You can sell the items on ebay individually or in small lots, but there may be other sites out there that allow you to list your collectibles for sale. For instance, I have purchased some of my collectible books from sellers on http://www.biblio.com and http://www.abebooks.com. Perhaps there is a similar site for collectible dolls. If not, many hobbyist sites allow you to list items for sale in the forums.

Like JD said, it all comes down to how much time you are willing to invest in this project If it were me, I would sell on Ebay.

Best of luck to you!

Sorry, I sent a reply e-mail, but have now found the comment section.

No I do not have a collection or any experience, but sometimes the manufacturer could buy the product back or has information that might be useful.

Jenny should find out from Barbie (or whoever makes them) what they would pay to buy-back the doll (s) (if they do that) and keep this information as a guide.

It is possible that there are Barbie clubs and conventions and this might also lead to more income for the items individually or the collection.

Just an idea

getagrip // so laughing OUT LOUD right now! I inherited said spoons, thimbles, teacups, brass figurines, and creepy China/porcelain dolls – I hate dolls – I told my grandmother when she was alive that I didn’t want them – she didn’t care – she was a hoarder and this was one of her many collections left to me … this post is timely for me because I have been “trying” to declutter my garage and am overwhelmed trying to decide how to dispose of all this STUFF – I am so glad this post came up!

I used a consignment auction that sold online and got a fairly good deal on all my husband’s toy tractors & farm equipment. They do not do Star Trek but advised me to go to some conventions to see what they go for.

When selling, the better your knowledge, the better the sale. Of course, that is also true when buying, ain’t it????

At one time (early 2000s), I had a 90% complete collection of Sports Illustrated magazines from the mid-1960s till 2000s. My parents got an “appraisal” that was very unrealistic. When I made initial attempts to sell them, I found I could only get very small amounts per issue, as a group. I soon realized that people will pay for what they are passionate about, so I went through the entire set and re-organized them by themes or people. All of the “Ali” covers were together; all of the Green Bay Packers were together, and so forth.

Then, I took the very slow approach of selling them through ebay, which at the time, was a very efficient system of auction without having to go to a real auction house.

When it was over, I only had random magazines left that I sold in lots, and as before, I only got pennies on the lots, but I did get rid of them.

In the end, I got more than enough to buy our first flat screen TV and I was very happy. But, selling it that way took me over a year, so just get ready for the slow move, just as the article suggested.

http://www.happily.com/

I do not know if they purchase collections or not, but they could probably advise you how to proceed.

Good luck.

DeeBee

As an alternative – if you are not attached to getting cash for them, and if you are feeling sentimental about your grandmother’s legacy – you might consider doing some research to find an appropriate museum collection to donate them to. There are a few toy/doll museums out there, and as above, if any of them are truly remarkable pieces a place as high up as the Smithsonian might be interested. Before doing that, understand that there will be paperwork involved, and that the majority of museums will require you to have your own appraisal done before donating. You might also have to have your own accountant work up tax-deduction language if the museum is a smaller one. But the pros of this approach are that the dolls will be preserved in a public place and if you wish, attached to your grandmother’s name as her legacy. It seems clear to me that she cared for these dolls a great deal.

I feel for you though- now is not a good time to be selling a collection! A lot of people are in financial trouble or are moving to smaller homes to save money, so there are less casual collectors around looking to buy. Hardcore collectors will buy whatever the economic weather, but the pool of collectors is reduced at the moment.

You’ll get a tax write off that way. You could try Goodwill, Salvation Army, and any children charities.

Another thing to consider is seeing if any Barbie collectors would be interested in selling your collection on consignment. Then you can be confident that each piece is being correctly identified and sold in the best manner but it really decreases the work you have to do. I’m going to guess that in a collection of that size there are some gems that deserve extra attention and advertising and a group of easily found dolls that would probably be best sold as a lot. In pursuing this route, absolutely check references on the people you are considering for consignment, and have a written agreement/contract in place.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they

@JD – Ha ha, you trickster, in Spanish the gender of the possessive is determined by the object, not the person– suya, suyo, mía, mío, etc. But yeah “su” happens to be gender neutral, “nuestro/nuestra” isn’t. Don’t worry too much about the grammar, it will give you a headache though. But if you like to suffer, check this (you will suffer, guaranteed): http://eljuego.free.fr/Fichas_gramatica/FG_posesivos.htm#22

And I thought you’d be on a plane by now? When are you traveling?

And of course, there is always eBay…..

For many items with liquid markets, seems like the eBay sale price would be somewhere between “wholesale” and “fair market” (retail) value – the bigger the demand, the closer to “fair market” you would expect to get.

As for selling a collection – recently my parents asked me to sell an old china set for them. I would imagine the process is similar. This is what I did:

- Research the items. Take photographs of each item, note its condition, and look up any official information you can find about it.
- Get a quote or two from places you might sell to. For the china I used Replacements.com. I also considered getting quotes from consignment shops.
- Do some ‘completed listings’ on eBay to see what things ACTUALLY sold and the details of those listings – how they listed, how much they sold for, if they had a reserve, how many photos, etc.
- Create eBay listings for the items. If you’re worried you won’t get as much money as your quotes, set a reserve price for the amount you would get if you went with the above quoted figures. Tip: for rare items, create 10 day auctions and start them on a Thursday evening. Auctions that end on Sunday evenings tend to do better, and the longer your listing is up, the more chance it has being seen by people who want your item. Advertise your link(s), especially if there’s a niche market someplace who has a presence online.
- If the ebay bidding hits your reserve, then great! If not, you can either try again and re-list, or go with the previous quotes.

I think collecting is a genetic characteristic that you’re either born with or not. If I let it, my collecting tendency would overwhelm me. I only let myself collect one type of item at a time (or even a sub-type if it’s a large category), I have a strict upper limit on how much I will spend, and once a collection reaches its predetermined size, I institute a one-in-one-out rule. I’d love to read what your strategies are.