The Sales Board is a competitive market. There are usually more seller than buyers, so if you want your item to be noticed, you're going to be thorough and creative. It's not always the best approach to provide a lot of information. While you want to provide enough information to keep the questions at a minimum, you also don't want to create lengthy descriptions that take a long time for the buyer to review.
Here are a few tips to help you create an effective sales listing:
CONSIDER THE COMPETITION:
The secondary market is a 'buyer's market', which means that there are so many items being sold right now, that the buyer can take their time and be very picky about what they buy. It is YOUR job to convince them your item is the best. To do this, it might be a good idea for you to view how other similar items are being listed. What information is being provided? What prices are being asked? What about your item makes it better than the others out there? Any or all of the answers to these question can help you create a listing that will be a strong competitor to any others out there.
PRICED TO SELL:
If you have decided to go about the trouble of paying for a service to help you sell and to create the listings to get your items in front of the right audience, I'm guessing that you are wanting to actually sell the item. That sounds logical, but you would be surprised how many people who say they want to sell don't actually like letting things go. When you create your listing, do a little soul searching and decide AT THE TIME YOU CREATE THE LISTING what you want to ask for the item and the minimum you are willing to take.
A couple of questions to help ...
What did you pay for the item? This question helps keep everything in perspective, but also may help with determining what is the lowest price you're willing to take.
At what price are other Collectors selling this item? It never hurts to do a little reconnaissance before entering any market.
How does your item compare with other similar items currently in the market? ie. does your item have a feature that the other items do not (signatures, org packaging, freebie items thrown in, better condition)
What is your goal? If the goal is to liquidate, then you might be wiling to take less than if your goal was to make money on a piece. Understanding your goal will help manage your expectations through the process.
What is the lowest price you're willing to take? We recommend thinking about this as you create your listing and then going ahead and put it down in the 'private notes' field for that item so when a bid comes in, you don't have to think through it then. This also helps you to not panic if a low-ball offer comes in. You can simply decide that it's not a good match and move on to the next one.
Remember, every collector is different and every motivation for selling is as different as there are collectors. Find who you are and why you're selling and the process won't be near as frustrating.
HOW TO USE OUR MARKET VALUES TO VALUE YOUR ITEM:
The values listed through our guides can be used to help you get an idea of what an item is 'worth' based on the supply of the item in the market and the demand for it by other collectors. However, what an item actually sells for is ultimately determined by what the buyer is willing to pay and what the seller is willing to accept.
LOW VALUES represent the low range of value for an item. This end of the range is usually reached when an item is lacking a feature that is considered normal for an average piece. This may be due to condition or a negative error on the piece that affects its beautify or function. It may also have nothing to do with a missing feature, but might have been from a seller needing or willing to accept a lower price to liquidate the piece.
AVERAGE VALUES represent what an average item is worth: average in condition, average in demand, average in features, etc... If you consider your item to be more than average, then it is up to you to provide the details to back that up. For example, what features does it have that make it above average? Why is its condition better than the average piece out there? Keep in mind that if the average same item out there is also in 'mint condition' then 'mint' becomes an average condition for that item.
HIGH VALUES represent the highest price we have seen the item sell for in the market. While it represents the potential for the item, in most cases these high values are a result of extenuating circumstances, such as a bidding war at an auction (extreme demand) or a buyer who finds the EXACT piece they've been looking for, forever. High values can also be reached when an item has more than one (or several) rare features, such as mint condition, all original paperwork with signatures.
