That’s about it. My family has a large collection of Hummels left from generations past and seek the most effective method of liquidating them. Ebay seems like they don’t go for a whole lot. Any advice?
Ebay probably comprises 90%+ of the secondary market for buying and selling collectibles like Hummels etc. The price on ebay reflects the real world values that people pay for these things. Why do you think there would be a place or circumstance where people would pay more?
I see a lot of auctions go by without bids, leading me to believe that people who buy hummels don’t use E-bay. Also, E-bay is not a perfect fair market value decider. There are categories there that perform above and below fair market value. I meerly inquired if this may be one of them.
Out of pure economic curiosity why would ebay sale values not be as close to a “perfect market value decider” as anything in existence?
Ebay is perhaps the only market currently for these. You can’t give away a Hummel in the real world. Their day came and went, much like commemorative plates, etc.
Anecdotal story: I knew a guy who used to buy Hummels at 50% of the retail guide and sell them at 60%. He had a real world job and this was just a sideline that made him extra money. About 10 years ago, he dropped his spread to 40%/50%. He gave up even buying them about five years ago. There IS almost no market for them and it will only get worse. Ebay IS the market.
I just remember the advice given by “Antiques Roadshow”. If it was made to be a collectible, it really isn’t and won’t increase in value.
I suspect that eBay is fine as a market value decider for some goods. But for stuff that varies in condition and quality, such as truly high-end collectibles, you need to see the merchandise to properly value it.
Sorry Snowmaster, but SamClem is right.
Hummel’s day is gone, and they weren’t really high end collectables anyway, though they might have been the highest end that the middle class could afford. But they were hardly ever collected by upper class or really wealthy folks.
Note that when checking out FMV on eBay, remember to look at auctions that ended, and only those with winning bids.