Value of this Collection of D&D Items? • Collecting Appraisal • The Acaeum

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Value of this Collection of D&D Items?
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Rule-of-Three
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Last Visit: Mar 22, 2020

Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:20 am

I am helping the family of a friend of mine sell his RPG collection. He passed away a few years ago and they are finally able to start looking for another home for it. Below is the D&D portion of the collection. I was curious what value the community would put on the items below if purchased as a lot. Ballpark is perfectly fine. Also, I found a loose cardstock sheet of unpunched counters that have ship symbols on them and places names from the Mystara setting. Do these below to one of the Gazetteers?

   BASIC D&D ITEMS
   D&D Quest for the silver sword
x1    the isle of dread
x1    isle of dread -- different cover
b1    in search of the unknown
dda4    dread
x5    temple of death
x6    quagmire
x7    kron
x8    fire mountain
x9    savage coast
x10    black shield (no counters)
x13    crown of ancient glory
x solo    lathan's gold
xl-1    heartstone
o1    gem and staff
o2    blade of vengance
dmr1    dungeon master screen "challenger series"
   treasure of the hideous one
x3    curse of xanathon
b2    keep on the borderlands
b3    silver princess
b5    horror on the hill
b6    vieled society
b7    rahasia
b8    journey to the rock
B1-9    adventure
b10    night's dark dark terror (counters loose but present)
b solo    lion castle
dda1    arena of thiatus
dda2    legions of thiatus
dda3    eye of traldahar
cm7    tree of life
cm6    chaos reins
cm5    snow pearls
cm4    earth shaker
cm3    sabre river
cm2    death's ride
cm1    test of the war lords
m2    alphakx
m1    maelstrom
m5    talons of night
im1    the immortal storm
im2    wrath of olympus
   Hollow World Campaign Setting Boxed Set
   Karimeikos -- kingdom adventure (box set)
   Dawn of the Emperors Thyalis and Alphatia Boxed Set
   Creature Crucible Night Howlers
   Creature Crucible Tall Tales of the Wee Folk
   Creature Crucible The Sea People
   Creature Crucible Top Balista
   D&D Gazetteer The Shadow Elves
   D&D Gazetteer Tthe Minrothad Guild
   D&D Gazetteer The Golden Khan of Ethengar
   D&D Gazetteer The Five Shires
   D&D Gazetteer The Orcs of Thar
   D&D Gazetteer The Emirates of Ylaruam
   D&D Gazetteer The Kingdom of Ierendi
   D&D Gazetteer The Elves of Alfheim
   D&D Gazetteer the Northern Reaches
   D&D Gazeteer The Grand Duchy of Karameikos
   D&D Gazeteer The Principalities of Glantri
   D&D Gazeteer The Republic of Darokin
   D&D Rules Encyclopedia
   D&D Poor Wizard's Almanac II Book of Facts

benjoshua
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Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:53 pm

Other people have asked this questions many times, so a search should find you loads of opinions/feedback on this question. The bottom line is that you can go one of two extremes which is to sell everything at once to someone on these forums (or another D&D forum) and get quicker money and lower return, or sell things individually on eBay which takes more time and trouble but significantly increases your profit by maybe 20 to 25%. There are compromises like selling the higher value stuff individually and the more common stuff all together in one lot. Two items that standout to me is B1-9 and B10. Depending on condition, those are about $50.00 items each, plus or minus $20.00.

Also, condition is a huge factor in a lots value. If everything listed was shrinkwrapped, it would be worth well over $600.00, maybe $1200.00. If it was all beat to hell, it would be worth maybe $100.00. Post some pictures and you will get MUCH better advice.

There are other options, but don't think for a moment that anyone on these forums is going to offer maximum value for everything. However, when it comes to advice, there are few places where you can find people who know their D&D better. Speaking if which, here is advice from similar threads from people who are smarter than me.

Mars wrote:Generally, I think if you want to sell it as one big lot, expect to get 50% of the value. Lately, I've been trying to move a bunch of stuff out the door and have gone the mini lot method on Ebay. I've been happy with the results - not the highest prices but reasonable ones.

TheHistorian wrote:Big lots only bring big money if:

1. There is at least one legitimately rare item that drives up the price
2. The lot is so huge that anyone could make money reselling it
3. Both of the above

But even in those cases, the lots don't recoup as much as they should, because they will almost always be bought by dealers. There was one a few months ago that I recall we were all watching. It had a ton of material, including several big items, and might have had a fair retail price of $8-9k. It sold for, I think, less than $3k.

An individual collector probably won't have the interest in getting one or two items and reselling dozens, but a dealer can't pay a lot and still make a profit.

If you want to maximize your profit, you have to invest time and effort in individual (or at least small groups) listings. If you want to minimize your effort, then just contact a few dealers and see what they'd give you for the whole thing. A couple you might try are Noble Knight Games and Wayne's Books.

Badmike wrote:The advice here is very good. I'd only add that I pay about $5 an item on average for above average condition items when I buy a collection like this, especially if collections don't have at least 2-3 special items. You are far better off cherry picking the nicer items (such as the supplements) and selling them separately, and putting the more common items in one big lot. Also, condition is paramount for many buyers so more pictures (with close ups) would help you immensely. And remember shipping costs that will knock a lot of buyers out, especially international buyers, which are some of my best customers. Good Luck! If you don't get any bites go to some of the forums like here or at Dragonsfoot to see if you can sell directly and not through ebay (save more money in fees that way!).

Mike B.

Good luck!

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

Last edited by benjoshua on Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Prufrock
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Location: Indianapolis

Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:55 pm

Rule-of-Three,

This is my first time evaluating a collection so take this with a grain of salt. Condition plays a big part in evaluation. Without description or pics of the items I have to assume a less than collectible condition. You have 64 mostly common items here. However the Gazeteers do fetch better money. Placed as one lot I would break it down this way: 52 common items at $5/pc equals 260. 12 Gazeteers at 20/pc equals 240. Brings the collection in around the $500 mark. I'm interest to hear what some of the resellers in out community would evaluate this collection at.

Benjosha's post was not up when I began my post. Looking at the info in his, it would suggest I overshot the value a little. Badmike has been reselling for many/many years his advice would be spot on. Good luck.

Martin

TheHistorian
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Location: Seattle, WA

Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 1:25 pm

benjoshua wrote:Speaking if which, here is advice from similar threads from people who are smarter than me.

TheHistorian wrote:

Hey, I'm smarter than someone! Happy day!

But seriously, I think what you said is right, without some sense of condition, a lot of common to uncommon items is hard to evaluate. It could range from nearly worthless to quite a decent amount.

As to the sheet of counters, look for a product code near one of the corners, something like 1701XXX703. From that, we can tell you what item it belongs with.

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

Rule-of-Three
Active Collector

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Joined: Dec 22, 2007
Last Visit: Mar 22, 2020

Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 10:35 pm

Thanks for the advice all. I should have stated the majority of the collection is in Very Good to Excellent shape with the odd item being Near Mint. None of it is mint or shrink wrapped. The Gazetteers, "Creature Crucible" accessories, and the less common adventure modules (dda 1-3) are pretty much all in Excellent shape.

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