Help With Pricing For Things I Am Planning To Sell (Collectibles, Electronics, Household, Clothing, Etc.)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I have decided I need to start selling some of the treasures, as well as some ordinary things, I have collected during my lifetime. I’ve used Craigslist in the past when it was free, and I always got the price I wanted for all the things I sold, which included clothing, furniture, household goods, a keyboard, even my convertible Camaro.

My nephews (both IT guys now) grew up with all this technology. They taught me how to do things I had no experience with, like setting up a photo hosting site, downloading (uploading?) photos from my Nikon, etc. I will be on their schedule for help. They are going to set me up with a Facebook account, so I can sell things on their Marketplace.

For now, I just want to get some ideas on realistic pricing. I don’t have a photo hosting site yet. The other one disappeared. I will post pictures of like items with honest descriptions of the condition. I have a lot of stuff! I’ll break it down, so as not to be overwhelming. Thanks in advance!

Saucywench

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The first thing I have is another keyboard. This one is much nicer than the one I sold previously on Craigslist.

Electronic Keyboard
RadioShack LK - 1161

This keyboard is in excellent condition. It has only been in one place; it hasn’t moved all around the country like some of my other items have. I have all the paperwork and the song book. All the notes, preprogrammed songs, and the lights work. No scratches or damage. Runs on batteries or electric. I’m looking for the power cord. I know it’s here somewhere in a drawer or cabinet. If I can’t locate it, I see that the cord can be purchased online for $11.00. What’s your estimate?

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I meant to post a picture/image of said keyboard…

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The best way to put a price on something I wanted to sell was by going to eBay and seeing what other people were selling it for. Also, check to see if someone is selling something similar on Marketplace.

You’ll have a rough idea of the value at that point, but it depends on the condition. There’s a big difference between “new in box (NIB)” and “lightly used.” Don’t expect to get top dollar; ensure you have some negotiating room in your price. Good luck!

5

Thanks! I’m seeing around $60 for this keyboard, but one ad wanted an additional $80 for shipping.

To everyone reading this…does asking $60 and accepting $50 sound fair?

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Actually looking at eBay sold prices is better than looking at eBay asking (forsale) prices, as often ebay sellers ask unrealistically high prices. [to find Sold prices there is a checkbox on the left side of search results]

While for commonly used items you might get comparable prices on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace, for collectible items there is likely a very small market locally–so you either need to sell them on eBay or price substantially lower.

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I’m not seeing sold prices. Do I have to register or sign in to view the sold prices?

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It looks like there aren’t any; I only see adapters as having Sold. As I said go to the left side, scroll down below Show Only and check the Sold Items checkbox:

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Thank you! I found the Sold Items checkbox. That will come in handy for other items.

Would you throw out a guess as to what to ask for the keyboard and what I might take, please? :slightly_smiling_face:

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To everyone reading this thread. I’m living with and caring for my 84 yr old mom who has Alzheimer’s, dementia, and has had cancer twice. I’m also taking care of my almost totally blind, almost 18 yr old dog. Did I mention he doesn’t hear too well either. Needless to say,…I don’t get much sleep. I also don’t have much free time to research this stuff. I don’t have the time, the experience, or resources to check all this stuff out.

I’m hoping to sell a lot of this stuff to people in my town or surrounding areas through Facebook Marketplace. I can’t ship this stuff, at least not at this time. Some of it is large. Other stuff is breakable. I was hoping some of you might toss out some prices without having to do much research yourself. I appreciate all the suggestions and help.

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Let’s try something fun from my Beatles collection, of which I have quite a few things. I already looked at a lot of this on E-Bay and other sites.

I have everything shown above, the complete set of twelve (rare) porcelain music boxes and the glass-domed Sgt. Pepper’s one. All are in excellent condition. None are scratched or chipped. All the music works. The domed Sgt Pepper’s is not faded and the glass dome is not yellowed. I did not keep mine on a sunny windowsill.

I also have all the certificates of authenticity and the boxes the twelve porcelain ones came in.

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This links to sold items (in Canada I think) and what was paid. Hope that helps.

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Thank you for the link!

It is hard to find what might be a fair price on all these things. Some people only have one of the twelve music boxes to sell. Not everyone has the certificates of authenticity, etc., etc.

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I like to look at Completed listings on eBay instead of Sold. That way you can also see relisted items and see if the price drops because it didn’t sell originally. Sometimes you’ll see the same item listed for months at a time all at the same price though.

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Thank you! It’s hard trying to figure out a fair asking price for some things, like the twelve Beatles music boxes. I see individual ones listed for fifty bucks each, and I see someone selling the whole set with an opening bid of $968, but they say that doesn’t mean they will sell it at that price.

It’s easy to price a crock pot or coffee maker, collectibles not so much. I have a stereo system from back in the day and a bunch of records (LPs and 45s). I have the Some Girls album with Lucille Ball on it. What is a fair price for this stuff? I get a headache just thinking about it.

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For the smaller ticket items I would recommend Facebook Marketplace / porch pick-up. You list the item, someone agrees to your terms, you place it on your porch, they come and leave the cash under the doormat.

We have sold dozens of items that way with the only hiccups being that some folks change their mind and never come to pick up their item. If that happens, you simply re-list.

I probably would not sell anything for more than $15-$20 this way.

Good luck! It feels good to get rid of stuff.

mmm

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Don’t forget that we have a Marketplace forum here on the Dope!

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Thanks mmm and Shoeless!

mmm-Has anyone ever taken the item and not left the moola?

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I’ve sold a lot of stuff this way, and never had a problem. (Someone not showing up - yes. This just goes with the territory). As said above, I only do this with relatively low value items.

I feel your pain. It can be a challenge (and a lot of research) to price items properly. Low enough that they actually sell (because that’s the whole point), but high enough that you don’t feel you’re letting a treasure go for a pittance. It can be really tough. I recently looked up a toy truck from my childhood that I was going to list for $5. Ebay sales show identical items selling for $100+. Pretty sure someone would have snapped that up and flipped it.

But if that does happen - well, you’ve made someone’s day very happy with the fantastic deal they got.

The advice to look at ebay SALES, (not listings) is a good one. Bear in mind too, as has been said, that some of these sales have sat around for months and months before being sold. If you need stuff gone SOON, then the price will have to reflect that.

Collectibles can be hard to sell locally if they are a fairly specialized thing, and your market is smaller (eg. not a big city)

For lower value stuff, I’ve found that “free” will get lots of interest. Even $1 is a barrier for some reason. Even then, I’ve been trying to give away some headrests for a Toyota for months now. I’m sure SOMEONE out there could use them, but it’s finding that right person.

lately I have even considered getting a table at a yearly vintage toy fair to sell some older meccano, hot wheels, etc.

Finally, I’ve found that different regions use different methods to buy/sell. Craigslist, FB marketplace, Used(city), Kijiji, local buy-sell groups etc. etc. You need to find the one that more people use. Or cross post to multiple sites.

Lots of work. Which is why we still have tons of stuff.

20

Thank you very much for all the info!

I’ve had really good luck with garage sales here (I’m in Tucson), but with our HOA they have restrictions on how often you can have one. I’ve had good luck with Craiglist also, but I wasn’t trying to sell collectibles, expensive electronics, vinyl, etc.