Quote:
Originally Posted by smtjoy
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***Having sufficient capital is so important, by using my own sales numbers I would need $200,000 in inventory and $50,000 in cash to make around $3,000 a month in profit and still grow the business.
***The good items sell fast and you are left with a growing inventory of items that will sit there unless you are willing to take a loss/no gain to move them, understanding turning your inventory is huge. When to sell at a loss and when to hold or discount. If your inventory turns stale you are doomed, a store needs fresh inventory to grow and expand, otherwise your store turns into the overpriced BIN museums you see on ebay.
***It is a detriment to your business to continue to collect. It brings the personal side into your decisions when you need to be able to base them solely on what will make you money. This is the biggest thing keeping me from greatly increasing my ballcard side business. Just this year, I had scouted a few lots in REA that I felt I could turn for a nice profit but there was also a single card I have been hunting for my collection for a long time I really wanted, well the collection won and I purchased the single card. Hard to buy cards you have no interest in them but to turn a profit vs buying a card you really want.
***It helps a lot of have an area you are an expert in as it will let you know when a card is a good deal to buy or not. I am a Clemente collector so when I started selling it was my dupes from upgrading so I knew how much I could expect to sell them for. Also by knowing the market it helped me on my purchases as I knew this little niche and would be alert for deals on ebay and AH for cards to resale and I could place low priced snipes and sometimes get lucky on them.
Good luck!
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I think Scott gives some tremendously good advice on how to do business on ebay. I would emphasize that part on what happens when you sell enough and become an expert in a certain area. For example, if you collect a certain area, say 1914 Cracker Jacks, you'll know which commons are "short prints" and are in demand more. For those cards, you will learn you can sell at a higher price than other commons.
Regarding market efficiency, I would say it's around a 5. People aren't stupid as if you're selling a card for $50 and ten other sellers have it at the same grade for $25, you're not going to be selling your card. However, this thread was recently posted on the PSA forums:
I know this has been rehashed before, but how does 707 get the prices he gets?!?!
. So there you go about how some sellers with BIN museums can still sell stuff, somehow.