Business Idea #81 Selling Collectible Toys On eBay
The children’s toy market is a wonderful selling on eBay business idea to research.
Do you have fond childhood memories of playing on the floor, building endless cities of Legos and creating completely new worlds for the little Lego folks inhabiting them?
Well, if so, you are not alone. There is a huge market today for people trying to recreate the lost innocence and simplicity of their childhoods by collecting LEGO sets of years gone by.
While they can be extremely inexpensive to find and purchase used, they have risen in market value as each year goes by and can bring a pretty penny to those willing to spend the time and energy collecting, cataloging, and reselling them!
This can be a very profitable business idea!
Legos and other recent era toys such as My Little Pony, Fisher Playschool and others are considered not quite vintage, but still collectible toys.
While true vintage and antique toys have become collectibles and are harder to find inexpensively to sell, toys in the not quite vintage category can still be found readily and inexpensively.
These toys evoke a strong sense of comfort and nostalgia to many people.
Others simply want to provide their own children with the toys that they remember from their childhood.
And in the case of something like Legos, for some children (teens and tots alike), the strange and interesting pieces available in more vintage sets hold far more interest than the sets available at a big box retailer.
Now using Legos as an example, there are organizations online that list available sources for specific collectible sets. Be sure and register with them, so that your customers will know which pieces you have available and will be able to find you.
The harder a set is to locate, the more you are able to charge for it.
Also, keep in mind that even some sets sold more recently were carried by so few retailers or cost so much, that few were able to purchase them, that they are now also considered rare and in very high demand.
These sets sell for an even larger price once some time has past. Now that such a set has been on the market for a while, its rareness makes it even more valuable!
Some sets are listed on Lego's own site as "hard to find." The Star Wars collections are in special demand because of their rarity.
Some sets can be found at salvage stores. Charity stores are another good resource for older sets.
Look for stores like Goodwill or the Salvation Army. These stores have a constantly revolving inventory, so be sure to check back frequently!
Many times, people donate older sets having no idea just how valuable they are! Other good sources for these toys are garage sales, yard sales, and flea markets.
Once you have collected together both complete and incomplete sets of Legos, be sure to clean them carefully and keep careful records on the number of pieces, as well as the colors and other descriptive details on the inventory you have on hand.
Sets that have their accompanying original box fetch an even larger price!
You can start your resale business by listing these items on online auction sites, such as eBay or even Craigslist. This is a good way to build a reputation as a trusted seller.
You can use eBay to 'build' and open an online shop to display a larger inventory.
Once you have a trusted reputation as an honest seller, you may want to branch out into a separate website and run an online store outside of eBay.
Now how can you apply this to other not quite vintage, but yet collectible toys?
Research, research, research!
Spend a lot of time in the toy category on eBay and check the completed listings to see what items sell consistently and for good prices.
Think about what toys you played with as a child that might have become collectible.
Perhaps those board games you loved as a child are collectible now. I would bet the first issues of games that became popular such as Trivial Pursuit and others might be worth some money.
Children’s toys provide a really great opportunity to make a living selling on ebay.
But you have to find your niche in this market and be willing to do the legwork to find the items to sell from garage and yard sales, flea markets, auctions and wherever else you think you might find them.
You'll find more helpful ideas for finding these collectibles from Terry Gibbs "I Want Collectibles" newsletter and website.
Terry specializes in collectibles, especially toy trains and as an eBay powerseller he has lots of helpful advice and tips in this area.
Click here
and visit Terry's site to read some of the helpful articles, and sign up for his free newsletter if you are interested in learning more about finding and selling children's collectible toys and other collectibles on eBay.
Now there is one more very important thing you need to know about selling vintage children's toys.
Because of the recent problems with lead contaminated children's products coming from China into American Markets, there was an emergency legislation passed to require testing on all products sold to children.
This legislation was put on hold when it was realized how onerous the testing requirements were, and how it would put most small children's items manufacturers out of business, including crafters and artisans.
But it hasn't disappeared and may return in some form eventually.
Now when selling vintage children's toys and collectibles, you really are not targeting children under 12 which is what the legislation is geared to.
You are instead targeting adults who collect these items, so it is highly recommended that you include the following statement in your auctions to protect yourself: "This product is a collectible item not intended for use by children under age 12.”
