Where should I sell my yard sale treasures?

You're out at a yard sale and you run across an item such as a nice set of dishes or perhaps some crystal stemware or maybe an attractive porcelain figurine. You know it's got value but what's the best way to try to sell it to get your highest return? This question is always a factor in any purchase I make since if it ends up going from their house and sitting in my house or storage building I'm not making any money and might as well just walk away from the item. How do you decide what is the best way to sell your purchase? Do you use Ebay? Would it do better in your antique booth? Should you sell it on your own website? In my opinion you should have a pretty good idea of what type of customer is most likely to purchase you item before you decide to purchase it. What I mean by that is, which marketplace is going to have the best chance of matching up your item for sale with customers that are most likely to buy it.

For example, take the duck figurine pictured at the start of this post. At first glance it looks like an ordinary ceramic figurine that you might find in any booth at an antique mall (which I did by the way) that you would likely see selling for $3-$8. It's attractive and was in mint condition with no flaws and would make a lovely addition to someones animal, bird or duck figurine collection. Now when I eyed this figurine I figured that it wasn't just a Japanese or Chinese export and picked it up to see what kind of mark if any it had on it. Well it turned out to be made by Richard Ginori of Italy which few dealers know is a maker of high quality dinnerware, porcelain figurines, lamps and other ceramic wares. The dealer selling obviously didn't know since the price was $5 when I bought it. After purchasing the item I could very easily have taken it over to my booth, made out a new tag and put it up for sale for $175 and it would have been a good deal for both me the seller and also the buyer since Ginori figurines are hard to come by and aren't cheap. Trouble was I knew that it likely would take a year or more for someone to walk into my booth and know anything about Richard Ginori figurines and buy the item. My booth just doesn't get that kind of customer browsing through it very often I figured. I knew that an item such as this needed to have the whole world as it's marketplace so Ebay was the place to sell it especially since the most likely buyer would be a European who was more familiar with the company and it's products. I listed it on Ebay and it sold for a handsome price and I had my money in less than 2 weeks. Ebay was the right marketplace to maximize my sale price and make a quick sale too.

Now if I had found a decent set of dishes with a mid range value in the $75-$200 they would have ended up in one of my booths. Most dishes are hard to get a good price for on Ebay due to the high cost of shipping involved and the customer really doesn't get the best opportunity to observe the condition of the whole set before bidding and there's always the added fear of breakage during shipping. With the exception of high end china or serving pieces that a buyer wants to add to their pattern I don't feel Ebay is the best place to sell dishes in quantity if you want to get the highest return. Ebay I feel is the best place to sell items that have a more limited group of potential buyers or you're selling an item such as sterling silverware or china or anything which is from a specific pattern and will be bought by someone who is actively searching for pieces in that pattern. Your goal is to place your item for sale where it will sell quickly and for a good price. You don't have to get the highest possible price as long as you're getting it fast enough. Velocity of sales is a an important factor in sales because inventory that isn't selling doesn't earn you anything and the expense of displaying or storing it cuts into your profit margin.

Items that I feel that are more suitable for antique booths are lower valued dishes, glassware, jewelry, coins, books, artwork, furniture, nostalgia type items, postcards, pottery, and generally bulky or heavy items that are expensive to ship. I hate to see someone pay $10 for a platter or planter or similar heavy item and then get hit with $15 for shipping. I know that with the cost of gas and the distance that some customers would have to travel to an antique mall or flea market it might make sense to go ahead and pay the high shipping for the item but as a general rule I won't sell an item that I feel the shipping will be higher than the sale price.

Items that I would sell on Ebay are more unique and rare and need to have a much larger area of potential buyers than those that drive through my town and love to browse antique malls as a way to pass the day or spend their weekends. Ebay gives you a whole world of possible buyers if they are currently in the market for what you are selling and take the time to search for it. Most experienced buyers know if they want to find specific items or out of the ordinary one's that it's easier to locate them on Ebay or on a website then hunting through an antique mall. Take advantage of that to maximize your sales potential.