To anyone who has sold their entire collection.

[air23cnhit]

How hard was it, and did you get close to your money back out of it? I am FINALLY close to selling everything I have. I have 2 of EVERY figure so far. One loose and one MOC. With my new son, I realized what is important and paying close to $40.00 for a figure is way too much. Any advice is appreciated.

[Arkangel]

i think you can pretty much have every cent back. Sure you'll loose some dollars in a few figures but will also make up a few more to the more scarce. Just post a sale thread on the market.

[Eterniandreams]

If you are going to sell them seperately, you will end up with some leftovers. Maybe combine them per 3 on Ebay?

[Forcehunter]

I did sell my collection at one point and the difference was a few dollars per figure. But I was broke and needed cash quickly. You may have better luck narrowing the gap since you are not in immediate need. Plus if got any figures on sale, eBay may be more profitable.

[Dr Kain]

It's hard to say. I would say on the MOC stuff, I got my money back.

For the loose stuff, I would say I took a slight loss since I pretty much sold each figure for about $10 a piece.

In fact, I had about 75 figures I put up on ebay last week with a BIN of $800 and it did not even last an hour.

[air23cnhit]

So for your moc collection and loose went for 800.00?

[Mamblo]

I sold all my loose collection at 22 USD per figures. Except for Fisto Shadow Weaver of course...........

[dorrmann]

Guys, please remember that this is not a Marketplace thread, so buying/selling/trading offers are not allowed. I do not believe the intent of air23cnhit was to advertise them for sale, but instead to request advice. If that's the case, then we'll leave this thread here, but remember not to post offers here. Please keep them to threads in the Marketplace.

[Skeeter]

I am a long time eBayer and I have advice that might seem counterintuitive. You absolutely will loose money when you sell an entire collection at once. This is opposite the way things are in the brick and mortar or antique fair world where the entire collection gathered together physically in front of a buyer makes it worth more. Selling the characters individually or in small lots of 2 or maybe 3 in some cases is the way to go. It is what I would do. It targets the people who want that figure and so you get a wider audience. If you sell Shadow Weaver with Mer-Man for example your audience of potential buyers is now composed of people who want them both. A small group. But if you sell Shadow Weaver alone your audeince is just the people who want her so you have more people bidding against each other. I would also do free shipping. The auctions will go higher to make up the difference and the free shipping is a draw which pulls more people into the bidding war. And I would start each toy at 99 cents which draws more bidders in because they get hooked early thinking it is a deal and then as the price rises they convince themselves the market--not you--is setting the price and so they stay involved. That's my advice after 12 years as a heavy ebay buyer and seller. Do it this way and you will get every cent back. I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old and I am currently in the middle of the same re-evaluation you describe and am unloading tons of things on eBay att his moment.

[Fug-Lee-Faces]

Also keep in mind the Ebay and PayPal fees! I would not expect to make your money back. There will be some figures you will sell for lots of money (Fisto, original Teela, Shadow Weaver) but you will have many more that you'll be lucky to break even on (remember, you paid the figure price plus shipping). Between Ebay and PayPal, expect to lose about 12% (thats a lot of money).

You probably will do best to sell them individually (I've sold off entire collections, so I have experience). The problem with selling individually is you'll get stuck with a lot of garbage that won't sell (Star Sisters), and you'll pretty much have to unload it at a major discount. All your good stuff will go right away. The problem with selling it as an entire lot is you got to be careful calculating shipping for everything so you don't lose money there, and also you are limiting your buying audience to basically rich people with $1,000 to drop on toys. Also, most buyers will not want everything, so they are going to haggle you. Your collection might be worth $1,000, but they're not going to want to pay more than $700.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

Also keep in mind the Ebay and PayPal fees! I would not expect to make your money back. There will be some figures you will sell for lots of money (Fisto, original Teela, Shadow Weaver) but you will have many more that you'll be lucky to break even on (remember, you paid the figure price plus shipping). Between Ebay and PayPal, expect to lose about 12% (thats a lot of money).

You probably will do best to sell them individually (I've sold off entire collections, so I have experience). The problem with selling individually is you'll get stuck with a lot of garbage that won't sell (Star Sisters), and you'll pretty much have to unload it at a major discount. All your good stuff will go right away. The problem with selling it as an entire lot is you got to be careful calculating shipping for everything so you don't lose money there, and also you are limiting your buying audience to basically rich people with $1,000 to drop on toys. Also, most buyers will not want everything, so they are going to haggle you. Your collection might be worth $1,000, but they're not going to want to pay more than $700.

Rather than selling things completely individually or in one huge lot, they could always bundle some of the more highly demanded items with the "clunkers". Perhaps sell Teela or Shadow Weaver in a lot with the Star Sisters or something like that!

[Bjjer]

Yes sell in small lots with less desirable figs or sell the less desirable figs first to get them out of the way (probably at a loss) then sell the stuff people will snatch up after(at a profit). Average out how much you made on each fig vs what you paid and you'll have your answer. It can be a pain to sell a collection. I sold half my collection except for the vintage card back stuff and took a loss but mine was loose, with MOC your chances are better you'll get most of your money back.

[Vikor]

I am currently debating selling my whole collection too. This has been a useful thread. Thank you.

[Skeeter]

You should figure out your average price per figure. Then it is ok if the Star Sisters go for $20 as long as Shadow Weaver goes for $100 and so forth. Also DO NOT bundle "clunkers" with the heavy hitters. Terrible idea.

[Fug-Lee-Faces]

You should figure out your average price per figure. Then it is ok if the Star Sisters go for $20 as long as Shadow Weaver goes for $100 and so forth. Also DO NOT bundle "clunkers" with the heavy hitters. Terrible idea.

This is all true. NEVER bundle a sought-after figure with garbage. You won't get any bids. Unless you're the ONLY person on eBay this week with a Shadow Weaver, nobody is going to buy your Shadow Weaver with the Star Sisters for $120 when they can buy just Shadow Weaver for $80 from the other guy. Likewise, if I'm looking for Fisto and you have him bundled with Mer-Man, forget it.

You have to sell them ALL individually or as an entire set to get the best return. I know, because I've flipped numerous collections. I recommend individually, and keeping in mind that you will have many that do not sell for what you paid, but you'll have a small handful you can double or triple your money on.

[Dr Kain]

So for your moc collection and loose went for 800.00?

No no. You can still find my Marketplace thread from last week. I sold off 70-80 loose figures for $800. I have been selling off my MOC collection for about 8 months now.

The best way to sell off your loose figures is to do a lot and only a lot. If you sell them individually, you'll get stuck with the garbage like the Star Sisters (who I could not even sell my MIB set for $30, so I gave it to Toys for Tots) and Spectre.

[Berserker79]

This is all true. NEVER bundle a sought-after figure with garbage. You won't get any bids. Unless you're the ONLY person on eBay this week with a Shadow Weaver, nobody is going to buy your Shadow Weaver with the Star Sisters for $120 when they can buy just Shadow Weaver for $80 from the other guy. Likewise, if I'm looking for Fisto and you have him bundled with Mer-Man, forget it.

You have to sell them ALL individually or as an entire set to get the best return. I know, because I've flipped numerous collections. I recommend individually, and keeping in mind that you will have many that do not sell for what you paid, but you'll have a small handful you can double or triple your money on.

I agree...

[kylun flac]

I have stared having 2 subs last year. It was a good investment. I kept a both for many of them for customs & for have two displays like with Khan, Dekker, Horde Prime, SM@A, ect. I have sold a few but unfortunately they selling very slowly. I have many that I still need to get off my hands. I think the next two years are going to be good for selling. But I think more people now are being very picky about the figures they want to pick up now.