Buy it now!!!
I have recently gotten into the world of online auction sales, and I have to say I have been making a little bit of a killing. Stress the "little" on little bit.
I have bought from ebay and its gun equivalent, gunbroker, for years, but have never sold. My gun "hobby" (part hobby, part politics, part historical aspect, part other stuff) has yielded a huge stockpile of stuff over the last ten years. Most of it is the type of stuff that fluctuates in price wildly, due to laws and import trends- a lot of it is military surplus from all over the world and the supply is finite. Add to this that we live in a very restrictive state gun-wise. Most national distributors won't even send certain things into NY state even if they are legal. This makes it a sellers market for those like myself who have connections that can get that stuff, and already possess a lot of that stuff. Plus add in that the gun culture is one of ultra paranoia- "buy now before Obama bans it!!!" I'm getting triple what I paid for most items, mainly because the average buyer is too lazy or not knowledgeable enough to figure out how else to obtain these items. My nerd factor has payed off here- when I REALLY get into something, I totally nerd it up and learn everything about it.
I have also noticed that a key to online selling is to not be greedy. For example, if I have a hard to come by item that I bought for $10, I sell it for $15. $50 paid? Sell it for $65. Small profits. Whereas most people selling seem to start at this crazy high price, and then no one bids. That has worked wonders...I have had a few things I started at like $15 go all the way up to $55! It seems once you get people interested with a reasonable price, everyone starts watching the item and bidding on it, to the point that they OVER PAY for it. I guess this is Business 101, but I'm shocked that no one else is doing it. I guess my non-greedy, punk economics are actually helping in this case.
Anyways, not making a TON of money here, but I'm thinking if I can sustain supply of said type of items and people keep wanting them, I could maybe make an extra hundred or two a month, which isn't bad for something that is more or less a hobby. One of the items I have sold a few of for big profits are wood gun stocks I have bought cheap, repaired, sanded and refinished. They are a lot of work, but they have come out nice and people seem to want to buy them.
I have bought from ebay and its gun equivalent, gunbroker, for years, but have never sold. My gun "hobby" (part hobby, part politics, part historical aspect, part other stuff) has yielded a huge stockpile of stuff over the last ten years. Most of it is the type of stuff that fluctuates in price wildly, due to laws and import trends- a lot of it is military surplus from all over the world and the supply is finite. Add to this that we live in a very restrictive state gun-wise. Most national distributors won't even send certain things into NY state even if they are legal. This makes it a sellers market for those like myself who have connections that can get that stuff, and already possess a lot of that stuff. Plus add in that the gun culture is one of ultra paranoia- "buy now before Obama bans it!!!" I'm getting triple what I paid for most items, mainly because the average buyer is too lazy or not knowledgeable enough to figure out how else to obtain these items. My nerd factor has payed off here- when I REALLY get into something, I totally nerd it up and learn everything about it.
I have also noticed that a key to online selling is to not be greedy. For example, if I have a hard to come by item that I bought for $10, I sell it for $15. $50 paid? Sell it for $65. Small profits. Whereas most people selling seem to start at this crazy high price, and then no one bids. That has worked wonders...I have had a few things I started at like $15 go all the way up to $55! It seems once you get people interested with a reasonable price, everyone starts watching the item and bidding on it, to the point that they OVER PAY for it. I guess this is Business 101, but I'm shocked that no one else is doing it. I guess my non-greedy, punk economics are actually helping in this case.
Anyways, not making a TON of money here, but I'm thinking if I can sustain supply of said type of items and people keep wanting them, I could maybe make an extra hundred or two a month, which isn't bad for something that is more or less a hobby. One of the items I have sold a few of for big profits are wood gun stocks I have bought cheap, repaired, sanded and refinished. They are a lot of work, but they have come out nice and people seem to want to buy them.