Auction Information

Finding Antiques And Collectibles To Sell On eBay


Many people who decide to make a living selling collectibles on eBay soon fail. I meet them in the line at the post office. They tell me they just quit their job in order to sell things full time on eBay.

I ask them, "What are you doing to find more items to sell?"

Only the people who can answer this question last more than a few weeks. The others soon run out of things to sell and just give up.

I got started buying trains and toys when I was in grade school.

My dad and I collected toy trains and we built up quite a collection over the years. We didn't have a lot of money so we ran ads, put signs up, handed out cards, networked and tried all kinds of methods to get people to sell us their trains to us.

We bought lots of trains and kept what we wanted then sold the rest in order to keep the cash moving.

Over the past 23 years we have refined a system that constantly generates calls. Here's a short list of ways to find and buy antiques and collectibles. These 10 strategies will get you thinking about ways to get sellers to call you.

Remember, you are always better off making someone call you rather than competing with everyone else to call a seller. My system is all about getting your phone to ring with sellers on the line.

When you go to yard sales, auctions and antique malls, you are in a race against all the other collectors and dealers. When people call you it is because you have made them think about converting their unwanted items into cash by selling them to you. You are in control.

Sure, you can go to yard sales and rely on luck. But if you are serious about selling on eBay you need to have a steady stream of collectibles coming in. You can't rely on blind luck or getting there before the other dealers.

You need a system to get a constant stream of new items coming to you to sell.

Here are 10 quick ways to get people to sell you their antiques and collectibles. These will get you thinking about ways to make your phone ring. I buy and sell toy trains, but so you can better focus on what you specialize in, I have substituted the word widget for toy trains.

1. Develop a marketing plan outlining exactly how you are going to make your phone ring.

2. Have a strategy that will make the seller want to take your offer. This is the psychology of buying and creating a win-win situations. Nobody wants to lose. Make every seller feel like they are getting a good deal and they'll bring you more business.

3. Ask the person in line behind you at the post office, bank, and supermarket if they have any widgets for sale. Being shy doesn't make you money!

4. Show off the widgets you have. There are MANY ways to do this. Let people enjoy the widgets you have and your phone will ring with others wanting to sell widgets to you.

5. Run ads that say "Top Dollar Paid For Widgets."

6. Send a letter to local real estate agents telling them you pay cash for unwanted widgets. They often encounter people anxious to sell.

7. Tell other widget dealers you will buy any widgets they don't want.

8. Pay others to find widgets for you by offering a finders fee to anyone that helps you buy widgets.

9. Send Thank You letters to everyone you've bought widgets from in the past, and remind them you pay cash when they get their friends and neighbors to sell you widgets.

10. Network, network, network. It's not as hard as you might think it is to spread the word in a community that you are the person to call when someone has a widget to sell.

Terry Gibbs is a collector/dealer of old toys and trains, and teaches others how to buy and sell antiques and collectibles. Gibbs is the author of two best selling eBay books "The Auction Revolution," and "The Complete Guide To eBay Consignment Sales." He has also written numerous other books about buying and selling antiques and collectibles. Learn more at his website: http://www.news.iwantcollectibles.com

Copyright 2005 IWantCollectibles LLC used with permission.


MORE RESOURCES:

CEP News

TREASURIES-Bonds extend gains after 10-year note auction
Reuters - 4 hours ago
NEW YORK, Jan 8 (Reuters) - US Treasury debt prices extended gains on Thursday afternoon after decent demand in an auction of $16 billion of reopened ...
Treasurys down after $30B auction CNNMoney.com
Borrowing binge exacerbates selling in US bonds Reuters India
Bond prices decline even as Treasury auctions off a record $30 ... CanadianBusiness.com
all 197 news articles


United Country Auction Services, Colliers International form alliance
Bizjournals.com, NC - 5 hours ago
United Country Auction Services, based in Kansas City, has aligned with Colliers International to provide accelerated transaction services to commercial ...


Washington Post

Japan’s 10-Year Bonds Fall; Surge in Sales Cools Auction Demand
Bloomberg - 14 hours ago
The sale drew bids worth 2.33 times the amount offered, compared with a so-called bid-to-cover ratio of 2.9 times at the previous auction last month. ...
Japanese 30-Year Bonds Decline as Dealers Prepare for Auction Bloomberg
Japan 10-Year Bonds Fall as Stock Gains Reduce Demand for Debt Bloomberg
Japan Bond Futures Fall as Stock Gains Reduce Demand for Debt Bloomberg
Bloomberg
all 641 news articles


Economist

BOND REPORT: Treasurys Modestly Lower Ahead Of Three-year Notes ...
CNNMoney.com - Jan 7, 2009
Another $112 billion in short-term bill auctions are scheduled as well. Also on tap, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will discuss the role of Fannie Mae ...
US Treasuries Decline Before Record $30 Billion Debt Auction Bloomberg
Weak Jobs Report Lifts Treasurys Wall Street Journal
TREASURIES-Longer bonds fall on auctions, issuance fears Reuters
EasyBourse.com - Wall Street Journal
all 249 news articles


ABT: Great Lionel #6427-60 Virginian N5C Caboose
Auction Central News, NY - 54 minutes ago
TIME: This Auction begins at 7:30 pm Eastern Standard Time on Monday, January 19, 2009. It will be completed prior to midnight on that date. ...


CEP News

French, Spanish bond auctions soothe supply nerves
guardian.co.uk, UK - 9 hours ago
"The Spanish auction went a bit better than the French. You got a bit better bid-cover ratio for the 2014 (Spanish sale) from the last auction in October ...
German Bond Auction Fails to Attract Enough Demand Bloomberg
Bond scare as German auction fails and British debt hits danger level Telegraph.co.uk
Investors shun auction of German Bunds Independent
Financial Times - CEP News
all 24 news articles


Record UK Gilt Sales Raise Risk of Auction Failure
Bloomberg - Jan 7, 2009
7 (Bloomberg) -- Britain may overwhelm bond investors with a record number of quarterly debt sales, risking the first failed auctions since 2002 as the ...
More questions over Britain’s ability to raise new debt Financial Times
Fears over UK gilts going unsold First Post
all 4 news articles


Auction to benefit Warrior Foundation
San Diego Union Tribune, CA - 7 hours ago
By Rick Rogers (Contact) Union-Tribune Staff Writer OCEANSIDE — An art auction to benefit the Warrior Foundation will be held at 5 pm Jan. ...


FRAMED & MATTED LITHOGRAPH, SIGNED PAUL RENOUARD
Auction Central News, NY - 50 minutes ago
This means the buyer must contact a company (eg UPS, Craters and Freighters) to pick up the item(s) from Lewis & Maese Auction Co., pack the item(s), ...


St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Fire damages livestock auction site
Belleville News Democrat,  USA - 8 hours ago
Investigators are looking into the cause of an early-morning fire at a livestock auction site in Franklin County. The fire broke out around 3:30 am Thursday ...
Three-alarm fire guts Livestock Center in St. Clair, Mo. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Three Alarm Fire At Livestock Auction Center MyFox Saint Louis
fire guts Livestock Center in St. Clair, Mo. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
all 10 news articles

Auctions - Google News

home | site map
© 2006