Evening Gents,

It has taken me quite a while to get to the point where I feel comfortable saying I want to sell off my ARAH Joes. I walked down in my basement and the sheer ammount of spece dedicated to that stuff is staggering. I have a few questions.

1. I am not tech/net savy. Recomendation for posting pictures... I have never done it, how does one go about it?

2. Recomendations for taking pictures?

3. Where is a good place to find prices (I know my stuff isn't Mint by any stretch)

4. Shipping Options, Thoughts, feelings, opinions?


Thanks Guys

Steve

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I use photobucket to host images and its pretty easy to link the photos to forums like this one. It's time consuming and a pain in the ass but individual photos of each item are helpful to buyers who are conserend with condition. I for one would be interested in seeing what you've got.

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As for taking pics, well lit and in focus, well lit and in focus and well lit and in focus. I've taken apiece of blank white paper, places on the counter against the wall an and tacked another piece to the wall that came down to the piece on the counter. That makes for a simple back drop. Use a lamp for lighting above. If you can buy a small tripod for the camera, groovy.

Set your figure up with all it's accessories, and take a couple pictures of each figure,see what works for settings on the camera, with or without the flash, etc and make sure the pic is well lit and in focus. Well lit and in focus is important to the buyer. I've walked away from a few eBay auctions because of a poor picture. With Joes I usually know what I want, but with Star Wars, there are so many different lines and variations of a character, with a not so well detailed description, I can't tell which version of a character I'm looking at. It also allows the buyer to see discolouration or other flaws that they might [LASER BLAST] about upon receiving the figure.

Did I mention well lit and in focus?

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Until I get my little photo booth set up, I take my pictures using a white cardboard backer I get with my comic books.

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You can build a decent enough photo booth with a sheet of white cardboard from a hobby store and a lamp directly over head. Just tape it up with scotch tape. A floor, a back, and both side. Doesn't have to be big if you are just doing figures.

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1) imageshack and photobucket will both host your pics for you. And ebay will let you load the pics directly for selling.

2) The photo set up I use for taking custom pics is a blue bed sheet, two clip lamps ($5 each), and two book reading clip lamps ($3 each). The idea is to have the light cancel out all shadows. Once you have a set up that shows everything, then you can play around for mood shots. Whenn it comes to selling, I've used the flash on my camera phone and not had a problem.

3) ebay is the best guide. Most of the guys who include prices in their books wouldn't if it wasn't mandated by their publishers. The best advice I can give is to take the stuff you know is worth many and sell those individually. Then sell the rest in small lots. Or you can send pictures to online dealers like JoeArmory or Kokomo toys to see if they are interested.

4) Actual shipping is a safe option, but for me I tend to do free shipping in the US and actual shipping international. International I want tracking which means more for shipping. Don't charge more than what it costs and you'll be fine. Also try as hard as you can to send out the same day or next day. People want the item yesterday so try to accommodate.

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1. Get a photobucket account. (Free) Just create folders and upload your pictures there. They can be embedded to ebay auctions or forums posts. Or you can just link to the folder and let people browse. It is very easy to use.

2. For selling, you just need to have decent pictures of the item. You don't need a special setup with the light hood and all that jazz. That is good for archival type of data. But just to sell on your own, use any digital camera with the object being photed on a consistent surface. Meaning don't have a bunch of junk around it. A clean flat table, cardboard background, even a tile floor is okay.

3. I always search the "completed items" on eBay. If you plan on selling on ebay, then you can hope to get that price less all the fees you have to pay. (About 12% when it is said and done.) Or take that ebay price, reduce the final value by at least 20% and sell on the forums. Way less hassle than ebay and it may actually make you more money.

4. DO NOT use flat rate boxes from USPS. They are way overpriced. Priority mail is good in most cases. For heavier boxes, use parcel post. Get price quotes from USPS.com. Single loose figures can be mailed in padded envelopes at just a first class rate. I personally only ship international if I am not roped in to ebay/PayPal buyer protection. That buyer protection leaves sellers very vulnerable because they require tracking which is very expensive or sometimes just not available. If the seller is willing to pay through the forums as a gift payment, then they get cheap shipping and I avoid all the hassles.

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