Shifting pens

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Nothing

[top pen]

I don't like having pens I don't use so my advice would be sell them as it will open up fund to put towards your next pen. If you are considering you may make a loss someone else suggested to me once the loss on the "pen" had been made the moment I bought it and in selling it it is simply a case of cashing in the chips.

I've sold a few pens and have had good experiences so far. The general rule of thumb I have for selling I have is don't try and sell a pen for more then you would pay for it.

There are very decent people on here so doubt you will have any problems.

I don't know vintage pens well enough however I do know modern pens quite well. So regarding the Prelude taking into account the damage I would try a price half of the RRP i.e £23.

[carlc]

Ethernautrix described the loss when selling a pen as 'rent'.

As for selling pens. PayPal offers both parties some protection, so does tracked shipping. A good suggestion from top pen regarding pricing just don't get worried if they don't sell immediately. Sometimes it's not the price it's just the person who wants the pen hasn't seen it yet.

[Ripperg9]

Last pen I sold was on eBay Parker 51
Sold it to someone in Korea
I had no issues at all
As for pricing look them up on eBay search them in sold items and see what they are going for.

I like your skyline. Let me know if it goes up on the auction block 😀

[Kaputnik]

I hate selling things myself, by which I mean not the getting rid of them part, but the actual selling part. Negotiating a price, having to deal with the buyer's reactions, reasonable or not, not something I enjoy. But the alternative is not having the money while keeping something you don't want.

I wouldn't worry too much about setting a fair price. If you ask more for them in the classifieds than people want to pay they'll just ignore them and you can mark them down later if necessary. Or you can try eBay, set the starting bid at the minimum you think would make the transaction worth your while, and hope for more than one bidder. If you don't have an eBay history as a seller, that could make people less willing to bid. I've thought that if wanted to start selling off my own surplus that way, it might help to sell off a few lower value items first, just to establish a record as a seller.

The potential buyer wants a bargain, you want as much of your money back as you can get, and wouldn't say no to a profit. You're probably not going to get it all back unless you got a bargain yourself when you bought it. It's a game that some people enjoy and others dislike. I can only suggest to start by asking yourself what prices you would be willing to pay for these pens if you were trying to increase your collection rather than pare it down.

[Cob]

I hate selling things myself, by which I mean not the getting rid of them part, but the actual selling part. Negotiating a price, having to deal with the buyer's reactions, reasonable or not, not something I enjoy. But the alternative is not having the money while keeping something you don't want.

I wouldn't worry to much about setting a fair price. If you ask more for them in the classifieds than people want to pay they'll just ignore them and you can mark them down later if necessary. Or you can try eBay, set the starting bid at the minimum you think would make the transaction worth your while, and hope for more than one bidder. If you don't have an eBay history as a seller, that could make people less willing to bid. I've thought that if wanted to start selling off my own surplus that way, it might help to sell off a few lower value items first, just to establish a record as a seller.

The potential buyer wants a bargain, you want as much of your money back as you can get, and wouldn't say no to a profit. You're probably not going to get it all back unless you got a bargain yourself when you bought it. It's a game that some people enjoy and others dislike. I can only suggest to start by asking yourself what prices you would be willing to pay for these pens if you were trying to increase your collection rather than pare it down.

A really good post Kaputnik - great advice. I would only add that when selling good items - like Cryptos's pens, it is more sensible to start at a low price and get 'em in! Of course first one needs a record as a seller as you very correctly point out - and as you say, starting with lower value items is the best way to go about this.

Cob

[VertOlive]

For what it's worth, I've sold about a dozen pens. FPN Classifieds has been the most convenient venue for me, and I only use Paypal and ship CONUS, USPS Priority.

I price them very reasonably and they go quickly. A $35 Al-Star goes for $25 but an $80 Lepine went for $80 because the pen was unusual. You can discount or bump the ad whenever you want to.

Really, the work is limited to uploading photos, an email or two, then print a postage label and pop the pen in the free Priority box.

I've only had one request to return a pen. The buyer returned it and I gave a full refund; we parted friends. The pen re-sold in a week.

[VertOlive]

How does FPN limit sales?

[top pen]

All good advice. Bear in mind that I am in New Zealand, so no Priority box here. FPN limits sales of ordinary members, so it's going to have to be here or eBay I think.

You have to bear that in mind with pricing I mean people in the US are lucky as it seems half the people on here are from there. So most items you need to really account for this by knocking off a few pounds off the price so it's still a good deal for those in the USA.

[top pen]

How does FPN limit sales?

You can only post 3 times a week (3 separate posts). If they see you posting a lot they tell you to buy a premium account or stop selling.

[Sailor Kenshin]

How does FPN limit sales?

You can only post 3 times a week (3 separate posts). If they see you posting a lot they tell you to buy a premium account or stop selling.

But you can list multiple pens in a post.