[OT] How to dispose of a collection?

[bushfire]

I did the same thing you are trying to do just before 3E came out. I dumped 25+ years of gaming stuff. (over 250 lbs.) Here is what I did.

Look over eBay and see what you have that may be worth money. Basically cherrypick through your collection. Look for those that are in "collectable" shape. Ebay will give you the best money at the cost of the most hassle to sell through.

For the bulk of your stuff, the stuff that everyone already has or isn't collectable contact an onlne seller. I saw above that you already contacted Noble Knight Games. Aaron is a good person to sell to, fair and accessible. One thing to remember is that anything you sell to him will be less than if you woud sell it yourself. Expect to get about 50% of its value for cash, and around 75% if you want trade credit. These prices are based on what Noble Knight can re-sell it for.
Another option is to see if your FLGS is interested in buying your stuff, again you won't get near as much as selling it yourself on eBay.

If you have the time and are willing to put up with the enormous hassle Ebay is a great way to make obscene amouts of money on your older gaming stuff, especially if you are willing to ship internationaly. Just be prepared to get to know your local post office really well. If you go the eBay route start slow, just put a couple items a week up until you get comfortable with it.

 

[kkoie]

It takes work to make money off of selling a collection. Firstly, never sell to a dealer unless you have too, you will make no money off of the dealers.

In order to make the most money you should sell it a piece at a time. Even the stuff you think people wouldn't want. The reason is if you even are able to sell it in one large bulk, the person buying it isn't likely going to be 100% interested in 100% of the lot. That means they won't be willing to pay 100% of the value. However, when you sell it an item at a time, you make more money off of the smaller, less valued stuff, because those who want it, are actually interested in that single issue of Dungeon #23, and so would be willing to pay more.

So my advice, in the very least, seperate the valuable items and sell them individually, and sell the rest in, at the very most, very small lots.

K Koie

 

[Napftor]

I'm going to have to agree with the Ebay recommendations. With a bit of research you can easily find out what's going to give you the most $$ for the effort. The rest you can offer en masse on Ebay or to Noble Knight (as your doing now), Dragontrove, Hit Pointe, etc. Or, email your list to me and I'll see about helping you out by buying everything. Feel free to check my seller profile under the name "vantas1" on Ebay and it will speak for my credibility.


On a kinda related note, I walked into my FLGS last week and I found some amazing little finds. Being an Ebay man, I'm often checking my local stores for "old stuff" and, lo and behold, there was H2 & H3 (yes, the Bloodstone mods) sitting on their shelf!!! They were in near mint condition, complete, and retailing there for....hold on to your pants...$4.95 a piece!!! Needless to say I scooped these and some other goodies up at a premium. This doesn't have anything to do with Heretic's dillemma, but just thought I'd share.

 

[Greatwyrm]

You also might want to see if any near by gaming cons have an auction of some type. Most that I've been to do. It would serve the same purpose as ebay with faster payment and no shipping hassles.

 

[Holy Bovine]

I have to agree with kkoie, bushfire and those advocating selling some of you collection on eBay. I have made a great deal of money selling older gaming stuff on eBay (that Complete Book of Necromancers you mentioned? I sold an average condition copy on eBay for $45 US just 6 months ago). It is generally accepted that the buyer will pay for shipping on eBay auctions (at least I have always run my auctions that way) and that they will send you the money first (you can use an escrow service for this as well but be aware that that costs money too). Money Orders are my preferred way to get payment and www.bidpay.com allows buyers to purchase money orders online with a credit card. They send you the money order and as far as I know they have a 100% success rate (ie they have never lost an order).

So my advice is pick out the choice items (just do a search on eBay to see if any similar items are selling well - be sure to search the completed auctions section as well). You will be surprised at what you can get for some items - I am currently auctioning a copy of Kult RPG that I got for a song for $28 so far.

Also be sure to get a price guide from your local post office for shipping rates both inside the US and elsewhere. Buyers do like it when they can see exactly how much shipping will be before they bid.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

I'm figuring out alternate arrangements. If there's even a chance of any kind of decent profit from selling it to Noble Knight, I'll probably go that route. However, Talon says I'd probably just get 10 - 20% on my investment. Considering that's about 100 shipments I'd have to make, I don't think it'd be worth the effort.

I've got a backup plan, and I'm waiting to hear a reply.

As for those interested in what I'm getting rid of, look in the Marketplace forum, under the Bits'n'Pieces. It isn't complete, but it's probably 95 - 98% of my collection. Add in a bunch of novels I haven't read in more than 5 years, and a bunch of computer games that I haven't touched in years.

(I'll come back and post a link. It's too busy to have two windows open at once.)

 

[Heretic Apostate]

http://www.enworld.org/messageboards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12699

There, that's the link to my list.

 

[Tetsubo]

bushfire- why would you do that? I've been collecting RPG's since 1978 and literally can not conceive of ever wanting to get rid of them. I buy many games I will never play just to add them to my collection. It would be like getting rid of my weapons collection... *shivers*

 

[hong]

When in doubt, burn it.

Oops! Sorry, that's how you dispose of unbelievers. I always get mixed up.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

Heh....

That's exactly the last thing I want to do, Hong.

Last time I quit, I threw away a bunch of basic D&D stuff. In the garbage it went. I'd rather that, this time, it go to a good cause.

If I knew a gamer in Napa, I'd probably just dump it in their laps.