How to sell? Singular or Lot

[PilotScott]

Hi All, 6 years ago I bought out a failing hobby shop, it was a complete buy out. I primarily purchased it for the RC inventory, (cars, planes, drones, etc.). One sector of the collection was plastic models and I had all the intentions of hanging on to these, building a few here and there and possibly have a different hobby for retirement. Unfortunately, while I do respect a masterfully built kit, it has just never tickled my fancy. I have upwards of 300+ kits ranging from aircraft, boats/ships, cars, trucks, military, Gundam and so on. The scale range is across the board and the manufacture range is about the same, from Revell, Trumpeter, Hasegawa, Dragon, Sea Way Model and so on.

I am not trying to make a killing on these, as I have made many times the ROI on the RC wares, but I would like to make something to support my hefty hobby habit. Where I am stuck, is the method on how to sell. Pease, I am welcome to any and all feedback, but here are options I have come up with. 1. Singularly. This is the most time consuming, but the easiest way to value each model. 2. A lot sale. This one is the next easiest, but I am unsure how to group them. By type (boat, military, aircraft, etc.), by scale, by manufacturer...? and 3. Huge Lot. Everything, all at one, make a great price and unload. This one is by far the easiest of them all.

My next consideration is how to sell. Find an active forum, eBay, Marketplace, etc. I have used eBay in the past, but the Paypal fees are out of control and this coupled with the need to package and ship, is pretty much off the table. Marketplace. While this is quite an easy, free way to list items, let's be honest, it's filled with idiots and 2 people that want to buy. "is this available?" Yes............crickets. I guess they just wanted to know if my sale is going good. Hasegawa U.S. Aircraft Carrier Yorktown II 1/700, "what scale is this", or my personal favorite, you would have a $10,000 item for sale at $100......"will you take $20?"

As afore mentioned, I am welcome to all feedback. And if you have any interest, want to know what all I have or looking for a specific model, I am located in North High Shoals, GA, near Athens. Please message me.

Thank you in advance. Scott

 

[urumomo]

Here on SMA , the easiest way would be to photograph the kits and post that here .
You can just photograph a stack of them at a time , not individually , and people here can ask you for more details if they spot one or more kits they are interested in .
If you already have prices in mind you can add a list here detailing that .

 

[airdave]

I sell stuff on both eBay and Facebook marketplace.
Some of my thoughts:

eBay - be prepared to list an item (buy-it-now) and let it sit until eventually the buyer comes along.
I have items that have been waiting for that buyer for more than 3 years.

Also, don't receive your pay-outs via paypal, use a connected bank account.
I opened a free basic chequing account with a bank that is different than my own personal bank.
I keep only the minimum amount in it to cover eBay fees, usually less than $100.
I transfer funds via free e-transfer to my personal bank when I get too much in there.
Not sure what transfer options are available to you, but there are many ways to move your funds.

If you want to sell an item faster, list it by auction, but you'll need to take a risk and start the auction very low to get interest.
Once there are bids, it will gain traction.
You can always cancel the auction if there is no interest (to avoid someone grabbing it for a super low price at the end).
But don't cancel an auction too close to the end, or eBay will get wise and penalize you.
You can put a reserve on it, but that costs money.

facebook - you have to learn to ignore the "is this still available" inquiries.
Just flat out ignore.
You can add a note in your listing saying you "will not respond to...", but that only stops half the fake replies.
(these are mostly facebook phishing tactics, trying to connect with active accounts... just ignore)

Make sure to set a firm price.
State, the price is firm, to avoid those lowballers. (hey. we're all looking for a better price)
If you put "asking $XX.xx" you will get offers.

Selling on a forum like this, with the actual audience you are targeting, is one of the best options.
(Not sure what the rules are here about selling stuff)
But you also can't beat the wide reaching audience of a site like eBay.
Widen that audience by offering international shipments.