Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Or can the whole book to be auctioned?
Thanks.
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The short answer is, "Yes." You are in control of how you price and which platform you use to sell. You can change prices whenever you want.
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Virgil brings up a good point, which I've been pondering, but not sure how to execute.
Say I have an Approval book that has sold 120 of 200. I know I can reduce the cost and the system will change the price shown on the invoice for only those bought going forward (i.e. previously sold items from the same book are not affected - great design!)
But, like Virgil (I'm assuming) I'd like to Auction the entire remaining 80 stamps in that book. Obviously, I can't post all the pages showing which are available (due to the limit of 2), and don't want to take more time to disassemble then reassemble them into a couple pages.
I suppose I could "disable" the remaining stamps, then reactivate it on Approvals (where none could actually be bought) and use the book simply as a reference point to an Auction listing.
Any other ideas?
I actually have 5 books with partial sales - currently disabled temporarily as I ponder my next move. So if there are a few different options to convert these books to Auction, I'd be willing to test them out over the next couple days and I can report back on which process was most time-efficient and sales-effective.
Thanks for any tips, Dave.
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There are people who have sold an entire approval book page as one unit, and even several approval book pages as one unit. Here is a link to one such book as an example:
https://stamporama.com/approvals/approvals_main.php?action=1&id=RA5FqASTxjvak
That book was posted as a new approval book, and has several pages made into one item.
Here is another approval book where the entire page is one item:
https://stamporama.com/approvals/approvals_main.php?action=1&id=RAV7M0i.Pux9k
Those two are examples that I found. I don't see where it would be much work to disable all unsold items in a book/page, and offer one price per page or for the entire book. As you'll see in the example book given that the seller noted very clearly how to purchase from the book.
You could also use the classified ad section to offer the approval book remnants as a unit, but you'd have to provide new pictures showing the unsold stamps.
Try it out, see how it works, and if the effort needed is worth it to you. It may take a couple of tries to find the method that works best for you, but it's worth a try, right?
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Thanks Michael###s - I'll try a couple variations in the next few days and report back...
Dave.
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A couple trials (and mostly errors)...
1: Disabling unsold items to then use the book simply as a reference for an Auction offering was almost immediately aggravating and time consuming - and could be confusing for buyers looking at the book without knowing the rationale, so not a viable option. I started with one book but gave up after page 3/10.
2: Offering an entire page as one item is a useful idea (and I've done so previously). But I think this is only applicable to a new book set up that way - and is a different issue from the question here: i.e. "for an existing book that already has many pages, with many numbered items, can we (and how so?) make changes to offer the whole book (of remainders) at a single price in an Auction format?
...So, I'm inclined to think that simply reducing the price per unit on each page is fast and easy, and probably the way to go for Approval books with unsold items. I just did that with one book, and had an epiphany that you could do this "Dutch Auction" style if you were just intent on clearing space in your home while giving other members some great bargains.
For example, start each stamp in your book at 5c each (people who "have to have it" will buy it), then a couple days later drop this to 4c (people who "would like to have it" will buy it), then a few more days at 3c, then at 2c, etc. Just make sure you don't get to the point of offering money for people to take the stamps (a tragic mistake I made a few years ago as a new member...)
If our much-beleaguered Tim Auld ever finds some spare time from his YouTube career maybe he could create a special Auction item for "Approval Book Remainders" that links from an Auction image to the pages of an "inactive" Approval book.
Dave.
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"I'm inclined to think that simply reducing the price per unit on each page is fast and easy, and probably the way to go for Approval books with unsold items."
Russ Romei regularly does this. He also posts a classified ad when about it.
"If our much-beleaguered Tim Auld ever finds some spare time from his YouTube career maybe he could create a special Auction item for "Approval Book Remainders""
Or maybe offer a check box for a seller to convert an approval book to a clearance book where a buyer can purchase the entire book for a reduced price set by the seller (no individual stamp sales permitted from such books), or maybe the system will automatically calculate the total remaining price for the unsold stamps in the book and reduce the price by a percentage entered by the seller. That way, a seller only has to click on the "Convert Approval Book to Clearance", and enter a percentage amount to reduce the book price (perhaps minimum 25%). The APS does this with sales books that have ended their normal circuit time period (18 months), if a seller wants to do it.
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I like both those ideas. Keep us posted!
Dave.
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09:05:16pm
If after some time there are no more sales from a book is it OK to reduce the price of the stamps?
Or can the whole book to be auctioned?
Thanks.
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12:59:15am
re: Reducing the price for approvals
The short answer is, "Yes." You are in control of how you price and which platform you use to sell. You can change prices whenever you want.
Login to Like
this post
re: Reducing the price for approvals
Virgil brings up a good point, which I've been pondering, but not sure how to execute.
Say I have an Approval book that has sold 120 of 200. I know I can reduce the cost and the system will change the price shown on the invoice for only those bought going forward (i.e. previously sold items from the same book are not affected - great design!)
But, like Virgil (I'm assuming) I'd like to Auction the entire remaining 80 stamps in that book. Obviously, I can't post all the pages showing which are available (due to the limit of 2), and don't want to take more time to disassemble then reassemble them into a couple pages.
I suppose I could "disable" the remaining stamps, then reactivate it on Approvals (where none could actually be bought) and use the book simply as a reference point to an Auction listing.
Any other ideas?
I actually have 5 books with partial sales - currently disabled temporarily as I ponder my next move. So if there are a few different options to convert these books to Auction, I'd be willing to test them out over the next couple days and I can report back on which process was most time-efficient and sales-effective.
Thanks for any tips, Dave.
Login to Like
this post
09:01:20am
re: Reducing the price for approvals
There are people who have sold an entire approval book page as one unit, and even several approval book pages as one unit. Here is a link to one such book as an example:
https://stamporama.com/approvals/approvals_main.php?action=1&id=RA5FqASTxjvak
That book was posted as a new approval book, and has several pages made into one item.
Here is another approval book where the entire page is one item:
https://stamporama.com/approvals/approvals_main.php?action=1&id=RAV7M0i.Pux9k
Those two are examples that I found. I don't see where it would be much work to disable all unsold items in a book/page, and offer one price per page or for the entire book. As you'll see in the example book given that the seller noted very clearly how to purchase from the book.
You could also use the classified ad section to offer the approval book remnants as a unit, but you'd have to provide new pictures showing the unsold stamps.
Try it out, see how it works, and if the effort needed is worth it to you. It may take a couple of tries to find the method that works best for you, but it's worth a try, right?
Login to Like
this post
re: Reducing the price for approvals
Thanks Michael###s - I'll try a couple variations in the next few days and report back...
Dave.
Login to Like
this post
re: Reducing the price for approvals
A couple trials (and mostly errors)...
1: Disabling unsold items to then use the book simply as a reference for an Auction offering was almost immediately aggravating and time consuming - and could be confusing for buyers looking at the book without knowing the rationale, so not a viable option. I started with one book but gave up after page 3/10.
2: Offering an entire page as one item is a useful idea (and I've done so previously). But I think this is only applicable to a new book set up that way - and is a different issue from the question here: i.e. "for an existing book that already has many pages, with many numbered items, can we (and how so?) make changes to offer the whole book (of remainders) at a single price in an Auction format?
...So, I'm inclined to think that simply reducing the price per unit on each page is fast and easy, and probably the way to go for Approval books with unsold items. I just did that with one book, and had an epiphany that you could do this "Dutch Auction" style if you were just intent on clearing space in your home while giving other members some great bargains.
For example, start each stamp in your book at 5c each (people who "have to have it" will buy it), then a couple days later drop this to 4c (people who "would like to have it" will buy it), then a few more days at 3c, then at 2c, etc. Just make sure you don't get to the point of offering money for people to take the stamps (a tragic mistake I made a few years ago as a new member...)
If our much-beleaguered Tim Auld ever finds some spare time from his YouTube career maybe he could create a special Auction item for "Approval Book Remainders" that links from an Auction image to the pages of an "inactive" Approval book.
Dave.
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04:27:34pm
re: Reducing the price for approvals
"I'm inclined to think that simply reducing the price per unit on each page is fast and easy, and probably the way to go for Approval books with unsold items."
Russ Romei regularly does this. He also posts a classified ad when about it.
"If our much-beleaguered Tim Auld ever finds some spare time from his YouTube career maybe he could create a special Auction item for "Approval Book Remainders""
Or maybe offer a check box for a seller to convert an approval book to a clearance book where a buyer can purchase the entire book for a reduced price set by the seller (no individual stamp sales permitted from such books), or maybe the system will automatically calculate the total remaining price for the unsold stamps in the book and reduce the price by a percentage entered by the seller. That way, a seller only has to click on the "Convert Approval Book to Clearance", and enter a percentage amount to reduce the book price (perhaps minimum 25%). The APS does this with sales books that have ended their normal circuit time period (18 months), if a seller wants to do it.
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re: Reducing the price for approvals
I like both those ideas. Keep us posted!
Dave.
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