Are you looking to sell your figurine collection?
We are experienced secondary market sellers of
collectible figurines, including Swarovski Crystal,
Lladro, Hummel, Royal Doulton, and others.
We can help you sell by consignment, or if you
would prefer a more immediate liquidation, we
could purchase your collection outright.
Our reliable staff will walk you through the entire
process and help you evaluate your options.
We
have several years experience in the appraisal,
buying, and selling of collectibles and are reputable
dealers in secondary markets.
Call Jon Treble,
for a no-obligation consultation.
(201) 936-6998
Advice
to Online Collectibles Sellers
By Jonathan Treble, Updated January
20th, 2010
If
you are attempting to sell a large collection
by yourself, be sure to avoid common mistakes.
Problematic
Alternatives:
1) Selling on Ebay
2) Selling on Craigslist
3) Selling on Affinity
Forums
Selling
on Ebay
Auctioning
your collectibles on eBay can be a timely, risky,
and costly endeavor, especially if you are inexperienced
with eBay. Here's why:
A)
Selling on eBay requires
time and effort.
Selling
anything on eBay requires time
and effort. The seller must performa
a range of tasks to successfully market each piece:
photographing the figurine, creating a listing,
marketing it well, communicating with potential
bidders, managing the payment process, and, finally,
shipping the item safely. Each one of these steps
is crucial to the success of your auction, and
each one requires time and attention.
There
are other disadvantages to selling on eBay if
you are an amateur:
1)
The competition.
Even
if you have the time and effort to complete all
of these tasks, you face stiff competition from
experienced sellers in the field. The Ebay Marketplace
hosts thousands of sales of Swarovski crystal
figurines each day. The majority
of these sales come from experienced sellers who
have known advantages over amateurs. These include:
2)
The fees.
It's
no secret that between eBay and Paypal fees, a
seller loses away a significant percentage of
the value of his or her crystals. There are several
fees that go into each eBay/Paypal transaction:
listing fee, gallery picture fee, pictures fees,
final value fee, miscellaneous upgrade fees, and
the payment processing fee. For some transactions,
the fees absorbed may constitute over 10% of the
crystal's value.
3)
The risk of chargebacks.
One
popular scam nowadays, practiced by unscrupulous
buyers, is the Paypal "chargeback".
Paypal offers only limited buyer and seller protection
and requires that the seller adhere to strict
policies.
Selling
on Craigslist
The
obvious problem with selling on Craigslist is
the limited geographic reach of your posting.
While Craigslist beats eBay anyday in fees (Craigslist
is free), it can never get close
to the amount of exposure per auction that eBay
can.
Another
problem is scamming. Craigslist has even fewer
protections than eBay, meaning you really must
be careful when conducting in-person sales.
Selling
on Affinity Forums
Some
collectors attempt to sell their crystals and
figurines on affinity forums on the internet.
Right now there is no one prevailing affinity
forum for figurine collectibles. With much diligence,
one could find micro-forums with a couple dozen
collectors, but this is hardly the type of market
you want to sell to. Assuming you can find an
adequately sized online forum, this method can
safer and more successful than selling on eBay,
however, significant risks remain:
1)
Counterparty credibility.
Make
sure you know who you are dealing with. When geographically
close, try to meet your buyer in person to ensure
that the transaction runs smoothly.
2)
Asymmetry of information.
If
you do not conduct due diligence as to the current
market value of the crystals in question, you
may be underpaid due to the non-competitive manner
in which prices are negotiated. Make sure you
consult a handbook, the internet, or other objective
sources to get a sense for what your items are
going for.
