mystic9234 (2950)     

Consignment Business Changing Tactics
"My husband got the idea in the middle of the night to open up an eBay drop-off center," recalls Sandy Sherman of Mystic9234. This happened about the same time as the ones in California were opening, though we didn't know that--we're in a small town in Connecticut. So we opened one up and that's how we really got rolling. The response was overwhelming."

Keys to Success
The drop-off model worked well for the Shermans, but it does come with certain challenges: "The reason is that you're selling everything on consignment," Sandy explains. "Because of that, margins are small. You need item to sell for at least $75 to $100 to make any money. So, there's a lot of weeding out to be done. On the other hand, people come in with things that look like garbage but turn out being worth hundreds of dollars."

An example is the stack of papers that sold for $3500. A bunch of parts slips for a Duesenberg automobile brought that impressive price, but a piece of the African Queen, the actual boat in the movie with Bogart and Hepburn, fetched less than $1000. "There's a lot of research that goes on," says Sandy. "And it's always a gamble."

The Shermans have just changed strategies on eBay, closing the brick-and-mortar drop-off location and moving the business to their home where their reputation and continuing word-of-mouth advertising will bring them items to sell on consignment. "Profits are better. We used to have to list 120 items a week to make any money--and that's a lot when each listing is different and requires a lot of research." Without the physical center, Sandy expect that they'll do better than before listing only 50 items each week.

Though cross-category selling has done well for them, the Shermans feel that a more focused selection will make the business less effortful. "We're still looking for a niche," Sandy points out. "We're looking for one type of item that we can buy and sell." Currently, their offerings include all kinds of collectibles, toys, clothing, and more.

Best Practices
"We use Sellers Assistant Pro...it streamlines everything right down to the bookkeeping," says Sandy. "Every item gets a Gallery photo. I also found that Subtitles really boost value. eBay says that Subtitles help, and I believe they do. We also include a lot of photos, depending on the item. For many collectors, the more photos, the better."

To make their best guesses about what will sell, the Shermans research Completed Sales. "It's important to us in terms of getting pricing ideas. We also use the Internet a lot just to get more information about the items we have."

Sandy is active in the eBay community. Besides the learning experiences and mutual support of other eBay sellers, she gets a big charge from the enthusiasm that events like eBay Live! generate. "I also participated in the United States of eBay [last summer] lobbying about taxation issues. That was wonderful. There were buyers there as well as sellers, and we really got some wonderful input. There were fifty-one of us, and we all got to know each other very well. It was a high-energy experience: there wasn't one senator who wasn't attuned to the issues and supportive of us."

Read other tips specific to antiques sellers under  Seller's Edge.

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