MyToyGuide Blog

In the FREE Duplicating Hot Auction Success ecourse you will learn to look at 5 essential parts of a successful auction.
Learn how to dissect a hot auction so you can apply that success to your own listing.

http://www.jennihunt.com/hotauctionsuccess.htm

Do you list large items? It use to be that if I could turn a nice profit, I would list pretty much anything on eBay… regardless of size. I have sold a huge round crib, a little tikes cottage bed, double stroller, easle, and many more… I’ve shipped via greyhound, UPS, FedEX, USPS - whatever it took to get the item to the customer.

Well, a few years ago I picked up a Little Tikes Activity Garden (http://tinyurl.com/2j25vd) and one of those bee mailboxes (http://tinyurl.com/3ar5j8) for $10 each. At the time they were perfect for my daughter… and then my youngest son. About 3 months ago we decided that we don’t need those things taking up space in our little house… and today it was still there in our living room waiting to be pictured and lsted. To be honest, I just didn’t want to deal with listing it on eBay. I knew I’d make an incredible profit (did you notice in last weeks hot list there was this very set that sold for well over $100?)… but, I just wasn’t motivated. Do you ever feel this way? Well, I wanted it out of the house - I was tired of tripping over it as we headed out the door every morning… so, I decided to take it to a consignment shop. Boy were they thrilled! I imagine they will sell them for $70-80 together… and I get 50%. Not as much as I would have made on eBay - but, it only took me 10 minutes to drop it off and I don’t have to deal with shipping. So, for 10 minutes of my time, I will likely make $25-30 - not bad. Of course if I had listed it on eBay and it sold for $100, I would have had a gross profit of $80… but, if I calculated the time to picture, list and create a custom box for the thing, I think I came out ahead.

I wanted to share this story because sometimes we get a bit burned out on selling auctions - and that is okay! There are other options to making money with toys… you can take it to your local consignment shop or list it on craiglist. Remember that your time is worth something and sometimes it is worth making a little less to have a lot less headache.

Of the toys that were announced at the International Toy Fair last week, these are expected to be the hottest this year and worth keeping an eye on.

1. Singing “Chat Diva” Barbie and Teresa dolls - Barbie gets interactive. Kids can plug in their MP3 players and the doll will ‘lip sync’ and dance to the music.

2. Hasbro’s ‘Power Tour Electric Guitar’ and ‘I Can Play Guitar System’ from Fisher Price.

3. Robots! July 4th is the release of the new Transformers movie from DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. Watch for the “Optimus Prime Voice Changer Helmet” hitting stores in June at $29.99

4. TMX Elmo Friends - coming in October, new 11 inch dolls (3 inches smaller than TMX Elmo) of Cookie Monster and Ernie.

5. Vtech’s “Gadget” - Kids digital camera, movie maker, MP3 player and FM radio. To hit stores late August $99.99

6. Smart Cycle by Fisher Price - stationary cycle that uses TV plug-and-play technology. To hit stores July at $99.99

7. MP3 player for babies… ‘Made for Me’

8. Furreal Friends: Parrot - released this fall at $69.99

9. Net Jet - game console that connects to computer but doesn’t use the keyboard. When it’s plugged in, it locks the computer so nothing else can be used but the game - keeping kids from surfing the web, etc. Priced at $24.99, games $14.99. Launches nationwide this fall.

10. Girls digital diary - Video Journal. Available this July for $29.99

11. Singing Pizza Elmo - Launches in July at $24.99.

I said I would report on the 2007 American International Toy Fair this week - turns out I had the dates wrong and the Fair goes until the 14th… so, I’ll have a better report next week - but, I did get a peek at some of the new toys announced at the fair that are expected to be released this year:

1. Spider Spud - yep, a Mr. Potato Head Spiderman… with Spiderman 3 coming out this year, this might be a nice seller.
2. 34 inch taling Dora doll
3. Ax Master - Interactive learning and guitar playing experience
4. Fur real - Parrot due in the fall
5. Stock car kids - NASCAR Power Wheels, battery operated cars
6. Chatty Barbie
7. TMX Friends - Just like TMX Elmo only it’s Cookie Monster and Ernie… to be released this October

The Nintendo Wii is available for pre-order on November 1st… last I checked these were selling for $500+ on Ebay as a presale. I’m not sure if I would take the risk and list it before I had it in hand… in fact, from what I understand Ebay is limiting sellers to how many pre-order sales they can list. Be sure you check out all the rules if you get your hands on one to sell. Here is the link:
http://tinyurl.com/vgst8

I just stumbled on this site…. very cool if you are waiting to get your hands on the hottest TMX Tickle Me Elmo. Check it out here: http://tmxtracker.com/

Jenni

I’ve been burning the midnight oil working on the 2006 Holiday Toy Selling Guide… it is just about ready — but, if you want to get a sneak peek before it is released, you can request one at www.holidaytoyguide.com

Toys are one of the hottest items to sell on ebay - they actually sell well throughout the year; however, there is nothing that sells better during the Christmas holidays!

Jenni Hunt

Here are some great ideas for hunting down those hard to find toys…

1. Communicate with your local stores to learn stocking patterns

2. Talk with store stockers just to learn how they run their store

3. They are more likely to talk with collectors than dealers - I don’t recommend lying… but, I would be careful of the wording. They will figure out that you are a dealer/reseller when you visit buying the same things over and over

4. Talk with customer service folks - Don’t assume all employees have the same level of information. Sometimes they have information the stockers don’t have. Where a stocker may not know when they are getting a shipment of a specific toy, the customer service folks may be able to tell you.

5. Avoid the big stores - check out drug stores, grocery stores - even smaller online toy stores

6. Visit grocery stores/drug stores in less affluent areas

7. Visit Out of the way cities

8. Look behind other toys on the shelves

9. Look under shelves in hidden storage areas - and places employees would hide toys.

Do you have anything to add? How do you find those htf items?

Jenni Hunt

I just came across an interesting article about technology and the trends we should see developing. One thing that I thought was interesting in the article was the research about where consumers shop (or plan to shop) for the holidays. Of course, this is in regards to technology - not toys - but, some toys have everything to do with technology. Here is what the research of Ipsos Insight showed:

Traffic Alerts for Top Tech Retailers

Consumers are looking to save, too, with most intending to visit more than one store for their holiday electronics. Nearly half of all respondents intend to shop at Best Buy (48%) or Wal-Mart (45%). Shoppers intend to visit Circuit City (32%), Target (26%), Sears (20%), and Costco (14%) too. Higher income households are gravitating toward Best Buy (60%) or Circuit City (40%) and lower income households are counting on Wal-Mart (65%).

Office supply stores Office Depot (11%), Office Max (10%), and Staples (2%) are some consumers’ intended destinations, while others hope to avoid the malls by purchasing electronics from Amazon (10%) or eBay (9%). 

Why is this info so interesting? Let’s just say - if you are shopping for resale, do you want to shop where the crowds are? 

You can check out the entire article here: http://www.ipsosinsight.com/pressrelease.aspx?id=2904

Jenni

 

The discount to renew your MyToyGuide subscription are about to expire!! 

These coupons expire Sunday the 17th at midnight… and they will not be extended -
Get access to the MyToyGuide weekly hot list by joining with the following link:

Save 20% and pay only $8 a month by using this coupon: 08932E

OR

Save 33% - get one free month for every 2 by paying $20 every 3 months - use coupon: 297682

Here is the link to sign up:
http://www.huntedtreasure.com/amember/member.php?price_group=-3

(You will have to log into your account - whether your subscription is current or not)

~Jenni