topic Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS in Community Chat

EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

Tinkrbl44 — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:20:17 GMT

My neighbor knows I've done a lot of Ebay buying & selling over the years, and has asked me to sell an expensive item for her, with a commission for doing so.

She inherited a gorgeous vintage Asprey's of London set of mother of pearl poker chips ... more than 300 pieces in various shapes. The chips are gorgeous and flawless but the box they came in, with "Asprey's of London" in gold lettering, has pretty much disintegrated over time.

In the past, she's previously emailed a few people with several photos and one auction house representative estimated the value to be probably between $4700 and $5200. This wasn't a purchase offer .... just a ballpark estimate.

My questions ..... Would you say Ebay is probably the best place to post an auction, or might there be other sites that specialize in Collectibles, vintage or current era? Of course I could post the same ad in various places, but I'd like some feedback from the sellers here, especially anyone familiar with collectibles.

I'm thinking Ebay is the best place to start, with a price plus the Best Offer option. Any other ideas?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated ..... and TIA!

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

pugvette74 — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:27:31 GMT

You can check out Heritage Auction House online. It has very high end items.

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

Plaid Pants2 — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:31:56 GMT

Have you thought about inquiring with Sothby's?

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

KingstonsMom — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:32:23 GMT

@Tinkrbl44

Hi Tink!

I think you would do better with the antique auction sites, rather than Ebay.

The buyers on Ebay tend to want 'something for nothing' has been my experience

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

Sushismom — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:34:44 GMT

One thing to remember is that eBay allows buyers to return for not as described. And, in most cases, it doesn't matter what they return. They still get a refund.

If this item isn't worth losing, sell it elsewhere.

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

KingstonsMom — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:34:49 GMT

@Plaid Pants2 wrote:
Have you thought about inquiring with Sothby's?

@Plaid Pants2

Sotheby's is an excellent suggestion for antique items!

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

Tinkrbl44 — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:36:51 GMT

@Plaid Pants2 wrote:
Have you thought about inquiring with Sothby's?

@Plaid Pants2

She has already done this in the past, and couldn't generate interest because, as one person put it, it's less than $10,000, and not worth our time.

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

Plaid Pants2 — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:38:00 GMT

Are there any local antique shops that might be interested?

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

chickenbutt — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:39:59 GMT

I don't think I'd go with eBay for such items, either.

One thing that has stuck in my mind, from my years of selling on eBay, is that when somebody signed up for PayPal with a stolen credit card and purchased an expensive (not THAT expensive, though!) item from me, Paypal took the money back from me.

So, I lost the money and the expensive piece of jewelry. But what chapped my hide the most was that it was not I who took the stolen credit card. It was Paypal. But, it still was tough chitski for me anyway.

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

Moonchilde — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:42:04 GMT

I don't have any names off the top of my head, because I usually come across these sites while randomly searching for items, but there are several large and active antiques sale sites, specializing in different types of mdse.

Doing a quick search, you might want to look at this site and/or contact him for advice:

antiquegamblingchips dotcom

A well known antiques appraiser, who offers an online appraisal - didn't click to see if you'd have to pay for that.

drloriv dotcom

If you google "Asprey poker" there are many sites with examples and various things for sale.

How exciting - but also how much responsibility ;-( to sell a high ticket item.

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

Moonchilde — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:49:39 GMT

And how about checking the Antiques Roadshow site for links to other sites, advice and info. Reputable source with good recommendations, I'd think.

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

KingstonsMom — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:50:19 GMT

@Plaid Pants2 wrote:
Are there any local antique shops that might be interested?

I agree with @Plaid Pants2

If the antique auctions online weren't interested, my next contact would be local antique dealers in your area. (or hers).

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

noodleann — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 17:55:33 GMT

If you look at the comps on eBay for "mother of pearl gaming chips" and block the Chinese chips to eliminate most of the new stuff, the few results are very cheaply priced. Sales on complete auctions are poor and the prices are low.

My personal experience could be instructive. I bought a curious vase on eBay that turned out to be a collectors' piece. Vases from the same maker were being offered and sold on eBay for a few hundred to several hundred dollars, but I didn't like the risk picture and knew I wasn't getting the targeted market that might drive the price up. I looked at the Antiques Roadshow website, found one of their experts who specialized in this kind of thing, and consigned the vase to his auction house. That turned a $6 eBay buy from a Pennsylvania clean-out seller into $1,600 when an online bidder won it, and I didn't have to worry about PayPal alerting me 5 months and 29 days later that the buyer had changed his or her mind and I had to give it all back.

IMO, eBay is absolutely not the way to go on something like th is. I'd also never sell for friends of neighbors because if the items fetch less than expected, it's on you. But that's between you and the neighbor.

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

blondetlw — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 18:33:16 GMT

I'd like to suggest John Moran Auctioneers in Monrovia CA. I worked for them years ago, they have a wonderful reputation for selling fine antiques............Sothby's referred clients to them all the time. You can find their website on line.

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

Moonchilde — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 18:58:28 GMT

Just for reference -

I found a 2015 ebay auction on a set of MOP chips from Asprey's with a damaged box. They said it had recently been appraised fror $4000 to $6000. They were asking for a bid of $2000 to start. There were no bidders. Seller was in the US.

You might get more $$ by contacting British auction houses, or looking on the UK Antiques roadshow site. Asprey's doesn't mean to the US what it means in the UK. Might be more collectible there.

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

jackthebear — Thu, 08 Jun 2017 23:40:04 GMT

I would stay away

if something goes wrong, who wants to be in the middle of this,

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

Tinkrbl44 — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 18:49:01 GMT

@Moonchilde wrote:
And how about checking the Antiques Roadshow site for links to other sites, advice and info. Reputable source with good recommendations, I'd think.

GREAT idea ... thanks !

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

Tinkrbl44 — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 18:53:09 GMT

@Moonchilde wrote:
Just for reference -

I found a 2015 ebay auction on a set of MOP chips from Asprey's with a damaged box. They said it had recently been appraised fror $4000 to $6000. They were asking for a bid of $2000 to start. There were no bidders. Seller was in the US.

You might get more $$ by contacting British auction houses, or looking on the UK Antiques roadshow site. Asprey's doesn't mean to the US what it means in the UK. Might be more collectible there.

@Moonchilde

I just tried to duplicate that search and couldn't. How did you get back to a 2015 auction?

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

Nataliesgramma — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 19:00:32 GMT

I used to be a Seller on Ebay for many years.....I would NOT sell them on there now.

As one of the other posters said.....the buyer could say they were counterfeit and mail you back anything and they would get their money back.....then what do you do....you would have to make good on the deal out of your own pocket......

Too many scammers on there and Paypal doesn't think twice about refunding their money.

Re: EBAY: SELLING EXPENSIVE ITEMS

SunValley — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 19:08:10 GMT

@chickenbutt I had no idea PayPal worked that way. Sorry you ot taken advantage of in this transaction.

This is an interesting thread. The key to selling at a fair price seems to be finding the auction house with the right clientele, and that might be outside the U.S.