VAM eBay prices

Been looking through eBay lately and the prices are ridiculous..
I would say that a common uniform dressed vam in reasonable condition, your looking £80 - £90 upwards , some much higher, even the boxed 40th are going  for a fortune …
I think I have about 90 dressed figures  and about 10 boxed vam , and about 10. Boxed 40th and gi joe , and so many spares I could start a shop,
I think I’ll sell up and move to Barbados…

Yeah, it seems prices have been rising for a long, long time now! The trouble is, if you try to sell, no one wants to pay, so how are these folks making their money??

Dean,
I know your pain…as does my Mrs

I think it was 2016 and the 50th anniversary that seemed in retrospect to fuel interest? .I started collecting in 2015 in earnest…I was picking up loads of kit( jumble) and fixer up figures for what now seems like peanuts…Also I recall Steve aka Somekindajoe, thinking through the age profile of collectors.. most of us are entering “Silver fox” zone with more disposable income ( in theory ) and time to devote to the hobby?

I’m currently thinking like you.. get into spares box and mend stuff…learn to sew …target spend (really Steve,!?) and play with guys

It's the same here for Joes. I used to get figures, some with gear for $35 USD.
Now, a nude figure sells for at least $90 USD. If in decent shape.

The last two or three I got for less money, but they need some repair to get them
into shape. Projects I need to get to, just missing the parts I need. I hate to get
repro parts for a vintage figure, unless I have to.

Like Dal ses , if you try and sell at those prices you probably wont get a sniff . In fairness to sellers , minty original items are getting fewer and further between , there must be loads of it out there , but I guess people are sitting on it , or can not be bothered to get rid . Add in the cost of selling stuff on eBay now , well I guess anyone with half a noodle is going to want to get some of those costs out of what they are selling . I think you lose roughly a third in fees to eBay , maybe keep this in mind next time your buying . If you make a £100 , your only likely to see £70 or £75 quid out of it in the end , not such a good sell then is it ? I spoke to a chap a few years back , he told me he payed his mortgage selling figure stuff ect on  eBay .  Not sure now if that was before the price of selling fees soared . All 1/6 stuff is expensive now just look at Hot toys stuff , but you can still get semi bargains if your patient enough sometimes . The sad truth is , a lot of the time I buy stuff and put it in a box and it wont see the light of day for months ....

Chip wrote:

Like Dal ses , if you try and sell at those prices you probably wont get a sniff . In fairness to sellers , minty original items are getting fewer and further between , there must be loads of it out there , but I guess people are sitting on it , or can not be bothered to get rid . Add in the cost of selling stuff on eBay now , well I guess anyone with half a noodle is going to want to get some of those costs out of what they are selling . I think you lose roughly a third in fees to eBay , maybe keep this in mind next time your buying . If you make a £100 , your only likely to see £70 or £75 quid out of it in the end , not such a good sell then is it ? I spoke to a chap a few years back , he told me he payed his mortgage selling figure stuff ect on  eBay .  Not sure now if that was before the price of selling fees soared . All 1/6 stuff is expensive now just look at Hot toys stuff , but you can still get semi bargains if your patient enough sometimes . The sad truth is , a lot of the time I buy stuff and put it in a box and it wont see the light of day for months ....

As you say …it doesn’t mean you will get the silly money for things just because you put £100 or £150 on items ,  but the  £80 or so items are selling , I’m not a seller anyway, have never sold anything  on eBay, and as from a couple of years ago not a buyer either , I think I have everything I want now, I have bought a few bits , guns etc, small items to finish off outfits,  but just like to keep an eye on what stuff is going for ….
I don’t think I’ll ever sell what I have , unless I end up in utter sh#* :
Like most of us our wives will sell it all for a pittance when we die….

What is going on with eBay pricing? It's gone insane! Totally insane!

As I'm sure most of you have noticed, 1/6 action figure head sculpts that used to retail for around $20 USD are now priced near $40. And up.

A few days ago I was looking at a 1/12 seamless Vampirella figure on eBay. It is not a VAM or Joe figure, but seeing a tiny 1/12 fig priced at what I used to pay for 1/6 figs only a couple years ago inspired me to undertake a little exercise in mathematics.

The least expensive 1/12 TBLeague Vampirella figure on offer right now is $129.99 plus $9.99 shipping within the States, so $140.00. (Plus state sales tax, depending on where the buyer lives.)

There are several listed in the $200 range.

The most expensive - this is for the 1/12 scale figure - is a whopping three-hundred bucks!

A look at "Sold Items" indicates a few have sold in the past couple of months for that $140 price. A loose example sold recently for $120.

These figs are still available at BigBadToyStore for original retail, $77.99.

Would it be worth picking up a couple of these figs and trying to flip them for double the original retail? They aren't exactly fast sellers on eBay, but they do seem to be selling, at least at the lower end of the high price bracket.

I decided to attempt some quick math.

eBay selling price: $140 with shipping

eBay commission: 12.9% plus $0.30, so $18.36
Cost to ship via USPS: $16.10 for priority, or around $11 for First Class Parcel.
Packing material, tape, printer ink for a label - call it a dollar.

Total cost to sell and ship - at least $30.

Purchase price: $78 plus local tax, which is about $5 depending on location, plus shipping from BBTS - they still offer $4 flat rate shipping for orders delivered to street addresses within the continental US. So total purchase price with shipping and sales tax: about $87.00

Selling cost plus item cost: $30 + $87 = $117.

Selling price: $140.

Profit: $23

So there ya go: sell the item for nearly twice the $78 retail to net a $23 profit.

And if your eBay sales exceed $600 for the year, the US government will hit you with a 30% tax on the profit. Lop off another six bucks. Total net profit: $17.

Conclusion? it is not worth buying the item new at "$77" to re-sell at "140."

Once you start running numbers like this, you'll find that the only items worth selling on eBay are old things you have no further use for that cost you nothing or are so old and useless that the original price doesn't matter. There's very little profit to be made anymore in buying for eBay resale.

This little mathematical exercise may explain some of the high asking prices for items on eBay.

All good points gentlemen. May I add something else?
To those of you who sell in Great Britain on Ebay, avoid the Global Shipping Programme like the plague when you are listing.
It is completely unfair to overseas buyers and is costing you potential buyers.

Prices are totally crazy and unrealistic now though. I haven't dealt on Ebay for two years now due to these factors.

It's a pity to see such unwarranted inflation of prices.

Some great points everyone….
EBay is shit….

Had to share this …made me laugh..
This guy is selling a 40th white blue pants body with a  repro head , ( very rare apparently)
The kit looks original..£240.00.. I think I could pick up a boxed original Tom stone for that….

This seller certainly seems to be shooting for the stars ....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334400119000?hash=item4ddbcce0d8:g:ruYAAOSwdU5iVB6S

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334400209343?hash=item4ddbce41bf:g:fB0AAOSwD-liVDLL

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334400149749?hash=item4ddbcd58f5:g:UH8AAOSwp~5iVCYU

Maybe nice and vintage but really ?

I expect some people see these prices and think their collections or boot sale finds are like gold dust , and of course once an item sells for exorbitant money , everyone will think there examples will make the same , we know it simply don`t work that way . I used to sell quite well on the forums , but I don`t think sadly the forums get the traffic anymore . Lets hope these exorbitant costs don`t affect the interest in the hobby , for me it is a hobby that seems to need regular feeding .

Wow……just wow ….
I think we should have a competition to see who can find the most ridiculous price..
Although I think yours is gonna be hard to beat ,

Chip wrote:

I used to sell quite well on the forums , but I don`t think sadly the forums get the traffic anymore . Lets hope these exorbitant costs don`t affect the interest in the hobby , for me it is a hobby that seems to need regular feeding .  

I think that's a failsafe method Chip. Amongst dedicated collectors it's the best way too to sell on or swap out things you need or don't.

It also takes out the scalping that Ebay do on overseas postage as you can hammer a fair P&P price out with the seller.

It isn't just VAM. Every collectable from comics to cars to watches to toys are fetching crazy prices. I still blame Covid. Everyone was stuck at home surfing ebay with the excess money they had because thanks to lockdown they weren't having holidays and nights out.  I wonder if now things are returning to normal the bubble will burst and prices will return to a more reasonable level. We'll see.

Blondeactionman wrote:

Yeah, it seems prices have been rising for a long, long time now! The trouble is, if you try to sell, no one wants to pay, so how are these folks making their money??

I've lost count of the number of times I've seen a comic sell for a crazy price on ebay with multiple bidders but the next day when I list an identical comic no one shows any interest.

Dreadnought wrote:

To those of you who sell in Great Britain on Ebay, avoid the Global Shipping Programme like the plague when you are listing.
It is completely unfair to overseas buyers and is costing you potential buyers.

Thank you Kev for raising that fact!
 That Global Shipping Programme is the single reason I have virtually stopped buying anything on eBay from any seller who uses it, ...and sadly that's most of 'em! It is nothing short of outrageously exorbitant scalping.
China of course does not and though it pains me to make China richer, the price difference is hugely significant. 
Most of China has free shipping. I really don't know how they do it, it must be some sort of Government sponsorship.
It may take a while longer but you invariably DO get it.
When the cost of shipping FAR exceeds the cost of the item, and it invariably does with the GSP, then buyer resistance sets in and I look elsewhere.

Absolutely Barry. I have long held a UK postal depot address run by by the national postal office here in Ireland where I live. It used to be a handy way around the rotten GSP . Even that is gone through the roof now. I'll hasten to add some of the sellers in Continental Europe are even worse when it comes to postage. Even the big reproduction sites like Captain Cosmos and Hobbycrash are very expensive with P&P. They have a standard high rate from one item to twenty, which is counter productive in that it prohibits buyers from just getting a few smaller bits sometimes. Steve (somekindajoe) is perfectly correct it isn't just VAM either . Prices have shot up across the hobby industries.

somekindajoe wrote:

It isn't just VAM. Every collectable from comics to cars to watches to toys are fetching crazy prices. I still blame Covid. Everyone was stuck at home surfing ebay with the excess money they had because thanks to lockdown they weren't having holidays and nights out.  I wonder if now things are returning to normal the bubble will burst and prices will return to a more reasonable level. We'll see.

Blondeactionman wrote:

Yeah, it seems prices have been rising for a long, long time now! The trouble is, if you try to sell, no one wants to pay, so how are these folks making their money??

I've lost count of the number of times I've seen a comic sell for a crazy price on ebay with multiple bidders but the next day when I list an identical comic no one shows any interest.

It certainly makes you think Steve!

Blondeactionman wrote:

somekindajoe wrote:

It isn't just VAM. Every collectable from comics to cars to watches to toys are fetching crazy prices. I still blame Covid. Everyone was stuck at home surfing ebay with the excess money they had because thanks to lockdown they weren't having holidays and nights out.  I wonder if now things are returning to normal the bubble will burst and prices will return to a more reasonable level. We'll see.

Blondeactionman wrote:

Yeah, it seems prices have been rising for a long, long time now! The trouble is, if you try to sell, no one wants to pay, so how are these folks making their money??

I've lost count of the number of times I've seen a comic sell for a crazy price on ebay with multiple bidders but the next day when I list an identical comic no one shows any interest.

It certainly makes you think Steve!

I still believe there is corruption going on on eBay , especially regarding bidding . Likely not as common as it was but I recon with some sellers I am convinced have associates who push up the bids for them .

Chip wrote:

I still believe there is corruption going on on eBay , especially regarding bidding . Likely not as common as it was but I recon with some sellers I am convinced have associates who push up the bids for them .

I totally agree. I've suspected this for years.