Need help selling your stuff?
With enough time and motivation, nearly anyone can learn to sell their antiques and collectibles online. As we receive a lot of questions from folks asking how to get started, we thought this list of sites, services, and selling tips might be useful to you. And, for those of you not inclined to the internet, we've also included a section on offline selling options too.
Not sure exactly what you have, or what it's worth? We recommend you do some research before putting your item up for sale. You can either do the legwork yourself, or pay an expert to do it for you. If you think your item is quite valuable, it might be worth spending some money for an professional appraisal. Visit our Research Help page for pointers on how to determine values, and referrals to people who can assist you. To help authenticate your antiques and collectibles, you might want to review the Black Light page before you put your items up for sale.
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eBay Auction: The world's largest online auction marketplace. Listing fees, photo gallery fees, reserve fees, and sales commissions can be brutal, but if you have a unique item, this is the best place to sell if you don't have your own website. With millions of registered users worldwide, eBay has the largest audience reach for the money. However... if your item is fairly common, be prepared to receive garage sale prices. The eBay site averages 16 million listings each day, so it's easy for common items to be devalued. Obviously, the higher the supply, the lower the demand is per item, thus driving prices down across the board. Learning how to sell on eBay can be an overwhelming task, so if you need help, you might want to contact an expert auction seller for free advice, or buy some reference books on online auction selling.
Yahoo Auction: While the listing fees and final value fees (commission) are lower on Yahoo, so is the buyer audience. Listing an item with too low a price could be disastrous, as there are not always enough bidders to drive the price up to current market value. For example, we once listed a mint condition collector plate in the original box with the certificate of authenticity for a starting bid of only $0.01. After the 10 day auction was over, the winning bid was $0.06 -- yes, that's SIX CENTS. Moral of the story: Start your Yahoo auctions at the minimum price you want to get for that item or use a reserve..... you may only get one or two bids for it!
e-Commerce Stores: If you have enough items and want to start your own online shop, you might want to take a look at e-Store options such as TIAS (The Internet Antique Store), Ruby Lane, GoAntiques, or Trocadero. These sites are host to hundreds (if not thousands) of antiques and collectibles stores. You don't have to know how to build a website or learn HTML coding -- they have everything set up for you. It is easy to upload digital photos and descriptions, and these sites have a large user base, so you should receive a decent amount of traffic right away. The downside, however, is that there is little flexibility on layouts, and all stores tend to look the same, so it's hard to differentiate yourself from the pack. In addition, most of these sites charge commission on top of maintenance fees, so you need to sell a decent amount of volume each month to make it worthwhile.
iOffer: Listings are free here, so there is no upfront cost..... you only pay a commission if your item sells. The traffic levels are pretty good, but offers tend to be low from our experience. But, if you're patient and willing to negotiate with people, you may just find the right buyer for your goods. If you have time, you can also browse through their partner site, eWanted, to see if someone is searching for what you have for sale.
Store Building: If you don't want to compete with other antiques and collectibles dealers in a co-op environment (see e-Stores above), and don't have the technical know-how to build your own shop, you might want to try an independent build-a-store site such as FreeMerchant. While a basic shop used to be free (hence the name) they still offer low cost online store templates for as little as $9.95 a month, plus a start-up fee. However, as you don't have to pay commission on the items you sell, it's very cost effective in the long run. The site is easy to use for the beginner but, again, there are limitations on how your store will look and function. You are also "on your own" when it comes to marketing. Unlike TIAS (which has an advertising and marketing program to attract antiques and collectibles buyers), you will have to work on building your own traffic through banner exchanges, submitting to search engines, joining webrings, etc. This is takes a lot of work and time, but you can't beat an easy-to-open online store for about 10 bucks a month!
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Website Building Software: If you're serious about making a commitment and want to sell online full time, there is no better way to go than building your own .com store with Front Page 2002. Unless you are an expert in HTML code, you'll probably need help designing your website. Rather than hiring a web designer for thousands of dollars, you can do it yourself with Microsoft Front Page 2002 software for about $150 (one time cost), plus monthly hosting fees. But, if you already have an ISP, you probably already have a certain amount of free hosting available to use. If your online shop is small, you may not even need additional space to host it. Generally speaking, Front Page is easy to use, but it is helpful if you know HTML, especially when trying to add some "advanced" features such as forms, shopping carts, frames, Java Script, etc.
Domain Hosting: Need to register your domain and/or host your website? We have found GoDaddy to be pretty user friendly and relatively low cost. You can research and register your .com address, park your shop, get additional e-mails, add a shopping cart, or open a credit card merchant account. We like their "ala cart" menu that lets you choose only the services you want, without having to pay for stuff you don't need.
Shopping Cart: If you already have a web presence but lack a full service online purchasing system, you can't beat the shopping cart offered by PayPal. This merchant selling feature has no set up fee, and is fairly easy to use. There is no monthly maintenance cost, and you only pay fees when you receive a payment from a buyer. The Premier merchant fees are very reasonable, especially when compared to the cost of having your own merchant account. The main downside to using PayPal is the inability to take credit card orders over the phone. For fraud protection reasons, PayPal does not allow you to do this. The upside is that once a buyer is registered with PayPal, they never have to re-enter their personal information or credit card number again in order to buy from any seller who accepts PayPal. We have used the PayPal shopping cart on this website since it was first offered a couple years ago, and have been very happy with it.
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International Selling: If you truly want to take advantage of the world wide web, you should consider offering your items to buyers around the globe. Doing so, however, takes extra work and a bit more patience. For example, we sometimes receive e-mails in languages other than English, so we found that free online translation and currency converter sites to be helpful in getting over these hurdles. Another sticking point to international commerce is trying to figure out postage charges. This is made a whole lot easier by consulting the US Postal Service's international shipping calculator.
Building Trust: If you watch the news or read the paper, you have undoubtedly heard a number of stories about internet fraud, where someone (or many people) were swindled out of their money by an unscrupulous online seller. Needless to say, these isolated incidents affect everyone, and make things tougher for those of us who are trying to make an honest living in online retail. So.... how do you earn buyers trust? If you sell in the online auctions, your feedback rating is critical. If you have a website, membership in customer evaluation services such as ePublicEye and the Better Business Bureau are useful in putting potential customers at ease. As most of these service charge fees, you'll need to decide which ones will be most beneficial and cost effective for your online business.
Customer Service: Whether you are selling a couple items you don't want any more, or going into the antiques and collectibles business full time, it is critical to offer buyers good customer service. This is especially true if you ever want them to buy from you again. Exceptional customer service includes:
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Being reachable by e-mail, telephone or both, if possible. |
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Supplying clear and accurate photos and descriptions of your items. |
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Answering questions politely and promptly (within 24 hours is best). |
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Providing clear terms of sale, payment options, etc. |
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Packing items with great care, using quality packing materials. |
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Shipping immediately upon receipt of payment. |
And last, but certainly not least........
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Thank them for buying from you! |
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Selling to Dealers: Most antiques shops will welcome the opportunity to buy your quality antiques and collectibles. The key here is remembering that dealers cannot afford to pay retail prices (known as "book value") if they are buying the items for resale. Inasmuch as most dealers enjoy their trade, they are, after all, operating a business. If there is no room for a profit after operating expenses, dealers cannot afford to buy your goods. It is best to offer your items to dealers when you can sell in bulk, such as an entire collection or estate, for one reasonable (i.e. wholesale lot) price. .
Consignments: Most brick-and-mortar antiques and collectibles shops will consider selling your items in their store on consignment. That is, you retain the right of ownership of the item while it is for sale in the shop, then receive payment for the item when it sells. Consignment selling is very easy, and the price you receive should be reasonable. The downside to consignment selling is that the buyer pool is limited to only the customers of that particular store, and items may languish on a shelf gathering dust for weeks, if not months. The going rate on this service varies by region, the value of the item(s), the type of store, and the asking price of the item. Generally speaking, consignments can run anywhere from 10% to 35% of the sale price, with the higher value items usually being charged the lowest percentage. If you decide to go with a consignment, be sure to ask for a contract specifying the terms of the sale, your lowest acceptable price, how long the item will remain in the shop, how damages and theft are handled, when you receive payment, and other important details.
Selling to Collectors: This is the method where you will undoubtedly receive the highest dollar amount for your antiques and collectibles. Collectors in search of an elusive item have been known to pay almost anything to get that rare item to complete their collection. However, these people are few and very far between. To reach collectors, a classified ad in the newspaper is still the best way to go, especially if you live in or near a large city. However, if you live in a small town, it may be hard to find a buyer for your 15 foot tall metal gas station advertising sign. In this case, you might have to go the consignment or local dealer route. If you decide on classified ad selling, we recommend meeting the potential buyer in a public place, for security reasons. Or, if they must visit your home, make sure you are not alone when they stop by.
Local Auctions: The quickest and easiest way to dispose of goods of any type is by putting them up for sale through a public auction house or estate sale service. You might receive lower prices per item this way, compared to the other methods above, but in-person auctions are great for moving a boat-load of items FAST. On the other hand, rare items sold through well-known auction houses can bring record high prices. So..... whether you just inherited Aunt Edna's old house crammed full of not-so-interesting household goods, or even some scarce artwork by listed artists, you can likely sell it all quickly, in one fell swoop, through an auction house. Find an auctioneer in your town.
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