How long to sit on items?

Hey folks. I have some good pickups sporadically, and one in particular laid four Sony Camera Control Units on me about 3 months back. I have tried adjusting prices, changing terms....I habitually have people watching my sales, but never a bite. This leads me to believe that my watchers have the same item.

So...what do you do, if you have four units...that are worth several hundred dollars minimum each, but the first one isn't selling? Keep in mind, every day that passes, they become more obsolete. Also, I have no way to accurately judge performance. This is professional television studio gear.

They are Sony CCU 700A units. If anyone cares to make an offer, I am game. I just hate junking valuable gear to to impatience.

Making a profit is about profit margin + volume + turns. The more volume the lower you can sell your material for, the faster you can sell it and "turn" your profits into more material to do the same.

You don't want to sit on any material for too long, unless you are using it as an investment rather that turning a profit on it. Some people keep material that contains precious metals as an investment for example.

I was in the closeout grocery business where we purchased package changes for example, for less than what they were originally sold for, and instead of trying to make as much profit as possible, we would "turn" them fast by lowering the amount we made off each unit, but by selling in volume and then turning that profit into an ability to purchase more profit, we were able to take money out to pay bills because we were "turning a profit" fast enough.

On your equipment, what I would do if I were you is look for a remarketer that deals in exactly your type of equipment. They already have an established customer base, and if you tell them you want x amount of money, and that they can have the rest, they will happily sell it for you. Just don't be too greedy so you not only leave some profit for them, but sell it fast.

If it costs me .25 cents for a candy bar and I sell it for .50 cents, I can by two candy bars right way and then sell those and buy 4, and so on. But if I buy that same candy bar for .25 cents, and I try to sell it for $1 dollar, it might sit on the shelf for a week before someone buys it, or it might never sell at all. I would have made more money off the single sale, but would eventually run myself right out of business because I wasn't able to turn the profit fast enough to purchase more and attract customers, and etc etc etc.

Anyway, I wish you luck and hope this helps

Scott

Exactly. Problem is, this isn't candy bars....it is high grade studio equipment. Right now, I have the price running at $550 OBO. I have tried multiple auctions, running the price from $300-$200...all the way to $175. Always watchers, never a bite.

I had a fellow from Brazil inquire about shipping...15 minutes of research shot that ballon down.gol

Would love to find a reseller. Would love to have somebody hand me cash for all four and deal with them. I figure in scrap value...they are worth $30 each or less at current gold spot.

Ugg.

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So...what do you do, if you have four units...that are worth several hundred dollars minimum each, but the first one isn't selling?

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If their not selling then how do you know that they are worth several hundred each?? Where are you trying to sell them?? Ebay, it sounds like. How about your C.L. market, you are in the biggest city of Ind. Plenty of TV, PBS stations around there, not to mention all the private movie makers. Heck we have a couple of independent film makers up here making small documentaries.

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Originally Posted by NobleMetalWorks

Making a profit is about profit margin + volume + turns. The more volume the lower you can sell your material for, the faster you can sell it and "turn" your profits into more material to do the same.

You don't want to sit on any material for too long, unless you are using it as an investment rather that turning a profit on it. Some people keep material that contains precious metals as an investment for example.

I was in the closeout grocery business where we purchased package changes for example, for less than what they were originally sold for, and instead of trying to make as much profit as possible, we would "turn" them fast by lowering the amount we made off each unit, but by selling in volume and then turning that profit into an ability to purchase more profit, we were able to take money out to pay bills because we were "turning a profit" fast enough.

On your equipment, what I would do if I were you is look for a remarketer that deals in exactly your type of equipment. They already have an established customer base, and if you tell them you want x amount of money, and that they can have the rest, they will happily sell it for you. Just don't be too greedy so you not only leave some profit for them, but sell it fast.

If it costs me .25 cents for a candy bar and I sell it for .50 cents, I can by two candy bars right way and then sell those and buy 4, and so on. But if I buy that same candy bar for .25 cents, and I try to sell it for $1 dollar, it might sit on the shelf for a week before someone buys it, or it might never sell at all. I would have made more money off the single sale, but would eventually run myself right out of business because I wasn't able to turn the profit fast enough to purchase more and attract customers, and etc etc etc.

Anyway, I wish you luck and hope this helps

Scott

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Excellent! That is one of the best explanations that I have ever seen.

It takes a special individual to buy older equipment
They maybe just old school and want it
or trying to save money
and other reasons - but if they don't show up
you not selling . I find so many things and a fast look on ebay often shows me yes they are there to be sold BUT no bids .
antiques have a nitch and old stuff is old stuff

if you have an item that typically sells for $400 and its not moving i would put them at $299 with free expedited shipping, it seems like buyers only respond/buy if you have the lowest price with free shipping, thats how i do it for quick turnover

1/3 of the items i list do sell within the first week of listing

depends how many are available, if they can be found every day, and how much room you've got. I've listed things on CL and just let it set, some for multiple rounds, simply click renew every once in awhile, doesn't cost a dime. When it's not likely going to be available from many sources, and someone who wants or needs it can't find it locally, they'll start looking elsewhere, and it's fairly common knowledge how to search the whole site on CL. If you don't want to scrap it, and have the space, put it on there, put a fair price on it, and forget about it, someone will look it up

Make full use of this forum! Put an ad in the classified section add some tags, good pics, and see what happens.

I put some pics up of some old Tandy Equipment. Was not even trying to sell at that point and it was not in that section. But a lawyer in Mississippi, found it while doing a search, joined, sent me a PM and bought everything I had! It is a feature I think that many could take more advantage of. It's not like SMF, is at the bottom of the barrel, when people are doing searches ;-)

Worth a shot! jus my 2

It looks like they are selling at a bit above 200 with shipping. So, to move them faster, put a fixed price listing in that renews itself at 199 with free shipping. This is how I would list it. You can then put them on sale later. I had some theater equipment awhile back. I listed units that I had multiples of one at a time, spaced apart by a couple weeks. The groups of people that buy these aren't large, so they don't move fast. I sold the last one 6 months after I got them all. I was comfortable listing them at a price that would sell over time. If I had listed them all at $100, I probably would have sold them all quickly to people wanting to make a buck off of them.

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Originally Posted by ryanw

It looks like they are selling at a bit above 200 with shipping. So, to move them faster, put a fixed price listing in that renews itself at 199 with free shipping. This is how I would list it. You can then put them on sale later. I had some theater equipment awhile back. I listed units that I had multiples of one at a time, spaced apart by a couple weeks. The groups of people that buy these aren't large, so they don't move fast. I sold the last one 6 months after I got them all. I was comfortable listing them at a price that would sell over time. If I had listed them all at $100, I probably would have sold them all quickly to people wanting to make a buck off of them.

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If storage is not an issue and material has minimum invested in it , I have no problem doing what ryanw and others stated list till it sells. For me it always seems that an item I think wont sell does sell and the sure thing items just sit.. That said I tend to let items hang around. There is a market for everything it's finding the buyer is tricky. What Noble says about making profit to make profit is great advice also. I stupidly have not sold items on ebay with best offer over 5 bucks by being greedy.

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Originally Posted by NobleMetalWorks

Making a profit is about profit margin + volume + turns. The more volume the lower you can sell your material for, the faster you can sell it and "turn" your profits into more material to do the same.

You don't want to sit on any material for too long, unless you are using it as an investment rather that turning a profit on it. Some people keep material that contains precious metals as an investment for example.

I was in the closeout grocery business where we purchased package changes for example, for less than what they were originally sold for, and instead of trying to make as much profit as possible, we would "turn" them fast by lowering the amount we made off each unit, but by selling in volume and then turning that profit into an ability to purchase more profit, we were able to take money out to pay bills because we were "turning a profit" fast enough.

On your equipment, what I would do if I were you is look for a remarketer that deals in exactly your type of equipment. They already have an established customer base, and if you tell them you want x amount of money, and that they can have the rest, they will happily sell it for you. Just don't be too greedy so you not only leave some profit for them, but sell it fast.

If it costs me .25 cents for a candy bar and I sell it for .50 cents, I can by two candy bars right way and then sell those and buy 4, and so on. But if I buy that same candy bar for .25 cents, and I try to sell it for $1 dollar, it might sit on the shelf for a week before someone buys it, or it might never sell at all. I would have made more money off the single sale, but would eventually run myself right out of business because I wasn't able to turn the profit fast enough to purchase more and attract customers, and etc etc etc.

Anyway, I wish you luck and hope this helps

Scott

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That's the system that made Sears Roebuck, Montgomery Wards, Penny's, and other retailers what they became in the early 1900s, and which Walmart has now relatively "perfected". Nowdays few have much stock on-hand(if any) or in a warehouse, but order it from the manufacturer(usually in China) as new orders come in(this makes their stock market numbers look better as nothing is invested in stocking a warehouse). If it's a several week "back order" you can know it's coming by ship, only several days then maybe by air. Years ago I noticed a common sight at Nashville Airport to be a large 747, marked "freight", it would arrive heavy laden every 2 or 3 days, and leave empty(or maybe stocked with money ; ) the next morning, taking off as quietly as a butterfly, flying almost over my house. I eventually saw an article in the newspaper about it, it's sole route was China to Nashville, and they probly have a like flight(or several) to each USA city

Here is my listing:

Sony CCU 700A Camera Control Unit | eBay

I have tried many things....offering a return policy, offering a cheap price with no return policy ($179+free shipping!), offering them at various prices ranging from $399-$179.

I guess I will just keep on keeping on.

Mechanic, these actually came out of a major network here in Indy after an upgrade. I got a ton of various stuff, a lot of it I just scrapped because it was for standard definition broadcasting, which is obsolete.

need to offer cheap price like 199 with free shipping and 30 day return policy

We sell on eBay and as well. Took a quick look at the listings. Only 4 of these units sold in the last 90 days. average sale price was about $175 at auction. There were 10 more that didn't sell and currently 7 listings. Turn rate is very low and you have at least a 90 day supply if you were the lowest priced units. Honestly, older analog AV equipment is hard to move due to the advent of Digital photography and movie technology. I have some security equipment that is in the same boat. Since you acquisition cost is extremely low, put a blow-out price on it or just scrap it. Hope this helps.

PS - I have some limited experience with AV equipment at my Church, and even there, digital is taking over the market.

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Originally Posted by Enoch43

that are worth several hundred dollars minimum each,

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No, they are not. The value of an item is the number at which a buyer and seller can agree and make a transaction. You apparently have not reached that number yet.

List them for $99 each shipped (still 2-3x scrap value).

You have old untested gear that no major broadcaster would touch (they need serviced reliability). There are 3rd parties who buy this stuff to support their clients if/when they need something fixed or replaced. You also have individuals who like old studio gear but won't pay much for it especially in unknown working condition. Pro gear is very expensive to fix, especially older items that are discontinued.

Craigslist is good for items not worth shipping, or very large cities where the odds are somebody might want your item. I see too many people listing old dual tape editing decks for $2000+ thinking somebody will pay that for obsolete equipment when they are lucky to get $100 for it from a collector.

I have this occur quite often as I buy all types of equipment. I currently have a large lot of cable head end equipment that I am piecing out on ebay little by little. I am fortunate that I do not need a quick turnover for cash flow, or else many of the items would be scrapped by now. There is one particular item that I listed and sold a bunch of, but then it seemed like nobody was interested anymore. I just kept renewing my listings and in the past week I sold the remaining of that item. I have almost doubled my investment, and I still have about 75% of the equipment still remaining waiting for me to list it. In another instance, I bought a large lot of traffic control boxes (for lights). I paid $10 each for them and I sell them for $30+ shipping. I sell a few every month as there is a small market for them, but people need spares and my price is right. If you have the time/patience, just set a price at $150 with a "or best offer" price of $99, and see what happens. Good luck!

I am glad I remained patient! Was outside disassembling some items yesterday when my phone made that beautiful eBay ChaChing! sound, and I see that somebody bought one for $450. Booya!

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Originally Posted by Enoch43

I am glad I remained patient! Was outside disassembling some items yesterday when my phone made that beautiful eBay ChaChing! sound, and I see that somebody bought one for $450. Booya!

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Cool beans man!