Auctions and Antiques Examiner - A Few Good Tips if You're Forced to Sell Personal Possessions to Raise Cash

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A Few Good Tips if You're Forced to Sell Personal Possessions to Raise Cash

POSTED May 5, 1:04 PM

To say that some people are having a difficult time making ends meet right now, would be a gross understatement. I saw this coming and months ago, began writing an eBook to help people with this unfortunate circumstance.

I recently read an article that told of a mom selling family heirlooms on eBay to raise much needed funds to compensate for shortfalls in the family budget. The surface of the story had a rosy sheen that made it sound like this was a fun new hobby for this mother. In fact, it was actually another "job" on top of the 3 she and here husband are already working. Yes, extra money would be coming in as a result, but to what expense?
Most likely, the few minutes she was actually able to spend with her kids after dinner would have to be sacrificed.
Now I'm not at all against selling items to quick cash. I'm an auctioneer and thus a liquidator, it's what i do, so I understand it. What I have a problem with is the above scenario being presented as just perfectly acceptable thing, just another little bump on the road to the American Dream. This is not ethical economic philosophy and in my opinion, it was poor reporting.

Let me just clarify my position a bit further so as not to alienate any of my fellow eBay brethren:

Selling on eBay or anywhere else for extra money or as an income producer, that's a good thing.

Selling your family treasures because you need groceries and gas means this country needs new economic direction.

nuff said.

Although it's not the optimal choice to raise extra cash and I don't advise it, selling ones personal possessions is often the only available method to raise much needed money. In light of that, let's look at some tips that will actually help those are in this position. Some of these apply to online sales only, some to off line sales only and some to both, take what you need and throw away the rest.

As hard as your situation is, you need to step outside of your needs for a minute, and think like the prospective buyer. The more desperate you appear, the less you'll get. On the other hand, coming from a confident position and understand what the buyer is interested in, will raise value.
Learn as much about what you have as possible, the less you know about an antique or collectible, the less you will get for it.
Learn a few of the most often used negotiation tactics in the used items and collectibles market. There are many of strategies, but there are a couple that always pop up. Click here to see those strategies explained in detail.
If you think you have a very valuable antique or collectible, by all means get it appraised or at least authenticated. Many local dealers will authenticate an item for free. You will get more for it if you can prove it's provenance.
If your new to selling on eBay and are going to skip the tutorial, AT LEAST READ THE FAQs.
Use the spell check in eBay, studies show that sloppy descriptions generate lower bidding activity.
By all means, go to my site and suck up as much free information as you can. I have over 350 pages of articles about selling on eBay, appraisals, antiques, the liquidation process, live auctions, selling wholesale to dealers and more. There's no membership fee or sign up process required to take advantage of the information. I've dedicated the latest episode of my online radio show to this subject and it covers it in much more detail. There is also a full text companion transcription along with links to sites discussed in the show. Click here to see that material.

Take a deep breath, realize that this will pass and get ready to think like a salesman/woman. Who knows, you may find a new career.

If anyone reading this has any tips they think will help out, please post them in the comments section.

Good luck and take care,

AW

Categories: antiques , raising cash , collectibles , liquidation

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Auction Wally
AuctionWally has been an auctioneer and appraiser for 25 years. He runs an antiques appraisal blog where he writes about the value of antiques and how to sell them. You can find him at www.auctionwally.com.