Selling Collectibles (buy, price, shops, supplies) - Seeking, buying, selling, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining collectibles, antiques, and memorabilia - City-Data Forum

Jackie2008 · 02-27-2009, 10:18 AM

Hi. Hope someone can help me. I have a lot of collectibles that I would like to sell. Would it be better to get an antique dealer or an auctioneer? I have asked this question in another thread and haven't gotten any responses yet (in regards to a local auctioneer) yet

. Thanks for your help

michmoldman · 02-27-2009, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jackie2008

Hi. Hope someone can help me. I have a lot of collectibles that I would like to sell. Would it be better to get an antique dealer or an auctioneer? I have asked this question in another thread and haven't gotten any responses yet (in regards to a local auctioneer) yet

. Thanks for your help

I would go with Ebay. If you go to a local dealer, you are gonna get the lowest price. If you go on Ebay, you will get the highest. Now if its something that is not too rare, and hundreds of people are selling it, maybe a local dealer is best. If it is a rarer piece, than Ebay is definately the way to go. Now if you went with a local auctioneer, how many people would be bidding? On Ebay, you have the whole world! just my opinion.
If you are not familiar with selling on Ebay and need some tips, let me know. I have my business on Ebay and I am a power seller.

Jackie2008 · 02-27-2009, 12:07 PM

Michmoldman, thanks for writing back. The thing is, I have boxes, upon boxes, upon boxes

of figurines and I would think it would be too difficult to sell on Ebay. Maybe I'm wrong, but, it isn't like I have 5-10 things, it is a LOT. Someone on the other thread did respond and said auctioneers take 60% commission. Not so good.

Bluw · 02-27-2009, 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jackie2008

Michmoldman, thanks for writing back. The thing is, I have boxes, upon boxes, upon boxes

of figurines and I would think it would be too difficult to sell on Ebay. Maybe I'm wrong, but, it isn't like I have 5-10 things, it is a LOT. Someone on the other thread did respond and said auctioneers take 60% commission. Not so good.

If they are older items you could price them yourself and rent a glass case at an antique mall for six months to a year. I do that and add the .085 commision in on to the price I want and sell that way. It takes a while to sell everything but it is nice to have an extra check come in each month.

CarolinaWoman · 02-27-2009, 12:33 PM

I have a friend that does estate sales ... not necessarily of the deceased either ... it costs ... to advertise and then have a day for potential buyers to see the things for sell and then the actual sale.

I still think eBay or uBid would be your best bet financially. You would have to do the work listing them and shipping and pocket all the money. The other ways consignment shops or autioneers they are going to do the work and take their percentage. Have you looked at Craigs List?

michmoldman · 02-27-2009, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jackie2008

Michmoldman, thanks for writing back. The thing is, I have boxes, upon boxes, upon boxes

of figurines and I would think it would be too difficult to sell on Ebay. Maybe I'm wrong, but, it isn't like I have 5-10 things, it is a LOT. Someone on the other thread did respond and said auctioneers take 60% commission. Not so good.

What I would do is see if you can find the same item you have, selling on Ebay. See what its going for and keep track until it ends. This will give you a good indication of what kind of profits you will make. If you have boxes and boxes, you could get creative with selling. Offer a buy one get one free, half off, or free shipping. You can sell a few at a time, and have money coming in every week until their gone. Get free boxes from grocery stores or wherever to keep your costs low. If they are small enough to wrap in newspapers to ship, you can save even more. Now if you are talking something that you are only going to get a few dollars each, then it may be more hassle than its worth to go the Ebay route. If its something that you will get quite a bit of $$$ from each item, let them bid it out on Ebay. Sometimes, you will be shocked how much money you can make. Millions, and millions of people shop on Ebay. I like the odds.

bjb123 · 03-03-2009, 02:26 PM

QUOTE=michmoldman;7657455]What I would do is see if you can find the same item you have, selling on Ebay. See what its going for and keep track until it ends. This will give you a good indication of what kind of profits you will make. If you have boxes and boxes, you could get creative with selling. Offer a buy one get one free, half off, or free shipping. You can sell a few at a time, and have money coming in every week until their gone. Get free boxes from grocery stores or wherever to keep your costs low. If they are small enough to wrap in newspapers to ship, you can save even more. Now if you are talking something that you are only going to get a few dollars each, then it may be more hassle than its worth to go the Ebay route. If its something that you will get quite a bit of $$$ from each item, let them bid it out on Ebay. Sometimes, you will be shocked how much money you can make. Millions, and millions of people shop on Ebay. I like the odds.[/quote]

Just my 2 cents here....I agree. It really depends on what your items are. I've been selling on eBay only part-time. It's amazing what'll sell! It is important to do your research ahead of time to see if the item is worth listing. The ads don't cost that much as long as you don't get too fancy with the extra graphics. You can sell like items in lots. So far I've been pretty lucky & had to buy very few boxes for shipping. I get them from friends that get medical supplies or buy a lot from catalogs. Once you get the word out that you'll take their boxes off their hands you may end up with too many. I just recycle my extras. Also if you ship through priority, you can get their boxes from the post office for free. When you do advanced searches thru eBay, you can see what items have actually sold in the completed listing catagory. Good luck to you!

Poltracker · 03-05-2009, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blutime

If they are older items you could price them yourself and rent a glass case at an antique mall for six months to a year. I do that and add the .085 commision in on to the price I want and sell that way. It takes a while to sell everything but it is nice to have an extra check come in each month.

This is a good idea. Another good idea is to find a shop or two that will sell on consignment and farm them out that way. Usually, the consignment dealer will help price the items because they want you to get a good price so their share is higher.

rothbear · 03-09-2009, 05:41 AM

I too am in this same boat since we just downsized our home to prepare for retirement (maybe....). No matter where you sell you are going to get virtually nothing for them right now in this economy. So unless you really "need" to sell them, I wouldn't bother. Figurines like Precious Moments, Boyds Bearstones, Charming Tails, Cherished Teddies, etc, unless very rare ones, are going for maybe $2 each if they even sell at all, which is the norm right now. Auctioneers won't sell them individually. They will group them together in a lot and sell them as fast as possible. They usually have their minimum commission and will take it no matter what they get for the items. I don't have a problem with them getting paid, but they really don't care how much above their commission they get since that doesn't affect them (personal experience). And they don't want to be bothered with things that aren't selling.

Ebay isn't much better right now. The best thing, as someone said before, is to do a search of completed auctions (you have to have an account to do this) or search what is selling (if you don't), but I fear you will be sadly disappointed.

Your best bet might be to try a few pieces at a large flea market and see if they generate any interest. Some larger cities have antique and collectible shows that you can set up at, but the table cost might be rather pricey. Or go the "antique mall" route as suggested above. Again, it all depends on how fast you need to move them. Faster usually means less profit.

Jackie2008 · 03-10-2009, 07:49 AM

Rothbear,

I am actually looking to possibly move down your way (I'm in PA) and that is why I want to sell. The majority of the stuff was my mother's. She went shopping (well, we all did) at the local flea market every week (had to be up at 5am every Sunday

). Most of the figurines are pretty old and from Germany, Japan, etc. I had a cousin who is in to antiques take a look at all of it so I know what is what. i also have other stuff, stand-up old time radios from the 20's and 30's depression glass, etc. I thank everyone for suggesting Ebay, but, I really do have too much stuff and I'm wary of sending stuff and not getting a legitmate payment. My cousin said the best way to get the most money would be a yard sale, but, there is no guarantee that anyone is going to be buying now and it would way too much work, especially if you have bring it all back in.