Selling my Star Wars figures on eBay (can be locked)

Nechriah

So, it’s the summer holidays for uni students here in Australia, and I’ve been thinking about what I could do to earn some money before I return to studying things in March. I was at a friend’s house the other day and she suggested that while I’m looking for some casual employment, I could make a bit of extra cash by selling my large-ish collection of Star Wars action figures on EBay. I thought this was a particularly sound idea – albeit with some minor problems.

I have absolutely no idea how to EBay, as it were. I’ve never bought or sold things on it before and would really like some pointers on how to do this. To be clear, I know absolutely NOTHING about this sort of thing so any information, no matter how obvious, would be welcome here. Where do I start? How do I present the items I want to sell? Roughly how much money are the figures likely to sell for?

Here’s a list of what I have, for the curious. Unfortunately I’ve taken them out of the original packaging, because I was a child when I bought them. My first thought was not “If I leave them in the original packaging, I will make more money selling them to avid collectors when I’m twenty”, but rather “I’m gonna make these obscure aliens from the Mos Eisley cantina fight to the death!” Still, they’re in good condition as I was very fastidious about my toys as a lad, so hopefully they’re still worth something.

The Inventory
R2-D2
C-3P0
Luke Skywalker (in X-Wing Fight Pilot Gear)
Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight)
Princess Leia (in Bounty Hunter Disguise)
Han Solo
Han Solo (in Carbonite)
Han Solo (in Endor Gear)
Chewbacca
Lando Calrissian
Ben Kenobi
Yoda
Jawas
R5-D4
Hammerhead
Ponda Baba
Garindian
21-B Medic Droid
Bossk
EV-9D9
Admiral Ackbar
Ewoks

Landspeeder
A-Wing Fighter

Qui-Gon Jinn (Naboo)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Jedi Duel)
Jar Jar Binks
Darth Maul (Tatooine)
Gasgano & Pit Droid

Thanks in advance for adivce and helpful suggestions,
Nechriah

Buttcleft

Personally, I'd avoid eBay.

Instead, I'd look for an Australian collectibles agency/group/etc to avoid the hassles of international shipping. There should be some in Australia somewhere. I mean, it is Star Wars were talking about afterall.

Scumdogg

I'm assuming by the figures listed that we're not talking vintage Star Wars stuff here? Hate to say it, but the 90's stuff isn't really worth anything anymore. Loose, you're usually looking at like $1 per figure. Maybe a little more if they're all 100% complete. Unfortunately Hasbro's always been pretty bad about glutting the market with anything they sell, especially Star Wars, and the figures have dropped like a rock because of that.

Especially selling from Australia, unless you find an Australian buyer it's likely the shipping alone will come to more than most people will want to pay.

I sold off the majority of my 90's Star Wars stuff several years ago and made back maybe half of what i put into it, and it's worse now. I had an AT-AT, Millenium Falcon, minty boxed Speeder Bikes, and a handful of good figures left over. Tried ebay-ing them this past summer and couldn't even give them away.

Tylerbroor

Brianstoys is a site that I've gone to for years, and this is a link of what they're currently buying. You could cross check your list to theirs. The guidelines they offer are smart for you to check out regardless if they're buying what you have.

You can also check their prices for the things you have, and maybe base your asking price on that.

Nechriah

Unfortunately, all of my figures are the Hasbro variety of the 90's Still, I wasn't expecting to make a hojillion dollars selling them off. Some money would be nice though...

Avoiding international shipping hassles does sound like a good thing, and I'm fairly sure there's some shops in Adelaide that deal in Star Wars figures and other collectibles. I might pay them a visit the next time I'm in the city. In the meantime, I'll also have a look at the Brianstoys website.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction guys. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Nechriah

winter_combat_knight

Man, i remember a shop at Elizabeth Shopping Centre that sold old toys. called 'Toy Collector'. I dont know if it's still there though... Check Rundle Mall, there's a crap load of second hand collector stores down some of the alley ways. Comics, toys etc. That'd be easier than ebay i think.

RallyGirl76

cool collection, do you really want to sell it? there are otherways to make quick cash...part-time work, tutoring etc.

I have sold some stuff on ebay and have had a good experiance thus far. Its dead easy create an account and follow the sell instructions, they are step by step.

but make sure you have a reserve so you dont get ripped off, and clear pictures, sizes and good descriptions of everything.

Good luck, wish i could afford to take the collection off your hands.

AtomBomb

Those 90's toys were never going to be worth anything in the long run. The first toys were worth something because people didn't realize they could be valuable, so they got damaged, lost, given away, set on fire, etc. With the new toys, the folks that remember the old toys and didn't make a profit on them thought they could catch it the second time around. Instead of having a bunch of kids buying and wrecking the toys you had a bunch of "investors" buying multiples and carefully storing them. There's usually a small window of time when you can make money on these by selling to these same investors when they think they've missed out on a "rare" something or other. However, eventually the market collapses and you're left with a bunch of toys that no investors really want.

I would keep them or give them to a kid that you think would have fun with them.

Nechriah

Well, I've asked around some second hand stores and it seems that my collection is indeed worthless - at least in the monetary sense. I guess I'll pack them away in their boxes and take them out again when I, or one of my friends, has kids of their own. That way I can look on with joy as my son or daughter waggles Admiral Ackbar in my face and yells "It's a trap!"

Thanks again to all those who posted; at the very least I've gleaned some valuable insight into the process of selling second hand toys, and discovered some interesting new places to shop :^: