how best to sell Star Wars memorabilia?

carolbee

Hi there

have some Star Wars stuff from first time around, boxed figures and some random stuff like duvet cover, even a tin of spaghetti. Question is, where best to sell it, never traded on ebay before and don't want to let it go for pennies, but not sure if its worth anything?

any ideas folks?

soolin

There is still a market for original Star wars items, I have sold a fair bit myself on ebay. It is always worth looking at completed listings to see if anything similar has sold recently and using that as a price guide.

Remember all the usual stuff about ebay though (more tips on the main ebay board-see my sig) and definitely allow overseas bidders. The US, Germany and Australia have a lot of Star Wars fans.

Kyrae

I used to sell collectables for a living, so hope I can help with some advice! You have a few options depending on how much time you have available to sell the Star Wars items

1. Carboot sales. You'll need to do your research to find out how much your collectables are worth though, as you don't want to sell anything for less than it's worth. You'll do better at a large regular carboot sale usually, as there tends to be lots of dealers there who are buying stock to sell on. Easy way to get rid of your items, but you might not make the largest amount of money as these dealers will want to sell your items on at a profit.

2. Ebay. Overall it's a lot of work for not much money sometimes, though definitely worth it if you have any rarer items worth £10+ each. I find selling items for £2 each isn't worth it after all the fees are taken off and packaging materials bought etc. Though depending on how many items you have, you could put them all for sale in one lot and start the bidding at a price you'd be happy with and even if it sells for 1 bid you've got your money for not much hassle, it might sell for a lot more you never know. Keep an eye out for free listing days to save some money.

3. Sci-fi fairs and Toyfairs. If you have enough items it might be worth paying for a stall at a sci-fi convention or toy fair, though you'd have to do some research first to find out what your items are worth. An alternative, is take your items along with you to one of these events and ask stallholders (find ones selling items similiar to yours) if they'd be interested in buying your items. I think this might be your best option. You can ask 2 or 3 stallholders what they'd pay for your items, and then pick the best offer. Asking multiple people means you're less likely to get ripped off, and any decent stallholder won't mind you getting a second opinion from another stallholder if you explain your situation.

4. Shops
Alternatively, see if there's any shops local to you selling antiques, collectables, etc, and take your items in there. Be careful you don't get ripped off though, either ask in multiple shops or do some research first to find out how much your items are worth.

5. Auction houses
Look for local auction houses that have collectables sales or general household items sales. Some auction houses only sell antiques, but others sell alsorts including collectable items made in the last 50 years or so. Any good auction house will be happy to give you a free valuation of how much they think your items will sell for. Be prepared that you'll have to pay a fee to enter them in the auction even if they don't sell though, and get a reserve put on them incase only one person bids and they sell for a fiver!

6. Internet
Final suggestion is to google Star Wars collecting forums and see if you can find any forums where collectors sell items to each other. If you ask nicely then members might be willing to look at photos of your items and give you an idea of how much they're worth.

Hope that helps! Sold plenty of Star Wars stuff myself in the past, so if you get really stuck feel free to message me some info on the items and photos and i'll see if I can give you an idea of how much they're worth, can't say i've ever come across any Star Wars spaghetti though!! I'm more familiar with the action figures!!

9217niall

I think Kyrae covered everything haha!
Good luck.

carolbee

wow, thanks for that,Kyrae, lots of valuable info. Think will take time to see how and when to sell. Phoned a couple of local shops, one was very honest and said he would only give about 25% of what it probably goes on ebay for, other has has cash flow problem at the moment.

As its been hanging around for about 15 years, a bit longer won't harm, apart from the spaghetti blowing up!!

As the last time I bought/sold on ebay was about 5 years ago, and then not very much, have been spending time of there looking, not sure how I would do on there not having any feedback, may buy a couple of bits to get started and get my rating up, following advice on sticky.

ih8stress

I am in a similar position, looking to sell some collectable toys. At present I am taking photographs of them, with a view to possibly contacting toy dealers, collectors for offers/valuations.

I have found a couple of Toy Auctioneers online (I actually watched a 'Live' auction this weekend). I'm not sure if I can post links on here, so just google astons auctions, vectis and dj auctions. Alot of these tend to be for diecast toys though.

If you go to .astonsauctioneers.co.uk/toy_auction_results.htm (just put www in front) you can get some ideas of prices obtained.

It is also worth going to any local toy fairs as Kyrae suggests to get a feel for current prices (though these tend to be a little OTT and of course will NOT be what any dealer would offer you).

Good luck, and keep us posted please

carolbee

We have intranet at work, so am going to post on there (free) bit nearer to xmas, have also emailed friends and family, a couple of friends are interested, now to list it all and email it to them, hopefully worth the effort!

Sparhawke

I cannot add to what Kyrae said but you may find this to be a good read

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/selling-on-ebay

Scaredy_Cat_3

carolbee wrote: »

We have intranet at work, so am going to post on there (free) bit nearer to xmas, have also emailed friends and family, a couple of friends are interested, now to list it all and email it to them, hopefully worth the effort!

I don't know what your work intranet is like for selling, but they have that where my husband works and most of the stuff sells for buttons.

If you can wait til nearer Christmas I would recommend ebay. Obviously, taking the advice of earlier posters, do check completed listings to see what sort of prices you can expect - but I usually find I get much better prices for stuff in November and early December than I would earlier in the year. I sold a toy which my son had barely used last year... only got a few quid for it and then the 'buyer' let me down. Checking his feedback, he had bought the same thing from another seller and just never bothered to contact me. Anyway, I re-listed it a few weeks later, closer to Christmas, and got considerably more for it (about 3 times as much, if I remember rightly).

I would think Star Wars stuff is highly collectable so personally I wouldn't offer it on a works intranet where you have a limited audience. I think you'll get a better price with a wider audience, somewhere like ebay.

Of course, if you want to let it go cheaply, let me know, I'm a Star Wars fan :rotfl: