So ... trying to determine the best way to sell my Stephen King Collection.
Be advised, I have over 1,000+ items from every facet of the SK collecting world.
I want it all gone, and obviously for the best price possible.
TheDarkTower.org/SKCollector.com/etc.
Bett's Books
eBay
Other (post below)
In toto
Piecemeal
So ... trying to determine the best way to sell my Stephen King Collection.
Be advised, I have over 1,000+ items from every facet of the SK collecting world.
I want it all gone, and obviously for the best price possible.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"...that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little." ~ Ray Bradbury
Depends how quickly you want the money.
That many items isn't going to do too well at auction I wouldn't think. And you'll be lucky to find a bookseller who'll offer you a decent quote (except maybe a specialist, but even then). My recommendation would be to look at splitting it down by value and category. Drop me an email if you like - I might be able to help.
Best of luck to you.
I hate the thought that you are doing this, but at the same time I love the idea of buying some of your stuff.
I'm sure if there is intelligent life somewhere out there in the universe, they are wise enough to stay away from us.
And the people bowed and prayed, to the cell phone god they made...
Wow...this is a shock.
Wanted list:
Ubris
I choosed "Other". If I were you, first I'd offer the books here and skcollector, then jump on ebay or Betts.
Wanted list:
Ubris
Shocking, YES! I abstained from voting...1000+ items is enormous to try to sell. While Betts is "my baby" it likely is not the best place to sell...I'd say start right here Shannon. At Betts, I sell quite a bit of higher end stuff...signed copies, S/Ls, etc...with 1000+ items you must have quite a lot of smaller stuff...that would likely "sit" at Betts. I still have quite a bit of the Supercollection left at Betts (now approaching 10 years on the market)...magazines etc. that have zero demand despite multiple price reductions. I have a couple other consignments for which many "mundane" items are not finding buyers either.
I think your best bet is to start here.
Dragline : Nothin'. A handful of nothin'. You stupid mullet head. He beat you with nothin'. Just like today when he kept comin' back at me - with nothin'.
Luke : Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Seriously, Wow I am also shocked. I hope this doesn't mean that you're not going to be around here anymore once it's all gone!
You should have had an option for "Don't sell it, we don't want you leaving".
I would agree that here, Sk Collector and followed by ebay will be your best bet. I didn't realise you had such a big collection.
I agree. And to expand, it also depends on how much you want for your items. Do you want the max the market will bear? That means open auction and hope for the best. But you have to worry about flooding the market and overwhelming the pocketbooks of interested collectors. So if you went the eBay route, I'd think you'd need to trickle stuff out over time.
Do you want to offer them at "friend" prices? That would mean fixed prices here on the forum. Or you could consign them at targeted price points and see what happens (and adjust downward as necessary over time).
Do you really want to sell magazines and promo items and ephemera piecemeal? I doubt it. I suggest grouping into manageable lots and being firm. Else, you'll have everyone saying "I want two mags from Lot 17 and three promo items from Lot 54, and 2 proofs and I want you to cut me a deal."
Bottom line, I think it would be nice to offer items here on the forum first. Whatever doesn't sell, I'd take the smaller stuff to eBay in lots, as I mentioned. Higher ticket items, I'd sell through Heritage Auctions. Once or twice a year they have a Grand Rare Book Auction, which they advertise for months in advance, including sending out a huge full-glossy magazine catalog with pictures and descriptions of each book. They will handle all the money collection, packaging, mailing, etc. They have a rare book specialist who will handle your account personally. With eBay you have to deal with all that yourself. Sounds like a nightmare to me. Plus, I've seen Heritage get higher prices for items than I ever see at eBay or at Betts. Insanely high sometimes (I know, b/c I lose out to those bids!). Heritage certainly takes a cut, but the buyer's premium covers most of that I think.
Interesting that you would entertain selling off your collection. Surprising, actually.
I'd start here, then move on to eBay.
I think you need sit a while and really think about this... a week is not that long and you might regret it later.
I'll gladly "store" some of you're items in my collection while you think on it
Wanted: Human skin edition of The Book of the Dead. Will accept PC copy.
Yep - agree with the above, it might be a good idea to weed out the bits that you like the least and put them on eBay or at an auction house, get rid of duplicates etc. - see how it goes, see if feels OK selling them. Most people will either cherrypick or offer a flat price per item.
I just want to know how much the Skeleton Crew treasure chest is going to go for. I think that and the Legends package at Betts are the two things that I would buy if I had the free cash. Good luck with whatever is driving the urge/need to sell.
SHANNON???????????????????
WTFO? Selling your entire collection? I'm tearing up here. You aren't leaving us are you?
OK to the question... Start here/skcollector.com, then on to ebay, I suggest you do it slowly though as others have stated you don't want to overwhelm the pocket books of those that would be your best customers.
Christine
Sorry, I was under the assumption that people read the message I posted in my collection thread. Here you go:
I think I'm kind of done collecting Stephen King ... When Rose was born a little over four months ago, I decided to not collect signed items anymore. Everything else was fair game, just not signed items. Why spend hundred/thousands on paper and ink when you can spend it on your child, your wife, your family, the future? Yeah yeah yeah, we're not hurting on money or anything, it's just the principle. Well, ever since then, SK collecting has just kind of lost its appeal. I find great deals, I get great items in the mail ... yet ... it's not the same as it was. The excitement and motivation just isn't there anymore.
I'm going to give it a little bit of time, a week or so, and decide what to do. But, either way I lean, I'm not going anywhere. I love this website and this community and the King research. I'll always be a King researcher methinks. It's endless! And to me, that's kinda what makes me happy. An endless problem to solve.
So relieved*whoo*
I can understand your reasoning, but as such a lover of King would it not be best to keep at least a set of US 1/1? I can see selling off the rest (at 1000 items that must take up a lot of space) but are you really going to let go of TMSG? I would hope you don't.
Good luck with any selling you do end up doing.
Edit: sorry I don't always read through the collection threads so I missed something important there.
Christine
I can respect your decision to keep family above collections! While you are thinking it over, one consideration might be that you sell bits and pieces at a time from parts of your collection that mean the least. Use that money for special treats such as vacations, gifts, etc.
Agree about starting here also. And by the way, I absolutely WILL sleep with TMSG if given the chance.
Wow, I can't imagine liquidating a collection like that after the time/energy/money/luck to have come to that point, but you're right, priorities shift. Hopefully you'll keep a precious few, at least the DT books. Heritage does sound like a better bet than Ebay if you're wanting to generate some $$, but would hope that right here would be a great place to get them to people you know will love them.
I am late to the game.
I added two options to the poll.
You have to choose FAMILY over a Stephen King collection??!! (grumble grumble, now I've got to remember where I hid the key to the cellar so I can let them out.)
I'm sure if there is intelligent life somewhere out there in the universe, they are wise enough to stay away from us.
And the people bowed and prayed, to the cell phone god they made...
Hold an unveiling.
: )