Susie is an avid collector of vintage and antique cameras. Susie’s grandmother passed away and willed a huge collection of cameras to her. Ever since then Susie has been on the hunt for collectible cameras, going to local estate sales every weekend and browsing the Internet every now and then. Then Susie discovered online auctions, which opened her up to a whole new world of buying.
Now imagine if there were hundreds of other collectors like Susie searching the Internet for vintage and antique cameras.
This is the power that buyers have. They can easily search for literally anything they want with the just a few clicks of a mouse. As a seller of collectibles, you share that same power. When you list something for sale on the Internet, this allows practically anybody in the world to find exactly what you are trying to sell. No matter what you’re selling, there’s bound to be someone out there who is looking for what you’re offering.
Even if you’re selling a very rare item with only a small market of buyers who would find it the least bit interesting, your best bet is to sell it online – especially if you live in a very small town where you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody remotely interested in buying it if you tried to sell it on Craigslist or the classified ads.
Yes, there are tons of marketplaces where you can sell your collectibles including Etsy, Ruby Lane, Craiglist, Offer Up, etc. You could also try selling through a broker or consign your treasures through a store in your area. There is nothing wrong with selling through these types of channels if you have a set price in mind that you want to sell the item at and don’t mind playing the waiting game.
Online auctions work in a similar way to traditional live auctions in that items will be sold to the highest bidder. For sellers, this means that there is always a chance that a collectible could be sold for much higher than anticipated.
Let’s say Susie decided to sell one of her rare antique cameras via an online auction. Her ideal selling price was $350. Come to find out, there were a few people who have been searching high and low for that exact camera and they discovered her figurine while browsing online auction sites. Little did Susie know that these people were willing to pay $500+ for her camera.
When you sell your collectibles via an auction house that specializes in online auctions, you then have even more power as a seller. An auction house is your partner that can help market your items to targeted audiences and find those special buyers for you. You can also sell items relatively quickly since online auctions are typically held for a few days or a few weeks.
Of course, you can try to sell through other online auction sites such as eBay, which is a big online auction marketplace, but there have been reports that the online auction giant is experiencing a decline.
If you’re new to online auctions as a seller or buyer, we recommend reading one of our previous posts, 6 Biggest Myths About Online Auctions.
