Need advice on selling my OCE with or w/o Greyhawk and S& • Collecting Appraisal • The Acaeum

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Need advice on selling my OCE with or w/o Greyhawk and S&
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OldGamerbytheSea
Collector

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Last Visit: Sep 11, 2019
Location: Florida

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 7:31 pm

I'm starting the process of selling off my game collection and would like a little advice. My collection has been sealed away in storage tubs for the past 25+ years, and I've come to realize that I'm tired of hefting them whenever I move (11 times so far).

I've spent hours perusing the Acaeum forums and the pricing guide (what a tremendously valuable resource!) plus ebay, but I can't decide if I should offer my D&D OCE set with Greyhawk and Swords & Spells supplements, or sell the supplements separately.

I have the 6th printing (I guess that's what OCE means) - the one with the starburst on the cover. GH says 11th printing on the title page; S&S says 6th printing. The box and booklets are complete and in great condition - I never opened or read them beyond a first look when I bought them. The box has a couple of scuffed corners, and some bozo stamped the price with a rubber stamp on the GH title page, but that's it.

Anyhoo... what's the way collectors would like to buy these items - combined with supplements or separate?

JasonZavoda
Long-Winded Collector
JG Valuation Board

Posts: 3823
Joined: Jul 12, 2007
Last Visit: Dec 17, 2021

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:25 pm

OldGamerbytheSea wrote:I'm starting the process of selling off my game collection and would like a little advice. My collection has been sealed away in storage tubs for the past 25+ years, and I've come to realize that I'm tired of hefting them whenever I move (11 times so far).

I've spent hours perusing the Acaeum forums and the pricing guide (what a tremendously valuable resource!) plus ebay, but I can't decide if I should offer my D&D OCE set with Greyhawk and Swords & Spells supplements, or sell the supplements separately.

I have the 6th printing (I guess that's what OCE means) - the one with the starburst on the cover. GH says 11th printing on the title page; S&S says 6th printing. The box and booklets are complete and in great condition - I never opened or read them beyond a first look when I bought them. The box has a couple of scuffed corners, and some bozo stamped the price with a rubber stamp on the GH title page, but that's it.

Anyhoo... what's the way collectors would like to buy these items - combined with supplements or separate?

If you mean for maximum profit (without the gamble of an auction) then individually priced and sold outside of ebay. Or on ebay, sell them individually with a bin and undercut by a small margin the current bins on the same items by other sellers.

My advice would be first to consider whether you really want to sell them, because I have seen people sell their collections and then sometime later try to buy back the kinds of games they have sold ( now missing the personel connection of having owned them for 25+ years).

Second you need to decide if you want to sell quickly or wait for a buyer. Auctions are quick, but for the most part not the way to get the most money for your items. Buy it nows generally get you the most money but can take quite some time before you find a buyer.

"You get more with a kind word and an excruciator than with just a kind word."

OldGamerbytheSea
Collector

Posts: 8
Joined: Feb 20, 2011
Last Visit: Sep 11, 2019
Location: Florida

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 8:52 pm

Thanks for the quick answer. That's exactly the advice I need.

I've given this process a lot of thought and spent the past week or so digging through Acaeum for an education. As much as I am attached to the games, the reality is that I haven't played in 20 years and haven't used any of my gaming material in nearly 25 years... and unfortunately it's not likely that I'll play them again. Life changes. And they should to be enjoyed, not stored away.

This thread was very helpful: viewtopic.php?t=11024

My conclusions are that I am not in a rush (the task of cataloguing, imaging, and assessing condition ain't easy), so I can wait for best price - even if it takes the rest of the year. It also seems best from your advice and other Arcaeum threads to do a little triage - sell the more interesting items individually outside of ebay, try auctions with a bin, and then maybe auction off the Dragon magazines etc as a set.

JasonZavoda
Long-Winded Collector
JG Valuation Board

Posts: 3823
Joined: Jul 12, 2007
Last Visit: Dec 17, 2021

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 9:59 pm

OldGamerbytheSea wrote:Thanks for the quick answer. That's exactly the advice I need.

I've given this process a lot of thought and spent the past week or so digging through Acaeum for an education. As much as I am attached to the games, the reality is that I haven't played in 20 years and haven't used any of my gaming material in nearly 25 years... and unfortunately it's not likely that I'll play them again. Life changes. And they should to be enjoyed, not stored away.

This thread was very helpful: viewtopic.php?t=11024

My conclusions are that I am not in a rush (the task of cataloguing, imaging, and assessing condition ain't easy), so I can wait for best price - even if it takes the rest of the year. It also seems best from your advice and other Arcaeum threads to do a little triage - sell the more interesting items individually outside of ebay, try auctions with a bin, and then maybe auction off the Dragon magazines etc as a set.

Recently there have been a number of advice threads worth checking out. For you the key thing is to know what price you want for your games and give yourself the time and opportunity to get it. You can always lower a price or accept a counter offer, but once you sell that item is then gone, so starting off low can be quick but it usually isn't as profitable as taking your time and finding the right buyer.

For buyers you will need to grade accurately and when you sell make sure to charge fair shipping prices and pack carefully. If you sell to anyone here you can build up a good rep and not have to worry about getting screwed over by random buyers on ebay or the need to pay the ebay fees. Later if you do sell on ebay having a good rep here can be invaluable.

Checking out ebay buy it nows and completed auctions as well as making note of the condition of the items is the best price guide around. If you see three or four different sellers offering around the same buy it now price then you pretty much know you need to undercut that price to sell.

"You get more with a kind word and an excruciator than with just a kind word."

OldGamerbytheSea
Collector

Posts: 8
Joined: Feb 20, 2011
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Location: Florida

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 10:18 pm

I am working very hard to educate myself about grading condition to be fair and accurate. The examples in the Acaeum FAQs have been very helpful, especially when the images are blown up. I think any newbie seller should examine the grading system carefully.

My head is spinning after reading all of the advice - but it seems there are some common threads:
1.) Accurate grading and honest, thorough description are most important to attracting the best fair market value.

2.) Patience is a virtue. In the past hour I've watched nearly identical examples of the OCE set sell for $225+ and $142+... and the lower priced set included a copy of Greyhawk. The price disparity says a lot about using ebay to assess fair market value.

3.) There seems to be a lot of yahoos with unrealistic expectations of selling price. It's important to set aside personal feelings and be realistic about what the market will pay.

4.) The strategy about pricing against other bin prices is sound. But a reserve price to hold a minium can backfire if one accumulates a lot of ebay fees for failed auctions. The advice about selling privately in Acaeum sounds even better, now.

5.) I need to borrow a digital camera. I can't exactly scan a box :wink:

TheHistorian
Sage Collector

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Location: Seattle, WA

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 10:49 pm

Jason's advice is sound.

And yes, pictures are essential. Two people could differ over what grade should be assigned, but pictures showing any defects are pretty much indisputable.

Areas of interest/knowledge: Harn, WFRP, Ars Magica, anything BRP based such as CoC, Runequest, Pendragon and all their related games

JasonZavoda
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Posts: 3823
Joined: Jul 12, 2007
Last Visit: Dec 17, 2021

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 10:54 pm

The problem with auction values is that there are so many variables.

One of the biggest is whether the seller ships outside the USA or not. Selling outside the USA usually means a much larger final auction price but there are a great many risks when doing it on ebay.

Selling to buyers in some countries is a great risk (I've heard terrible things about shipping to Brazil, horror stories about shipping to Italy, etc...) There are a few notable buyers that you may want to block. I believe there is a blocked bidder thread somewhere around here.

Selling on ebay means following their rules and paypals rules. You can sell, receive payment, ship the item, only to have someone dispute the shipment and end up losing the item and the money. (This happens inside and outside the USA, but most of the time having a tracking number will be enough for a seller to win a dispute, and tracking is pretty straightforward domesticaly).

But as far as auction price variables beside selling outside the USA, there is the seller rep, the condition of the item, how many of the same item is currently or has been recently put up for sale, and just the bad economy and bad luck of the draw.

If you do run an auction on ebay keep in mind that the best time to sell is usually around 10pm Eastern standard because it isn't to late for the eastern buyers and the western buyer should be home and finished with dinner.

These are some of the variables when selling by auction. It is a gamble. Sometime it pays off when two or more bidder really want an item, but more often than not I've seen decent items sell well under what a buy it now and some waiting time would have brought in because it was just a bad night for an auction.

"You get more with a kind word and an excruciator than with just a kind word."

OldGamerbytheSea
Collector

Posts: 8
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Last Visit: Sep 11, 2019
Location: Florida

Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2011 11:11 pm

Well, y'all have persuaded me to try Acaeum's classifieds first. I've contacted a member looking for some things I have, and just posted my first ad for my Dungeon Magazines #4-#9.

The hassles with working with ebay just give me the willies, and shortly I won't have the time to properly manage running a lot of auctions. Also, while I would have been happy to sell my OCE set with GH & S&S supplements for the $225 OCE alone price, I would have been very disappointed to sell for the $142+ price knowing that a concurrent auction brought much more.

Thanks for the help!

Mars
Grandstanding Collector

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Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 9:10 pm

I noticed that you have your collection listed in the classified now. I'd be curious to know where you came up with the valuations- most seem very high for the condition you are offering.

OldGamerbytheSea
Collector

Posts: 8
Joined: Feb 20, 2011
Last Visit: Sep 11, 2019
Location: Florida

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 9:24 pm

I've spent the past week watching ebay closed transactions to gauge current market value... knowing that pricing there can be all over the place. I've avoided the ridiculously high items and relied on items that had two or more sales in the same range. The only items without a closed transaction in the past 30 days were the 2e books, modules D1-D3 and the Dragonlance series.

Also I checked Noble Knight to see what they're offering, again assuming they will be on the high end.

You should see the spreadsheet...

In terms of grading... I've worked on that for a week, trying to be objective. I've worked on the principal that my first instict was probably a grade high and knocked everything down a grade. The modules were a particular challenge.

My hope is that buyers will feel I've graded low rather than the disappointment that I graded too aggressively.

I also understand that buyers here will be more discriminating that an ebay or retail buyer. And I am open to offers. My thinking is that it is better to advertise prices rather than consume peoples' time asking for them.

JohnGaunt
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Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 9:52 pm

My two-cents' worth:

When you prepare your items for shipment, use stiff cardboard. Get out that box-cutter and build a cardboard sheath to protect the module or book. Then you can either put that in an envelope or add another layer of cardboard. This is time-consuming but will prevent people (like me) from complaining that the book is damaged.

Damage such as corner bangs and spine bangs are commonplace. Water damage can also occur, but a plastic grocery bag can provide some protection.

OldGamerbytheSea
Collector

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Joined: Feb 20, 2011
Last Visit: Sep 11, 2019
Location: Florida

Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 10:01 pm

A very good tip - and something I should have mentioned in my shipping info. I'll edit the ad.

I have my first sale shipping tomorrow (thanks Acaeum!) and that is how I've packaged the items. Also the USPS box is packed with padding to prevent the items from banging around in transit.

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