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  Space collection: sell individual or bulk?

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Author Topic:   Space collection: sell individual or bulk?
jimsz
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Posts: 616
From:
Registered: Aug 2006

posted 04-12-2016 12:42 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for jimsz   Click Here to Email jimsz     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Is it best to sell autograph collections via eBay/private sales as individual pieces or as a bulk transaction?

I really don't have anything unique or out of the ordinary (much of it is here) and I have not followed this hobby as far as value, I collected for fun. Many of the 8x10 photos I received as a kid or young adult when I wrote the astronauts.

While the pieces are still important to me, nobody in my family has an interest and my current situation may require finding some money in the future.

rgarner
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Posts: 1193
From: Shepperton, United Kingdom
Registered: Mar 2012

posted 04-12-2016 01:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for rgarner   Click Here to Email rgarner     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
There are benefits and downsides to each approach, I'll list a few of them as I see them.
  • Selling in bulk: This will be less time consuming than selling individually, but you can expect to receive less for them as there is generally the accepted concept of buying in bulk being cheaper, you also lower your market potential as not everyone could afford to buy them in bulk.

  • Selling individually: This is more time consuming, and you can expect to receive a better price than when selling in bulk. You will also have a larger market potential as more people can afford buying individual items.

  • Selling on eBay: There is of course seller fees, but it is a good way to reach a market other than here on collectSPACE.

  • Selling on collectSPACE: So long as you do a little research (or ask us for advice) you will always benefit from receiving a fair market price for anything sold here, and there are of course no fees.
Hope this helps!

rgarner
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Posts: 1193
From: Shepperton, United Kingdom
Registered: Mar 2012

posted 04-12-2016 01:25 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for rgarner   Click Here to Email rgarner     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
And just as a starting point, your Armstrong WSS has reached auction values of around $3k in recent years.

spaceflori
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Posts: 1499
From: Germany
Registered: May 2000

posted 04-14-2016 12:23 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for spaceflori   Click Here to Email spaceflori     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Can't speak for other countries, but over here selling a large collection individually may cause the attention of your internal revenue service:

Usually you don't have to pay taxes on selling a private collection (over here) but you might get filtered by eBay software (X-spider) and reported which causes at least some (often dumb) questions and put you at least into some sort of trouble.

Therefore I would seek at least help from a tax advisor if you plan to sell a collection individually over time. You can even inform your revenue service in order to avoid trouble from the beginning.

Another - yet local - problem is that you might get sued by other dealers if you have a really large inventory sold over time making you look like a dealer.

Again most refers to really large collections, but it should be considered.

rgarner
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Posts: 1193
From: Shepperton, United Kingdom
Registered: Mar 2012

posted 04-14-2016 04:24 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for rgarner   Click Here to Email rgarner     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
quote:
Originally posted by spaceflori:
Another - yet local - problem is that you might get sued by other dealers if you have a really large inventory sold over time making you look like a dealer.
I've never heard that before - if true that is nuts. Must be a German thing.

Rick Mulheirn
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Posts: 4167
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 04-14-2016 05:42 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Rick Mulheirn   Click Here to Email Rick Mulheirn     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Might I suggest finding a dealer prepared to buy the lot from you. Be realistic with your pricing and leave something in it for the dealer to make money.

capoetc
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Posts: 2169
From: McKinney TX (USA)
Registered: Aug 2005

posted 04-14-2016 07:07 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for capoetc   Click Here to Email capoetc     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
You also could consider a hybrid approach: Sell the higher value items individually, and then sell the remainder as a bulk sale to a dealer or perhaps to a collector just starting out who could fill a lot of holes in their collection easily with one purchase.

p51
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Posts: 1642
From: Olympia, WA
Registered: Sep 2011

posted 04-14-2016 05:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for p51   Click Here to Email p51     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
My sister in law used to sell antique books and she said when you're selling off a collection of high-end books, you sell the best ones off individually, then the 'rest' of them (the stuff you're not likely to get high amounts on) in a group.

I've never done this but it makes sense to me.

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