Expert: Marvinator - 3/15/2009

Question
Dear Marvinator:

I have about 70 80's and 90's original cassettes (in good condition with cases and covers) in both English and Spanish and would like to ask for your opinion on what would be the best way to put them on ebay.

Starting bid,type of acution,all in a single auction, several auctions,etc.

Thanks and your help is greatlly appreciated,
Roberto

Answer
I'm not going to be able to tell you the way to sell these best. This is something you can find out with a bit of research on eBay itself.  

Start by learning the search system.  YOu can search by type of item, (CASSETTE TAPE) or, of course, by Artist.  You can search for cassette tape lots, or singles... Once you are able to find listings which meet your criteria, you can click the link at the left which says "Completed Auctions"  You may need to log in again, but you can then find 30 days worth of auctions matching each of your searches.  

Now it's possible to see which of these items has sold in the last 30 days, and for what price.  You can also see which have NOT sold and what the starting prices were on those auctions.  This way you can weed out the items which should be sold singly, and figure that the rest can be sold as a group.

In addition, take the time to look at each auction.  Some times you can find out ways to improve a listing to make it sell. Many auctions don't sell because they didn't have photos. Good quality photos of wanted items make your item stand out.  Other auctions don't sell because the seller thought that a single line would sell the item.  Write a paragraph or two describing the item, the play list, the condition of the cassette and maybe even a bit of  history about the album itself. Lastly, consider the listing price.  If an auctions starts out too high it can keep an item from selling.  Start as low as you are comfortable selling, the lower the opening bid, the better chance you will get a sale.   

Create a good, quality auction of an item you know will sell, and listing it properly, can ensure that you are doing the best  you can to sell your items.  Good research will tell you whether or not you should list them at all.