Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Pricing and selling your Avon Collection

(Reprinted with permission from Findavon.com's Online newsletter of August 2000)

As a dealer in Avon Collectibles, I receive hundreds (now thousands circa 2010) of emails concerning pricing and selling Avon Collections. Often the collection has been
inherited, or the owner is moving to smaller quarters, and needs to downsize their collection. Although we claim no expertise on the subject,
we do try to help with the basic steps involved in pricing and selling a collection.

* Find the value of your collectibles
* Find the best method for selling them.


The value of collectibles can vary broadly and the value depends greatly on an items popularity and on it's condition. Other factors affecting value will be where it is sold, such as online store, collectibles shop, auction, etc. geographic area, current popularity, and supply and demand. It is possible to research the value yourself - using the online and offline sources listed at Guides for Pricing Avon Collectibles, and by looking in collectibles shops, flea markets, etc to get a range of prices in various venues. If your collectibles are at least 75 years old, it may be worthwhile to enlist the services of an appraiser. Appraisals should be done in person, by someone with adequate credentials in your area of collecting. While there are a few online appraisal services, I feel an accurate appraisal does require seeing, feeling and touching. Be sure to let the appraiser know what type of appraisal you are looking for - retail market value, insurance value, etc.


For items less than 75 years old, an appraisal most likely will cost much more than your item is worth - and a good price guide, perhaps supplemented with some additional research in local pricing, should be quite sufficient.


Market values are a starting point, in the end, however, your item is worth what you can get for it, if you are selling it. If you are keeping it, then it is worth whatever value you wish to place upon it.


After doing the research to price your collectibles you can sell them yourself. If you wish to sell at retail, you might become a dealer, advertise, set up a local shop, or rent space in a shop. It may also be possible to find a dealer who will sell your items on consignment (they take a percentage to cover costs, as each item sells).


Other options include the use of classified ads, or selling at an auction.


Or, you can sell to a dealer. Keep in mind that, in addition to the amount the dealer pays you, they also have overhead, and also must allow some room for profit. Selling to a dealer relieves you of the time and expenditures of becoming a dealer yourself, expect the wholesale price the dealer pays to reflect this, as well as the fact that it may be some time before the items are sold. A good starting point for locating dealers who might be interested in your collection is your local (or online) yellow pages, look under collectibles and antique dealers. In my experience, in almost every case you should deal with a local dealer in selling a collection, they will need to inspect the items. You should also know your asking price in advance.

For large collections, especially with a wide variety of items, an estate sale might make sense.

Book Recommendations:

Bud Hastin's Avon Collector's Encyclopedia: Avon and California Perfume Company Products-1886 to Present (Paperback)-18th Edition


Review - Best book on Avon Collecting by far. Bud Hastin has a 10. Bud Hastin has spent 30 years gathering information on all areas of avon collecting. He has the only updated book on the market. If you are a serious collector or just want to know what the older avons you have are worth. You can't do without Bud Hastin's Avon Collectors Encyclopedia. This book covers 1886 to present. 6000 pictures. Over 14000 different Avons and CPC's (early Avon ). All priced. Lists best place to sell or buy older avons. Avon Clubs listed.


Kovel's Yellow Pages : A Collector's Directory of Names, Addresses,Telephone and Fax Numbers, E-Mail, and Internet Addresses to Make Selling, Fixing, and Pricing your Antiques and Collectibles Easy


Description - America's antiques experts, Ralph and Terry Kovel, also give you "insider" information on how to navigate the complicated world of buying, selling, and collecting antiques. They have distilled a lifetime's worth of information to give you the last word on:

  • Where to start when you've inherited a house full of stuff
  • How to know if you need an appraiser and where to find one
  • When giving away an antique is more profitable than selling it
  • If repairing or restoring an object will lower or enhance its value
  • How to bid in out-of-town auctions

Kovels' Yellow Pages gives you firsthand information from more than 3,000 suppliers, clubs, auctions, services, and industry sources nationwide. You'll find names, addresses, telephone and fax numbers, plus e-mail and Internet addresses. There's also an extensive bibliography of price books and reference books most helpful to collectors. With this guide, you have at your fingertips the most complete and up-to-date collector's reference available anywhere.

About the article author: Anne Thomas is a collectibles dealer who owns Avon Collectibles -Serving online collectors since 1997 . In addition to selling Avon Collectibles and Discontinued Items in her online store , she offers an Avon Representative Directory for those searching for a local representative, a free Avon Wanteds service for Avon Collectibles , a bookstore for Avon collectibles price guides and reference books , and timely information on Avon collecting both at the website and through her monthly newsletter (now through our blog).




Looking for current Avon products online? Avon

Avon Collectibles Avon Collectibles

Avon collectibles Wanted-Another Free service of Avon Collectibles and Hard to Find Avon

Avon Representative Directory - find your local Representative! Another Free service of Avon Collectibles and Hard to Find Avon


8 comments:

  1. I am representing a seller who has the entire Avon Stein collection from its inception through 2000 (including the mini steins). They are all in ment condition, in their original box and with certification. Any suggestions on pricing or where to go for pricing?

    Thank you,

    Steve Scott

    ReplyDelete
  2. Steve, Bud Hastin's Avon Collectors Encyclopedia is the best resource available for pricing Avon Collectibles. It is becoming harder to find but you might also find a copy in your local library.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Some people also do their own research (more common in the age of the internet), in that case you will generally want to find at least 3 examples of an item in a venue similar to the one you plan to sell in (where possible).

    I am not aware of any appraiser that specializes in Avon Collectibles. The limited research we have done in the past on costs of appraisals suggest that it would be generally prohibitive in cost for common collectibles.

    ReplyDelete
  4. How would you price an Avon collectible with an error...it is double stamped on the bottom

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kimmy that is really tricky, there are not usually enough of the same misprint around to find many comparables. Really just offering for sale is likely the best way to find if there is interest and what it might go for (of course that's true for most everything).

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am looking for an avon large.. kids pajama bag.pink and white with stocking hat and zipper on the back.i don't care if zipper broken.1976-81..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bkyy try posting a wanted ad for it at our free wanted service at http://findavon.com/wanted

      Delete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete