B/S/T Questions

[Hankphenom]

After putting it off for years, I've decided it's time for me to clear out the closets of long-neglected memorabilia, a sizeable assortment from my days as a collector, show dealer, and descendant of a baseball legend. I've perused the Net54 B/S/T for years, and might have even bought a thing or two there, long admiring the concept of a marketplace free of a middleman and the fees associated therewith in a forum frequented by the most active and knowledgeable collectors. For that and other reasons, I would like to at least give it a try for my stuff, but I have several practical questions before I jump in:
1) I'm not set up to take credit cards, but do have a PayPal account. Together with accepting checks, are those adequate payment options for most collectors?
2) I've seen threads that discuss listing multiple items in a single post rather than individually. Any advice on that either from a sales or etiquette standpoint?
3) What's the best method of mailing items of value: signature required, delivery confirmation, insurance, etc.?
4) Best place to buy shipping supplies. I feel like going to my neighbors and telling them to bring me their boxes on recycling day!
Any other advice would be most appreciated. Stay safe, everyone, and thanks!

[JohnnyKilroy]

1. Paypal is perfect and seems to be the method of choice for most
2. I think if you’re talking all memorabilia, then one thread would be the way to do it.
3. I mail USPS, with insurance. Seems to work out good.
4. This might be trickier with different sized items, but saving boxes is a great start! I mostly sell or buy cards, so pretty simple on the supply end. Can’t help you too much there.

Hope that helps, good luck with your sales! This is definitely the best place to try. Avoid middleman and there are some great folks around that help out.

[Hankphenom]

1. Paypal is perfect and seems to be the method of choice for most
2. I think if you’re talking all memorabilia, then one thread would be the way to do it.
3. I mail USPS, with insurance. Seems to work out good.
4. This might be trickier with different sized items, but saving boxes is a great start! I mostly sell or buy cards, so pretty simple on the supply end. Can’t help you too much there.

Hope that helps, good luck with your sales! This is definitely the best place to try. Avoid middleman and there are some great folks around that help out.

Thanks, Matt! Questions:
2) I have hundreds of items, almost all memorabilia, and I could see combining a few similar items under one thread, but many of my items would warrant a separate titling to draw interest and also due to their value, I think.
3) How about delivery confirmation? That's always struck me as of value for what little it costs.

[JohnnyKilroy]

For sure, I can see how it would make sense to break up a bit. Especially if you have some high value things you’d want in the title. I think on this particular site, it will get viewed either way. You obviously will reach a ton more on places like ebay, but if priced right, this site will do good for you! As far as tracking, I always get it, pretty cheap although it’s not as good as fedex or ups tracking.

[Fred]

After putting it off for years, I've decided it's time for me to clear out the closets of long-neglected memorabilia, a sizeable assortment from my days as a collector, show dealer, and descendant of a baseball legend. I've perused the Net54 B/S/T for years, and might have even bought a thing or two there, long admiring the concept of a marketplace free of a middleman and the fees associated therewith in a forum frequented by the most active and knowledgeable collectors. For that and other reasons, I would like to at least give it a try for my stuff, but I have several practical questions before I jump in:
1) I'm not set up to take credit cards, but do have a PayPal account. Together with accepting checks, are those adequate payment options for most collectors? Checks, Paypal, Postal Money Orders work great

2) I've seen threads that discuss listing multiple items in a single post rather than individually. Any advice on that either from a sales or etiquette standpoint? Nothing wrong with having a huge list. If you have a lot of things for sale, then individual posts will probably take up a lot of the thread and some of the items may get lost in the shuffle and drop out off the thread after a while.

3) What's the best method of mailing items of value: signature required, delivery confirmation, insurance, etc.? Gawd, I'm really not a fan of USPS, but that's probably the easiest and most economical and always pay for the tracking and for high dollar items, definitely sig required.

4) Best place to buy shipping supplies. I feel like going to my neighbors and telling them to bring me their boxes on recycling day! It sounds like you're not someone that orders a lot from Amazon - Nothing wrong with recycling boxes from the neighbor or any other source. One thing to keep in mind is that a good pack job is worth the effort. Consider insurance for the items.
Any other advice would be most appreciated. Stay safe, everyone, and thanks!

Good luck - can't wait to see the first listing!

[edjs]

Hank, one point of etiquette, and there is no official rule on this that I know of, but people should have no more than three listings on the first page of any particular b/s/t section at one time, and I usually give my item a week before I bump it to the top.

[Hankphenom]

Thanks, Fred and Ed, great information, both!

[sb1]

Hank,

Any and Every "package" that you send thru the USPS has free tracking, which is the delivery confirmation, so no need to pay for that. On more expensive or to people that you do not know, signature confirmation is a good way to go. Adding USPS insurance at either yours or the buyer expense(post it in the listing), is also not a bad idea on 4 figure items and above. Contrary to what other's might say, on the very few(less than a handful) in 30 years of using the USPS, I have never had an issue with a claim.

Also on boxes, for items that might be heavier, USPS flat rate priority boxes will save you on materials and postage. Further if you have a paypal account, you can generate all of your postal labels at a reduced price vs. paying at the PO window. You can then have your mailman pick them up or take them to the PO yourself and just hand them to the clerk and request a mailing receipt(suggested route, I don't like the idea of leaving them for the mailman to pick up).

[icollectDCsports]

Hank, one point of etiquette, and there is no official rule on this that I know of, but people should have no more than three listings on the first page of any particular b/s/t section at one time, and I usually give my item a week before I bump it to the top.

Good practice to note, but I think the FAQ for BST suggests bumping threads up no more than every three or four days. I've not sold on BST so I have no stake in what the time length is, but I do think this site allows for bumping a bit more frequently than every week.

https://www.net54baseball.com/faq.php?faq=testfaq#faq_bst

[jfkheat]

To add to what sb1 said, you can go to the USPS site to order priority mail boxes and your mail carrier will deliver them to your home at no cost to you. Flat rate boxes are good but I use the regional rate A and B boxes and save a few dollars on each shipment. Those are also free. You can do all of your shipping labels on the post office site and pay using your Paypal account. It's cheaper to do it online than in person at the post office.

[chlankf]

Hate to say but walmart has shipping boxes of a variety of sizes. From my experience this is the cheapest boxes without buying in bulk

Craig

[Hankphenom]

SB1, James, and Craig, great help, everybody, thanks so much.

[steve B]

USPS provides priority boxes for free.

You do have to promise to only use them for priority mail.

Most memorabilia that isn't paper ends up being priority anyway if you pack it well.

[Jobu]

Not sure the total value of what you are planning to sell, but as the seller you are on the hook for insuring that items are delivered, and therefore the insurance. If this is going to be a significant amount of stuff, the insurance with the shipper item by item will add up quickly. Instead, you might insure your whole collection with Collect Insure (https://collectinsure.com/), which then covers insurance on shipping as long as you follow their rules on how you ship items based on their value.

Paypal let's you accept credit card payments if you want to. It costs either you or the buyer 3%, so no worries there.

For BST I like combined threads as it is annoying to see a bunch of individual listings at the same time for other sellers - it pushes everyone else's stuff way down the board.

[Butch7999]

Just a little tip on boxes -- USPS may have them for free but not in the sizes you might need, and no need whatsoever to buy, in most cases.
Go to your neighbourhood/local supermarket and/or drug store and ask the counterperson (or manager if necessary) for their empty boxes.
Stores are usually delighted to get rid of them, as it saves them the time and trouble of cutting them up for recycling/garbage.
Most places, most of the time, they'll offer you more boxes than you can fit in the bed of a pick-up. No charge.