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Selling Expensive Stuff

ghall

ghall

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
3,771
1
Rhode Island
Okay, so my grandmother gave me a set of Hunter Douglas sheers that were included with the house she bought a couple years ago, along with slip, written out by the company that replaced them with better looking and cheaper ones, with the measurements and value of each one (there are 3). I've listed them on eBay, and Craigslist, the auctions never got bid on, and all the offers I got on Craigslist never got back to me. I don't expect to get full value for them, but it's getting a little frustrating. :(

What is the best way to reach people who can afford expensive stuff?
 
Ebay is often used for expensive stuff. How expensive are we talking here? Perhaps simply no one wants to buy them?
 
Personally I go on classifieds related to that field in local publications if it's something large and high-value.

ebay is good - I've sold one of my cars there with no problems - as well, but you need to take all usual precautions.
 
Sesshi said:
Personally I go on classifieds related to that field in local publications if it's something large and high-value.

ebay is good - I've sold one of my cars there with no problems - as well, but you need to take all usual precautions.
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I went to list in the local news paper and it's crazy expensive. I've listed and relisted on eBay for the past few weeks and got no bites. And on craigslist I've got plenty of interest, just nobody will get back to me. It's a bit frustrating.
 
I thought you were talking about really fancy scissors.

Anyways selling an item like that at anywhere near its full value can be very difficult. As you need someone to buy it who has windows that match the size of the 3 sheers. They need to be able to afford them and not want all windows in a room or all rooms to match. The likely hood of someone having a room with only three windows matching your grandmothers is quite low.

From the little I have seen of products that have been customized, they lose a huge chunk of there value. Items like blinds cut to size, house paint mixed to a specific color. Mainly because you move from a large market for a generic item to a tiny market of people who have a use for that customized item.

I would expect to take at least a 40% drop in value.
 
velocityg4 said:
I thought you were talking about really fancy scissors.

Anyways selling an item like that at anywhere near its full value can be very difficult. As you need someone to buy it who has windows that match the size of the 3 sheers. They need to be able to afford them and not want all windows in a room or all rooms to match. The likely hood of someone having a room with only three windows matching your grandmothers is quite low.

From the little I have seen of products that have been customized, they lose a huge chunk of there value. Items like blinds cut to size, house paint mixed to a specific color. Mainly because you move from a large market for a generic item to a tiny market of people who have a use for that customized item.

I would expect to take at least a 40% drop in value.
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Hey, I don't really mind a 40% drop. In total that would mean I would get $3241 for selling some curtains, and who can complain about that? :p The only problem is finding the right people.
 
Unspeaked said:
I think eBay's your only hope for something like that.

What are you started the auctions at??
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I've tried starting it off at the lowest I'd accept for it, then I set it really low (like $50) and set a reserve for the lowest amount I'd accept for it. What should I do? The most expensive thing I've sold on eBay was an iPhone, and that was easy since those things sell like hot cakes.

I'm willing to give eBay another shot if someone has any useful suggestions, like how much I should start at, should I set a reserve, etc.
 
ghall said:
I've tried starting it off at the lowest I'd accept for it, then I set it really low (like $50) and set a reserve for the lowest amount I'd accept for it. What should I do? The most expensive thing I've sold on eBay was an iPhone, and that was easy since those things sell like hot cakes.

I'm willing to give eBay another shot if someone has any useful suggestions, like how much I should start at, should I set a reserve, etc.
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I would be sure to really work on the auction. Make sure it looks really nice and that the description is really easy to read. You'll want some really good photos too. Also setting up a "gallery" image lets people see what your selling. You have to let people know what your selling, and to be honest (possibly rather stupidly) I still am not totally for sure what you are selling.

Somethings just aren't meant to sell on ebay. I have a big marble parrot thst is supposidly worth around $1000, but no one is going to buy it. So I have worked to admire the thing..
 
synth3tik said:
Somethings just aren't meant to sell on ebay. I have a big marble parrot thst is supposidly worth around $1000, but no one is going to buy it. So I have worked to admire the thing..
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A lot of things are "supposed" to be worth money, but they're not.

I've found eBay to be about as useful a gauge as possible to estimate the real worth of items, and not what some price guide or "expert" says.

Yes, for incredibly rare (like, museum quality pieces) or really large stuff (homes, cars) it may not be the best, but for practically anything else, I don't think you can get a better determination of true market value.

So if you put something up there that you think is worth $1,000 and start the auction at $10 and no one buys it, it's probably not worth quite as much as you think ;)
 
Bit OT but my partner and I just changed the old curtains from our place we moved into two years ago. I said to throw them out as they were fairly old velvet - mustard colour. She insisted they were worth having so put them on eBay. Well I mocked her for a week but to my amazement some one paid £50 per pair. Humble pie all week for me.

So in my experience curtains are still fairly sought after items. The can be very expensive to have made up new.
 
Should I sell them together as a set or individually? Id rather sell them as a set but to be honest I just want to sell the any way I can.
 
ghall said:
OK I put up a listing on eBay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250323420263

Feedback?
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I think you'd be better off going with a lower starting bid with reserve. A lot of people are going to see the $1,800 and immediately be turned off.

Also, you should probably find appropriate forums online where someone might be looking for this type of item (though I can't help you with determining what that would be!) and post messages letting them know you're auctioning these off (with a link to the auction page).

Good luck.
 
Unspeaked said:
I think you'd be better off going with a lower starting bid with reserve. A lot of people are going to see the $1,800 and immediately be turned off.

Also, you should probably find appropriate forums online where someone might be looking for this type of item (though I can't help you with determining what that would be!) and post messages letting them know you're auctioning these off (with a link to the auction page).

Good luck.
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I've tried reserves in the past and they've never reached the amount I set as the reserve. Maybe I'm not doing it right. What should I set the starting price as?

Does anyone have any suggestions on forums where I should go?
 
ghall said:
I've tried reserves in the past and they've never reached the amount I set as the reserve. Maybe I'm not doing it right. What should I set the starting price as?

Does anyone have any suggestions on forums where I should go?
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Ok, this is purely my suggestion, but think about it: if you're going to set a reserve, it doesn't really matter what the starting bid is, because even if that's the only bid you get, you don't have to sell.

So I suggest you start it off at 99 cents. Someone, somewhere will bid at least 99 cents, and that will get the ball rolling.

As for what your reserve should be, you seem to have no need for these and want to get rid of them, so think long and hard about what the least amount of money that you'd be happy to get in return for them is, and enter that as the reserve. Remember, this could possibly be what they go for, so think hard.

If you have a reserve price that you'd be happy to have them sell it, then you won't have any regrets regardless of the outcome.
 
Unspeaked said:
Ok, this is purely my suggestion, but think about it: if you're going to set a reserve, it doesn't really matter what the starting bid is, because even if that's the only bid you get, you don't have to sell.

So I suggest you start it off at 99 cents. Someone, somewhere will bid at least 99 cents, and that will get the ball rolling.

As for what your reserve should be, you seem to have no need for these and want to get rid of them, so think long and hard about what the least amount of money that you'd be happy to get in return for them is, and enter that as the reserve. Remember, this could possibly be what they go for, so think hard.

If you have a reserve price that you'd be happy to have them sell it, then you won't have any regrets regardless of the outcome.
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Ok, so I set it at 99¢ and set the reserve at $1800. I'm not willing to part with them for any less, and my grandmother would go ballistic. She wants me to get the best value out of them, and obviously I do to. I've got two people (including me) on my back here. :p
 
I never set reserves; it turns buyers off. If you set a low price, some bidders will get into a bidding war and push things beyond what you're hoping to get. An item is only worth what someone will pay for it, regardless of what your grandmother thinks it's worth. Thing is, they're worthless at the moment, so don't get greedy.

The best auctions, especially for expensive items, contains clear and detailed descriptions and at least 2-3 good photos from different angles, maybe close-ups too. Also, if it's an expensive item, it's worth spending money on listing extras that will garner attention. Don't just list them as sheers, use keywords like blinds, windows, home decorating etc.

Listing in different categories helps too. For valuable items, start 10-day auctions on a Thursday evening, about 10pm EST, which gives two weekends to catch attention, ending on a Sunday night when people are at home.
 
Blue Velvet said:
I never set reserves; it turns buyers off. If you set a low price, some bidders will get into a bidding war and push things beyond what you're hoping to get. An item is only worth what someone will pay for it, regardless of what your grandmother thinks it's worth. Thing is, they're worthless at the moment, so don't get greedy.

The best auctions, especially for expensive items, contains clear and detailed descriptions and at least 2-3 good photos from different angles, maybe close-ups too. Also, if it's an expensive item, it's worth spending money on listing extras that will garner attention. Don't just list them as sheers, use keywords like blinds, windows, home decorating etc.

Listing in different categories helps too. For valuable items, start 10-day auctions on a Thursday evening, about 10pm EST, which gives two weekends to catch attention, ending on a Sunday night when people are at home.
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Actually my grandmother simply gave me a slip that the curtain person (whatever you call em) wrote down the values, and gave to her.

So what's a good starting price then if I were to remove the reserve. I don't mind spending a few $ for the extras since I'll be making a good amount anyway. I'll implement as many suggestions as I can since it's already listed.
 
It might be worth putting up a picture of the actual blinds on there. Since they are listed as used, I would want to see how used they look. If they look good that would make me more interested. From the marketing photos I would have no idea.
 
richardjames said:
It might be worth putting up a picture of the actual blinds on there. Since they are listed as used, I would want to see how used they look. If they look good that would make me more interested. From the marketing photos I would have no idea.
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Well they are neatly put away, I'm a bit nervous about taking them out and then putting them away, I'm not very good with things like that. I will see what I can do though.
 
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