I am going to start selling on ebay.

[BorkBork]

To start bringing in some extra money for the rent, i am going to start selling some puppets on Ebay. I was wondering if some of you who frequently sell on ebay could tell me some things?
How much do a puppet generally sell for. What methods of payment are recomended?
Any tips and pointers that you might have are welcome.

 

[Kevin the Frog]

I buy puppets on ebay so maybe I can help a little. Use the words "Professional muppet style puppet" or similar in the title of your auction. People search for muppet puppet and professional puppet, and that way they will find your auction.

I've seen puppets on ebay sell as low as $40 - $60, for even some pretty nice ones, but lately ebay member "a****a" has been bidding on every puppet in existince and they are going for $300 - $400. If it is a nice professional puppet you may want to start your bid at $50 or $100, and if you want a reserve price that's up to you.

I would suggest only accepting paypal for payment, and only shipping to the US and perhaps Canada (assuming you are in the US), but others on here ship overseas.

The only other things I can think of is to be detailed in your desciption (antron fleece, removable arm rods, etc) and the more pictures the better. I love auctions that have a short video of the puppet in action, and I have to think that raises the prices.

Can't wait to possibly bid on your puppets!

 

[BorkBork]

I'm not in the US or Canada, i am a european citizen. Sweden to be exact. I am planning on shipping to whomever want to buy the puppets.
Thanks for your pointers. By the way, didn't Terry Angus start with that title? "Professional muppet style puppet". It's his words aren't they?
I can sometimes be a bit annoyed at some auctions stating "pro" in the title and the puppet looks terrible. Not to discurage anyone, but...well i guess you get what i mean.

 

[Kevin the Frog]

Forgot to look at your location.

Yeah the "pro" term has been debated on here before, but I search for it everyday so use it. I don't know if those or Terry's words are not...lots of people have used them for years.

Jarrod ships overseas and I know he now always ships with insurance due to a puppet getting lost in the mail. Shipping charges will be the trickiest to figure out I think, but Jarod has a flat $50 rate or something similar.

 

[BorkBork]

Ok, Jarrod, if you read this could you please tell me about your shipping-cost?

 

[dkmontgomery]

Ebay

I sell quiet a few puppets on Ebay. I like to use a title that state Pro Custom (seems to get a lot of lookers that way) as well as the muppet name mentioned if it is with antron fleece. Be very descriptive. Also, I ship worldwide and have never had problems. Insurance is a must for overseas. I normally figure exact shipping for people overseas. They will contact you for a shipping quote generally if they are bidding on your puppet. Get a postal scale if you don't have one. That way you can weight the item to come up with the exact weight to get your shipping done correctly and you won't cheat yourself.

 

[BorkBork]

Insurance is a must for overseas.

What type of insurance is that?

 

[dkmontgomery]

USPS Insurance

What type of insurance is that?

I insure items through the United States Postal System when I sell more expensive puppets. When I purchase postage I purchase additional shipping insurance basically.

 

[dkmontgomery]

Etsy.com?

I thought I would mention this since you are going on Ebay. I just came across a site called Etsy.com. It is for selling handmade items and fees are a lot cheaper I notice than Ebay. Now, I am not sure that the traffic is as great for Etsy.com. I am not real familiar with it yet (as I have been doing Ebay for years now). But I am exploring this now.