Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Amazon BOLO Guide CS 20170528
Amazon BOLO Guide CS 20170528
Guide
by Frank Lacy
1|Page
Introduction
What this book is not about. This book is not about how to
sell on Amazon. It is not about how Amazon works. Or about
how FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) works. There are many
different programs out there that teach you how to sell on
Amazon and how it works. I highly recommend the Proven
Amazon Course (or PAC) by Jim Cockrum. You can click on the
link to check it out.
3|Page
Some General Thoughts
4|Page
discuss how to buy certain things in this book, I will share the
average prices I like to pay when buying collections.
6|Page
Helpful Business Tools
This business takes a lot of time and there are a lot of things that
we have to be on top of. Because of this, there are lots of tools
out there to help you. I suggest you use those that work for
you. Here are some that I use.
7|Page
tool to assist you in keeping track of your inventory. Click here
to check it out.
8|Page
Barbies
I love Barbies. People collect them and keep them new in the
box and keep the box in mint condition.
9|Page
of Barbies should do well, but these sell very well for premium
prices.
10 | P a g e
up.
11 | P a g e
12 | P a g e
Here is our U-Haul trailer full to the door with Barbies!
13 | P a g e
Star Wars & Star Trek
Most Star Wars items are good sellers on Amazon and sell for
good prices. It really depends on the item - action figures are
different than playsets, which are different than the ships.
I love Star Trek. I am a bigger fan of Star Trek than Star Wars.
But when it comes to selling online I am a bigger fan of Star
Wars than Star Trek. I have found that Star Wars always sells
better.
That does not mean that you can’t make money with Star Trek,
you just have to be more selective.
Where to find Star Wars & Star Trek items: Garage sales
and estate sales are a good place to find Star Wars and Star Trek.
If you look on Craigslist, people are selling collections all the
time. I also pick up some at various online auctions but you
have to be careful as it is easy to get into a bidding war and end
up paying too much.
I have purchased multiple big collections off of Craigslist and
garage sales. At garage sales, I will make an offer on everything
they have and we usually can agree on an acceptable price.
14 | P a g e
Playsets
Ships/models
Plates/other.
Small action figures in mint condition sell really well. The only
problem is most sell for very low prices. When selling them
FBA, I usually charge around $7-$10 each. For Star Wars, the
green card (Power of the Force) sells really well. The red cards
do okay. The blue cards do pretty well. The problem is there
are lots of sellers with some listings having hundreds of sellers.
When selling Star Trek through FBA, I usually only send them in
if I can charge over $15. This is true for all versions of the small
figures. The problem is there are lots of sellers with some
getting into the hundreds of sellers and the demand is much less
than Star Wars.
Large action figures in mint condition sell pretty well. The main
problem with these is, like the smaller figures, they don’t sell for
a lot of money. I have seen prices from $10 - $15 or more. They
don’t sell as fast as the small figures. This is true for both Star
Wars and Star Trek.
Playsets include Micro Machines sets and other boxed sets of
figures and toys. This is where you can start seeing better
prices. I have seen some of them go into the hundreds of
dollars with most being in the $25 and up range. Micro
Machines do really well.
Ships and models are great for both Star Wars and Star Trek.
They sell for great prices and not a large number of sellers. New
is best but I have sold a lot new in box but with damaged boxes
– just be sure to include pictures of the damage as it really
helps.
Selling vintage (70s and 80s) vs newer: For me this boils down
to speed of sale. As most of the vintage stuff sells for higher
prices, it sells slower. If you are okay with a slower sale, then
the older vintage stuff is okay. I prefer faster sales so I focus
more on the newer stuff. This is true for both Star Wars and Star
Trek.
There is one more thing to consider with selling Star Wars. With
the new movies (starting in 2015), finding collections to buy at
reasonable prices to be able to make a profit has become very
hard.
16 | P a g e
I once bought 13 Star Trek Models all new in original shrink
wrap for $50. Sold them all for $266.23. I will take 5 times my
money any day. Here is one of the models, the buyer paid
$34.99 + $11.97 shipping.
17 | P a g e
I have done the same with Star Wars. Lots of small buys - 20 or
30 items at a time - but also a few large collections. Once I
bought a collection of 700 Star Wars collectibles for $1300.
Brought in a total revenue of $11,897.12.
My favorite Star Wars buy of all time is one I don't believe I will
ever sell. I'm sure you will see why. This was listed on Craigslist
for $200. The poster is dated 1977. She had no CoA (Certificate
of Authenticity) so I offered her $100 and she agreed. She
claimed that she went and got all of the signatures herself. It
somehow ended up on my wall and I think it looks pretty good
there, don't you?
18 | P a g e
19 | P a g e
Precious Moments, Memories of
Yesterday, Gobel
20 | P a g e
Here's one I bought at an estate sale for $5. Sold it for $39.99
21 | P a g e
Media
23 | P a g e
Monopoly, Puzzles & other Board
Games
Buy prices for Monopoly games vary. The selling price for these
can range from $40 - $100 or more. I shoot for no more than
$10 each, but if I can get them lower all the better.
24 | P a g e
I like to pay around $5 for puzzles and sell them around $25.
Some sell higher, but $25 seems to be the most common price
for unopened older puzzles.
Legos is another brand name toy that does well. Finding retired
new in the box Legos is a great cash flow. Almost any Lego box
set will sell. The themed sets are best but I have picked up plain
red brick boxes that I have sold for a nice profit. I treat open
Legos the same as open puzzles. I take them to my local auction
house.
I bought this puzzle at an estate sale for $5. Sold it for $49.97.
Ten times my investment.
25 | P a g e
Christmas
The market for Christmas items covers both new in box, new old
stock as well as used. Let's discuss the difference.
New in box: These are items you buy from a wholesale
company or store having a sale. As the Christmas stuff goes up
each year they are all put on sale almost immediately. And after
Christmas they are deeply discounted to move the inventory as
the stores don’t want to hold the inventory for another whole
26 | P a g e
year. Not only that, but some items may be dated and will not
be sold the following year.
New old stock: These are items you buy new from collections,
old inventory from stores, or stores going out of business. They
are new in box also but they are not coming directly from the
manufacturer or a wholesale company. These are also new in
the box/never displayed – just as new as if you purchased them
from the store – they are just older inventory.
Used: The used market for Christmas is also pretty big. This
would be anything that has been opened and used by someone
at some point. It may or may not include the original box and
packaging.
What do I consider not Christmas items? The gifts that you give
that have nothing to do with Christmas. The computers, tablets,
games, toys, household items, pet items, and other stuff that
you give as gifts during Christmas. This is the Christmas market
everyone knows about and goes after. I also sell this type of
stuff, but the competition is steep and price is usually the
driving factor.
27 | P a g e
Where to sell your Christmas
inventory and why
Once you have your Christmas inventory you want to sell it. But
where? And Why?
28 | P a g e
Other auction sites: I do have a local auction house that has a
website for their auctions that I use. I use them for those items
that I used to sell on Craigslist. I take a car load of stuff
(Christmas and non-Christmas) and drop it off. He lists them on
his site for me (he decides how - in group lots, individually,
whatever he feels is the best way to sell them) and then he
sends me a check. I recommend that everyone find a local
auction house you can do this with. I know how hard it is to
trash inventory or to donate it when you would rather have the
cash. This is a great way to move inventory with very little effort
on your part.
Amazon: Amazon rocks for Christmas – all year long. FBA works
best during the Christmas season because of the large number
of items I sell. With the right items at the right levels, I have
sold over 2,000 ornaments over the November/December time
frame. There is no way I could ship that many out by myself!
That is why I use FBA for 99% of my Christmas stuff.
29 | P a g e
Then in October, I start to increase the levels to what I want for
the season. This is where the real challenge comes in. How
many of an item should you send in? That is where the real
learning curve is. When I started selling ornaments (before the
LTS fees were around) I would send in everything I had. Now I
look at how many of a specific ornament I have and my past
sales along with what is hot in the movies/pop culture and
decide how many to send in. I then list everything else that is
left for Merchant Fulfillment. Then once a week I look at levels
and send in more where needed.
30 | P a g e
Here are a couple of really nice sales.
31 | P a g e
Of course, prices like this are the exception. Sales in the $14-$25
range are much more common.
32 | P a g e
Where do you find Garage Sales and
Estate Sales?
There are many ways to easily locate garage and estate sales in
your area.
Craigslist has a section titles “Garage Sales” where people list
both garage and estate sales. That is a great place to start.
There is even a free smart phone app call Yard Sale Treasure
Map that links to Craigslist and lets you get directions from
where you are to the garage sale. I like this a lot.
33 | P a g e
Conclusion
34 | P a g e