toben88
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posted on February 12, 2004 09:49:33 AM new
I am considering buying around 20 pallets of remote control cars at a decent price. (30 percent of retail)
What is selling toys on ebay like this time of year and into summer?
Do the prices decline significantly during the summer?
Would you recommend buying thousands of dollars of toys this time of year?
This would obviously be a no brainer if it were near to Christmas. I am looking for help from toy dealers on ebay.
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stopwhining
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posted on February 12, 2004 10:02:34 AM new
wholesale is usually 50% of retail.
on ebay you have to do better than 50% of retail.
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
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toben88
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posted on February 12, 2004 10:03:19 AM new
So my question is how does the toy market do on ebay now through summer.
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kiara
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posted on February 12, 2004 10:04:32 AM new
I'm not a toy dealer but are these the mini ones? There are lots of different types of R/C cars. Did you research prices on ebay for the closed auctions?
30% of retail. Is that the suggested retail price that the company quotes?
Just wondering because the mini ones sell for one penny and up on ebay.
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toben88
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posted on February 12, 2004 10:08:07 AM new
No these are the very large rc cars.
They sell at $100 - $150 range in stores.
They have been selling on ebay at $60-$140 range the last month although I see a steady decline in price over the last month. I want to know if prices continue to decline untill christmas shopping season starts.
A last resort would be to buy now and hold until chrismas time, but that is kind of risky when I will be out $8000.
[ edited by toben88 on Feb 12, 2004 10:09 AM ]
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toasted36
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posted on February 12, 2004 10:12:16 AM new
Sorry couldn't help myself....when I saw "out 8000 dollars" I went HOLY CHIT ! lol The thought of putting that much out for ebay just boggles my mind. I tell ya I'm cheap ! Plus I'd never have that much space to put that many items .
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kiara
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posted on February 12, 2004 10:18:04 AM new
That's quite a bit of money for a product you're not sure about.
If this is a toy where new models are the attraction, the prices may drop quickly because everyone always wants the latest one.
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stopwhining
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posted on February 12, 2004 10:18:19 AM new
no,you dont want to spend 8k to hold on to those toys until xmas.
who knows what will be in vogue this coming xmas??may be cabbage patch dolls will be back.
tell your supplier you wont even consider any deal unless it is 30% of retail.
how much is freight by the way??
make it 20% of retail,it is long way from xmas
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
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stopwhining
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posted on February 12, 2004 10:28:25 AM new
better yet,put your feet up on your table,chomp a big cigar and tell your supplier to call you in october if he has not moved these pellets by then.
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
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toben88
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posted on February 12, 2004 12:44:59 PM new
I still have not made a final decisions but here is a conservative estimate of profits if I do this.
@$35 per toy including all shipping storage etc. (renting a ministorage facility)
$5 in ebay fees
$2.25 in paypal fees
$5 profit from handling packing charge.
So the average sale price now is $70 and the average sale price in Dec is $100.
So If i purchase all now and sell all 360 at $70 average....
sale price = 70
cost = (35+5+2.25-5)
Profit per item= 32.25
times 360 items = $11790
If I sell 3 a day on ebay - that will take 120 days to liquidate.
If it takes an average time to list pack and sell 1 item .5 hours then 180 items yields and hourly wage of $64.50 an hour which is higher than I have ever been paid by an employer.
So even if I have to hang on to them till November to ship them I still see a big profit.
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stopwhining
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posted on February 12, 2004 12:54:09 PM new
sounds good.
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
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Twelvepole
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posted on February 12, 2004 01:06:23 PM new
LOL, sounds like you made the decision...
just needed a sounding board
AIN'T LIFE GRAND... 
http://www.nogaymarriage.com/
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toben88
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posted on February 12, 2004 05:27:38 PM new
I got the final price - it is actually a little cheaper than I thought per unit and a little large investment.
So including shipping, storage at a mini unit and renting a truck a few times to take loads from mini unit to my house...
$9640 for 360 units
$1200 Shipping (ouch)
$316 Storage Rental unit $79x4
$100 for renting uhaul truck 3 times.
$11256 total upfront investment
divide by 360 units.
$31.27 per unit.
If I buy 540 units my cost comes down to $29.84
Saving $1.43 per unit times 540 units...
Saving $772 if I buy a larger load up front. I dont think I will go for the larger load...
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stopwhining
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posted on February 12, 2004 05:47:08 PM new
see,1200 shipping!!
why dont you look around and see if you can buy less and see how it goes!
i am sure someone else has them for sale,they are all made in china,correct??
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
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Libra63
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posted on February 12, 2004 07:48:57 PM new
I would never take that chance. By September, October the economy might not be so good, then what. The candidates are trying to give away the house now, free or low cost medical insurance for all, Lower drug charges for seniors, College credit for every child, Higher deductions for individuals. Who is going to pay for all this? Think before you buy. I would just sit back and see what happens. Just my Opinion.
One more thing, if you have that much money you can use to buy merchandise maybe you should think about a mutual fund account. It probably is a little more safe.
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Fenix03
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posted on February 12, 2004 08:10:00 PM new
Asn a screaming unabashed capitalist - I say give it a run. but I would do a little of both rhings you are thinking. I would figure out a bottom line price that gives an acceptable profit margin and then rather than foold the market and immediately devaluate the product I woul d commit to sell maybe 20 up front then withdraw completely for a couple monnths until summer whn it is warm and sunny and people spend more time outside and are more likely to purchase these types of items. I would again look to hold on to a decent percentage of my inventory and then start listing again for the Christmas crowd. This way you will still be gaining cash flow without devalueing your product and still keeping yourself open to the high profit period of Christmas season.
~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~ • ~~~
If it's really "common" sense, why do so few people actually have it?
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toben88
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posted on February 12, 2004 11:16:24 PM new
The $1200 shipping is the cost to have a full sized trailer deliver 24 pallets to my address. My supplier said he could stuff up to 540 units in the trailer if I wanted with no extra charges. This would drop the shipping cost per unit from $3.33 to $2.22.
But I think I will just suck up the shipping and stick to a lower investment. Now lets calculate worst case scenario for me.
What if average sales price falls to only $45.
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toben88
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posted on February 12, 2004 11:17:49 PM new
If the price crashes to $45 then I will only make $3600. Still a decent return on a 12K investment - let see if I do it in 6 months...
$11256 total upfront investment
$10 a unit profit = $3600
Intrest rate is 14856 = 11256 * 1.X^.5
(14856/11256)^2 -1 = X
Thats a 32% 6month return or a 74% annualized return - cant find a bond like that - I think I am going to go for it.
If the price falls below $45 I am screwed.
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Twelvepole
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posted on February 12, 2004 11:56:34 PM new
If the price falls below $45 I am screwed.
Ahhh gambling, gotta love the thrill...
AIN'T LIFE GRAND...
http://www.nogaymarriage.com/
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stopwhining
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posted on February 13, 2004 07:49:14 AM new
hello,
can you redo your interest rate scenario for some of us slow learners??
you may want to do a worst case scenario -what if i cant sell them all??
see your vendor is trying to suck you in by shipping more for less.
i would still say-do your homework,search around and see if you can buy less units,unit price may be more,but you dont have to be stuck with so many units.
are you borrowing money to buy these toys??
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
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kiara
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posted on February 13, 2004 11:22:12 AM new
Do you know the total of these that are available? How many other ebay sellers may be investing in these the same time you do? Perhaps they will negotiate a better deal than you and undercut you when they sell theirs on ebay.
You also have to take into account that some of the models may be defective. Did you ask about that?
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toben88
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posted on February 15, 2004 07:42:12 PM new
I understand all the naysayers - but do u realize a profit at the $70 price is around 12,000$
If I get the christmas price - it will be around $20,000 profit.
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dadofstickboy
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posted on February 15, 2004 08:25:24 PM new
Good Luck in your venture!
Better do a lot of looking prices and sales amount.
R/C cars become outdated quite fast, when that happens they are hard to give away.
They won't regain any value till they are sought after by the collector.
If they are the Radio Shack,Toy Store type car, they never will be a sought after item!
If they are name brand like: Associated,Tamiya,etc. They do have collector value down the road.
But you don't want to buy to hold.
So make sure they are a popular item now.
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koto1
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posted on February 15, 2004 09:00:49 PM new
toben88 - Once you get them listed, I want to see, and possibly bid. Send me the link @:
[email protected]
"Who's tending the bar?  Sniping works up a thirst"
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ebayauctionguy
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posted on February 16, 2004 01:18:45 AM new
At 70 bucks each plus shipping, they'd better be really good R/C cars. If they don't sell, listing fees will eat up your profits fast. I've had lousy luck with R/C cars except for old, collectible ones. There's too much competition with new toys.
[ edited by ebayauctionguy on Feb 16, 2004 01:20 AM ]
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stopwhining
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posted on February 16, 2004 06:26:18 AM new
this is a good board,i think we should start charging for our advice.
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
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replaymedia
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posted on February 16, 2004 08:41:48 AM new
Three more points to add:
1) R/C cars make great Christmas gifts. But Christmas is over and isn't coming back anytime soon. What will they sell for in the Spring/Summer is what really counts.
2) When does NEXT YEARS model R/C car come out? Are these going to be as hot when the next big thing comes along?
And the true WORST CASE scenario:
3) What if your supplier figures out what you are doing and decides to sell the SAME THING on eBay? He's going to have a lower price than you can ever come up with.
I'm all for risk-taking, but $12,000 investment in ONE PRODUCT sounds like more of a risk then *I* would want to take.
-------------------
Replay Media
Games of all kinds!
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stopwhining
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posted on February 16, 2004 09:28:45 AM new
well said,your supplier can be your worst enemy,a 2 faced jackal.
years ago i sold some marbles and someone must have collected my seller id.
one day close to xmas,i received an email from a guy who said he is a wholesaler,he has been selling on ebay,but now xmas is here and he does not have time to sell on ebay,so buy from him to resell on ebay as he wont be back until xmas rush is over.
sometimes it may not be your wholesaler,it could be his kid who just take some from warehouse and try his luck on ebay.
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
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trai
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posted on February 16, 2004 09:44:09 AM new
Toben started a thread on OTWA also and has been given the same advice as here but obviously knows more than the rest of us so I want to encourage Toben to buy 40 pallets and really make the big bucks.
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stopwhining
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posted on February 16, 2004 10:39:11 AM new
trai,
you are funny!
-sig file -------the lobster in the boiling pot of water who tries to prevent the others from climbing out.
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