Best Way to Sell Automobilia?

[TexRiv_63]

As many of you may know I have been selling automobilia on Ebay as a retirement home business since 2012. I am also still a willing buyer there for resale purposes but no longer personally collect except for the occasional rare (and cheap) find. My specialties are enamel radiator emblems, threaded hubcaps, Motometers and data plates. 

 

While I have long been an Ebay supporter and have done quite well I am no longer happy with the market for these types of items there. The auction format availability which was my mainstay is increasingly smaller replaced by masses of ridiculously overpriced fixed price items that seem to stay there forever without selling. The market for radiator emblems, which are by far the most popular item currently, seems to have shifted to online auction sites with attendant high service fees for both buyer and seller.

 

In addition to my business I am seriously thinking about pruning and selling some of my personal collections but obviously want maximum return. I'd like to hear your thoughts and personal experiences with this type of selling if you are willing to share, any help will be greatly appreciated.

[TheMoneyPit]

I don’t know if you have been following the “Check The Oil Promotions” auctions of the Signature automobilia collection, but several of the pieces I was interested in were sold at nearly double what I was expecting. 
 

For many years now I have kept an accurate inventory of my collection including rough valuation so that my family has some idea of what the collection is worth. I don’t expect to be alive when it gets broken up and I want to be sure nobody takes advantage. If it were a necessity to sell it right now I would consider an auction like theirs.

[auburnseeker]

Unfortunately without consigning to an auction house,  Ebay has it all wrapped up tight.  

I can't understand how these little auction companies in the middle of nowhere get enough exposure to get higher than ebay prices,  yet no one will develop a competitive site to ebay, which has many , many issues as well as sellers that have walked away entirely.  If Bob's auction service in Yazoo city  can net top sales for some random automobile pieces,  from literature to stuff like you have,  then why can't someone create a site like ebay where the sellers can sell independently on, for a commission?

I paid ebay $18,000 in fees last year.  That's one seller.  Has to be money there for someone else to step up to the plate.  Maybe one of the existing auctioneers that know the ins and outs a bit.  Start with just automotive stuff.  You don't have to get the whole pie out of the gate.  Keep it strictly old stuff and avoid trying to compete with Amazon.  Make it an Auction only site to keep stuff fresh.   Oh and most importantly have decent customer service and an online place to report technical errors.   Maybe even a place for suggestions where sellers and buyers can submit ideas to help things work smoothly.  I spent over a half hour with 2 different "representatives" to report an existing problem that was already on record and i was told by others to also report it so it would get addressed sooner. Nothing real important just not being able to invoice customers.  LOL. Still took days to correct and I haven't tried since, so who knows if it's working.  The problem existed for 2 months prior,  I had just found work arounds,  including invoicing directly through pay pal. 

 

I use a site called pirate ship for my shipping and they have excellent customer service.  Handled through a messaging system on the side.  Usually less than ten minutes total time to report an issue and have it resolved, all done while I'm doing other work online.   Sometimes only a minute or two.  

 

If I was tech savvy I would be so tempted to start one.   I think the time is ripe as ebay has driven away buyer's and sellers in droves and seems to care little about the guys selling the type of stuff we do. 

[edinmass]

The way to sell a collection now is not piecemeal unless you want to make a dollar an hour for your time. The check the oil guy did a great job, and I bought about ten items.....I had to overpay for two items......but I had been looking for them for more than 50 years. Overall I would say the numbers on the stuff were about right. Ask him how much time and effort he had in it.........probably 400 hours. 

[auburnseeker]

20 minutes ago, edinmass said:

The way to sell a collection now is not piecemeal unless you want to make a dollar an hour for your time.

Come on Ed.  I make 1.25 an hour.  Get with the times. Inflation just brings it back down to the value of a dollar but on paper I'm up 25 %.  

[JFranklin]

I find the problem now with eBay is the inability to narrow a search to any specific item like I could do in the early days. Somebody should be able to start a better site someday.

[edinmass]

3 hours ago, auburnseeker said:

Come on Ed.  I make 1.25 an hour.  Get with the times. Inflation just brings it back down to the value of a dollar but on paper I'm up 25 %.  

 

I had a huge collection, and sold it off in 1/3rds which worked out well.........I still have the last third, my Pierce stuff. I'm going to donate it........

[auburnseeker]

I'm the guy to call when guys want to sell their literature collection.  Yup you won't get top dollar,  but it's one check and you are all done.  As you found out,  boy that really makes it easy and though this piece might be worth $50 or $100 lots of them are worth a few bucks so when someone hands you a check for $20,000 or $30,000 and it's all over,  that does have alot of appeal. 

It felt good when the guy filled the Uhaul with a bunch of NOS parts that I sold him for $1000.  Pennies on the dollar of retail, but hey I didn't move it from my old to new shop or try to have to identify or sell or ship any of it.  I made sure I could point to a few things he would make his money back on and the rest was all cream.

I know I had been there many times buying the crap and never getting the cream and overpaying for what I did buy. I'm a little more selective now.   I wanted to make sure he was going to do well.  Must have thought so as well as he came back 2 more times as I found more stuff to make another big pile.   Win win for everybody.

[TexRiv_63]

Thanks for the responses. I have no problem selling individual items, taking my own time to photograph and list on my own, I have been doing that for years and I am retired so I have PLENTY of time. For the longest time Ebay has worked well and given me satisfactory profitability but this year that seems to have changed. In addition the uptick in emblem values has made it more difficult to buy resale inventory reasonably. I may put together a small batch and try the auction route just to see what happens.

[TheMoneyPit]

Let us know what your experience is if you do that. If it’s not good I’ll apologize for the advice…

[trimacar]

I was thinning out my hoarding stash on Ebay for a while, but the fees just got silly, not to mention dealing with a 1099-K at the end of the year.

 

I've sold a few things quite quickly on Facebook, not in the market area but rather in specific groups on that site.

 

The license plate guys have a Deal or No Deal site (DOND), one puts a plate or a group of plates, people make offers and the seller can say deal or no deal.  The rules really help that format, as there's no chit chat allowed, and a would be buyer can only bid three times.  I've seen plates go for more than one would expect on that site, and even sold a few myself.

 

There's an emblem group on FB too.  (4) Collectors of Antique & Vintage Auto Emblems, Badges, and Scripts | Facebook  

[Mike McCandless]

It's hard to beat using an auction house if you have things of value in volume. It's difficult to max the value when you only have a few pieces, especially on smaller dollar items. If you want to maximize your auction results, the auction house needs time to properly photograph and market the pieces. There are plenty of auction houses out there that can do this. If you're overloaded in one specific area, just be aware the market might not be able to handle a massive influx or one particular type of collectible. We have this conversation with collectors all the time. Just remember, an auction house can have the same time and energy into a 100.00 piece as a 30k dollar piece, be realistic about what you'll pay for a commission. Check the Oil guys have done really well with what I think you're trying to sell. Make sure the auction house has at least some experience in what you're selling. 

[TexRiv_63]

5 hours ago, trimacar said:

I was thinning out my hoarding stash on Ebay for a while, but the fees just got silly, not to mention dealing with a 1099-K at the end of the year.

 

I've sold a few things quite quickly on Facebook, not in the market area but rather in specific groups on that site.

 

The license plate guys have a Deal or No Deal site (DOND), one puts a plate or a group of plates, people make offers and the seller can say deal or no deal.  The rules really help that format, as there's no chit chat allowed, and a would be buyer can only bid three times.  I've seen plates go for more than one would expect on that site, and even sold a few myself.

 

There's an emblem group on FB too.  (4) Collectors of Antique & Vintage Auto Emblems, Badges, and Scripts | Facebook  

Thanks David. I don't have a problem with the 1099-K because it's a business I'm already paying taxes on. I have done a few sales in Facebook groups and on this forum but I like the auction format rather than fixed price. I am an Admin on that "Collectors of..." Facebook group.

[TexRiv_63]

Check The Oil / Proxibid has an auction ending in the next couple of days, I'm going to register, watch and possibly bid to check them out.

[TheMoneyPit]

A while back I bought a Lozier watch fob from one of their sales. It was a splurge purchase but everything went smoothly.

 

ALWAYS know what the commission is and a vague idea of shipping and keep them in mind when buying at auction because it added up quickly.

 

There was one particular mascot they had which I chased to a point where that additional commission put it too rich for me to continue, but I assume that it’s one of the things Ed Minnie was chasing as well - a special Pierce Arrow dealership supplied mascot that I have only seen a few of.

 

I don’t remember what I saved to watch later but it’s another good sale.

[TexRiv_63]

I have bought items from a local estate sale auction house so I know about the fees, they are ridiculous but part of the business. Not sure yet what the seller's fees are for listing there.

[Mike McCandless]

3 hours ago, TexRiv_63 said:

I have bought items from a local estate sale auction house so I know about the fees, they are ridiculous but part of the business. Not sure yet what the seller's fees are for listing there.

 

Auctions have to make money somehow, that's done via the commissions. It's their broker fee for connecting buyer and seller.

[3macboys]

This is speculation on my part but I think there are a couple of reasons why you seeing much higher prices realized by the auction houses over Ebay auctions.  The first is that on Ebay most auctions are only 7 days long which limits your potential exposure time compared to a lot of auction houses that have 30 days online time.  My second thought is that the auction house selling a collection of auto related items is going to attract a lot of people who will view the entire list of items and discover something that they either have been keeping an eye out for or suddenly tickled their fancy, with Ebay you have to hope that your potential buyer does a specific search that week for what you are selling.   Another consideration is that if the auction house sells your item for more than twice the value of what you were realizing on Ebay the fees become reasonable in the big picture, not to mention it is hands off, no come backs, no shipping etc.  BTW I am one of those people with several thousands of things listed at fixed prices on Ebay and no longer use the auction option.  My fees are in the 12 to 14 % range, some stuff moves fast, some takes awhile but what I sell tends not to be collector items but parts and the sort, so I need to find the end user who actually NEEDS that item and not the one who simply wants it.  I will say that I've noticed things have become a lot more sporadic of late and I have a friend with brick and mortar retail store who says the same thing which might be a bigger tell of the economy as a whole and not an issue with an individual platform.

[Terry Bond]

I don't mean to turn this into an evil-bay bashing session, but however you decide to sell, I recommend considering things from the buyer's perspective first. 

 

On evil-bay, it's become a circus of mis-identified stuff listed by stupid money-hungry opportunists.  There are exceptions, and I applaud their courage and hard work getting things properly listed with reasonable expectations, backed with thorough research.  But their listings are often lost and buried among the cheap and ridiculous.  I've always suggested a topic here entitled "what in the world are they thinking" so that some of the ridiculous listings could be publicly flogged here.  It would be quite entertaining. 

 

Among the most recent examples are fake Ford plant security officer badges (they've been a problem for over 10 years now) listed at $99 and pronounced "original, genuine, and rare" and fake or reproduction watch fobs listed for $250 that are described as "authentic and not a restrike."  Then there is the person selling a cheap print cut from a book who has it priced for thousands of dollars and has been trying to sell it for over three years now.  I've watched the price change almost daily from a $400 -low to over $65,000.00!  There are also some sellers who have disabled the ability for potential buyers to contact them for additional information about their listings. I guess they got tired of people contacting them and trying to tell them how screwed up the listings really are!  Just yesterday I saw a listing for a small celluloid advertising pin for a Cutting automobile with a buy it now price of $349.00!  One sold two weeks ago for $49 in open bidding.  It's not rare!

 

I easily tire of those kinds of people just tossing a ridiculous price out there in hopes of catching the sucker who doesn't know any better.  Yes, they are out there and snagging one might get you a few bucks, but - there has always been an unfortunate halo effect on pricing like that.  Now they must all be worth that much right?  That can happen with any auction price result too, but IMHO if you want to do the best for your collection with the least amount of hassle you should talk with one of the major specialty auction houses and see what's involved.  Sure there will be charges, but they will probably be mostly off-set by seeing sales results maximized by people who know what they are doing. 

 

I get so tired of searching on evil-bay and finding junk where it's so refreshing to find a specialty auction and scroll through several pages of quality items to choose from. 

 

Just for laughs, try searching evil-bay for "Antique Automobile" in all categories and see how many Chinese bows and dishes show up. 

 

Terry

[TexRiv_63]

16 hours ago, 3macboys said:

This is speculation on my part but I think there are a couple of reasons why you seeing much higher prices realized by the auction houses over Ebay auctions.  The first is that on Ebay most auctions are only 7 days long which limits your potential exposure time compared to a lot of auction houses that have 30 days online time.  My second thought is that the auction house selling a collection of auto related items is going to attract a lot of people who will view the entire list of items and discover something that they either have been keeping an eye out for or suddenly tickled their fancy, with Ebay you have to hope that your potential buyer does a specific search that week for what you are selling.   Another consideration is that if the auction house sells your item for more than twice the value of what you were realizing on Ebay the fees become reasonable in the big picture, not to mention it is hands off, no come backs, no shipping etc.  BTW I am one of those people with several thousands of things listed at fixed prices on Ebay and no longer use the auction option.  My fees are in the 12 to 14 % range, some stuff moves fast, some takes awhile but what I sell tends not to be collector items but parts and the sort, so I need to find the end user who actually NEEDS that item and not the one who simply wants it.  I will say that I've noticed things have become a lot more sporadic of late and I have a friend with brick and mortar retail store who says the same thing which might be a bigger tell of the economy as a whole and not an issue with an individual platform.

Thanks, I agree. I switched all of my auction listings to the 10 day format quite a while ago and found that it helped build views and watches significantly but as you say this has dropped off lately. Even though I now use it in limited fashion I do blame fixed price listings for the current situation.

[TexRiv_63]

2 hours ago, Terry Bond said:

I don't mean to turn this into an evil-bay bashing session, but however you decide to sell, I recommend considering things from the buyer's perspective first. 

 

On evil-bay, it's become a circus of mis-identified stuff listed by stupid money-hungry opportunists.  There are exceptions, and I applaud their courage and hard work getting things properly listed with reasonable expectations, backed with thorough research.  But their listings are often lost and buried among the cheap and ridiculous.  I've always suggested a topic here entitled "what in the world are they thinking" so that some of the ridiculous listings could be publicly flogged here.  It would be quite entertaining. 

 

Among the most recent examples are fake Ford plant security officer badges (they've been a problem for over 10 years now) listed at $99 and pronounced "original, genuine, and rare" and fake or reproduction watch fobs listed for $250 that are described as "authentic and not a restrike."  Then there is the person selling a cheap print cut from a book who has it priced for thousands of dollars and has been trying to sell it for over three years now.  I've watched the price change almost daily from a $400 -low to over $65,000.00!  There are also some sellers who have disabled the ability for potential buyers to contact them for additional information about their listings. I guess they got tired of people contacting them and trying to tell them how screwed up the listings really are!  Just yesterday I saw a listing for a small celluloid advertising pin for a Cutting automobile with a buy it now price of $349.00!  One sold two weeks ago for $49 in open bidding.  It's not rare!

 

I easily tire of those kinds of people just tossing a ridiculous price out there in hopes of catching the sucker who doesn't know any better.  Yes, they are out there and snagging one might get you a few bucks, but - there has always been an unfortunate halo effect on pricing like that.  Now they must all be worth that much right?  That can happen with any auction price result too, but IMHO if you want to do the best for your collection with the least amount of hassle you should talk with one of the major specialty auction houses and see what's involved.  Sure there will be charges, but they will probably be mostly off-set by seeing sales results maximized by people who know what they are doing. 

 

I get so tired of searching on evil-bay and finding junk where it's so refreshing to find a specialty auction and scroll through several pages of quality items to choose from. 

 

Just for laughs, try searching evil-bay for "Antique Automobile" in all categories and see how many Chinese bows and dishes show up. 

 

Terry

Terry, I also do not want this to go off my original topic, but I totally agree with you. Stupid prices for poor quality items just numb potential buyers out and the poor search functions make it worse. And don't get me started on fake items! I don't have a problem with reproductions but they HAVE to be clearly labeled as such, which they very seldom are.

 

[TexRiv_63]

On 4/22/2022 at 11:34 AM, TexRiv_63 said:

Check The Oil / Proxibid has an auction ending in the next couple of days, I'm going to register, watch and possibly bid to check them out.

Day one of their auction ended last night, I watched some items but did not bid. Day two ends tonight with more items on my watch list and I will most likely bid. I was pleased that they allow you to review all the sold prices after the auction closes, my local auction house did not allow that.

[Terry Bond]

2 hours ago, TexRiv_63 said:

Day one of their auction ended last night, I watched some items but did not bid. Day two ends tonight with more items on my watch list and I will most likely bid. I was pleased that they allow you to review all the sold prices after the auction closes, my local auction house did not allow that.

Yes, I've bought from them on numerous occasion.  Nothing in the current sale that excites me, but last time around I did very well. Quick safe shipping-reasonable too. 

Terry

[Mark Wetherbee]

Another thing that helps the price increase for the seller is the two minute additional time after a bid. It’s a good way to discourage “snipers” all bidding in the last two minutes and getting a steal, plus it does get the competitive people bidding above and beyond that point they normally would have stopped buying.

[Mike McCandless]

2 hours ago, Mark Wetherbee said:

Another thing that helps the price increase for the seller is the two minute additional time after a bid. It’s a good way to discourage “snipers” all bidding in the last two minutes and getting a steal, plus it does get the competitive people bidding above and beyond that point they normally would have stopped buying.

 

The downside to those auctions is that you can have multiple lots that begin to end all at the same time due to the extensions and people can't keep up with them all. 

[TexRiv_63]

I did bid on a handfull of items, all for resale, but was outbid. A large majority of this auction was hood ornaments and mascots which are not my thing, but most of the selling prices were quite reasonable. One thing that surprised me was the generally poor quality of the photographs for this type of merchandise. Are they done by the auction house or the consigner? Seems like better pictures would have improved sales...

[Terry Bond]

Agree that photos will tell the story. I've seen auctions with one photo and a one word description. Seller should be really po'd in those cases. I just got an announcement about a Lalique mascot collection and the pictures were certainly not done by anybody that knows what they are doing. None of them have photos of the markings on the base and that's a critical item on a Lalique. There is also a 25% buyers premium for that sale. For what???

Terry

[TexRiv_63]

An update: I am still following some auctions of automobilia but for now do not think I will go that route. In my own Ebay business I am opening my listings up to include more threaded hubcaps, of which I have a very large supply. I stopped selling them for a while do to lack of interest but that may be changing, we shall see.

[wcd30]

Don,

I'm still looking for a Star Fleetruck emblem if you would happen to have one.

Thanks,

Dave Schulte

[Leigh Knudson]

I'll have to point out one thing about eBay that seems to have been missed.   Millions more people know about it then know about the specialty auction houses.  I recently purchased two very obscure truck emblems from a seller that was offering nothing else.  In messages to him he stated his grandfather was an engineer at both companies and the emblems were something had been acquired at work 70-80 years ago.    I can guarantee both of these emblems are in no one else's collection.  One, a White emblem, was a total unknown in the White Truck collector hobby but corresponded in style to a very uncommon but known emblem.   eBay has been a source for many emblems in my collection because it is available to the folks who have no knowledge of automobilia.   Yes, the asking price is very often ridiculous and I don't pay it but many sales are fairly priced or even low.

[TexRiv_63]

18 hours ago, Leigh Knudson said:

I'll have to point out one thing about eBay that seems to have been missed.   Millions more people know about it then know about the specialty auction houses.  I recently purchased two very obscure truck emblems from a seller that was offering nothing else.  In messages to him he stated his grandfather was an engineer at both companies and the emblems were something had been acquired at work 70-80 years ago.    I can guarantee both of these emblems are in no one else's collection.  One, a White emblem, was a total unknown in the White Truck collector hobby but corresponded in style to a very uncommon but known emblem.   eBay has been a source for many emblems in my collection because it is available to the folks who have no knowledge of automobilia.   Yes, the asking price is very often ridiculous and I don't pay it but many sales are fairly priced or even low.

Leigh, I completely agree. While many including me get very frustrated with Ebay it is still the best marketplace around. I have also found many unique items and the bargains do still exist.

[TexRiv_63]

On 5/25/2022 at 12:17 PM, TexRiv_63 said:

An update: I am still following some auctions of automobilia but for now do not think I will go that route. In my own Ebay business I am opening my listings up to include more threaded hubcaps, of which I have a very large supply. I stopped selling them for a while do to lack of interest but that may be changing, we shall see.

An update to this update: There does seem to be increased interest in threaded hubcaps and I have been pleased with the response and sale prices.