Tips For Buying Collectibles on eBay

by Kirsten Hawkins

Buying collectibles is one of the most enjoyable things to do on eBay, simply because you can find so many things that you just can’t get anywhere else. Here are a few tips to help you on your way.
Find your Category.
You’ll probably find that all the items you’re after are listed in a single category. Add this category to your browser’s Favorites, and keep coming back.
Look for Mistakes.
If you collect something, the chances are you know a lot about it. This can be your opportunity to make a mint from a seller’s mistake. They might not realise that they have a rare version of an item, or they might have left off the key information that makes it valuable. If you’re willing to email the seller and ask them a few questions about the item to confirm that it is what you think it is, then you should be able to buy items like these. You can then resell them at a big profit, if that’s what you want to do.
Don’t Always Believe Descriptions.
If you find something you haven’t heard of, and the description calls it ‘rare’, don’t assume that it actually is. Far too many sellers just put ‘rare’ into all of their descriptions – the chances are that the item is common and has just been described wrongly. Don’t bid unless you know what you’re buying.
Stalk Other Users.
When you collect something, you’ll probably notice that there are four or five sellers who seem to come up with consistently good items – and the same buyers buying them. Add their user pages to your Favorites, and check back often to see what they’ve got – or what they’re bidding on – that you might be interested in.
Don’t Get Too Attached to an Auction.
There are millions of items being listed every day on eBay – whatever you want, it’ll come around again, and if you don’t get it there are plenty more things to buy. This is similar to the golden rule of negotiating: always be prepared to walk away. If you can’t walk away, then expect to pay over the odds. There are few things so rare that another seller won’t have one to sell. Go and bid in a lower-priced auction, instead of getting into a bidding war in one that is already expensive.
Beware of the Postage.
If you collect lots of small things with a relatively low value, you might end up paying as much for postage as you do for each item. You should take these costs into consideration when you make your bid. Another good strategy is to always buy a few things at once from the same buyer, as they will almost always offer you a discount on the postage.
When you’re bidding, you might notice that some auctions go more slowly than others, going days at a time without any new bids. The next email tells you how to take advantage of these ‘slow’ auctions.
Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visit http://www.auctionseller411.com/ for more great tips on how to make the most from Ebay and other online auctions.
Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Tips-For-Buying-Collectibles-On-eBay./2070

For Recreation, Sports Collecting is a Great Hobby

by Sharon Thomas

In this fast-paced, stressful age we live in, everyone needs a little recreation. Sports collecting is a hobby that can fill your spare minutes with interest and offer a diversion to the everyday grind. Sports collecting takes many forms depending on the person who is pursuing the hobby. Many people choose to collect memorabilia from their favorite professional teams, but others collect items related to golf, fishing, and other recreation sports. Collecting requires a certain amount of space, but collectors are creative about finding ways to display their collectibles.
If you have a favorite pro team or two there are many items you can collect related to those teams. For instance, you can create scrapbooks in which you save clippings about exciting games, favorite players, and special interviews. You can keep ticket stubs and photographs in your scrapbook, too. Other items, however, won't fit into a scrapbook, such as a game ball, team jersey, or a team's annual yearbook. These items will need other storage. There are stands for special balls, and jerseys look great hanging on a hanger on the wall.
You might like to collect souvenir items from all types of sports. Most professional teams sell small metal pins with their insignia on them. Pin collecting is a widely practiced hobby, and sports teams are one of the hottest types of collectible pins, as are those commemorating the Olympics. Another option for sports collecting is to collect antique sports equipment. Vintage baseball gloves are an example of this type of collectible.
Baseball cards have long been a source of recreation. Sports collecting enthusiasts have collected baseball cards, football cards, and basketball cards for many years, although baseball cards were the first. This is such a popular hobby that some cards are worth a lot of money, such as a rookie card of a player like Willie Mays.
Other collectors like to accumulate things that illustrate their favorite recreation sports. Collecting items decorated with fish, horses, or golfers are examples of these types of collections. For instance, if you enjoy hunting with dogs, you can decorate your home in a hunting dog theme. There are throw pillows printed with handsome hunting dogs, as well as with the game they help you find. You may find lamps that have a hunting dog as the base. You can even have curtains made from hunting dog printed material! The same can be done around the theme of golf, horseback riding, whether western or eastern, bass fishing, sailboats, and other popular recreation sports. Collecting is a hobby that offers many options!

Kim and Charles Petty,experienced in Real Estate Market. For FREE Special Report and CD and to set up strategy session on how you can make Six or Seven Figures A Year Buying and Selling Propertiesacross the USA & abroad go to VirtualRealEstateInvestingProfits or call1-800-311-9228
Article Source: http://articlenexus.com

VLCollectibles on Wordpress

http://vlcollectibles.wordpress.com/

On this Blog you can view various collectibles.

Some of the Collectibles are a part of my own collection.

Inquire vlcol@yahoo.com or DM @VLCollectibles http://twitter.com/VLCollectibles