Lynn’s eBay ezine Volume III, issue number 45

‘Sell Singly, Profit Exponentially‘

by Lynn A. Dralle, ‘The Queen of Auctions’

(Ed note: We had an incorrect link to the first half of the pottery article in last week’s newsletter. If you missed it, you can find the first half of this article in ezine volume 3, number 42, here.)

I can’t say this enough and it doesn’t apply to new items just the unique one-of-a-kind items that I sell…..Never sell a set of dinnerware as one auction. Never sell a set of flatware as one auction. Never sell a collection of pigs, books, African art or anything else as one auction. Of course there are some exceptions to this rule. Use your judgment.

OK, Now that we are all on the same page, let’s look at some fun examples. We will start with the African Art pieces from last week. There were nine pieces total and three of the pieces were shields that looked exactly the same. I could have sold them all together in a grouping–but I know better. I broke them out into three separate auctions.

Here is one of the auctions for a shield. It had a crack and yet still sold for the most. Click here to see for how much.

The reason it sold for the most was because the man who bought the other two wanted to win all three. By breaking them out into individual auctions and having the auctions end about 3 minutes apart–the bidding got exciting! The one that sold for the most was the last of the three that I listed–even with the crack.

The other two shields ended up selling for $49.38 total.

The shell piece pictured in the introduction of this ezine went for $152.50.

The fringe mask pictured in the last ezine sold for $24.25.

One of the items that really surprised me was this bell that sold for quite a bit. Click here to see how much. I almost kept it because it was so cool and I was going to use it for a dinner gong outside.

The aborigine statue pictured in the last ezine went for $15.50.

A large mask sold for $22.29 and a very large carved piece pictured below went for $77.88.

Click here to see the closed auction.

Grand total was $465.73 and I only paid $80.00 for the lot. I made 5 times what I paid and my cost of goods sold was only 17%–gross margins of 83%. Try and do that with brand new items. Unique one-of-a-kind items rock!!!

Now, lets talk about the USC (University of Southern California) El Rodeo Yearbooks I got for fr.ee at a sale a few weeks ago. The years were 1932, 1967, 1968, 1969 and 1970. The one with O.J. Simpson (the year he won the Heismann) from 1969 sold for $24.02, the 1932 for $18.82, and two others didn’t sell but are now in my eBay store at $24.99 each. But the most amazing one–the one from 1967 sold for an incredible amount.

Here is a photo and please click here because you won’t believe it!

Now, here is my point again. I could have sold them as a lot and I NEVER would have gotten as much as I did individually.

And finally we will wind up with dinnerware. Let’s look at that Swid Powell dinnerware from last week’s ezine. I paid $8 for the eight good plates. One had a chip, so I decided to keep it as an example.

I put up 8 different auctions with those plates, starting each one at $9.99. I quickly found out that Swid Powell is a very famous company.

Here is a photo of one of the plates.

Swid Powell was founded in 1982 by Addie Powell and Nan Swid. They produced housewares designed by the very famous architects of the time. It was the post-modern style and some of the architects included Robert Venturi, Frank Gehry, Azha Hadid, Stephen Hall and Richard Meier.

It turns out that Richard Meier was one of the most prolific of these designers. When I originally listed these plates I thought it said PM on the back but it turned out that it said RM for Richard Meier. It would have been better if I had put Richard Meier in the title but it didn’t matter. The eight plates had bids within an hour of my listing them.

If you can believe it, they sold for $34.33 each and all went to the same man! A grand total of $274.64 on an $8 investment.

I hope you see and understand the power of selling singly and profiting exponentially! And remember I started almost all of these auctions at $9.99 (only one was started at $24.99). That’s the power of The Dralle Method.

Happy eBaying and Happy Thanksgiving!