Bluespicker Posted August 23, 2014 Share #1 Posted August 23, 2014 Years ago on a Sunday evening, the infamous Doc Boink announced to the International Flightgear forum that he was done collecting and that he had sold his entire collection to another collector. The announcement was anti-climatic as the sale was over before most even knew what had happened. It was a surprising end to one of the best jet helmet collections out there and left most people simply scratching their heads. I must confess that today, the Docs decision is really starting to make sense. I began the process of downsizing my collection with the idea that EBAY and perhaps the forum's for sale section were the optimal place to sell jet age helmets. Thus began a three month odyssey of discovery which culminated in the following conclusions: there isn't much interest in jet age flight helmets; those who might be interested are decidedly uncommunicative; and to continue down the current path is going to be much to tedious and time consuming and not much fun. I am turning to the expertise of the forum's membership in hopes that someone can point out what I hope are my mistakes. I guess I am wondering where the best place to sell flight helmets is and what kind of response to expect. In the last few weeks I have sold three guitars on Craigslist. Listed them, got responses, dickered on price and sold them. Heck, I sold a washer and dryer on Craigslist in three days. During that same period, I listed a number of helmets on EBAY and a few on this forum and not a single helmet sold, few even bothered to view the listings, and not a single person contacted me: Nothing. In the words of the great Yogi Berea: It is what it is. If I am doing something wrong I'd love to know what that might be. As it stands right now, my whole collection is about to go out the door in one shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automatic Posted August 23, 2014 Share #2 Posted August 23, 2014 This isn't the best time to sell, from what I read on another post earlier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SergeantMajorGray Posted August 23, 2014 Share #3 Posted August 23, 2014 Also I'm sure there would be a ton of interest in them if they were more affordable I like them a lot but the most I have got myself to spend on a single item was $300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automatic Posted August 23, 2014 Share #4 Posted August 23, 2014 Yes, I have wanted one for a while, but as sarge said, they are kinda expensive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hink441 Posted August 23, 2014 Share #5 Posted August 23, 2014 Why don't you post some pictures of your collection in the aviation section and see what interest is generated. I know alot of the sales on this forum are behind the scenes and never make it to the "for sale section". I like the Attack side of Naval Aviation, would love to see what you have collected. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
empireguns Posted August 23, 2014 Share #6 Posted August 23, 2014 Well someone is still buying them as that ratty P1 sold for $1550.00 http://www.ebay.com/itm/USAF-FLIGHT-HELMET-OXYGEN-MASK-FOR-PARTS-OR-TO-RESTORE/221521391911?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D24902%26meid%3D63b44023c393400d8f10bdcdbc77b6bb%26pid%3D100033%26prg%3D10502%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D221521391911 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluespicker Posted August 24, 2014 Author Share #7 Posted August 24, 2014 True P-1 is probably the rarest jet helmet out there. One of the few helmets I haven't actually handled. Thanks for all the feedback and please keep this coming. I will try to accommodate those looking for specific things and if anyone else has some ideas, I'd love to her them. As for the prices, I am always looking for parts and new projects that I can work on so if you have something you would like to do we might be able to work something out. That's what I sort of expected and was kind of shocked when I didn't hear from anyone. The information on prices was also useful and it helps me with what I can offer. Does anyone have another auction site or outlet for selling things? Is EBAY really the only game in town? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted August 24, 2014 Share #8 Posted August 24, 2014 Where are the helmets? How can I see what you have? Thanks. Ronnie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Survival Posted August 24, 2014 Share #9 Posted August 24, 2014 I don't know a whole lot about flight helmets so I can't help you much there. I don't know your experience on E Bay so if my ideas are something you have already done sorry. Have you researched completed auctions on E Bay to see what similar helmets like the ones you want to sell go for. Face it if they are not selling for as much as you want to get for yours its probably a lost cause. If the sales are in the ballpark of what you are trying to get but your sales are lagging there may well be a problem with your listing. Good pictures and plenty of them. E Bay seems to want to default to priority shipping on the auction page. Try offering UPS Ground or USPS cheap parcel rate instead. Compare your descriptions to the successful auctions other people have had. Is your description adequate. If your a gambler start the auction a little low and see if attracts some action. Offering international shipping can bring you more bidders but is a gamble also. I think I would stay away from E Bays global shipping program though. Make sure you are listing under the correct category. Once again see what your successful competitors are listing theirs at. Key words in the title listing are crucial. If the helmet is something special try to show that in the title. A lot of sellers do Buy It Nows rather then auctions, sometimes it works sometimes not. Try selling on the Forum here first and see if you can get your price then there is always E Bay. Things might pick up after the kids go back to school. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted August 24, 2014 Share #10 Posted August 24, 2014 Those of us who are overseas collectors are scuppered by the inflation of the initial costs by USPS international shipping plus, in my case, the 20% import taxes levied at this end (UK) So, a $500 helmet would potentially end up being almost a $1000 helmet! Many's the time I and my fellow UK collectors on here have reluctantly had to pass on otherwise good deals because of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueBookGuy Posted August 24, 2014 Share #11 Posted August 24, 2014 Overseas collectors could in current times go after some cheap items, or anyway not too expensive ones. Here I must expect to pay at the customs the import fees + govt. taxes + final shipping from them to me = sometimes up to 35%-36% of declared value. This, only to them. Of course this must be added to shipping costs, a possible insurance, and 4% of the total amount to PayPal if had used it. This makes (sometimes at least) a sort of non-sense the whole thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ka bar Posted August 24, 2014 Share #12 Posted August 24, 2014 Those of us who are overseas collectors are scuppered by the inflation of the initial costs by USPS international shipping plus, in my case, the 20% import taxes levied at this end (UK) So, a $500 helmet would potentially end up being almost a $1000 helmet! Many's the time I and my fellow UK collectors on here have reluctantly had to pass on otherwise good deals because of that. Yeah, I feel sorry for our Commonwealth brethren... That VAT tax is nasty and cruel you guys have in the UK Luckily, its just P&H for Australians... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabrejet Posted August 24, 2014 Share #13 Posted August 24, 2014 The best place for you to try to sell your wares is undeniably this forum. You have a captive audience of potentially thousands of buyers (though in reality only a fraction of the registered total frequent these boards with any regularity) most of whom are US-based, so therefore aren't deterred by the kind of shipping rates and taxes which deters we overseas collectors...plus there are no insidious fees to be paid a-la-eBay, so for you it should be a win-win situation. If your stuff isn't selling despite this, then maybe it calls for some "price adjustments" on your part in order to attract potential buyers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brig Posted August 24, 2014 Share #14 Posted August 24, 2014 Keep in mind that summer is always slow, with people funding vacations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wharfmaster Posted August 24, 2014 Share #15 Posted August 24, 2014 Spring and fall are not the best time for me and probably many others for buying militaria, property taxes are due. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BROBS Posted August 24, 2014 Share #16 Posted August 24, 2014 I believe that now is for some reason a really slow time to be selling.. hell i couldn't hardly give away a set of WW2 air crew wings for $25!! -Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluespicker Posted August 24, 2014 Author Share #17 Posted August 24, 2014 Does anyone have problems with EBAY not "Finding" their items with the search engine? I noticed that things don't show up in my search when I search anonymously or have someone else do the search. Interestingly, my items show up when I search logged in under my EBAY User ID. This seems to be a deliberate deception on the part of EBAY. What really surprised me though: when I did a couple of searches for completed auctions, a saw a number of flight helmets that I was sure I didn't see when I searched the auction listings. Fact is, I get 20-30 hits in 7 days on EBAY, yet on the forum, I get may 120 or more. I know EBAY now states that my items may not be displayed in searches which is why I would like to find some alternatives. BTW: Sorry to hear about the import duties and taxes on the overseas buyers. It makes no sense when people are dealing in historical items. Ironic actually that some of the british and French collectors will not be able to bid on items that originated in their countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BROBS Posted August 24, 2014 Share #18 Posted August 24, 2014 Items will not show up in the search ??? Tell me more about this. This sounds very deceptive and insane. -Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brig Posted August 24, 2014 Share #19 Posted August 24, 2014 They're probably there, but what is your seller status? The higher rated, the more priority your listings get...Top Rated and Power Sellers get highest exposure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BROBS Posted August 24, 2014 Share #20 Posted August 24, 2014 ahh yes in that way. I thought he couldn't find it at all even with a filter like "time: ending soonest". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluespicker Posted August 24, 2014 Author Share #21 Posted August 24, 2014 I mean my listings didn't come up period. I went through like 14 pages of search results and it simply wasn't there. If you read EBAY's user agreement it states flatly that your listings may not be displayed in search results. I saw pages of Chinese motorcycle helmets; the spammed listing of a Chinese dealer selling everything with the words "Flight helmet" in the title and even though I reported the guy 14 times, EBAY did nothing. Most flight helmet collectors learn early on that if you don't look at the listing, you may never know what you missed. LIke that P-1 the seller deemed was worthy for parts only. And when I looked at the listings that "sold" using "Flight helmet" I saw a bunch of helmets that I did not see during my earlier searches of active listings. In one instance, I took my exact title and searched for it and literally got 0 hits. As mentioned previously, if I am logged in and do a search, my stuff shows up. But if I have someone else do a search, nothing comes up. I actually called EBAY to complain about this. I figured they would patiently explain that I didn't know what I was talking about and that obviously this was user error on my part. They simply listened to me and didn't deny anything. They asked me if I had a question and I said yes, are my search results missing things. They said Yep and have a nice evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooper B.A.R Posted August 24, 2014 Share #22 Posted August 24, 2014 Always looking for Flight Helmets, but condition and price will decide on purchase. See to many that are ratty and overpriced, or missing items from them, to restore would be above value. My interest are from ww2 to early Vietnam in flight helmets. So post pictures and prices. I don't see that many here ever on sale. It doesn't cost anything to post, so posting is a win win situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebuddy Posted August 24, 2014 Share #23 Posted August 24, 2014 ive always wanted a VN era USAF helmet but wouldnt know where or what to look for !!!! LB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted August 24, 2014 Share #24 Posted August 24, 2014 Again I'll ask.....where are the items? Show me the photos.....I'm interested....always interested in adding good stuff to the collection. Ronnie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Survival Posted August 24, 2014 Share #25 Posted August 24, 2014 Bluespicker next time you list a helmet on E Bay let us know the info and we can see if it comes up in searches or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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