 AM on December 30, 2005