Selling in “Lots”

We all try different things in our online vintage businesses to sell more items and keep things moving. That may include sales and promotions, selling on multiple platforms (right now I’m mainly on Etsy and eBay) and lotting things up. And that’s what I’m experimenting with more. Creating bigger photo and postcard lots, putting together groups of smaller ceramics and bundling bits of jewelry.

Of course one of the reasons to create a lot is based on economics. It’s a way to sell lower-value items at a higher volume with more efficiency. It also lowers the price-per-piece for the buyer and hopefully moves inventory along more quickly.

But honestly, I’ve had mixed success with lots. One of the problems with creating a lot of anything is that inevitably someone contacts you and wants just one item from the lot. I rarely break up them up because it’s not worth the time/effort. One gal wanted to cherry pick postcards from seven of my lots! Good grief. She was miffed that I wasn’t willing to accommodate her but I don’t think she realized how much extra work it would have meant for me having to redo each postcard listing afterwards for a relatively small sale. (Within two weeks six of those lots sold to a buyer back east.)

Still I’m giving lots more of a go…

Vintage Sterling Silver Charm Lots

I have a backlog of charms and I’ve been slowly listing them on Etsy, mostly individually. But looking at the sheer volume of them the other day I decided to try a different approach. I put charms in misc. lots of10 and 12 on eBay with the “Buy It Now” and the “best offer” features enabled to encourage buyers.

We’ll see if I get any reasonable offers!

Vintage Ceramic Creamer Lot

One of my dear aunts used to collect little creamers. She had a corner shelf with over 100. A few were gifts from me! That collection and my aunt are both gone now, but she was my inspiration for this creamer lot with pieces from England, Germany, Austria and Italy. Are folks even buying creamers like this? Well, at $45, my profit will be minimal, but I’m hoping to find them a new home.

Exotic Vintage Sterling Silver Brooch Lot

Most of these brooches had been listed separately and at one time some were in peoples’ carts, but obviously they didn’t follow through to buy them. Individually these sell from $18 to $40 or so but I decided to put them together in one lot for $75. We’ll see if it entices anyone.

Will It Work?

I suppose it’s like anything you sell…the right person needs to come along and find it.

I would love to hear if you sell in lots. And if you buy vintage items in lots, what do you buy?

Happy hunting and buying,

Karen