Super Bowl XLII: Upset Schmupset - Take Advantage of the Market Reaction

After an upset as big as last night's Super Bowl, it's easy to see how the market is reacting to these two teams. Now is the time to do a few things: sell Giants, buy Patriots and get ready for baseball.

That's right, buy Patriots.

Why? Because I think a team that was undefeated during the regular season and had one of the best statistical seasons of any NFL team is a team worth collecting even if it did not win the big one. Take advantage of the dumping that's happening right now ( read buy low) for March when all 2007 football playoff cards are available for delivery.

Sell Giants if you still have them. It was the most watched Super Bowl ever. Think of all the kids (like my 5-year old son) who have decided that the Giants are now their favorite team and now their parents are shopping on ebay right now for what to buy them.

Regarding the changes that will be introduced on ebay, while some of the changes are hard to swallow at first, the one thing that seems to be overlooked is free gallery. Statistically, this helps the sell-through rate for any item. In other words, you'll get more eyeballs and the more gallery listings of in-hands, the more newbies to in-hands.

Since most etopps cards do not sell that high, having a higher final value fee is not going to take that much coin out of your net. Focus more on buying low than the fees.

I'm glad there will be feedback changes. I have no problem with it. If you sell in-hands and do the following, your feedback should go up as well your Detailed Seller Ratings (DSR):

• Charge reasonable shipping. If shipping is your lowest DSR, offer free shipping and watch it go up. If you offer a card at a fixed price with best offer and it's over $50, I would recommend free shipping to sweeten the deal.
  
• Always give positive feedback after receiving payment.
  
• Ship the in-hand no later than the day after receiving payment in a bubble-lined mailer.
  
• Email the buyer after receiving payment to cover the following: acknowledge payment, thank them for choosing you as a seller, let them know the card will be sent tomorrow and positive feedback will be given. (I also encourage them to visit my ebay store for in-hands relevant to what they just bought from me. In marketing, this is the up-sell.)
  

On another note, recently I received emails in response to this blog asking me how to sell an in-hand set. The first place I would try is the etopps message board and sell it in the "Sales" category. It's easy to register on this MB if you're not yet. You can get a lot of information about etopps from this board and it can be quite entertaining.

When posting a for-sale thread, start at a price you're willing to accept at a minimum and give parameters: payment method (most likely paypal), how long you will accept offers, your email address (since some bidders may not want to reveal what they're offering and would prefer to remain anonymous since it is nobody's business). It will be your job to post the highest offer to keep others informed.

If this doesn't work for you, there's always ebay. If not ebay you can try a few other auction sites: overstock, onlineauction, and blujay. The last two have very low fees (if any).