AC Dickson: eBay Power Seller

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AC in Portland, PowerSeller SOS
by acdickson

AC is pleased to be back in Portland this week. He's here, of course, for the PICA TBA festival. As you might remember this is the dynamic festival of dance, storytelling, music and edutainment that gave AC his big break a year ago.

AC and wife Susan have been seeing as much as they can, with Guy Dartnell, Fact or Fiction and Ivana Muller being favorites. Very excited to see Lone Twin tomorrow night. If you didn't make reservations... too bad. They're fantastic.

While the primary motivation is to see the shows, AC can't help but notice that last year there were quite a few curators from across the land, in town to see what might be a good fit for their venue. To this end, AC has listed his seminar, yes the AC Dickson: eBay PowerSeller show, in his eBay store.

For those of you looking for a more intimate one-on-one, there's is also the recently stocked AC Dickson eBay selling tutorial. But sadly it's for Los Angeles residents only. Speaking of LA, the land of sun is finally turning mild which suits AC just fine. Not much of a sun-worshipper, he appreciates that perfect cool fall air that Southern California trades in. Should I wear shorts or jeans? A t-shirt or a jacket? Doesn't matter, you're going to feel just right either way. Might as well just concentrate on looking good.

AC's feeling so good, that he's decided to give the Angelinos a taste of the AC medicine. September 25th the Highways performance space in Santa Monica is going to host the AC Dickson: eBay PowerSeller seminar. Showtime 7:30, $15. I'll be post again about it, but if you're in town or have friends in the Southland who need saving, be poised to pass the info along.

There is just one problem. He's so caught up in world traveling and Hollywood wheeling and dealing that he has temporarily lost his PowerSeller status. It hurts to say so, but it is true. AC has been guilty of sporadic selling and was caught red-handed selling just under the necessary $1000 a month. But have no fear, AC is poised to reclaim it.

What's that? Huh? Really! You want to help me out? Terrific. AC is doing right by himself, but he could surely use a little help.

How about consigning something to sell with AC?

Here's how it works. You give something to AC, he sells it for you, you get most of the money.

Why have AC sell your item on eBay?

Because since I'm a PowerSeller with 99.9% positive feedback, bidders will trust that I'm not going to rip them off and will assume that what I sell is as described and will be sent safe and prompt. You'll get more (much more if you're new to eBay) for your item than if you sold it yourself.

If you live in Portland and have something or things that are small and easy to take on a plane, or live in LA here's how it works.

You give me consigned items and let me know what to set the minimum bid. I sell it for you. I take 25% of the final price, about 10% of which I use to cover eBay insertion fees, final value fees and PayPal fees. The rest covers my time, expertise and good name. And if something sells for over $1000, I'll only take 20%. A check goes out as soon as the winner pays.

Now keep in mind, this is way way way below what most consignment sellers take. Most of them start out taking 35% plus fees (really about 45%). You can find a few other sellers on craigslist taking as little as AC, but I defy you (or at least challenge you) to find one with my kind of feedback.

So if you live in Portland, this is the weekend to connect with AC.

Now, if you're reading this from somewhere else or have something big and bulky to sell we can still do business. If you just want to use AC's reputation, you can sell through AC (but only if I know and trust you). You photograph, title, describe and price what you want to sell and figure out what shipping is going to cost. I post the auction, questions get forwarded to you, and you ship it off when the money comes in. In this instance I take 10% plus the actual fees which I can invoice out (they can be as high as 9%, but as low as 5% if don't use PayPal and the item sells for a lot). If something sells for over $1000, I'll only take 5% plus fees.

All I ask is that you give me stuff that should sell for at least $20 (otherwise it's not really worth our time) and that you set a minimum bid that is realistic. So how do you tell what something is worth? Anyone whose been to my seminar knows this like the back of their hand, but for the uninitiated...

Go to the eBay site and type in a basic idea of what you have into the upper left hand corner search engine.

i.e. 1996 Toyota Avalon
Care Bear Lunch Box
1st edition Fight Club

The results you come up with are auctions in progress. If there is something very similar to what you have, keep an eye on it and see how much it ends up selling for. But since many auctions 'pop-off' realizing their full value in a closing minute bidding war between savvy bidders, press on.

Scroll down the left side of the site and find the box to check for Completed items. Check the box and search again, this will show you what's sold over the last 30 days. Refine or broaden your search depending on whether you're finding tons or no matches. This should give you an idea of what people are paying.

So let me know if anyone out there wants to tango AC style.

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