Charity shop find this morning :)

retrotoyinfo

Padawan
Joined
Dec 30, 2017
Messages
84
That was a really good find. I don't think it proves that this sort of star wars is 'still out there'

That's what Paul Martin says on Flog It every time they sell something found at a boot sale or charity shop. What Flog It doesn't tell you is that see thousands of people and find one like this now and again. I've been to hundreds of charity shops and boot sales, and all I ever see is rubbish.

If anything the situation is getting worse, if the items are not siphoned off by charity shop workers, anything good ends up on ebay. Some of the larger charity shop chains are now selling thousands of items on ebay a month.

Basically almost nothing good gets put in charity shops anymore. Despite the often rather romanticized view of boot sales, they are brutal places and the rubbish I see at them beggars belief. Often stallholders just abandon the entire contents of the rubbish they bring to sell at the end of the day.

The only places with any hope are ebay and auction houses, but the situation is also deteriorating with these. I look for certain things on ebay all year, but there are slim pickings. The situation for star wars on ebay in the USA has also dramatically changed, often American sellers now start the auctions at crazy high prices. The days of when every auction started at £0.99 or $0.99c is long gone!

Auction houses have also changed. With 25%-35% added to the hammer prices and too many people chasing too few items, especially with the introduction by nearly all auctions to the internet, prices are driven higher and higher. At similar commission prices charged to sellers, it is also a barrier to items entering the market for sale.

It's all very well having little bargains here and there, but these have really dried up, and I have seen star wars prices probably drive five to ten fold upwards in the last 15 years.
 

SublevelStudios

Sith Lord
Joined
Oct 17, 2013
Messages
2,598
It's the same with anything, if you put the groundwork in, there are rewards. Scouring car boots, charity shops, ebay and classifieds have all borne fruit at some point or another for me. Mainly ebay these days but also toy fairs from other dealers too.

There are incredible finds out there, last year was particularly good for me, landing some seriously good items at bargain prices. Luck does have a part to play, but so does putting the hours in.

The one thing I have seen change over the past couple of years on ebay is the astronomical prices US sellers charge for P&P these days. It's crazy and has really cut my buying from overseas down drastically.

In short, yes, it is hard work finding stuff like this 'in the wild' and bargains online - but I disagree with the above post, they are out there.
 

Stubbs

Jedi Master
Supporter
Joined
Apr 21, 2017
Messages
906
I agree with retro toy info on this. Last week i went into a charity shop there must be 20 i check at least once a month local to my home and work place. So last week i saw a load of vintage action man tanks out the back of this charity shop i waited and asked the ladie if it was for sale and if i could have a look. We all know action man was selling around the same era as the vintage star wars so you never no what will be in the boxes. She said no we need to send any vintage toy items up to are head office and they sell them on the charity's behalf or they will be auctioned.

I was gutted
 

retrotoyinfo

Padawan
Joined
Dec 30, 2017
Messages
84
SublevelStudios said:
It's the same with anything, if you put the groundwork in, there are rewards. Scouring car boots, charity shops, ebay and classifieds have all borne fruit at some point or another for me. Mainly ebay these days but also toy fairs from other dealers too.

There are incredible finds out there, last year was particularly good for me, landing some seriously good items at bargain prices. Luck does have a part to play, but so does putting the hours in.

The one thing I have seen change over the past couple of years on ebay is the astronomical prices US sellers charge for P&P these days. It's crazy and has really cut my buying from overseas down drastically.

In short, yes, it is hard work finding stuff like this 'in the wild' and bargains online - but I disagree with the above post, they are out there.

The main reason for the astronomical postage prices from US sellers is because of the introduction of the Global shipping program (GSP) ebay introduced. A huge number of US sellers signed up to it early on without realising what it meant. This program takes away any flexibility, charges the maximum postage and also custom charges up front. I have heard of sellers in the UK having to pay twice for customs, once in advance and again when it arrives in the UK. The GSP also forces the seller to charge for each item individually, thus not allowing savings on multiple buys.

In addition, even those sellers in the USA that don't use the GSP tend to either quote or be quoted themselves by USPS the most expensive postage option first. It's always worth asking a seller in the USA if they can look again at the postage, even go on the USPS website yourself and tell the seller the options.

The USPS (United States Postal System) are more expensive than the Royal Mail for sending abroad, and they have all these weird fixed rate 'flat rate' envelopes, flat boxes and boxes.

I forgot to mention in my post last night (was rather late I wrote it), there are the forums to buy and sell, social media like facebook and toy fairs and swap meets. I've never bought on social media or forums myself. I have been to loads of toy fairs, but have found them disappointing too for various reasons.

I agree luck has a lot to do with it, and putting the hours and effort. But I have put in a lot of effort and I still think the fruits of it are very slim, whereas in the past putting that effort in brought great rewards.
 

subzero

Sith Lord
Joined
Jun 20, 2017
Messages
3,052
I was about to mention the global shipping program ( or global shitting program ) and then seen it was already mentioned above. But yes that ebay program is pure shite, iv'e won things on ebay.com before and then the seller starts flapping about and moaning telling me "no international shipping", then i'm like yeah but you've got the item set to int. post with the global shipping program and even after telling them that they're still confused because they don't have a clue they've signed up for it or even know what it is. After some convincing to them not to cancel the sale they eventually decide to ship it for me but don't have a clue how to get it through the postal system properly for that program, so I have to explain to them how it works.

And the shipping prices are always damn high and with the mandatory VAT cost on top, which is ridiculous when buying a cheap item because most the time they get through with no VAT request at all. So I always try and go for a seller who isn't with the GS program and the shipping charge is sooo much cheaper.

As for charity shops... booo!!, old brown clothes, scruffy boring books, crap DVD's and CD's, beat up board games and jigsaw puzzles probably containing all but 1 piece, and an extremely bored looking middle aged woman sitting behind the counter staring at you waiting for a sale, for you to just walk back out 30 seconds later. That's all iv'e ever got from them. :lol:
 

Dannywhiteley

Jedi Master
Joined
May 6, 2015
Messages
556
Best find i ever had from a charity shop was a set of first edition LOTR books from the late 1950's. Cost me £50 and sold for £330. :eek:
 

SublevelStudios

Sith Lord
Joined
Oct 17, 2013
Messages
2,598
retrotoyinfo said:
The main reason for the astronomical postage prices from US sellers is because of the introduction of the Global shipping program (GSP) ebay introduced. A huge number of US sellers signed up to it early on without realising what it meant. This program takes away any flexibility, charges the maximum postage and also custom charges up front. I have heard of sellers in the UK having to pay twice for customs, once in advance and again when it arrives in the UK. The GSP also forces the seller to charge for each item individually, thus not allowing savings on multiple buys.

In addition, even those sellers in the USA that don't use the GSP tend to either quote or be quoted themselves by USPS the most expensive postage option first. It's always worth asking a seller in the USA if they can look again at the postage, even go on the USPS website yourself and tell the seller the options.

The USPS (United States Postal System) are more expensive than the Royal Mail for sending abroad, and they have all these weird fixed rate 'flat rate' envelopes, flat boxes and boxes.

I forgot to mention in my post last night (was rather late I wrote it), there are the forums to buy and sell, social media like facebook and toy fairs and swap meets. I've never bought on social media or forums myself. I have been to loads of toy fairs, but have found them disappointing too for various reasons.

I agree luck has a lot to do with it, and putting the hours and effort. But I have put in a lot of effort and I still think the fruits of it are very slim, whereas in the past putting that effort in brought great rewards.

I'm not talking about the GSP, I'm talking about charging $30 to send 1 loose figure, or $80 to ship a single loose 12" figure. A few years ago the prices were reasonable for P&P but now you have to buy an item for peanuts for it to make financial sense or know someone in the US you can have it shipped to first.

Buying on FB is very much the norm now, the forums used to be the 'go to' place for sales and wants but the shift has gone very much in favour of FB at the moment but once FB find a way of charging for sales, it will shift back to the forums to a degree. Of course things are harder to find for little to no money these days, that's bound to happen, but this thread and many other posts previously all reach the same conclusion - it is still out there to be found.

Toy fairs and events like Echo Live and Farthest From are great places to find stuff - you've clearly been attending the wrong events! :lol:
 

retrotoyinfo

Padawan
Joined
Dec 30, 2017
Messages
84
SublevelStudios said:
retrotoyinfo said:
The main reason for the astronomical postage prices from US sellers is because of the introduction of the Global shipping program (GSP) ebay introduced. A huge number of US sellers signed up to it early on without realising what it meant. This program takes away any flexibility, charges the maximum postage and also custom charges up front. I have heard of sellers in the UK having to pay twice for customs, once in advance and again when it arrives in the UK. The GSP also forces the seller to charge for each item individually, thus not allowing savings on multiple buys.

In addition, even those sellers in the USA that don't use the GSP tend to either quote or be quoted themselves by USPS the most expensive postage option first. It's always worth asking a seller in the USA if they can look again at the postage, even go on the USPS website yourself and tell the seller the options.

The USPS (United States Postal System) are more expensive than the Royal Mail for sending abroad, and they have all these weird fixed rate 'flat rate' envelopes, flat boxes and boxes.

I forgot to mention in my post last night (was rather late I wrote it), there are the forums to buy and sell, social media like facebook and toy fairs and swap meets. I've never bought on social media or forums myself. I have been to loads of toy fairs, but have found them disappointing too for various reasons.

I agree luck has a lot to do with it, and putting the hours and effort. But I have put in a lot of effort and I still think the fruits of it are very slim, whereas in the past putting that effort in brought great rewards.

I'm not talking about the GSP, I'm talking about charging $30 to send 1 loose figure, or $80 to ship a single loose 12" figure. A few years ago the prices were reasonable for P&P but now you have to buy an item for peanuts for it to make financial sense or know someone in the US you can have it shipped to first.

Buying on FB is very much the norm now, the forums used to be the 'go to' place for sales and wants but the shift has gone very much in favour of FB at the moment but once FB find a way of charging for sales, it will shift back to the forums to a degree. Of course things are harder to find for little to no money these days, that's bound to happen, but this thread and many other posts previously all reach the same conclusion - it is still out there to be found.

Toy fairs and events like Echo Live and Farthest From are great places to find stuff - you've clearly been attending the wrong events! :lol:


There may be that lucky find or whatever but I just disagree, I don't think there is very much at all to be had anymore at bargain prices. It's all relatively speaking. I've been buying vintage Star Wars for the last 20 years, when I started there was bargains to be found everywhere. I must admit I do find the odd bargain myself, even nowadays, but as I said it is very slim pickings. The situation of buying from America both in the prices they are asking/fetching and the postage prices has changed beyond recognition and not in a good way.

The effort I have to put in now to find bargains hardly seems worth it, so I have just effectively stopped buying. About fifteen years ago I picked up a early bird certificate for £50, I could buy 12 backs for £50-£100 and POTF figures about the same. Mini-rigs boxed were about a tenner, and a lot of vintage boxed toys I could pick up for under £50. Imagine now when I see someone asking thousands for an early bird certificate or 12 backs, makes me laugh and angry at the same time.
 

SublevelStudios

Sith Lord
Joined
Oct 17, 2013
Messages
2,598
retrotoyinfo said:
The effort I have to put in now to find bargains hardly seems worth it, so I have just effectively stopped buying. About fifteen years ago I picked up a early bird certificate for £50, I could buy 12 backs for £50-£100 and POTF figures about the same. Mini-rigs boxed were about a tenner, and a lot of vintage boxed toys I could pick up for under £50. Imagine now when I see someone asking thousands for an early bird certificate or 12 backs, makes me laugh and angry at the same time.


You can still pick boxed mini rigs up for a tenner! :lol:

The collecting landscape changes all the time, pointless getting angry about not being able to pick up POTF figures for £100 anymore, I'd be thankful I was around when you could buy them for that instead and think of the value if you came to sell them.

If it was all cheap, and in plentiful supply then where is the thrill of the chase in that? Perhaps we should all collect shells instead, they're free and there's loads of them :lol:

I see what you're saying, but I just find it a very pessimistic view on the hobby.
 

retrotoyinfo

Padawan
Joined
Dec 30, 2017
Messages
84
SublevelStudios said:
retrotoyinfo said:
The effort I have to put in now to find bargains hardly seems worth it, so I have just effectively stopped buying. About fifteen years ago I picked up a early bird certificate for £50, I could buy 12 backs for £50-£100 and POTF figures about the same. Mini-rigs boxed were about a tenner, and a lot of vintage boxed toys I could pick up for under £50. Imagine now when I see someone asking thousands for an early bird certificate or 12 backs, makes me laugh and angry at the same time.


You can still pick boxed mini rigs up for a tenner! :lol:

The collecting landscape changes all the time, pointless getting angry about not being able to pick up POTF figures for £100 anymore, I'd be thankful I was around when you could buy them for that instead and think of the value if you came to sell them.

If it was all cheap, and in plentiful supply then where is the thrill of the chase in that? Perhaps we should all collect shells instead, they're free and there's loads of them :lol:

I personally enjoyed the thrill of the chase when there was more available and cheaper. It's highly motivating. I don't see the fun in chasing the odd thing at over inflated prices :shock:
 
Old Thread: Hello . There have been no replies in this thread for 365 days.
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.

Latest posts

Top Bottom