A Word on Values

This is a small disclaimer. On my toy pages I list values of certain items, and I stick by those values. However, just like the stock market, supply and demand have a tole on these prices. If you are an avid collector you might wonder why something can go for so high one month and so low another month. I am speaking generally of auctions on ebay, and not private sales. Values change quite drastically from month to month. On my pages I try to list the general value averaged out over the course of the year. I have also noticed market trends with all toys (not just Care Bears) that may help you buy and sell on ebay at the right times. These trends are listed below.

BEST TIME TO BUY: Summer time is the time to buy. You will notice ebay itself has many listing sales during the summer. This is because generally people are spending less time indoors at their computer and more time in the malls and on vacations. Combined with the tendancy for sellers to find more items at yard sales this makes it the worst time to sell. Summer months include mid May through mid September.

BEST MONTH TO BUY: Competition goes drastically down in the month of July on ebay auctions. I assume this is because July tends to be the biggest vacation month Often times items go down to as low as one fourth the usual price. This is the best time to buy. The unfortunate truth is there are also less people selling in these months. Buyers tend to find rarer items sold in winter months, ballooning their values, but when these rare items appear on ebay in the summer months, your chances of having them increase.

BEST TIME TO SELL: Fall, Winter and Spring is time is the times to sell. Christmas, and the cold weather bring many costumers online. Comeptition to bid starts going up in mid September, peaks in March and April, then steadily goes down again.

BEST MONTH TO SELL: There are two great times to sell. Mid March through Mid April are the golden auction months. This is soley due to tax returns and a small bit is due to the lingering chill weather that causes many people to go through winter blues. Buyers medicate their blues by staying online. If you have high ticket items to get rid of (i.e. items worth several hundred dollars) it is best to sell at this time. The other best time is just before Christmas. There are many buyers eager to in late November.