Making Money With Storage Locker Auctions

The Online Seller's News, June 21, 2010, Volume 10, No. 11

Tips, Tools, News and Resources for eBay, Amazon and independent Online Sellers
by: Skip McGrath

In This Issue:

Musings from eBay and beyond

1. Making Money With Storage Locker Auctions
2. Selling Expensive Items on eBay
3. Making Money with A Product Review Blog
4. Increase the Perceived Value of Items Selling on eBay
5. New Wholesale Sources for eBay, Amazon & Online Sellers

"The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from the shore." ~ Dale Carnegie

Musings from eBay and beyond

In the last issue, I told my readers about the loss of our best friend Tahoe, a 15-year old Yellow Lab.  Hundreds of you responded with thoughts and condolences.  I answered as many emails as I could, but after a while it was just too many. So thanks so much all of you who wrote. Your thoughts and comments were deeply appreciated by both Karen and myself.

I often get email asking me about an old article someone read and where they can find it.  If you look at the navigation tabs at the top of this page and hover over Newsletter, one of the links leads to the Newsletter Archives. I used to keep five years of issues, but so many things change on eBay and links in the issues go bad over time, so now I only keep two full years plus the current year.  But the archives are a great place for newer subscribers to find some great information and older readers to catch up on issues they might have missed.

Web Wholesaler Magazine is offering a FREE subscription for the next few days. Web Wholesaler offers the latest in new products and merchandise sources, ideas and statistics on what is selling online NOW, as well as up to the minute news and information on industry trends, e-business growth and management strategies, and methods for increasing your revenues.  And many wholesale companies looking for eBay and small online sellers advertise in there.  They only offer FREE subscriptions for a limited time, so go to Web Wholesaler now to get your free subscription.

There are now several Free eBay/PayPal fee calculators on the web, but I just found a new one I like.  Its from New Life Auctions.  It also includes a consignment calculator and other pages with eBay tips and a Typo finder.

I had an email from a reader who complained about a Google Ad on my site that was allegedly a scam (I didn’t check it out so I don’t know for sure).  This got me to thinking. I, like many others, use Google AdSense as a way to earn income from my blog and other pages on my website.  But readers are often confused. If they trust you and trust your blog and then see an ad on your website or blog, they may think this is something you endorse, when in fact you do not.

And Google is no help. If you put a warning on your site that the ads are served by Google and that you don’ t endorse them, then Google will cancel your account and ban your website.

There is one thing you can do. When you go into your Google AdSense panel, there is a place where you can block ads from certain domains. For example, you may want to block a competitor’s ad or you can block ads from domains that you don’t want to be associated with.

I wanted to remind our older –or senior, readers about our sister site, The Official Geezer Guide. The Official Geezer Guide website is dedicated to: Helping the retired and seniors make extra money and keep the money they have. This is the place to find:

• Free Articles to help retirees with Money-making and Money-saving Techniques
• Online scams to avoid
• Free Newsletter with online money making tips, tools and resources with a special focus on those who have retired or are about to retire.
• Geezer Guide Business Publications written with retirees wanting to make extra money in mind
• A blog aimed at seniors to help them avoid scams and find ways to make, save, invest and keep their retirement secure.

So if you fit the profile of someone who is retired, working retired, or about to retire, stop on by The Official Geezer Guide.

Lets get started with this month’s articles:

[top]

1. Making Money With Storage Locker Auctions

In my latest book, The Virtual Peddler, one of the chapters dealt with Storage Locker Auctions.  I think that chapter generated the most email and questions from readers who wanted more information.  I was about to go back and revise the book, when I got an email from my good friend Steve Lindhorst.  Steve has just released The Quick & Dirty Guide to Storage Locker Auctions.  He sent me a review copy and I was blown away. Even though I have bought the contents of storage lockers before, I had no idea there was so much to learn about them.

Steve’s book is about 75-pages long and packed with the wisdom and techniques from his years of experience buying from these auctions.  If this subject interests you, then you definitely need his guide.

If you don’t know about storage locker auctions, here are the basics:  When people fail to pay their monthly rent, the owners of storage lockers are forced to sell the goods in a public auction. Sometimes the locker operators do the auction themselves, but it is more common for a hired auctioneer to be brought in. In some states a county sheriff conducts the auction.

The way the auctions work is you stand outside the door. The auctioneer cuts the lock off and gives you a couple of minutes to look inside. You may not enter. You have to look in from the door. Most of them are not lighted or poorly lighted, so you want to carry a flashlight.

After a couple of minutes, the bidding starts. Storage lockers can go from anywhere from $50 up to over $500.  By far most of them fall in the $100 to $300 level.  If you win the bidding, you now own the contents and typically you have 24 hours to remove them. So, one of the things you need besides a flashlight is a lock to place on the locker while you get your truck and move the stuff.  Or you can rent the locker for one month (typically about $25-$30) while you sort and sell the goods inside.

Steve’s system is a little different than mine, but here is what I do.

I sort the goods into four piles:

• Valuable small items I can sell on eBay
• Hard-to-ship valuable items I can sell on Craigslist
• Semi-good items that I can sell to a flea market operator or owner of a secondhand store or donate to a thrift shop for the tax deduction
• Trash

Obviously the trash goes to the dump. I like to do that first so I have room to work and sort. Next I dispose of the semi-good stuff.  I like to sell small, easily shippable items on eBay.  Larger items that I don’t want to ship, I list on Craigslist and sell them locally. I don’ t get as much for them that way, but I just don’t like the hassle of shipping large items.

The bonus that comes with purchasing storage locker contents, is every once in a while you will come upon something really valuable. I once found a collection of 78-RPM Jazz records from the 1950's. I was too lazy to list them all on eBay, so I sold them to a local dealer for over $600.

Another time I bought a locker for under $300 that contained a collectible Fender guitar worth over $2,000 and a box of old candy machines that I sold on eBay individually for a total of $360. I also sold several other nice items in the locker for another $200.  Just on that one locker I was able to turn my $300 into over $2560 and I got a $400 tax deduction for the stuff I donated to a thrift shop.

Over the years I have found old football and baseball cards, collectible art glass, depression glass, a complete eight-piece setting of Liberty Blue dinnerware, silverware, old ironware platters, a trunk full of WWII memorabilia and an M-1 Rifle, and a box of mountain climbing rope, climbing shoes, and karabiners worth about $400.

One locker I passed up when the bidding went over $300 was bought by a local secondhand storeowner in our town whom I know fairly well. When I saw him the following week, he showed me the stamp collection he found in one of the boxes.  He sent it to s large stamp buyer in New York City who bought if for $14,000 !!!

So take a look at Steve’s book, The Quick & Dirty Guide to Storage Locker Auctions. It will really open your eyes to a profitable way to source goods to sell.

[top]

2. Selling Expensive Items on eBay

I got an email from one of my readers last week with a suggestion that I write an eBook about selling high-end (expensive) items on eBay. I thought about it for a while, and decided I couldn't come up with enough information to warrant an eBook, but it might make a good newsletter article.

First of all you need to define what we mean by expensive, or as some call them, high-end items.  There is no set rule, but I would probably set that number at anything over $500, excepting cars.  (Selling cars on eBay motors is an entirely different animal, and I am not going to cover them here).

Some of the expensive items I have sold on eBay over the years include a 19^th century cameo broach set in gold ($790), a vintage Indian Motorcycle ($13,000), diamond engagement ring ($1377), one week in an Atlantis timeshare ($4500) and a small collection of Football rookie cards for just over $900.  I once tried to sell the last remaining building from a WW-II Japanese Resettlement camp for $17,000 but the bidding on that one never hit the reserve.

On any given day, there are plenty of items selling for high dollar amounts including items that sell into the thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars.Here are just a few screenshots of expensive items that have recently sold on eBay.

As I was looking around eBay for examples, I was looking for more items like the first one, the sterling set that sold for $25,000.  A few years ago there would have been dozens, if not hundreds, of examples like that –but today, once you get over $3000 or $4000 you see lots of listings, but very few sales.

For example, I looked at completed auctions in the Persian Rug category. I only found one very expensive rug (see below) then I had to scroll through 16 pages to find any rugs selling (second screenshot below).

As you can see, there were essentially no sales except the one very expensive one, until you get down to the under $4000 range.

Part of this is due to the economy, but I believe a larger part is the damage to the eBay brand that eBay management has perpetrated over the past 3 years or so.

Another reason expensive items are selling less on eBay is the perception of fraud. There is much less fraud on eBay today, but eBay was slow to fix the problem and there are so many stories out there about eBay fraud that the reputation persists. The fact that eBay has cleaned up most of the fraud is a real positive for eBay, but eBay’s corporate communications department and their PR firm have never figured out how to communicate that to the public.

Buyers of high quality expensive items no longer think of eBay as the place to look.  For example, there used to be a lot of expensive jewelry sold on eBay, but that business has shifted to Bidz.com. BidStart has replaced eBay as the top place for coins and stamps and they are now moving into sports cards and other collectibles.

The other big site for selling expensive antiques and collectibles is TIAS where dealers and sellers can set up an online store to sell their goods.

So back to how to sell expensive items on eBay; First if your item is priced over $4000 then you may want to try selling it somewhere else.  But if you want to try eBay, then use these tips.

• Take excellent photos and use a lot of them. When I sell an expensive item, I take extra care to get good photos and use as many as 6 to 8 photos so I can show the item from all angles
• Research the item you are selling so you know everything about it. You want to sound like an expert so people believe in you.
• Write a complete description. Be sure and include any flaws, marks or damage no matter how slight
• This is where having a good feedback and DSR score helps. It is unlikely that I would buy anything expensive from a new seller or a seller with poor feedback.
• Sign up for BuySafe. BuySafe is a bonding program. They put a seal in your listings that guarantees you will not defraud the customer. When potential bidders see the seal it encourages them to bid.
• Lastly be sure and create value in the buyer’s minds. Research what similar items have sold for and tell that to the buyer’s in your description.

[top]

3. Making Money with A Product Review Blog

This is one of the easiest ways to make money blogging –and a great way to have fun if you are blogging about products you love.  The idea here is to look for something you enjoy and like to do.  If you enjoy fishing, you could blog about fishing equipment. If you like cars you can write about after-market parts and accessories, or if you like photography, you could do product reviews on cameras and accessories.

You may think that you have to buy the item you are going to review.  Obviously that is the best way, but for the purposes of our blog, you can just research the item online and see what others are saying about it.

You can also review books on specific subjects related to the subject of your blog.  For example my blog is about selling on eBay and other online venues.  So a natural thing for me to do is write book reviews on books about eBay, Amazon and online selling. When I do that, I can hyperlink the book title to its listing on Amazon and earn a commission when someone clicks through the link and ends up purchasing the book.

When you review products, you want to join an affiliate program where that product is sold. So if I were to review the Amazon Kindle, then I would provide a link to buy the Kindle through my Amazon affiliate link. If I reviewed the new iPad then I would link to it through the MacMall affiliate program, and so on.

In addition to earning commissions when someone buys from your review, just having the reviews will bring traffic to your blog and you may earn money from people clicking on other affiliate banners or your Google AdSense ads where you make money when someone clicks on them.

[top]

4. Increase the Perceived Value of Items Selling on eBay

Here is a legal trick to help you increase the perceived value of items you are selling on eBay.  This only works for items that you have more than one of.

When people perform a search on eBay, the items come up in Best Match, which favors items ending soonest, and items with the closest match to the keywords the buyer entered.  If two items that end close to each other in time and have identical keywords come up in a search, they will appear close to each other in search.  The other factor people search for is Price Lowest first and Price Highest first.  So we want to take advantage of this.

Often people search for items on eBay when they don’t know the value, or have a good idea of what an item will typically sell for. So what they do is look at several listings to get an idea. If they see the item they are looking for at a high price and then see another item at a lower price, this tends to put an idea of the value in their mind.

Here is an example:  I sell my outdoor firepits with a $99 starting bid and a $227 Buy-it-now (BIN) price.  So if someone were to see two listings for one of my firepits right above each other, and one had a BIN price of $249 and the other one had a BIN price of $227, they will tend to think that the one at $227 is the bargain.  But how can I get my competition to put up a listing with the same keyword phrases as mine at a price higher then mine?  That would be pretty hard to do.

Many professional eBay sellers have more than one account. We have one in my name and one in my wife’s name. Since I have a personal corporation, if I wanted I could also get a third account in the corporation’s name.

Since I have two accounts, I can launch an identical listing with the same headline and photo where one would have a fixed price or BIN price of $249 and the other listing would go up one minute later with a BIN price of $227.

When someone sees this they will be interested in the unit at the lower price, as they perceive it as more of a bargain.  Yes, the second higher priced item will most likely not sell and you will have to pay a listing fee on it, but if you get more sales overall –especially at your BIN price rather than your auction price, you will still make more money in the long run.  Strangely, I was doing this once and someone actually bought the firepit that was listed at the higher price.  I felt a little bad about that, so I included a free $29 cover when I shipped the order.

[top]

5. New Wholesale Sources for eBay, Amazon & Online Sellers

This month we are adding another wholesale search engine to our site.  GetThatWholesale is the largest wholesale search web site in the country –and my personal favorite.

GetThatWholesale is an online wholesale directory consisting of Wholesalers, Manufacturers, Importers and Distributors. The wholesale companies pay to be on the site because they want to do business with eBay, Amazon and online sellers like you and me. So GetThatWholesale is a great place to do research to find suppliers for your online business.

Opteka Inc. manufactures and distributes digital camera accessories such as SLR lenses for digital cameras, batteries, digital photo frames, tripods, flashes and cases.

X-MusicPro is a large stocking distributor and dropshipper of musical instruments. They have been dropshipping for eBay sellers for over 8 years.

Bicycle Engines, Inc. has a great selection of high quality gas bicycle motors, motorized bicycles, and bicycle engine parts. It only takes an afternoon to turn an ordinary bicycle into a motorized gas scooter using our complete ready to install bicycle engine kits.

Outdoor Active Gear is a wholesale supplier for chairs, coolers, camouflage and other outdoor active gear.

Real Action Paintball is a manufacturer of firearm replica paintball guns and markers - They also sell paintballs, tactical gear, and accessories. Their website includes forums, event listings, dealer listings, and wholesale info.

Precision Products, Inc. wholesales high-quality hobby tools, sport knives and magnifiers. Their minimum order is $100 and they have very easy online ordering and support.

Bell Golf Manufactures and wholesales golf clubs to dealers, distributors and online sellers. Their products include titanium woods, steel woods, irons, wedges, putters, grips, shafts, accessories, components including Synchron, Acer, Oxygen, Power Play, Prof. Open, PP System, Bionik, Four Ball Blade, Technica, Karma, Lamkin, Golf Pride, Winn, Apollo, True Temper, Powerflex and Aldila.

Trademark Commerce wholesale products includes casino supplies, swords and knives, billiard supplies, tools, electronics, pet supplies, home improvement products, and various other moneymakers.

Each product has a full description and pictures available to so you can use them in your eBay listings. They do drop shipping and also offer pre-loaded websites.  I haven’t worked with them so I don’ t know how good their dropshipping program is, but I recommend you forget the pre-loaded websites. Several companies offer pre-made, pre-loaded websites and they rarely work.  About the only way you can get traffic to them is to purchase expensive pay-per-click advertising. They do have an excellent product-lineup though, so I recommend you give them a try.

Pirate Rock Wholesale sells wholesale Pirate Products: Pirate Flags, Hats, Clothing, T-shirts & other goods

iFunCity is a wholesale supplier and dropshipper of batteries, cables and accessories for games such as Wii, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo and others. They also sell cases and screen protectors for iPhones and iPods. Their individual drop ship prices for some products may be a little high for eBay, but they do work on Amazon or your own website. But they do have a lot of products that I don’t see selling on eBay, so on those you can pretty much charge what you want.

American Flags at Flagman is a source for flags, US flags, Confederate flags and Canadian flags

HKTDC is a website established by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council that brings you authenticated third-party suppliers from Asia. There is a lot of fraud on Asian business search engines.  All of the suppliers on HKTDC have been vetted by an independent source to make sure they are real companies.

This is not a wholesale source but a place to purchase shipping insurance at wholesale prices.  ShipSurance sells shipping insurance to eBay sellers at up to 60% below what UPS or the Post Office charges.  Their insurance not only costs less, they pay their claims much faster.

That’s it for now. See you again in a couple of weeks.

Skip McGrath
The eBay Seller's News

P.S. If you missed the last issue, click here to read it.

Click Here. Double your traffic. Get Vendio Gallery - Now FREE!