How to Package Plush Toys
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BY JORDAN MALIK AWARD-WINNING AMAZON.COM PRO MERCHANT & FOUNDER OF FINDSPOTTER.COM, HONESTONLINESELLING.COM, & MYLOCALINVENTORY.COM (c) 2013 JordanMalik.com Inc. DEDICATION: This book is dedicated to our two 'girls', Cinnamon ('Cini') and Candy ('Can-Cans'). You will always be our '#1' plush toys: irreplaceable, omnipresent and infinitely loveable. Thank you for your reliable doses of joy and comfort in this uncertain world. 2 Legal Stuff JordanMalik.com, Inc. ('The Publisher') shares its opinions and experience selling online within this guide. Please note that you are responsible for any actions you take as a result of reading the ideas in this guide. All rights reserved. Unauthorized distribution, reselling, or copying of this material is unlawful. No portion of this book may be copied or resold without explicit permission from the Publisher. The Publisher reserves the right to use the full force of the law in the protection of its intellectual property including the contents, ideas, and expressions contained herein. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO SELL THIS BOOK ON EBAY NOR AMAZON NOR ANY OTHER WEBSITE. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO GIVE AWAY THIS BOOK ON ANY WEBSITE. Be aware that the author has legal resources to quickly pursue copyright violators. The Publisher, its partners, employees, and subsidiaries disclaim any personal liability, loss, or risk incurred as a result of any information or any advice contained herein, either directly or indirectly. All mention of promises to earn money either implied or not implied are strictly based on the Publisher's opinion. The Publisher does not intend to render any legal, accounting, or other professional 3 advice in the document contained herein. The author makes no representation or warranties of any kind with regard to the completeness or accuracy of the contents of this book. The Publisher is in no way associated with, or a representative of, eBay, Amazon.com, Google.com and/or any other company mentioned herein unless specifically noted. The Publisher may receive referral/affiliate revenue if you purchase/download/click-through any URLs/links within this e-book. You can contact the publisher at http://JordanMalik.com 4 Table of Contents Before We Begin............................................................................................................6 The Premise.....................................................................................................................7 Profit Proof....................................................................................................................10 Wait! Ebay Sellers Profit with VINTAGE, Too! ...............................................29 Sellers' Main Objection (Or: the 'ick!' Factor)................................................30 Where to Find Plush Toys......................................................................................34 How to Inspect Plush Toys for Reselling..........................................................43 How to Photograph Plush Toys...........................................................................46 How to Package Plush Toys..................................................................................49 How to Describe Your Plush Toys......................................................................50 Be on the Lookout List...........................................................................................57 Avoid These Plush Toys..........................................................................................63 Can I Ask You for a Favor?......................................................................................64 Also from the Author................................................................................................65 5 Before We Begin... Please stop here! This guide assumes you have some knowledge of selling on Amazon AND buying/selling on EBAY. If you don't know how to sell on Amazon, this FREE guide can help you: http://www.sellfba.com/jm.html. Or take my only recommended step-by-step video course here: http://jordanmalik.com/amazon. If you don't know how to buy stuff on eBay, get started here (a free resource): http://bit.ly/startebay If you don't know how to sell on eBay, get started here (also free info): http://bit.ly/sell-it-on-ebay. Ok. Turn the page, and let's begin. 6 The Premise Plush! Did you know that plush toys (you know, the furry and soft kind, also known as 'stuffed animals') can bring in BIG profits on Amazon and/or eBay? They can! I've been selling pre-owned, like-new and 'new with tags still attached' plush toys on Amazon (and some on eBay) for at least 3 years now. Why are they so profitable? Remember that plush toys these are commonly considered 'throwaways' by the people who get rid of them. Many people and thrift shops and yard sale-ers don't know (or don't care) about the potential resale value of a plush. The reality is that plush toys can be highly valuable (when you resell them on Amazon and/or eBay) for one or a combination of reasons: 1.) Many plush toys go out of production. So, when a specific plush gets worn or lost and Missy or Junior need a replacement, parents/grandparents are willing to fork over the dough to get 'THAT ONE' (new or used!) because they need it right away. 2.) When plush toys go out of production, they naturally become scarce. Scarcity boosts perception (and, indeed the reality) of increased value to the buyer; and 3.) Collectors collect plush, too. They perceive them differently than little kids do (although kids—of ALL ages —can be collectors, too!) 7 So I am going to break it all down for you and when you're done with this guide, you'll be like me—you won't see JUST the plush bunny, but you'll see the money, honey. And that's what we're all here for! But first, you need to know if you can trust me, right? So who am I? I've been selling on Amazon (via the FBA program) for over 3 years now (with sales of over $135,000/year (see http://bit.ly/amz2013 ) . and I've been an eBay Top-Rated Seller (see http://bit.ly/QWNzDh and http://bit.ly/16ArvF9) for 7+ years. I also received Amazon.com's Top Seller Award for Holiday Season 2010 AND 2012 (see http://bit.ly/AmazonAward and http://bit.ly/2013aa). In 2011-2013, I founded SoldOutA.com, FindSpotter.com, and http://mylocalinventory.com, all of which help online merchants find profitable products to sell on Amazon. My eBay seller IDs are Member11756jm, JordansAutoAccessories, JordansEurope, and glanterncostumes. You can look up all of them here: » http://pages.ebay.com/services/forum/feedback-login.html . You'll see I am a Top Rated Seller and that I’m trusted. My Amazon FBA Pro Merchant ID is Honest Online Selling (see 8 http://bit.ly/honestonline) Check that out too, you can see my recent Amazon buyers' feedback, and my items for sale. I hope you enjoy this guide. And I always welcome your comments or questions! My email address is [email protected] , and you can find me on Facebook here: http://fb.com/jordanmalik Thank you, Jordan “J.B”. Malik JordanMalik.com Inc. / [email protected] P.S. Get my free newsletter for eBay and Amazon revenue-generating ideas at http://honestonlineselling.com 9 Profit Proof Ok, let's get right into it. Here is just a sampling of the plush toys (“stuffed animals”) that I've sold for BIG profits during the past 12 months or so. I paid $.50 to ~$5.00 for each plush mentioned in this section, thus my ROIs (Returns on Investment) were generally 500% to well over 1000%. Also, in some of the below examples, I include a snapshot of the eBay completed listings for an identical item, so you can see that some of these are profitable for eBay sellers, too. The bulk of the plush toys I buy to resell are 'used' BUT what I consider 'very good' condition. In most cases, I won't even bother with a plush toy that has even the tiniest amount of dirt, or any kind of rip or tear. I'll only bother with 'Very Good', or 'Like New', or 'New' Condition. ALERT for Amazon sellers: 'Used' (or any condition other than 'new') plush must be sold on Amazon as 'Collectible', NOT 'Used.' When you start placing your used plush on Amazon to sell, you will be prompted to select a CONDITION of the toy, i.e., 'Collectible-Very Good' or 'Collectible-Acceptable'. NEVER select 'Used-Very Good' or 'Used-Collectible', even if that condition is available for you to select. In this guide, you'll see the words 'used' and 'pre-owned' and 'collectible' and 'not new' used 10 interchangeably. Just don't use 'Used' as a condition for any toy. For more on Amazon.com's policies about these conditions, go to: http://amzn.to/amz- condition-guidelines and scroll down to “Toys & Games—Collectible” Here we go.... 11 See this item on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000WE9NT8/?tag=jordanmalik-20 Profit Proof (my records of the buyer who bought it from me) follows: 12 Turn the page for another example.... 13 See this item on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00867B5M6/?tag=jordanmalik-20 Profit Proof (my records of the buyer who bought it from me) follows: 14 The following is a snapshot of an identical item recently sold on eBay: 15 Remember, for the most part, I bought all these 'used' plush for $.50 to $5. They were sold as 'used' ('collectible' in Amazon-speak). Turn the page for another example.... 16 See this item on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0031NWZLA/?tag=jordanmalik-20 Profit Proof (my records of the buyer who bought it from me) follows: 17 The following is a snapshot of an identical item recently sold on eBay: 18 Turn the page for