Original Dungeons and Dragons Book Set - what the heck happened here?

[SilverForBrains]

Here's the link to the completed listing: Vintage Dungeons and Dragons Book Collection 2 Modules Rule Set Players Man | eBay

I'll put a picture below too.

no Idea what went wrong here. I bought these for $1 at a garage sale in upstate NY. The value of the whole set is easily $30-$40, confirmed both by ebay completed listings and a few D&D nut friends of mine. The listing ended at $7!! I thought I screwed myself because I charged too much shipping - $6.35 - which made people avoid my auction. Then I went to ship it and it cost me $8.75, Standard post. I've been buying and selling for awhile but I'm new to shipping, have mostly done local. Should 4 thin books (magazine sized) cost this much to ship (it was the slowest USPS available option)? and if so, then if the shipping costs didn't kill my listing is it the condition of the books? My third thought is that I screwed myself by listing them together. Most people may need 1-2 of the books but don't want to buy copies of the ones they already have. In hindsight I should've listed separately. What do you guys and gals think?

 

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[FloridaHunter]

Those should have done a lot better. I had the same thing with a Doctor Who game that did really poor. Sometimes it is just timing. Buy it now can be a good way to go sometimes.

 

[dejapooh]

They should be shipped Media Mail.

Sometimes auctions go crazy for no reason, some times they die for no reason.

 

[jerseyben]

Why didn't you use media mail?

 

[SilverForBrains]

Oh wow you guys are right, I could've saved a lot with media mail. Shows how much I know about USPS, I'd better learn quickly or I'll lose money fast. I have normally done craigslist or big sales in which shipping costs don't really matter, in this large scale (well, relatively haha not to some on here!) $10-$20 item operation, getting the shipping right is going to be everything

Thanks for the advice, that was driving me nuts. I really wish I'da done buy it now

 

[jerseyben]

The best advice I can offer is to find the direct link to the USPS rules for media mail and read the policy carefully.

They have strict guidelines for what is covered under that shipping category. They have and will inspect your packages to be sure you are in compliance with their policy. I know you cant send any correspondence with the media you are shipping. So if you ship a book, you cant put an invoice/receipt in the package.

Video games are excluded. LPs and DVDs are ok.

 

[SilverForBrains]

The best advice I can offer is to find the direct link to the USPS rules for media mail and read the policy carefully.

They have strict guidelines for what is covered under that shipping category. They have and will inspect your packages to be sure you are in compliance with their policy. I know you cant send any correspondence with the media you are shipping. So if you ship a book, you cant put an invoice/receipt in the package.

Video games are excluded. LPs and DVDs are ok.

great, thanks for the heads up

 

[mjlalt]

don't forget flat rate priority envelopes (about $5 anywhere in US)

could have packed the books with some rigid cardboard and slid them into a priority envelope (if they fit)

 

[Talon]

So, as a self-avowed D&D geek, I'm not terribly surprised that you didn't get a lot. They recently re-released the original D&D 1st edition books https://www.wizards.com/dnd/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/02410000
So anyone that really wanted to play 1st ed either likely has a copy of the original 1st ed books or they would just buy the new copies of the re-release. Also the modules likely aren't that special, as there are hundreds of free modules out there and bins of them on sale at your local comic shop. Besides that, the D&D community is currently on its' 6th edition of the D&D rules along with numerous offshoots so I don't think there's a lot of market for old clunky 1st ed. rules these days. Sorry it didn't work out, but at least you made a little profit.

 

[SilverForBrains]

So, as a self-avowed D&D geek, I'm not terribly surprised that you didn't get a lot. They recently re-released the original D&D 1st edition books https://www.wizards.com/dnd/Product.aspx?x=dnd/products/dndacc/02410000
So anyone that really wanted to play 1st ed either likely has a copy of the original 1st ed books or they would just buy the new copies of the re-release. Also the modules likely aren't that special, as there are hundreds of free modules out there and bins of them on sale at your local comic shop. Besides that, the D&D community is currently on its' 6th edition of the D&D rules along with numerous offshoots so I don't think there's a lot of market for old clunky 1st ed. rules these days. Sorry it didn't work out, but at least you made a little profit.

Thank you!!! I feel a lot less confused now. wow, 6th ed.? I used to play 2nd edition, those were the good old days. always more of a magic the gathering player, but in college I lived with the role playing club so they're my go to for these types of items. If I get any more books in I'll just call 'em up and see if they want them.

In goodwill yesterday I saw a box of magic cards for .99, saw a revised forest on top. Was so hoping they would all be revised and earlier, or maybe have the odd dual land in there (I can't believe how much they go for now), but no such luck mostly tempest. didn't buy them

 

[diggummup]

The best advice I can offer is to find the direct link to the USPS rules for media mail and read the policy carefully.

They have strict guidelines for what is covered under that shipping category. They have and will inspect your packages to be sure you are in compliance with their policy. I know you cant send any correspondence with the media you are shipping. So if you ship a book, you cant put an invoice/receipt in the package.

Video games are excluded. LPs and DVDs are ok.

https://www.usps.com/ship/media-mail.htm and here is a good link for everything USPS- DMM Notice 123 Price List

 

[SilverForBrains]

very nice, I'm about to start getting rid of my stack of LPs I've collected over the last several years so Media Mail it will be

 

[jerseyben]

Thank you!!! I feel a lot less confused now. wow, 6th ed.? I used to play 2nd edition, those were the good old days. always more of a magic the gathering player, but in college I lived with the role playing club so they're my go to for these types of items. If I get any more books in I'll just call 'em up and see if they want them.

In goodwill yesterday I saw a box of magic cards for .99, saw a revised forest on top. Was so hoping they would all be revised and earlier, or maybe have the odd dual land in there (I can't believe how much they go for now), but no such luck mostly tempest. didn't buy them

I have made a killing with MTG cards over the years. A VERY healthy market for them right now.

 

[Talon]

There is 1st ed, 2nd ed, 3rd ed, 3.5, 4th ed and now we are on D&D Next. I count 3.5 as it's own edition because it had a huge number of releases for it. More so than 3rd ed alone.

 

[SilverForBrains]

I have made a killing with MTG cards over the years. A VERY healthy market for them right now.

yesterday I was going through the 10c 'vintage' MTG cards at the local comic shop, picked up 3 revised unholy strengths complete with pentagram. my favorite card of all time, I always used to play solid black. In fact I like the Beta version better, it goes good with black borders. Unfortunately there were no cards in there I could easily flip for more than a buck or two. Where do you get your MTG cards from? It's really too bad, I can't find my old collection, I think it got sold at a friends garage sale. I had a bunch of dual lands which I heard go for a killing now. Wait, I think I just answered my own question

W

 

[giniro]

yesterday I was going through the 10c 'vintage' MTG cards at the local comic shop, picked up 3 revised unholy strengths complete with pentagram. my favorite card of all time, I always used to play solid black. In fact I like the Beta version better, it goes good with black borders. Unfortunately there were no cards in there I could easily flip for more than a buck or two. Where do you get your MTG cards from? It's really too bad, I can't find my old collection, I think it got sold at a friends garage sale. I had a bunch of dual lands which I heard go for a killing now. Wait, I think I just answered my own question

W

Magic cards in my experience rarely show up in garage sales, I think I've seen 2 lots in the past 4 years. You've really got to know what you're looking for though. Sure sometimes it's a snap buy like when they're asking $1/thousand cards it doesn't matter if there is anything good in there but if they've got like 1000 cards and they want $20 you've got to look through for a bit to see if it's worth it and that takes an encyclopedic knowledge of what cards are worth anything. I look at craigslist listings more than hoping to stumble upon them at garage sales but the competition around here is fierce. The best I ever did on Magic cards was ~40,000 cards for $30 that ended up having about ~$2,000 in it, yeah when you pick up 2 random piles from the boxes and hit 4 $10 cards it's a no brainer. The second time I had to pass because they wanted $120 and that was about retail for the good stuff in there, wasn't confident I could make my money back.

I've never bought D&D stuff but I did sell a bunch of my bosses old 2nd edition books a couple years ago for him, got about $75, he had a rubbermaid tub full though.

 

[SilverForBrains]

Magic cards in my experience rarely show up in garage sales, I think I've seen 2 lots in the past 4 years. You've really got to know what you're looking for though. Sure sometimes it's a snap buy like when they're asking $1/thousand cards it doesn't matter if there is anything good in there but if they've got like 1000 cards and they want $20 you've got to look through for a bit to see if it's worth it and that takes an encyclopedic knowledge of what cards are worth anything. I look at craigslist listings more than hoping to stumble upon them at garage sales but the competition around here is fierce. The best I ever did on Magic cards was ~40,000 cards for $30 that ended up having about ~$2,000 in it, yeah when you pick up 2 random piles from the boxes and hit 4 $10 cards it's a no brainer. The second time I had to pass because they wanted $120 and that was about retail for the good stuff in there, wasn't confident I could make my money back.

I've never bought D&D stuff but I did sell a bunch of my bosses old 2nd edition books a couple years ago for him, got about $75, he had a rubbermaid tub full though.

good call with craigslist, I think a lot of older players don't realize how much the value of certain older cards has increased. I used to buy dual lands for $14 a pop, I figured they'd be worth about the same nowadays until I was told they go for about $100 apiece. With magic fortunately a lot of the price increases are predictable. Dual lands have no modern parallel, all new dual lands have some kind of setback for the ability, so for certain formats if you want to be competitive you gotta have 'em

 

[famous turtle treasures]

Here's the link to the completed listing: Vintage Dungeons and Dragons Book Collection 2 Modules Rule Set Players Man | eBay

I'll put a picture below too.

no Idea what went wrong here. I bought these for $1 at a garage sale in upstate NY. The value of the whole set is easily $30-$40, confirmed both by ebay completed listings and a few D&D nut friends of mine. The listing ended at $7!! I thought I screwed myself because I charged too much shipping - $6.35 - which made people avoid my auction. Then I went to ship it and it cost me $8.75, Standard post. I've been buying and selling for awhile but I'm new to shipping, have mostly done local. Should 4 thin books (magazine sized) cost this much to ship (it was the slowest USPS available option)? and if so, then if the shipping costs didn't kill my listing is it the condition of the books? My third thought is that I screwed myself by listing them together. Most people may need 1-2 of the books but don't want to buy copies of the ones they already have. In hindsight I should've listed separately. What do you guys and gals think?

View attachment 779559

A perfect example of why I do not do auctions.

 

[SilverForBrains]

yea you know what I'm starting to move more to Buy it now as well, I always seem to get a few extra bucks on every sale