How to use ebay listings for dummies (reporters who don't know how ebay works)
Before we get completely into the holiday toy-flipping season (it's going to be crazy this year!), here's a quick reminder of how ebay works.
ebay is an open market when sellers can set their own prices, and customers can CHOOSE to purchase at that price. Either auction or "Buy it Now".
Sellers can list items at whatever crazy price they want. If no one buys the item at that price, it means their price is higher than the market will support. It does NOT mean you should write an article about how some recent McDonald's toys are the hot new collectible.
Want to see what ACTUALLY sold?
Click the "sold listings" option as you are populating your search. This will show the actual prices customers paid for the collectible in question.
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Shocking, but so far - no one has spent 300k on a set of McDonalds toys. There are some suspicious "Offer accepted" listings when you sort for price. A quick click on the seller shows 0 ebay history, a sign that the listing never completed.
The most linked listing, is by a seller with only 5 transactions, and a 0% seller rating. Not someone I would trust with an important transaction.
Deceiving the general public about the value of collectibles is becoming a problem. It seems unlikely that anyone REALLY believed the Cactus Plant hype, but I often run into confused customers who think their old Beanie Babies have extreme values due to a badly written article. (Really Cosmopolitan ?!)
A final plea to the press. There are a LOT of toy and collectible experts out there. Many of us will happily provide you with shocking facts, and interesting images to get clicks on your toy articles. Reach out, we don't bite!