Not sure if this is the correct place to post this, mods if you feel the need to move this please do so.
As the title says, I have never done any actual factual online selling. I did dabble in Pucatrade about a year ago, but I never dealt with real money transactions.
I have a few questions:
What is the best platform/website to start selling? Is TCGPlayer a good option? What were people experiences with that?
I never did any high cost trades on pucatrade, generally under $5. So for higher values what do people expect in terms of shipping? Envelope and toploader, bubble mailer or something else?
Is it even a good idea to sell online at all? Has anyone had any garbage experiences? If so, what are some common pitfalls that I should avoid when I am selling and shipping to people?
If you're a member of Facebook, I recommend three groups: High End Magic the Gathering Stuff for buy/sell/trade!, THE Magic the Gathering Buy Sell Trade Group, and MTG SICK deals.
The High End group has a requirement that only cards worth $50 or more can be bought/sold/traded there, and the MTG SICK deals requires any sales offers to be at 10% below TCGPlayer LOW prices (or 10% below eBay prices, your choice, but it's a lot easier to use TCGP). The MTG Buy Sell Trade Group has no stipulations. All three have high volume, and I've bought from all three groups about a dozen times and have yet to have a bad experience.
As for selling items, most people offer PWE (plain white envelope) for free, or a bubble envelope (sometimes free, sometimes for $1), or a bubble envelope with tracking for $3. Sellers in these groups offer a few methods of Paypal payment: either friends and family (AKA Paypal gift) which incurs no fees for the seller, but the buyer has no Paypal Buyers Protections, OR, some sellers stipulate "Paypal Gift or add 4%". This means the buyer pays an additional 4% above the cost of the cards to cover the sellers Paypal fees, while simultaneously giving the buyer Paypal protection. Some sellers are willing to split the Paypal fees, and will say "Paypal gift or add 2% to split fees". Note, in the SICK Deals group, you are not permitted to ADVERTISE the "or add 4%", but you can work that out with PM's.
In all cases, a sleeve and a toploader are expected. You may want to stipulate which countries you're willing to send to, or say "International buyers to pay actual shipping costs TBD". Of course there is always the eBay route too. I've never sold here on MTG Salvation so I can't speak to its efficacy.
I have sold both on this site and on the facebook groups SonofaBith mentioned above. Plenty of high value transactions as well. Here is what I can offer.
* I have avoided ebay as it is easier to be scammed. It is still rare but you just have more risk so I don't bother.
* TCGP is great but charges additional fees to go through them on top of the paypal fees... but you likely will sell things faster through them. I instead sell on the two sites mentioned above and in general I charge right around what I would make selling it on TCGP for TCGP low. Cards sell... but slowly.... but it's nice knowing I am giving others better deals than TCGP and still making comparable money if not slightly more (we're talking a couple dollars so that's not why I'm doing it... I like giving deals to players).
* You MUST send in a bubble mailer and top loader if doing decent values cards. Tracking is expected. Send out quickly upon payment (next day generally) and PM tracking the same day you ship out. It's good practice and buys you a lot of good will if something goes wrong. Not to mention you should treat them like you would want to be treated. Expensive cards are big investments for many people. In my 80+ transactions I've only had 2 issues (both not my fault... but when shipping things happen in the mail) and both were very reasonably resolved and all parties were happy.
* Always send people pics/scans and have them okay them prior to confirming a deal and having them pay. Many bad experiences/issues stem from improper expectations. People define played/NM differently to the point I almost never list things as NM even though I take very good care of my cards. Meanwhile I once got a bent card from someone who described it as played. I was pissed but that is techinically played. They offered me like $5 back. Augh... These type of things catch up with sellers eventually though.
* And yes plenty have bad experiences. These generally result from bad descriptions of conditions, biting on things too good to be true, or shipping issues. To protect yourself... do what I listed above (good communication, sends scans prior to payment, ship in bubble mailer with top loader, use tracking, etc).... and also do NOT do international shipping. Extra potential fees/customs... more likely to have shipping issues.... language barriers... etc. There are TONS of good people internationally but I just wouldn't risk it. Be clear about this too so you don't waste peoples times.
* The other big pitfall is just straight up scammers. They will claim your card is fake or didn't come etc. So always use tracking to protect against one of those... the pics etc help protect against fake claims... and also if they don't have refs insist upon gift payment. Shady buyers etc will frequently switch accounts etc. So newer accounts are more dangerous. Gift payment protects you. It's also why I stuck to this site and FB groups. This site has very good feedback, reference system, and stringent rules (although not as much traffic now a days sadly). FB is tied to a person so seems less likely they would do something (and again has a reference system which is good).
Let me know if you have followup questions as I'd be happy to help.
As the title says, I have never done any actual factual online selling. I did dabble in Pucatrade about a year ago, but I never dealt with real money transactions.
I have a few questions:
What is the best platform/website to start selling? Is TCGPlayer a good option? What were people experiences with that?
I never did any high cost trades on pucatrade, generally under $5. So for higher values what do people expect in terms of shipping? Envelope and toploader, bubble mailer or something else?
Is it even a good idea to sell online at all? Has anyone had any garbage experiences? If so, what are some common pitfalls that I should avoid when I am selling and shipping to people?
I thank you for your advice and insight!
BGGRock
Modern
BRGJund
BBGRock
The High End group has a requirement that only cards worth $50 or more can be bought/sold/traded there, and the MTG SICK deals requires any sales offers to be at 10% below TCGPlayer LOW prices (or 10% below eBay prices, your choice, but it's a lot easier to use TCGP). The MTG Buy Sell Trade Group has no stipulations. All three have high volume, and I've bought from all three groups about a dozen times and have yet to have a bad experience.
As for selling items, most people offer PWE (plain white envelope) for free, or a bubble envelope (sometimes free, sometimes for $1), or a bubble envelope with tracking for $3. Sellers in these groups offer a few methods of Paypal payment: either friends and family (AKA Paypal gift) which incurs no fees for the seller, but the buyer has no Paypal Buyers Protections, OR, some sellers stipulate "Paypal Gift or add 4%". This means the buyer pays an additional 4% above the cost of the cards to cover the sellers Paypal fees, while simultaneously giving the buyer Paypal protection. Some sellers are willing to split the Paypal fees, and will say "Paypal gift or add 2% to split fees". Note, in the SICK Deals group, you are not permitted to ADVERTISE the "or add 4%", but you can work that out with PM's.
In all cases, a sleeve and a toploader are expected. You may want to stipulate which countries you're willing to send to, or say "International buyers to pay actual shipping costs TBD". Of course there is always the eBay route too. I've never sold here on MTG Salvation so I can't speak to its efficacy.
* I have avoided ebay as it is easier to be scammed. It is still rare but you just have more risk so I don't bother.
* TCGP is great but charges additional fees to go through them on top of the paypal fees... but you likely will sell things faster through them. I instead sell on the two sites mentioned above and in general I charge right around what I would make selling it on TCGP for TCGP low. Cards sell... but slowly.... but it's nice knowing I am giving others better deals than TCGP and still making comparable money if not slightly more (we're talking a couple dollars so that's not why I'm doing it... I like giving deals to players).
* You MUST send in a bubble mailer and top loader if doing decent values cards. Tracking is expected. Send out quickly upon payment (next day generally) and PM tracking the same day you ship out. It's good practice and buys you a lot of good will if something goes wrong. Not to mention you should treat them like you would want to be treated. Expensive cards are big investments for many people. In my 80+ transactions I've only had 2 issues (both not my fault... but when shipping things happen in the mail) and both were very reasonably resolved and all parties were happy.
* Always send people pics/scans and have them okay them prior to confirming a deal and having them pay. Many bad experiences/issues stem from improper expectations. People define played/NM differently to the point I almost never list things as NM even though I take very good care of my cards. Meanwhile I once got a bent card from someone who described it as played. I was pissed but that is techinically played. They offered me like $5 back. Augh... These type of things catch up with sellers eventually though.
* And yes plenty have bad experiences. These generally result from bad descriptions of conditions, biting on things too good to be true, or shipping issues. To protect yourself... do what I listed above (good communication, sends scans prior to payment, ship in bubble mailer with top loader, use tracking, etc).... and also do NOT do international shipping. Extra potential fees/customs... more likely to have shipping issues.... language barriers... etc. There are TONS of good people internationally but I just wouldn't risk it. Be clear about this too so you don't waste peoples times.
* The other big pitfall is just straight up scammers. They will claim your card is fake or didn't come etc. So always use tracking to protect against one of those... the pics etc help protect against fake claims... and also if they don't have refs insist upon gift payment. Shady buyers etc will frequently switch accounts etc. So newer accounts are more dangerous. Gift payment protects you. It's also why I stuck to this site and FB groups. This site has very good feedback, reference system, and stringent rules (although not as much traffic now a days sadly). FB is tied to a person so seems less likely they would do something (and again has a reference system which is good).
Let me know if you have followup questions as I'd be happy to help.
BGGRock
Modern
BRGJund
BBGRock