scan0608
Junior Member
Posts: 64
Sept 27, 2020 20:25:21 GMT
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Post by scan0608 on May 28, 2022 14:36:55 GMT
Hey there. Question for those of you who either go to crafty sales or have had one -
We are down-sizing and the thought of packing my crafty room up to move is extremely overwhelming. I find stuff I bought years ago and have never used - or used only a small portion of the collection, but have held on to it - (I know I have a problem letting go of "stuff"). Anyway - I am forcing myself to do that and am trying to price various items for the "moving sale".
My question is how in the heck did you decide how to price your stash. Here's what I've done so far - looking for other ideas, please.
I've looked at what various items have actually sold for on eBay - my thought is to price it below that amount - mainly used for tools/collections
I'm doing "boxes" - the paper photo boxes - with random items, embellishments, etc. for flat price - just not sure what a reasonable/attractive price would be
I'm trying to do a lot of "groupings" to get things to move I keep over-analyzing if I am pricing too high or if I'm letting it go for too low a price...I'm making myself nuts for no reason
Any other ideas? Greatly appreciate it!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Nov 29, 2024 0:36:51 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2022 15:23:31 GMT
If you aren't looking to make anything, I would just donate it to a school or girl scout group in your area.
Then it is a one and done and you won't have to worry about what to do with what doesn't sell.
If you do sell, cheaper is better. And I would do collections as that is how many scrap.
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scan0608
Junior Member
Posts: 64
Sept 27, 2020 20:25:21 GMT
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Post by scan0608 on May 28, 2022 16:39:02 GMT
If you aren't looking to make anything, I would just donate it to a school or girl scout group in your area. Then it is a one and done and you won't have to worry about what to do with what doesn't sell. If you do sell, cheaper is better. And I would do collections as that is how many scrap. Thanks! I have donated over the years - my MIL is a retired teacher and they tend to love all the paper. Also have donated to the Senior Services. That has helped to "thin out" paper and some embellishments in the past, but with the upcoming move, I'm realizing that this needs to be a serious purge!
We have a lot to sell outside the craft supplies, so anything that doesn't sell will definitely be donated. 
Definitely agree with the collections/ kits approach. Embarrassingly, I have Lisa Bearnson kits when she was on QVC...not used at all (man I feel old talking about the QVC crafts from back in the day!)
Appreciate your feedback!
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Post by scrapperal on May 28, 2022 17:33:04 GMT
A couple of friends with HUGE stashes (both teach classes) had fill a bag or everything $1 sale. I'm talking fill the driveway, multiple popup tents kind of amounts. At the everything $1 sale, she just wanted to get rid of everything and donated whatever was left. For the fill a bag, it was $10 for a shopping bad, $20 for a bankers box. At the fill a bag sale, higher priced items (large tools, dies, Tim Holtz stamps were priced separately). It seemed like the $1/item person did better, but maybe that was because it was mostly SU stuff. Over on the Chilly/Frozen peas thread, a couple of people recent sold a bunch of stuff at LSS sales. Hopefully hmp and infochick can give some tips. I was at a recent garage sale and the people hardly had anything left, but they did have what I wanted, which was picture frames. They were priced super low (50 cents each) and I bought more than I needed at that price and then donated what I didn't use. She said that she originally had a lot more stuff, but that was all she had left because everything was priced to sell. So if your pricing to just get rid of something, it will go! I think that people who buy SB stuff know the original price and only want a bargain. For a photo box size of stuff, I wouldn't pay more than $10-$12 (or maybe less) unless I knew it was stuff I couldn't get elsewhere. (Sorry, I'm cheap and have too much stuff as it is.) Good luck! Downsizing is so hard! |
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Post by joblackford on May 28, 2022 17:58:07 GMT
It sounds like you're researching on eBay correctly - looking at SOLD listings to figure out prices. You might also want to assess how many other people are trying to sell what you've got to see if you have a lot of competition. I have been selling glass tchotchkes for my in laws and there are some that have recently sold, but then I see that there are still 25 active listings for the same item, so the chances of my listing getting seen and sold goes down unless I can offer a real bargain, promote it, or get lucky. You might want to price more aggressively in that case.
Paper stuff tends to be very heavy so adding $16 or $20 for flat rate shipping is going to put a lot of people off unless your supplies are a bargain. Including the shipping cost in your price and offering "free" shipping can work but then I've still had a lot of people offer so little that I wouldn't even cover the cost of the shipping. I try to point out that they're essentially getting the item for free but idk, amazon has spoiled us all.
As for the overthinking, I'm with you on that. I spend a ton of time trying to figure out all the details before I do a listing and it's exhausting. You're just not going to know until you get it online. Maybe you'll be lucky and the right buyers will find you quickly. My experience is that the longer the listing sits the less likely it is that it will eventually sell.
If you have people watching your listings on eBay you can send them an offer/deal but when I've tried that I've been countered with half of the cheap price I was offering so idk, I didn't have much luck with that.
Good luck! I hope you can at least get a little for the more desirable stuff and more importantly reduce the amount of stuff that you don't love that you have to pack and move. Offering stuff here on the FSOT board (ETA: you might not have quite enough posts yet to access that?) to a dedicated scrappy audience might help too. But you just have to start and see how it goes.
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scan0608
Junior Member
Posts: 64
Sept 27, 2020 20:25:21 GMT
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Post by scan0608 on May 28, 2022 18:06:08 GMT
A couple of friends with HUGE stashes (both teach classes) had fill a bag or everything $1 sale. I'm talking fill the driveway, multiple popup tents kind of amounts. At the everything $1 sale, she just wanted to get rid of everything and donated whatever was left. For the fill a bag, it was $10 for a shopping bad, $20 for a bankers box. At the fill a bag sale, higher priced items (large tools, dies, Tim Holtz stamps were priced separately). It seemed like the $1/item person did better, but maybe that was because it was mostly SU stuff. Over on the Chilly/Frozen peas thread, a couple of people recent sold a bunch of stuff at LSS sales. Hopefully hmp and infochick can give some tips. I was at a recent garage sale and the people hardly had anything left, but they did have what I wanted, which was picture frames. They were priced super low (50 cents each) and I bought more than I needed at that price and then donated what I didn't use. She said that she originally had a lot more stuff, but that was all she had left because everything was priced to sell. So if your pricing to just get rid of something, it will go! I think that people who buy SB stuff know the original price and only want a bargain. For a photo box size of stuff, I wouldn't pay more than $10-$12 (or maybe less) unless I knew it was stuff I couldn't get elsewhere. (Sorry, I'm cheap and have too much stuff as it is.) Good luck! Downsizing is so hard! Oh my word - I had not seen the chilly/frozen peas thread - thank you for pointing me in that direction!!!
Wish I had a LSS - that would be ideal to sell there (targeted audience!), but ours closed probably 15+ yrs ago.
great minds - the two photo boxes I have so far are priced at $10 ;-)
Thank you!
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scan0608
Junior Member
Posts: 64
Sept 27, 2020 20:25:21 GMT
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Post by scan0608 on May 28, 2022 18:16:59 GMT
It sounds like you're researching on eBay correctly - looking at SOLD listings to figure out prices. You might also want to assess how many other people are trying to sell what you've got to see if you have a lot of competition. I have been selling glass tchotchkes for my in laws and there are some that have recently sold, but then I see that there are still 25 active listings for the same item, so the chances of my listing getting seen and sold goes down unless I can offer a real bargain, promote it, or get lucky. You might want to price more aggressively in that case. Paper stuff tends to be very heavy so adding $16 or $20 for flat rate shipping is going to put a lot of people off unless your supplies are a bargain. Including the shipping cost in your price and offering "free" shipping can work but then I've still had a lot of people offer so little that I wouldn't even cover the cost of the shipping. I try to point out that they're essentially getting the item for free but idk, amazon has spoiled us all. As for the overthinking, I'm with you on that. I spend a ton of time trying to figure out all the details before I do a listing and it's exhausting. You're just not going to know until you get it online. Maybe you'll be lucky and the right buyers will find you quickly. My experience is that the longer the listing sits the less likely it is that it will eventually sell. If you have people watching your listings on eBay you can send them an offer/deal but when I've tried that I've been countered with half of the cheap price I was offering so idk, I didn't have much luck with that. Good luck! I hope you can at least get a little for the more desirable stuff and more importantly reduce the amount of stuff that you don't love that you have to pack and move. Offering stuff here on the FSOT board (ETA: you might not have quite enough posts yet to access that?) to a dedicated scrappy audience might help too. But you just have to start and see how it goes. Thanks! and you are correct - don't have enough posts to get to the FSOT...yet....I know I have some stuff that someone here would be happy to pay flat-rate shipping for, but b/c of all the reasons you've listed, still trying to decide on the ebay approach. The price has gone up so much on shipping these days!
Appreciate your feedback and the additional tips for ebay! |
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Post by joblackford on May 28, 2022 18:32:19 GMT
Thanks! and you are correct - don't have enough posts to get to the FSOT...yet.... Is it 50? I think it's 50. You're close so keep replying and you'll get there in a jiffy!! Good luck  |
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scan0608
Junior Member
Posts: 64
Sept 27, 2020 20:25:21 GMT
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Post by scan0608 on May 28, 2022 18:44:53 GMT
Thanks! and you are correct - don't have enough posts to get to the FSOT...yet.... Is it 50? I think it's 50. You're close so keep replying and you'll get there in a jiffy!! Good luck 
LOL - 50 it is - SO CLOSE!
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Post by marg on May 28, 2022 20:49:07 GMT
I'm not sure if it makes a difference because I'm in Canada, but I just put everything all in a box and post it on Kijiji for a single price. So, maybe $50-$75 for a box of stuff - like an inch or so of paper, embellishments, stamps, a few punches etc. If I'm purging a lot I may split it up, like selling all of the SU stuff that I'm purging together, but that's about it.
Having said that, I do have a few Basic Grey collections that I'm planning to sell all on their own because I just joined a FB sell/buy group so I think that may work. I'd prefer to sell local rather than ship, though.
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Post by dudleypippen on May 28, 2022 21:01:47 GMT
I recently found out there’s a craft supply consignment sale held annually near me. We’ve lived here for 10 years and I thought I was in the crafty know but this totally escaped me! Maybe there is something similar near you? When I attended it seemed like a lot of people were looking for the older lines of scrapbooking stuff- it was more popular than the yarn or fabric sections! I plan to sell at the next one and do a major destash. I’ve also seen stuff listed on FB marketplace. I would absolutely be willing to drive out of my way for some of the discontinued brands!
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scan0608
Junior Member
Posts: 64
Sept 27, 2020 20:25:21 GMT
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Post by scan0608 on May 28, 2022 22:37:33 GMT
Thanks Dudleypippen and marg!! I am definitely going to see if I can find out if there is any type of "group sale" around here. Also - like the idea of doing a bigger box for a flat price - appreciate it!
on a side note - I did hit the 50 posts, so have been familiarizing myself with the FSOT board and will probably put a post there too. yay
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Post by lg on May 29, 2022 2:36:47 GMT
Having sold a few things on Aussie eBay recently I can say that the things that sell are those at a ridiculous discount/clearance price as the postage cost eats into what people are willing to pay. That being said, I changed my mindset to one of “keeping good usable items out of landfill” and “letting a new or low income scrapper get some AMAZING products for a very low price” rather than “I will retire on my profits”. I know when I first started I would have been so excited to find some of the things I have been selling at the price on my listings!
Offering to bundle and post multiple listings for buyers and refunding postage overpayments means I’ve sold two or three batches at a time which has decreased the sheer volume of items I still have to sell.
Basically the physical and emotional cost of keeping these goods cluttering up my life when I don’t want or need them any more is worth the lack of money I earn from the sale - for a lot of it the $5 I got went to a coffee treat, and knowing that it was paid by money I got from selling unused items in my craft room made it taste super good!
One last thing, don’t forget us international peas. We have very limited access at the best of times to a lot of items and are willing to pay the ridiculous international postage costs just to get our hands on some items (I am like this with old AE kits). If you are willing to post, people may be looking to buy 😉
Best of luck to you in your current endeavour
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Post by scrapperal on May 29, 2022 3:42:50 GMT
Congrats on your 50+ posts! It seems like Basic Grey and October Afternoon are popular items on the FSOT board if you have those in your stash.
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Post by marg on May 29, 2022 12:27:23 GMT
Congrats on your 50+ posts! It seems like Basic Grey and October Afternoon are popular items on the FSOT board if you have those in your stash. Thanks for the tip, I always forget about the board here - plus shipping seems like such a hassle. I like the thought of true fans getting the older supplies so I may have to try it out and see how it works. |
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Post by hmp on May 29, 2022 12:56:14 GMT
I think it depends on your level of motivation. When I did the tag sale at my LSS my goal was to sell it all. We were required to pick up anything that didn’t sell. I really didn’t want that stuff coming back in my house, so I was a motivated seller. I priced cheap. Paper & embellishments & stamps were sold either by page kits I made up, or by bundles by manufacturers or theme. (Stampin’ Up! versus October Afternoon versus Christmas). Ink pads were sold with the pad, re-inker, matching cardstock, matching marker, colored pencil, & ribbon. Tools were sold individually & I sold all but 3. ALL my paper & page kits sold. Stamps bundled with their matching dies also sold. NONE of my wood mounted stamps sold. Very few of my clear stamps sold. People were more interested in the “big name brands”. Even old Creative Memories sold well. Felicity Jane, Kelly Purkey, IACB et al didn't sell nearly as well.
I checked the sold prices on eBay & then knocked off a few dollars. I checked the prices on 2 Peas. I generally sold my stuff for less because I wanted it gone. Things made in the last 3 years sold for more than older stuff.
People are looking for bargains. They usually have a good idea of the original price. Clean, neat, well labeled contents all sold better. We were required to put almost everything in sealed bags. I stamped images or colors, made sample die cuts with all the dies, made color sample charts...mostly to prove nothing was dried up or worn out. That extra work paid off. My stuff often sold even when there was a cheaper, exact same item just because my packaging was cuter & I made sure my stamps were cleaned...
Good Luck! I’m happy to answer any questions you have.
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scan0608
Junior Member
Posts: 64
Sept 27, 2020 20:25:21 GMT
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Post by scan0608 on May 29, 2022 13:13:35 GMT
I recently found out there’s a craft supply consignment sale held annually near me. We’ve lived here for 10 years and I thought I was in the crafty know but this totally escaped me! Maybe there is something similar near you? When I attended it seemed like a lot of people were looking for the older lines of scrapbooking stuff- it was more popular than the yarn or fabric sections! I plan to sell at the next one and do a major destash. I’ve also seen stuff listed on FB marketplace. I would absolutely be willing to drive out of my way for some of the discontinued brands!
So I searched some last night - found a "community" sale in TN, but couldn't find any in GA. I'm in Metro Atlanta area - if anyone knows of any in this area, please let me know. THANKS!!
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Post by infochick on May 30, 2022 16:09:33 GMT
I would echo much of what hmp has said. I recently went through my first sale at my LSS and I was getting rid of some really old product, so I did price it to move. Things that I learned, and that a friend who has done it several times told me: - Things seem to do better when grouped together as a collection or theme. If I had a collection with paper, embellishments, 6x6, etc. I put it all together as a kit. These sold quite well. When I had bulk paper I put it together as a theme, say 50 sheets of Christmas paper or 25 sheets of birthday paper. If there was name brand sheets in the bulk paper, I listed that as well. - Try Facebook Marketplace. I haven't done it, but my friend has had great success listing stuff on Marketplace. - Group like things together--bags of fibre or ribbon, flowers, etc. I found that those things sold quite well for me. I also went into it with the mindset that I was pricing things to go. The last thing that I wanted was to bring it all home, so I really priced it all to sell. Bulk bags of paper with 25-50 sheets for $2.00. I sold for more if I knew it was a hot item here. Tim Holtz paper I went 25 sheets for $4. Graphic 45 is popular here, so when I grouped a collection of stuff together, maybe $12 for a pad and embellishments. It's important to be really honest about how old/desirable the products are. You're on the right track to check and see what stuff has sold for. If you have lots to get rid of, and you really just want to be done with it, err on the side of underpricing. For me, it was really important to downsize my stash. I was happy to sell what I could. My friend reminded me that it is a process--she's been doing garage sales/selling for three years to get her stash to where she wanted it. I'm keeping a box of things to sell, so when I finish with a collection or product I put it in a box to sell at my next LSS sale. |
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Post by grammadee on May 30, 2022 18:44:19 GMT
If you do sell, cheaper is better. And I would do collections as that is how many scrap.  Many scrap by theme as well, so if you group your supplies in boxes, you could label one Baby, one summer, one school, etc. or by colour groupings… good luck with letting go  |
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scrapnnana
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,459 
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Post by scrapnnana on May 31, 2022 14:37:04 GMT
The problem with yard sales is that people expect you to sell so dirt cheap that I don’t think it is worth the time and effort. I usually rehome it rather than try to sell it.
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