Need help on pony sale and trade advice please.

A

ABCWinter

Guest
Been so very busy, but now I'm back.
I'm looking to sell off most of my pony collection. I am also willing to trade them for Lego sets.
But there are quite a few things I am lacking....

Value of the ponies, they go up and down... Not sure of their value in this area...
Details, I am awful at describing them, some collectors are not picky and others are pickey
Pictures very time consuming, but I can still do.
A list of what ponies I have for trade.

I really like to be organized on this and prepare the sale or trade...But I'm not sure where to start.

I also still like to do something really unique as well. Weather you buy 1 pony or a whole bunch. Or trade Lego sets for ponies. You automatically get entered to win season one and two of my little pony friendship is magic on a jump drive. There will be 3 winners in this area.

But with this additional ideal, I have to have a time frame when the draw for this is to take place. The winners I will have to send the sample episode 1st to make sure they can play it in their region. Before I put them on the drive...

I am however open to you're advice and ideas. Many might be fine with the trade and sale but not so with the episodes....please post what think. I appreciate on you're advice and input...

Thank you...

ABCWinter
 
So this is a thread for selling your Ponies AND doing a raffle?

Not personally seeing the appeal of episodes on a jump drive when they're on YouTube, but maybe someone else will want them.
 
Yeah, I have to agree with darc on that point. I think a lot of people would just watch the episodes on Youtube or download them from bittorrent sites for free rather than have to buy a pony to have a chance to win the series. Does that make sense?



As for the other, start by taking pictures - white background normal-exposure pictures. You're not trying to win prizes with the photography, just take a plain picture in natural light to show both sides and MAJOR flaws of each pony. You can even do group shots to save time, so long as every pony is shown.

Then go through with a pen and paper and describe every tiny nit-picky flaw you see on every pony. Fussy collectors will want that info, and non-fussy collectors will skip over it. This will also create a list of ponies you have for sale, so there's that taken care of. You can type up your descriptions when you make your sales thread.

Go to ebay and do a completed item search for each pony you want to sell. You can also use bluerose's price guide, which will cut your time doing this research at least in half.

Then look up postage weights. Weigh several different types of pony, then calculate shipping for 1, 2, 3, etc. ponies to places you're sure to sell to - Canada, USA, UK, all those places. That way you'll have that info up front for buyers and won't have to play PM-tag getting quotes later. :)

It will be intense and time-consuming but the more work you do now the better you'll be able to serve your buyers later. A painless transaction often means repeat business! :D
 
Skeen said:
Yeah, I have to agree with darc on that point. I think a lot of people would just watch the episodes on Youtube or download them from bittorrent
Click to expand...

Shhhh! You misspelled iTunes there. ;-)
 
Thank you for youre advice

thanks for the tips and advice..

darcerin Wrote...
So this is a thread for selling your Ponies AND doing a raffle?

Not personally seeing the appeal of episodes on a jump drive when they're on YouTube, but maybe someone else will want them
Click to expand...

no, it is a thread for advice of selling ponies or trading for lego sets.

if you find a pony you like that i have for sale. And buy it, you're name is automatically in for a MLPFIM season 1-2 raffel...

if you find a few ponies i have that you really want, but do not have any funds for them, however you have a few lightly used lego playsets. And we are sucessful in trading. Youre name is automatically in the raffel

if you like to buy or trade however, do not wish to have youre name in the raffel. that is ok to. but you will have to let me know you do not want youre name in the raffel...

The seasons would be on a jump drive, that you can download to youre computer, if the winner wanted them on their ipod, blackberry playbook, or android tablet, Etc.... I can do the conversion too..

I know they are on you tube, but you need an internet connection, and if you travel, sometimes the internet connection is bad.

Skeen Wrote....
As for the other, start by taking pictures - white background normal-exposure pictures. You're not trying to win prizes with the photography, just take a plain picture in natural light to show both sides and MAJOR flaws of each pony. You can even do group shots to save time, so long as every pony is shown.
Click to expand...

I like taking photos one at a time, I have a Macro lense will this be a good one to use to take the photos. For an SLR camera Pentax K5 what setting would i use to achieve this..

Then go through with a pen and paper and describe every tiny nit-picky flaw you see on every pony. Fussy collectors will want that info, and non-fussy collectors will skip over it. This will also create a list of ponies you have for sale, so there's that taken care of. You can type up your descriptions when you make your sales thread
Click to expand...

I am bad at describing a pony, I can do the basic stuff no haircuts, looks clean, letter under hoof, fading to symbol, minor flocking loss, Major flocking loss etc. UM how about For those who want detail condition of the pony I take More close up photos, they look first then decide.

Then look up postage weights. Weigh several different types of pony, then calculate shipping for 1, 2, 3, etc. ponies to places you're sure to sell to - Canada, USA, UK, all those places. That way you'll have that info up front for buyers and won't have to play PM-tag getting quotes later
Click to expand...

I cleaned out my old Messages, it can cause confusion. It is a start. Not sure how to get shipping quotes, use to going to post office to find out. Well something new to learn....

It will be intense and time-consuming but the more work you do now the better you'll be able to serve your buyers later. A painless transaction often means repeat business
Click to expand...

I will be a lot of work, But i really want the other end to be happy and do my best..

how about instead of automatically putting sellers and traders for ponies in the bonus raffel. I just offer them to be a part of the bonus raffel. that way they can accept or decline.. Or should I just srap this whole ideal of a bonus raffel when you buy or trade.

What do you think...

ABCWinter
 
If your idea is to attract more buyers by offering something, I think occasional offers like "buy two ponies get a third free/half off/whatever" or "X% discount for repeat buyers" or other sale offers you can come up with probably would be more attractive. Most of us have already figured out how to get our FiM fix in one way or another, and it would be time consuming to keep track of the entries when you already have to fuss with taking care of the sales stuff. Just mho, of course. :) Good luck with selling.
 
Now I am not a seasoned seller, but like you, I am busy busy and I had a bunch of ponies I was putting up for sale all at once. Here is what I did to save time but still helped buyers be aware of pony condition without too much extra work on my part:

Separate the ponies into groups according to condition and take group photos. So I would say for the first group photo "These are my best ponies. They have little to no flaws and soft hair." Then the next one might say "These ponies have great bodies, but hair dry at the tips" And continue on down the line from best to the worst. I have found as both a buyer and a seller that pictures work so much better than just listing names. People don't have time to read massive lists, but they can glance at pictures to see what you have super easy. Most collectors know the names of the ponies and those who don't can describe which one they want easily enough.

I have found the picky collectors identify themselves by asking extra questions before they purchase. Sometimes I've had to take out a specific pony and study it to answer their questions and even take extra pictures of that pony to help them understand the exact condition. But I do that only upon request. Then I'm not doing extra work and photos on every single pony I have.

As far as pricing your ponies, it's really very easy if you just look around. Poke your nose into other people's sales and check out ebay. That will help you get an idea. Also factor in the condition. You've been a member of this board since 2005. I can't imagine you being a member for that long without having SOME idea of the prices of ponies. I'd say most ponies have a $5 margin of pricing error. But the main question is: How much would YOU pay for the ponies you are selling? And then what kind of seller do you want to be? Do you want to be the kind that prices the ponies up to the highest dollar you think you can get for them? Or do you want to offer fair pricing that leaves your buyers completely pleased with the quality of the product and the price they paid? I think that is worth much more than being put in a raffle.

I found that trying to price all the ponies I had for sale at once was too overwhelming for me. So when I posted my sales pics, I only posted their condition, not their prices. Then when people IMed to ask about them, I'd only have to figure out prices for a few ponies at a time and that made it so much easier for me. I could also offer better deals that way. I was more inclined to offer better bundle prices for people asking about a group of ponies instead of just one or two.

I hope that at least gives you some ideas of how to proceed with a large task with little time. Good luck with your sales.
 
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