Sportlots Stores is where sellers can list cards at a fixed price.
Adding InventoryTo add inventory on Sportlots, click on the "Add Inven (by Set)" or "Add Inven (by Player)" links.
When adding inventory by set, the seller will first need to narrow down which set they want to add cards for. To do this, they will need to select the sport, brand, and year.
To speed up the process, Sportlots also asks the seller to select the condition (if they have cards in multiple conditions, the seller must come back to this screen for each group of cards by condition). We recommend sorting cards out by condition within each set to help insure that the correct card is pulled at the time an order is placed.
To also speed up the process, Sportlots will also ask the seller to select a default price. This will typically be the "common" price of the cards the seller is selling from this set. That way, the seller only has to manually price out the non-common cards. The minimum price that Sportlots allows is 18 cents for a card (See "Hot Sets" in this user guide for exceptions to this rule).
A default bin code is available to further break-down their inventory. See more information below on what the bin code can be used for.
There is also a check box called "Default to existing pricing" box. If this is selected, when adding cards, if the seller already has another card in inventory for this set, the price loaded is ignored and the price of the existing card is used. If this is not selected, then the price that the seller has most recently added will be used and will replace any existing price. Sellers are not permitted to have two of the exact same cards, in the same condition at different prices.
Once the seller has selected their criteria and clicked on the "Get Sets" button, all of the sets that have met these criteria will appear. The seller should then find the set they want to add cards to. If the seller can't find the set in the list, they can then request Sportlots to add the set (See "Requesting New Sets" in this guide for more information).
Once the seller has selected the set, the set information will be displayed and cards can be added. All of the card information is pre-loaded for the seller and because the seller has already selected the condition and the default price, the only information the seller needs to add is the quantity available and potentially change the price for cards that are not at the "default" price that was set.
For each card, Sportlots will display the number of cards currently loaded on Sportlots, this gives an indication to the seller how many cards are already loaded and can help determine how much competition there is with other sellers to try to sell this card. This may have an influence on the price the seller wants to sell this card at. With lower competition, the seller may demand a higher price; with more competition, the seller may want to discount the price in order to make the sale.
The bin code is a user-defined field that is 5 characters long to further break-down their inventory. For example, a seller may have multiple collections they have purchased, but has never merged the collections together. The bin field can help this seller designate what collection this card is in. Then when filling orders using the "Pull Inventory" button, the seller can see what bin the card is located in.
The light green shaded cells are for card attributes. This is information at a global card level that sellers have
the opportunity to add. This impacts all sellers who have this card, so be sure to enter this information correctly.
If another seller has already indicated the attribute properties, then these fields will no longer be enterable. Here
is more information regarding each attribute and how to enter the properties:
If you enter any of these attributes, make sure they are all correct. Once these have been changed, your Sportlots ID will be recorded and no other seller will be able to make changes to the attributes.
Taking the time to add the attributes will help increase the visibility of the seller's cards. The search screens have the capability to filter on just the attributes the customer is looking for. If these attributes are set accurately, the customer will be able to view a smaller selection of cards.
On the far right hand side of this screen is a "Fix" button. Click on this button to inform Sportlots of any errors with the player name or any of the attributes. We will investigate the issue, make appropriate changes and notify you when the changes have been made. Please note that changes to the player name may not be reflected in the system until the index has been updated. This occurs monthly on the 2nd of each month.
For larger sets, Sportlots will only display 100 cards at a time. As the seller clicks the "Inventory Cards" button, the system will load the cards added on this screen and proceed to the next 100 cards. The seller must click the "Get Next 100" button to continue. This will continue until the seller has completed adding all of the cards in the set.
The process is similar for adding cards by player. Sportlots recommends that cards be added by set because it is much more effective to find and fill orders when cards are organized by set and within the set by the card number. However, when sellers have a large volume of cards and are organized by player already, it could be a large effort to reorganize the inventory by set. This is why the "Add by Player" option is available. However, be aware that misspelled names and leader cards (where more than one player is listed) will not always come up when bringing up cards by player.
Adding pictures to higher priced cards is a very effective way to help sell cards. If two sellers have the same card both priced the same, the buyer is almost always going to purchase the card with the picture as long as the condition of the card and the picture match up.
Sportlots wants to make the adding of inventory as quick and efficient as possible, so there is no ability to load pictures of cards at the time the seller adds the inventory. Instead, Sportlots provides 3 ways to add pictures.
When a buyer places an offer on a seller's card, a message will be sent to the seller informing them of a pending offer. From this email, the seller can click on the link provided to get directly to the "Offers" screen where the seller can review and process the offer. The seller can also get to this same screen by clicking on the "Offers" link under the "Sell" tab on the Sportlots Menu bar at the top of any Sportlots screen.
Once on the "Offers" screen, the seller can review all of their pending offers. When processing offers, the seller has three options:
Important notes!
Offers are only available for a maximum of two days, depending on when the offer was placed. If the seller fails to accept or deny the offer within this time frame, the offer is removed and is assumed to be denied.
When a seller makes a sale, Sportlots will automatically update the seller's inventory so that card can no longer be purchased. However, there is always a need for a seller to make updates to current inventory. The seller may have sold or traded the card outside of Sportlots, made a mistake with the condition of the card when initially entering the card or simply would like to change the asking price of the card.
To update inventory, the seller can click on the "Update Inven" link under the "Sell" tab on the Sportlots menu bar found on the top of any Sportlots screen. The seller can then update inventory:
Once the seller has the update screen up, they can enter a new quantity, new condition or new price for any cards listed on the screen.
The bin code is a user-defined field that is 5 characters long to further break-down their inventory. For example, a seller may have multiple collections they have purchased, but has never merged the collections together. The bin field can help this seller designate what collection this card is in. Then when filling orders using the "Pull Inventory" button, the seller can see what bin the card is located in.
The light green shaded cells are for card attributes. This is information at a global card level that sellers
have the opportunity to add. This impacts all sellers who have this card, so be sure to enter this information
correctly. If another seller has already indicated the attribute properties, then these fields will not be enterable.
Here is more information regarding each attribute and how to enter the properties:
If you enter any of these attributes, make sure they are all correct. Once these have been changed, your Sportlots ID will be recorded and no other seller will be able to make changes to the attributes.
Taking the time to add the attributes will help increase visibility of your cards. The search screens have the capability to filter on just the attributes the customer is looking for. If these attributes are set accurately, the customer will be able to view a smaller selection of cards.
On the far right hand side of this screen is a "Fix" button. Click on this button to inform Sportlots of any errors with the player name or any of the attributes. We will investigate the issue, make appropriate changes and notify you when the changes have been made. Please note that changes to the player name may not be reflected in the system until the index has been updated. This occurs once a week on Sunday nights; more frequently if there are a large number of requests for name changes.
Please note: When updates are done, the "Last Update Date" is updated to the date the update occurred. This helps track when changes were made to inventory but is also used in helping to order the cards for the buyers. If the seller has the same card, in the same condition and at the same price as another seller, that card will now be placed at the bottom of the list because the third sort order is the date added/updated.
Sportlots allows sellers to set their own postage rates based on a predefined range of cards. The shipping costs should decrease as the number of cards increase in the order. By providing this shipping discount for higher volumes of cards, the seller provides incentive for the buyer to purchase more cards from them.
Sportlots provides "Budget", "Premium" and "Box" rates for sellers to set. When the buyer places an order, they have the option to select any of these shipping options.
When "Budget" shipping service is selected, the buyer is providing the seller the flexibility to find alternative ways to ship their package while still maintaining a reasonable amount of security for the cards in order to reduce shipping costs. There is slightly more risk of damaged items, but the lower shipping rates may be worth this risk. If a buyer selects this option, they are waiving their right to request a refund in the event that the item(s) are damaged in the mail. The buyer has elected to take this risk in order to reduce shipping costs.
When "Premium" shipping service is requested, the seller must at list ship the order in a bubble mailer or sturdy cardboard packaging when the order size is larger. Cards within bubble mailers must also be further protected. Acceptable methods include:
When "Box" shipping service is requested, this means that the buyer wants the order shipped to their Sportlots PO Box. The whole idea behind the "Box" shipping option is to save postage costs by bundling orders together. Sellers are encouraged to wait a few extra days before marking orders filled in this category and allowing orders to accumulate so that they can all be shipped togehter in a single box and sent to Sportlots. It is important that the seller does not fill any orders in this category until they are ready to ship the full contents of all orders in this category. The buyer will then also let their orders accumulate in their Sportlots PO box and request on shipment from the PO Box to their house. Please view the video on this shipping method for much more information by clicking on the video player icon on the "Fill to Box" tab on the Account Summary screen.
Regardless of which shipping option is used, the seller is always responsible for the delivery of the order. If the buyer claims the order never arrived to their house (for "Budget" or "Premium") or to their PO Box (for "Box"), it is the burden of the seller to show proof of delivery of the package.
Sellers have the ability to eliminate the "Budget" shipping service by setting a premium threshold amount. This is to protect the seller from having to risk shipping high value cards with a budget shipping option. For example, a seller may set a premium threshold at $25.00. If the buyer's order amount is over $25.00, the buyer will be forced to select a premium shipping option with that seller.
Sellers also have a place to further explain their shipping policy. Giving more information here may give buyers piece of mind that their orders will be shipped safely and really spell out details of how the seller ships cards under different circumstances.
When a seller goes to add new inventory for a set, it is possible that the set has not yet been loaded into the system by Sportlots. When this occurs, the seller can request that the set be added. To do this, go under the "Sell" tab on the Sportlots menu bar and then under the "Stores", the seller can click on the "Request a New Set. This will bring the seller to a screen that will list all of the other sets that have already been requested. The seller should review the list of requested sets and if this set is not listed, they can then request that the set be listed at the bottom of this screen.
Note: Sportlots will no longer list sets that were produced prior to 2006. It has been determined that only very obscure sets prior to 2006 have not yet been listed and analysis has determined that there is virtually no benefit to adding these sets. They have not yet been listed because demand for these cards is extremely low. Instead, Sportlots will focus on quickly loading the more recent sets.
If a seller finds an issue with an existing set, they are encouraged to contact Sportlots to get the problem fixed. To do this, go to the “Help” tab on the Sportlots menu bar and click on “Help/Contact Sportlots”. Then simply select the “Request Set Checklist Fix” option and explain in detail the problem that needs to be fixed.
Sportlots fixed priced fees are based solely on the total sales the seller generates each month. There are no listing fees, so the seller can load as many cards as they like to the site. If no cards sell, there will be no charges. Sales are defined as the selling price of the card (minus loot applied). Postage rates are also not part of this calculation and sellers receive 100% of the postage they charge.
Sportlots uses a tiered percentage of total sales for the following reasons:
Sportlots encourages smaller sellers to use the Sportlots Auction format to sell cards. This is a great format to quickly turnaround cards that are no longer needed. Fixed prices stores format is generally used for larger sellers looking to consistently make monthly sales over a long period of time.
If a potential seller has a question whether their collection is large enough to sell long-term in Sportlots fixed priced format, feel free to use the "Contact Sportlots" link provided on Sportlots.com. Be sure to include as much information about the cards to be sold and Sportlots may be able to help provide some insight into whether or not the fixed price format is worth the effort. There are many factors including the type, quantity, quality, price and customer service that can be provided. So it's always difficult to know exactly how well a particular seller will do. But Sportlots may be able to provide some insights and help the potential seller make that determination. The last thing Sportlots wants anyone to do is spend a lot of time and effort loading cards just to find out it wasn't worth the effort. Selling in the fixed priced format is a large commitment and some thought should be taken before starting.
Here is the Sportlots Fixed Priced Fee Structure:
| Low Amt | High Amt | Fee Pct. |
|---|---|---|
| $0.00 | $4.99 | 75% |
| $5.00 | $24.99 | 50% |
| $25.00 | $49.99 | 35% |
| $50.00 | $99.99 | 27% |
| $100.00 | $199.99 | 23% |
| $200.00 | $299.99 | 20% |
| $300.00 | $499.99 | 18% |
| $500.00 | $999.99 | 17% |
| $1000.00 | $1499.99 | 16% |
| $1500.00 | Above | 15% |
To encourage the sale of higher valued cards, Sportlots only applies a portion of the sale of these higher priced cards toward the above fee schedule. Cards with selling prices between $5 and $15 will only have 50% of the sale price above $5.00 applied to the above fee schedule. While cards selling above $15.00 will only have 25% of the sale price above $15.00 applied to the above table.
Here's an example of how this works. In this example, let's say a seller sells a $50.00 card.
| First $5.00 | 100% applied to the above fee schedule | $5.00 applied |
| Next $10.00 | 50% applied to the above fee schedule | $5.00 applied |
| Next $35.00 | 25% applied to the above fee schedule | $8.75 applied |
In this example, the seller only had $18.75 of the total $50.00 applied to the fee schedule above, giving this seller $31.25 in sales with no fees that applied.
At the end of the month, it is possible (but unlikely) that the "Applied Sales" could have a negative impact on the total fees paid. If this occurs, Sportlots will revert to not applying this feature to insure that the seller will always pay the lower fee.
Sellers are also required to pay any PayPal transaction fees that are incurred when buyers pay with PayPal.
See PayPal's website for their latest fees.
All Paypal fees are not reversed if the buyer is refunded for any reason. Refunds to the buyer are not refunded back to the buyers PayPal account, instead the refund is given back to the buyer in the form of a credit that can be reused back on the site for additional purchases. Therefore, PayPal fees are not recovered.
One important point to note is that, in rare situations that the Paypal fees could be a significant portion of the sale, especially when a buyer is purchasing just a couple common cards from a single seller. There is no good solution to this situation for the seller when this occurs. Here's why:
Our solution is to allow Paypal payments on all orders, but if buyers continue to use Paypal for consistently small orders over time, the Paypal option will be removed for them until their average sales increase. Then the Paypal option will be restored for them.
We know that giving Paypal all of the sales for a small order is a tough pill to swallow. What we ask is that sellers look at the Paypal transactions fees as a monthly cost of doing business instead of looking at these fees on an order by order basis. In most cases, these fees will then look less significant and more acceptable with the knowledge that about 80% of our sales come through Paypal.