Trying to sell poker chips, having trouble

[chisness]

A few months ago, noticing that poker was booming and that chips were selling well on eBay and other online sites, I figured I'd try to sell some of my own. I scouted out a seller in China and bought 100 sets for about $30 each for the 500 sets and $50 each for the 1000 sets.

I had bought some things wholesale a few years ago, like cheap watches and cheap wallets, that required <$1000 investments for a couple hundred of each and sold for between 200% and 500% profit (the wallets were only about $1.50 and sold for $7 + overcharging on shipping).

The poker chips, though, have been a real disaster. Having never imported before (the other items were from USA wholesalers), I ran into lots of problems due to having no experience. I ran into extra shipping charges, extra customs charges, and lots of delays (like sending a personal check when they weren't accepted, not sending the bill of lading to the shipping company, etc.).

Anyway, now I've got 95 sets of poker chips in my garage -- I've sold 5 to friends and need to get rid of the other 95 ASAP. eBay prices are at about my breakeven point (probably losing a bit after shipping), so I'm probably going to put a bunch up there this weekend.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get rid of these? They're the basic composite 11.5g chips in a few different styles (dice, suited, vegas, and royal flush). They come with the case, decks, and dealer button, just like all the other ones on eBay.

Maybe I should try selling them in lots? Maybe there's somewhere else other than eBay to sell them? I've tried contacting some poker sites but have had no luck.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[sucka]

There's just too damn many people selling these on eBay now. If you would have gotten into this about 3 years ago, you wouldn't have had any problem selling them. Now, you do a search for poker chips on eBay and you get about 40 pages of auctions to choose from. Pretty easy to get lost in the mix...

Maybe if you just want to get rid of them - lower your price to whatever you paid for them and dump them. Certainly buying lots like that you got some kind of a discount. Better to sell them and make just a few bucks...

[jakethebake]

I met a guy that had some kind of printer thing for personalizing chips. We talked about it, and he said the gadget wasn't that expensive. Unfortunately I don't have contact info, or remember what the thing was called. But if you personalized them for the buyer, I'm sure you could get more for them.

[Jordan Olsommer]

[ QUOTE ]
eBay prices are at about my breakeven point (probably losing a bit after shipping), so I'm probably going to put a bunch up there this weekend.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're asking 2+2'ers to give you a solution that defies all laws of economics (and consequently, common sense) that we know of. When you have tons of something that lots of other people have tons of and that people don't demand nearly as much as is supplied, in order to get them to buy you're either going to have to cut your price down to where it generates demand, or you're going to have to add some value to the product somehow. There's no magical way you're going to get people to buy something they don't want for a price higher than they can get anywhere else. Well, sodium amytol, maybe. But that's probably expensive, so you'd be right back at square one.

Unless you find a way to make them sufficiently unique or personalized that people already up to their ears in poker chips would want to buy a new set (or include a car with them or something), you're just going to have to bite the bullet and drop your prices.


[ QUOTE ]
(the wallets were only about $1.50 and sold for $7 + overcharging on shipping)

[/ QUOTE ]

I debated whether or not to say anything about this, but oh well - not exactly a 'class act' here, brother.

[TxSteve]

find a re-sale shop in your area and try to sell them there...at a low price. they'd be more of an "impulse buy" as a gift for a son/boyfriend/husband whatever.

there is a large non-ebay market out there. you just have to find it

[poindexter]

Hi neighbor,
I have some chips already but would be willing to buy 1 set at wholesale if your looking to recoup your investment. I also know some others that may be interested if you can beat ebay prices. My friends and family are all in arlington heights. pm me if your interested

[BigBaitsim (milo)]

Dump them. Not every good starting hand comes in. The market is flooded and people are now looking for better quality than these anyway. Get rid of them.

[PairTheBoard]

When I was a kid my dad bought stock in Underwood Typewriters at $25/sh with a book value of $50/sh. After several years of losses to the IBM competition he sold the stock on a dead cat bounce at $20/sh with a book value now at $10/sh. It looked like a great buy at $25 but it was definitely a great sell at $20 because the company went bankrupt not long after. Sometimes you have to reevalutate your position.

PairTheBoard

[JimGil]

I had the same story. I started selling chips about 2 years ago and watched the price of the 11.5g dice chips fall from over $100/set (500 chips) to about $5.00/set.

My last order was for 200 sets and I lost a few hundred on that deal. If I were you - I would flood the ebay market with super-cheap prices. There is no way you're going to get back what you paid.

In about a week you're going to have to offer them for free plus $30/shipping - and you still might not get any bidders. Good luck.

[drewjustdrew]

See if you can tie them into a promotion with rockfordcharitablegames.com (http://rockfordcharitablegames.com) . Maybe they can take the $30 or $50 from the prize pool of their tourneys and give away the set to the winner. Just talk to the people who run the game, maybe they can help you out.

[Eegs]

Why dont you try burning those awful chips and invest in something more stable...like peanut butter cookies.