Hi, I'm ebayer crystal2973 and I've been ebaying for a little over a year. And let me tell you, during that year I've learned some hard lessons about buying and selling. I stumbled onto something that I had no idea was such a great collector item--the PEZ. So naturally I ran out and bought every pez I could find, rushed back home & slapped them on ebay. Days later, I was sorely disappointed to discover I made little to nothing on them.

So, I started researching.

Today I'm going to pass on to you fellow ebayers a few interesting things I've learned about pez.

• Not just any pez will do.

There are a few things you need to look for when buying a pez to resell. Not every pez is worth money. In fact, most of them are worth very little.

You need to look for a pez with a patent # that begins with a 2 or 3. This tells approximately how old they are. The older, the better. The patent is located on one side of the pez near the bottom.

• Look for pez that have no feet

I know, when I first starting looking for pez I had no idea what "feet" were. Well they're simply the little platform on the bottom of the dispenser which enables it to stand on its own. The earlier pez did not have these, and are much more valuable. Every 2 patent I've seen so far has had no feet. Also some of the 3's. You will probably find a lot of 3 patents with thin feet. These were the first type of feet that were put on pez dispensers.

• Condition of pez

What condition the dispenser is in does not  necessarily determine how much it will sell for. Let's say you find a 2.6 patent but a small piece is broken. I say grab it and fast! I've seen 2.6 patents with numerous problems sell for thousands of dollars. This will not be the case every time, but odds are that you will make money on them.

Now, if you have a 4 or 5 patent with a broken piece I say let it pass. These aren't worth much by themselves because these are the most recent patents. If it is in good condition it's okay to buy it as long as you're getting it cheap (.25 or .50 cents). The best way to sell these newer patents is in a large lot. You're not going to make a killing off of them, but you should be able to make some profit.

Now, if you have one of the earlier patents, I would list it by itself. It's best not to start the bidding at too high of a price though.  Just start out at a reasonably low bid ($10 or so) and the price will go up on its own. These are worth quite a bit and collectors know that, so they're willing to bid.

Well, that's my words of wisdom for the day. I hope it helps some of you potential pez dealers.

Good luck & most importantly--remember to have fun along the way!