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 Replies: 14 / Views: 3,678 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
589 Posts |
Went to the bank the other day and got a number of gem crisp banknotes when I broke a couple hundreds, and had an idea: put 'em up on the Bay and try to make a little profit on them (maybe 50 cents or so per bill, nothing much, but something that is profit) I'm not "new" to selling on ebay...but am new to the concept of selling currency. Preferably I'd want a tracking number, but the cheapest for tracking is 1.93 USD. So, if I were to undercut the cheapest listing for a gem $5 note I saw on ebay, I'd probably want to go 8.20 USD (undercut by a nickel), which would net 7.66 after Paypal Fees, and net 6.84 after ebay's fees, and thus net 1.84 before shipping. So, I cannot ship with tracking, since then I'd loose 9 cents, and there's no point in that. My question thusly becomes: what do you all do when selling something that is relatively cheap, but that you cannot get too much of a profit on, and would hate to see someone file a did not receive claim? Would you advise that if one was going to do it, to just put it in an envelope, with a little heavier paper surrounding it (to hopefully keep it crisp), affix two forever stamps, and put it in the mail...and then just hope the buyer doesn't try to make a $5 profit on your dime? Or would you advise to just go spend the money and forget trying to sell them on ebay? Namely...selling without tracking kinda frightens me. Years ago on ebay I sent money orders for payment (not at all thinking at the time that a seller could just "claim" they never got payment and make my life hard to try to prove they did), but now 100% prefer Paypal since it's 100% traceable...needless to say, I don't trust most folks in this day and age. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5825 Posts |
I ship low value (<$5) coins in a envelope.
2 ounces since I pack well.
Since it's non-machinable it costs 91ยข (at least it did the last time I shipped something like that.
I'll bite the bullet on an occasional loss.
Actually I've found coin collectors among the more honorable buyers.
Haven't had a claim yet.
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Pillar of the Community
Puerto Rico
778 Posts |
Try to sell them in sets and probably you can ship with tracking and still do a little profit.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1215 Posts |
I ship with a forever stamp.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1291 Posts |
You're playing with fire if you try to get away with only a single FOREVER stamp on an envelope containing a coin. Even if the coin + envelope weighs an ounce or less, the postal service charges extra for an envelope containing a rigid object. The correct postage (if you're using stamps) would be 70 cents. That said, I used to ship cheap coins in regular envelopes (with PROPER postage) all the time and was burned so infrequently that it's not worth mentioning. ebay and PayPal conspired to make that method unattractive to me, however, when they began tying my TRS score to the percentage of shipments made that reflected tracking numbers. Anything less than 90% with tracking and you lose your TRS badge. |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2124 Posts |
I sell cheap stuff included currency without tracking (here in Canada tracking starts at $9) and I've never had any problem until today. What you can do is to consider the "losing risk" in your price, let's say $0.5 so for every 100 items you sell, you have $50 as an insurance for when you will have a item lost.
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
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Valued Member
Canada
499 Posts |
I always consider the shipping cost the stamp and packing material the envelope the time taken for packaging the item. $2 sounds reasonable. I think the shipping is too much I don't bid.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5686 Posts |
I would sell them in lots of 5 or 10, then ship them with tracking.
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Valued Member
United States
467 Posts |
I would also ship them in lots. I factor in time into my profit ratio. If I am going to make less than at least a few dollars, I don't really want to take pictures, creating listings, package and seal envelopes. However, this is not my regular occupation, so I am not dealing in mass volume either. I have never sent anything without the 2.60 tracking and minimum, which could be another reason why I don't do the low profit high volume. On the other side of the equation, one time I needed a single year P & D uncirculated nickel, common date, paid next to nothing but forked over the 99 cent shipping. It never came. I have ordered hundreds if not thousands of things off ebay and it is the only one that never came. A thirty cent item or something (can't remember exactly) plus the shipping. Anyway, I ended up in several email exchanges and the guy sent another-- but he was clearly annoyed and I don't believe he believed me and pointed out very clearly that he lost money and way too much time for a thirty cent item. I don't want to be on his end of things ever. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
FWIW, the only time I ever had problems with selling/shipping on ebay, was with low cost items using a .49 stamp. Now I will only ship w/tracking. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
18014 Posts |
 I agree with Kanga and Arianzo. I've shipped quite a few low value coins using regular mail (from the UK) without any problems. I always wrap them between two sheets of cardboard and weigh them before sending them, to make sure I put enough stamps on for the postage. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4870 Posts |
I only use tracking if its a high dollar item. Adding all these extra shipping services while selling low cost items pretty much makes for a breaking even scenario on a sale.
Edited by TheForce
12/17/2016 12:16 pm
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Rest in Peace
United States
1380 Posts |
I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1963 Posts |
I say to just spend the bills. Anything below $5 profit isn't worth making on ebay. |
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Replies: 14 / Views: 3,678 |
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Posted 12/13/2014 7:42 pm
