Want to sell my collection (in Seattle)

[plusiotis]

Bhello.
im a new member here and would greatly appreciate some guidance on how I can go about selling my collection of mostly Coleoptera.
I am located in Seattle and I have a 6-drawer BioQuip cabinet and would like to sell it locally (no shipping) en masse (not parting it out).
Before I post an official listing at the classifieds, I wanted to ask about how I should go about it.

any help would be very much appreciated!




thank you
dan

[alandmor]

It would help to know if it's a general collection of Coleoptera or do you specialize in certain group(s) or region? Do all specimens have locality data? A photo of a drawer or two would also be informative.

[plusiotis]

Thanks for the reply... (great avatar, but the way....I love Journey!).
Photos added!
I will work on itemizing the species list.
Yes, most specimens are labeled by specials and Location/date labels, predominantly Coleoptera.

please me know!

[Entomofou]

In my opinion, the Cetoniidae species are not rare ones (the only interesting specimens are Gymnetis stellata, Goliathus cacicus, Goliathus regius but this last one is small,...).
So, the value of this family isn't very high (I would say no more than 500$ because you sell it in a single set).

Stéphane

[tv]

There are several hundred dollars worth of the Chrysina (without seeing names, maybe $400+) and the cabinet itself sells for around $600 new. The problem I think you'll likely run into is what Stephane has mentioned. You have some really nice specimens and cabinet, but selling it as a single lot means you will only get back part of what you've spent. People willing to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on specimens likely already have many of the ones you do so would not want to pay a premium for a cabinet and common things they already own. On the other hand, someone starting out that might not have many of these specimens is also not likely to have the extra cash to drop $1500+ on a collection. Adding in the constraint of only selling it locally, and you'll likely have to take a loss to sell it in the short term. If you're patient, you might be able to minimize the loss to some extent.

I know you don't want to break it up, but I would have totally made an offer for that beautiful set of Chrysina if I lived somewhere near the west coast.

Best of luck

[plusiotis]

Thank you for the comments.
I totally understand the points addressed. Ok, if I’m willing to break up the collection, do I have to relax the specimens, remove the pins and package them up?....that’s a lot of time and trouble I cannot offord to spend. I cannot imagine shipping them safely in the pinned/displayed form...they wouldn’t survive...would they?

[exoticimports]

You can use a number of pins to support them, and (for those not taller than the pin) cover with a piece of cardboard and padding them into a box. I’ve shipped cross country like that several times without breakage (though I find this amazing)

It’s easier to relax them and package them.

Sell in lots- one of two for expensive specimens, and bulk for the others. If you paid retail don’t expect to break even.

Chuck

[trehopr1]

I would try advertising it first. You may find someone or several people interested in it locally within your state. Someone else in a neighboring state may even want to come out and see it. Have in mind an idea how much you would like to get as a (minimum) per drawer. If possible, and for ease sell it off drawer by drawer. However, if someone wants all the contents within a drawer but, not the drawer then make that sale and sell off the drawer later.

You will always find buyers for empty drawers and even cabinets but, price them accordingly (as used); not full retail....

I would not be in any hurry to relax anything or paper up anything. Your specimens are quite nicely prepared and that is a plus as (believe it or not) some collectors would rather buy something already nicely done so all they have to do is add it to the collection ! Just like buying stuff at an insect fair in Europe.

If a visitor arrives and wants to "cherry- pick" the collection then presume he has money or is into seldom seen or hard to get species. Have a list (for yourself) of all your "pricey" material. When asked about an item know what you paid and try to get something in the ballpark of that figure. Again, we're taking about the more valuable items here.

I would try to recoup whatever cash I could no matter the avenue. Whether I sold off an entire drawer (or two) to this guy or sold off a few "baubles" to that guy would not matter. It's all about not loosing your pants at this stage.

If a relative beginner wants some of the more common place stuff which does not cost an "arm or leg" them let him buy some of the goods. Leaves the better stuff for somebody else.

Talk to potential buyers on the phone first to get a feel for what they are looking for...so there are no surprises. Send photo's buy Email if requested.

Don't let anybody "cheap-skate" you on your prices. That is "low-ball" you absurdly !! If you want to play you have to pay (so to speak); otherwise they are wasting your time and you can and will find other buyers...

Once again, you have some nice material so don't sell it off for a song ! There is a market out there for such things....

I speak from the experiances of being a seasoned buyer of many years. Have driven anywhere from 2 to 5+ hours to view a collection and buy from them on many occasions.

[plusiotis]

thank you guys for the great advice, especially trehopr1 (thank you for taking time for the extensive answer and great advice!).
Yeah, I'm working on digitally cataloging the entire collection so that I can have some idea of the current value. Afterwards, I'll seriously consider listing the collection on perhaps "offer up" or possibly Craigslist. And yes, I'll need to be open to the collection not being sold to only one collector as a single transaction.

Thank you again and I certainly invite further feedback and comments!