Advice on how to sell off my big Rares • Collecting General • The Acaeum

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Advice on how to sell off my big Rares
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bombadil
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 9:40 am

March Madness has come a little late for this hombre.

Remember that April Fools Day auction by annalisa123456...? I've got all of that (let's see, off the top of my head it included mint Tsojconth & Fazzle from Howard's own private stash, Inverness, Tamo, T1st Greyhawk, a 4th print whitey in as close to mint as I've ever seen, all the supps in first printings, R1-4, RPGA 1&2, Dragons 1 & 2 from Richard Snider's personal collection, and 1st print hardcovers of the AD&D manuals), plus a 2nd print Chainmail (yellow), foldered PoVQ, the Bella PoVQ, and a few other rare items itching to be sold. Now, I'm looking for advice on how to do it. List it all in one big, multi-item auction, sell them off slowly one at a time, go for private deals. Do it now, or wait? What do you guys suggest?

This is not about money, though I don't intend to get screwed. And I want this stuff to go to collectors who really value it for the history, not as an investment.

And I don't want to trade.

Your advice?
-Stephen

Let mirth prevail!

bclarkie
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 9:54 am

bombadil wrote:March Madness has come a little late for this hombre.

Remember that April Fools Day auction by annalisa123456...? I've got all of that (let's see, off the top of my head it included mint Tsojconth & Fazzle from Howard's own private stash, Inverness, Tamo, T1st Greyhawk, a 4th print whitey in as close to mint as I've ever seen, all the supps in first printings, R1-4, RPGA 1&2, Dragons 1 & 2 from Richard Snider's personal collection, and 1st print hardcovers of the AD&D manuals), plus a 2nd print Chainmail (yellow), foldered PoVQ, the Bella PoVQ, and a few other rare items itching to be sold. Now, I'm looking for advice on how to do it. List it all in one big, multi-item auction, sell them off slowly one at a time, go for private deals. Do it now, or wait? What do you guys suggest?

This is not about money, though I don't intend to get screwed. And I want this stuff to go to collectors who really value it for the history, not as an investment.

And I don't want to trade.

Your advice?
-Stephen

Hi Stephen. I would suggest selling them off indivually as it will get you the most money in the long run. With the stuff that you have you are likely to run into an unseen cap as most people only have a limited amount of money to spend at once. I know that you are not looking to max out your money on it, but it doesn't make sense either to cost your self thousands of dollars either.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." -Neitzche

beasterbrook
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 9:57 am

I'd suggest private sale then, as you get to choose who gets what, you get to decide who will "really value it for the history, not as an investment" In an auction, the person who bids the most gets the item. Most of the collectors have a basic understanding of what they are worth, you may not get the very top dollar you can in this fashon, but not too far off it I'm sure. I for one am always willing to pay market value for items I am after... Any particular reason you are thinking of selling??

Brette:)

Marlith
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 9:58 am

My advice may different than many here. I would suggest selling them all individually on eBay and putting a fair reserve on each. Before doing that I might list them here and do a running live auction. You might even want to make the auction by approved bidder or invitation only. There were concerns expressed about blind sales when the last lot of items were sold and I can understand those concerns. Again I would put a reserve or minimum amount to protect yourself and to make sure things are purchased to collect and not to be resold.

Information Superhighway - A Rough Whimper of Insanity - Scott Hansen

killjoy32
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 10:52 am

stephen - advertise them here first. seems the most sensible way. if its not what you want, then ebay it is really isnt it?

mind you, dragonsfoot - advertise there might also be a good idea. between the two sites, you will prb cover the majority of collectors and of course ppl just browse too, so they would see the intention to sell etc. this might also push them to join the site too?

if all else fails, then good ol ebay with a respectable reserve (so as you dont get stiffed), should do the trick.

Al

ps. as much as i would like to my friend, i wont be in the running for anything as i have another marathon to fund, as well as pay off this one

Are we nearly there yet?

Theleb
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 10:58 am

First, make sure you really want to sell. You don't want to sell everything to only discover you really want it all back again. If you definitely decide to sell then I'd list them in the Classified section here and take offers. I think quite a few denizens of this forum will give you a fair offer, and then you can ensure the items go to collectors and avoid eBay fees. After those initial rounds, then you could auction them off slowly on eBay. That system seems to have worked out really well for the burntwire brothers.
Best of luck making this big decision.

Blackmoor
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 12:11 pm

Sell them one at a time, posting here first may give you some satisfaction that they are going to collectors. I for one would be very interested on some of your stuff.

Be sure you want to do this though, I have gone through the sell it and re-buy it later deal.

Games can get you through times of no money but money can not get you through times of no games!!

Marlith
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 1:34 pm

Blackmoor wrote:Sell them one at a time, posting here first may give you some satisfaction that they are going to collectors. I for one would be very interested on some of your stuff.

Be sure you want to do this though, I have gone through the sell it and re-buy it later deal.

Done the sell/buy back routine many times and they never seem to go down in value. I sold off all of my MERP stuff and really can't justify the prices I would have to pay now.

Whatever you choose to do in the way of selling good luck!

Information Superhighway - A Rough Whimper of Insanity - Scott Hansen

bombadil
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 4:17 pm

Forgot to mention: there's also a shrinkwrapped OB3 in there.

Thanks for the advice so far.

-Stephen

Let mirth prevail!

mbassoc2003
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 4:18 pm

Auction them on eBay.
Only action them one or two at a time, and space them to allow people to recover financially before their next big bid.
A private PM to Paul to make sure you don't coincide with one of his big auctions. You want people to focus on yours.
Lay them all out in front of you, and dicide how much you'd be happy walking away with for the whole lot. Once you've decided that, split that figure up and assign reserves to each item.
Auction with a reserve. You may want to add a Buy It Now. The BIN won't disappear until the reserve is met.
Post big pictures.
Be honest.
Post links to all the important items in the Classifieds both here and on Dragonsfoot (and check that they work).

...and good luck.

This week I've been mostly eating . . . The white ones with the little red flecks in them.

ExTSR
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 4:56 pm

Remember that many serious collectors at the GenCon auction don't come here and shun eBay.

If you're not going to GenCon, you can register it at our website (weekendwarrior.com), then mail stuff to me and I'll take it to Indy for ya. We'll send you a check.

Deadlord
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 8:13 pm

It's a shame you've been soured on collecting, Stephen. But I certainly understand.
If you want to max profits, go the private offers/silent auction/etc routine. For less hassle, throw them on eBay. No reserve or any of that crap. It's not like they'll go cheap.

If you hit a Rowsdower, you get to keep it.

Badmike
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 8:46 pm

Deadlord39 wrote:It's a shame you've been soured on collecting, Stephen. But I certainly understand.
If you want to max profits, go the private offers/silent auction/etc routine. For less hassle, throw them on eBay. No reserve or any of that crap. It's not like they'll go cheap.

I agree with Dead. No need to pay the reserve fees, those goodies are going to go for big bucks, no chance of slipping through the cracks. Just advertise here the day before the auction, and let it rip.
If you have a price in mind, just advertise that price here in the classifieds. No Ebay fees, and you can be sure the item goes to a real collector.

Mike B.

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mdr003
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Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 9:04 pm

I'd agree with pretty much all the above - perhaps advertise on here first for private offers, and anything that isn't sold put up individually on ebay. It seemed to work well for Devon and Shawn. That way you can ensure a large chunk of your collection will go to those who will appreciate them, and I'm sure any that go on ebay will fetch a decent price also.

Regards

Mike

Demand of them whither they should comme to devide the worlde with the Emperour? And as they answered, he tooke up his shirte behinde and shewed them his buttocks, sayenge unto them, drawe your Lyne throughe the middest of *this* place.

FormCritic
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 2:06 am

I think you should sell them one at a time...and see how you feel about it after you sell the first one.

First, sell the one you want least...and see how you feel about it.

Mark

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

mbassoc2003
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 4:58 am

Why are you selling?

This week I've been mostly eating . . . The white ones with the little red flecks in them.

guerret
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 12:49 pm

If this is REALLY not about money, then I think you should sell them privately. Advertise them in this forum, wait for a few messages (and offers) to come up, then gather it all and try to make as many people as possible happy. You know that serious collectors will make respectable offers, though not as high as those you could get by listing them over several months on eBay, so you will not end up being screwed. In addition, you have the opportunity to select the destination of your items yourself, therefore you can be fair to your intentions, selecting only those who appear to have serious collection intentions, and avoid selling to the likes of felines. The really interested collector would also not be disappointed by unknown snipers catching his prized item at the last moment.

On the other hand, by selling them all separately on eBay, you would get more money, but have little control over who gets what.

killjoy32
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 1:25 pm

well in the end, its not like hes not gonna get a sh*t load of $ for them anyway. they are like amongst the rarest rares, so there aint gonna be a problem offloading them at the going prices at least amongst this lot, whether there are funds available or not

like this lot here have ever worried about that!

Are we nearly there yet?

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