Reselling tips and questions

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East_Tn_Bottle_Guy

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I sell on eBay, but rarely sell my mason jars now. USPS shipping rates are insane and you have to double box jars or they'll break them 90% of the time. Then you have 12.55% eBay fees on the final sale price, shipping AND on sales tax. Add it all together and it's not worth it to me.

For example, I remember selling a mason jar for $50 last year and realized that I had only cleared $25 after shipping and fees! I believe that was the last one I sold on eBay...
So you sell bottles but not jars on ebay, correct? And if I'm understanding that right, do you sell jars on another website or just not at all? Thanks for the input.
 

FreeBirdTim

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I prefer selling bottles over jars. They aren't as fragile and are easier to protect. I never double box bottles and the post office has never broken one on me. I do have a reproduction mason jar on eBay right now, but I'm not too worried about the P.O. breaking it, since it's not 100 years old! It kills me when they break a jar that's survived 100 years or more.

I also sell on Craigslist and have a yard sale once or twice a year to thin out my collection. Bottles and jars are just a small part of what I sell, though. Baseball cards, vintage Christmas decorations, license plates, Wade figurines, antique hand tools and just about anything else I can make a buck on! Lol!
 

Len

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I prefer selling bottles over jars. They aren't as fragile and are easier to protect. I never double box bottles and the post office has never broken one on me. I do have a reproduction mason jar on eBay right now, but I'm not too worried about the P.O. breaking it, since it's not 100 years old! It kills me when they break a jar that's survived 100 years or more.

I also sell on Craigslist and have a yard sale once or twice a year to thin out my collection. Bottles and jars are just a small part of what I sell, though. Baseball cards, vintage Christmas decorations, license plates, Wade figurines, antique hand tools and just about anything else I can make a buck on! Lol!
Another example of traditional New England-American free enterprise. More power to ya, FreeBirdTim. :cool:
 

East_Tn_Bottle_Guy

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I prefer selling bottles over jars. They aren't as fragile and are easier to protect. I never double box bottles and the post office has never broken one on me. I do have a reproduction mason jar on eBay right now, but I'm not too worried about the P.O. breaking it, since it's not 100 years old! It kills me when they break a jar that's survived 100 years or more.

I also sell on Craigslist and have a yard sale once or twice a year to thin out my collection. Bottles and jars are just a small part of what I sell, though. Baseball cards, vintage Christmas decorations, license plates, Wade figurines, antique hand tools and just about anything else I can make a buck on! Lol!
Thanks for the reply. That clears up my questions. I have put some more thought into the site I would use for reselling. I am probably going to use Facebook marketplace. Do you have any experience using it? You sound like a pretty knowledgeable person when it comes to antiques. I'm trying to widen my categories and there is SO MUCH stuff to learn. There is a local antique store that has a YouTube channel called Backporch Antiques that I have started watching to learn some more. He has a very expansive understanding of antiques including tools, furniture, quilts, glass, cars, and more.
 

FreeBirdTim

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Sorry for the slow reply! I use Facebook marketplace to promote my yard sales, but that's about it. Not a fan of FB and don't have an account with them.
 

East_Tn_Bottle_Guy

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Sorry for the slow reply! I use Facebook marketplace to promote my yard sales, but that's about it. Not a fan of FB and don't have an account with them.
The low fees sounded nice at first, but it turns out that you can't use marketplace until you have had Facebook for a year. So back to eBay it is. A yard sale once a year might not be a bad idea if I didn't live out in the boonies. Lol. I have tried to figure out the craigslist site, but from what I've seen ebay has a much bigger audience, so I'll probably just go with it.
 

Newtothiss

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The low fees sounded nice at first, but it turns out that you can't use marketplace until you have had Facebook for a year. So back to eBay it is. A yard sale once a year might not be a bad idea if I didn't live out in the boonies. Lol. I have tried to figure out the craigslist site, but from what I've seen ebay has a much bigger audience, so I'll probably just go with it.
Though ebay will charge you fees, you can offset that with your asking price (and shipping fee), and they do offer really good deals shipping wise..

CL and antique/second hand stores are a good alternative (though you will probably net less).
 

East_Tn_Bottle_Guy

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Ive thought about antique stores (there's 2 near me) but I just don't think I'll have enough time/items to justify the price of rent.
 

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