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Post by exoticimports on Aug 11, 2020 4:15:13 GMT -8
Hi Gang,
My Cornell drawers are packed beyond capacity, and I do not want to procure more and take more space. So I'm thinking about Round 2 of dumping 30+ YO commercial specimens I bought in my younger years.
The last time I did this was almost 20 years ago, I'd just box them up and fly them out to the LA and Pomona bug shows. Got rid of all the morphos, Troides, etc.
Now I'm thinking time to get rid of the gloss swallowtails, large beetles, sphingids, etc.
Most, as far as I'm concerned, have low scientific value so donating to a museum is of dubious value.
What's the best way to do it? Individually in 5x7 Riker mounts? Take the time and make "Wingedwishes" shadow boxes? Relax and repaper them?
I don't want to take the time and risk involved with shipping set specimens.
Most, as far as I'm concerned, have low scientific value so donating to a museum is of dubious value.
Appreciate your thoughts and insights.
Chuck
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Post by foxxdoc on Aug 11, 2020 6:13:56 GMT -8
Your real issue is in not shipping. Most of us ( at least myself ) started out with purchase specimens with high show quality with minimal data. As a kid I was thrilled to have them. That has not changed. I would either sell in large lots ( with or without shipping ) or donate them. Museum not interested ? Try a school. I am donating my non museum material to a Catholic High School. They are thrilled.
good luck. Tom
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Post by exoticimports on Aug 11, 2020 6:47:53 GMT -8
Your real issue is in not shipping. Most of us ( at least myself ) started out with purchase specimens with high show quality with minimal data. As a kid I was thrilled to have them. That has not changed. I would either sell in large lots ( with or without shipping ) or donate them. Museum not interested ? Try a school. I am donating my non museum material to a Catholic High School. They are thrilled.
good luck. Tom Thanks for the input Tom. Everything has data, but how accurate I don't know. No offense, but I won't donate to anything other than a natural history museum. I've seen what happens to collections donated to small city museums, state colleges, and (worse) schools. It doesn't make sense (to me) to donate thousands of bucks worth of specimens, without compensation or tax benefit, so that they can be dust in five years. Slightly different topic, anything wholesaled as a "lot" never gets close to the sum of the individual items. Even if I did Ebay the contents of a drawer, who's going to drive 500 miles? No, they're going to want shipment, and that's why I'm thinking Riker mounts. More ideas, help me here! Chuck
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Post by jhyatt on Aug 11, 2020 8:05:17 GMT -8
Spread specimens usually relax enough to fold and paper in a half day or overnight; pins can stay put if they're too stuck to remove (they can stick through the envelope). I've done this many times when trading things I already had spread and pinned. Rikers are heavy to ship and the glass sometimes breaks antennae... jh
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Post by kevinkk on Aug 11, 2020 8:20:16 GMT -8
Even buying riker mounts is going to cost you something, and not every specimen is going to survive being relocated to a mount. It probably won't help you, but I gift my extra specimens to family, usually pinned ones that I pull the pin out of, and that doesn't always go well. There a scores of riker mounted specimens on Ebay, what you need is someone that wants to take a lot, and do the sales work themselves. I tried selling mounts at a flea market, and a crafters market before, and had 0 luck, I suppose it depends on your location.
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Post by yorky on Aug 11, 2020 9:35:07 GMT -8
Judging by the prices people pay on ebay these days thats where mine will be going, the bidding wars people get into are completely crazy.
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Post by wingedwishes on Aug 11, 2020 15:02:41 GMT -8
I've purchased 18 spread Acherontia from Belgium. They were in a box with bubble wrap at the bottom and then pinned to styrofoam. Enough room was left so that they did not 'pendulum' around and strike each other. I think I lost one to damage. They may be good for me. Send me a pm if interested.
Tyson
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Post by wingedwishes on Aug 11, 2020 15:08:24 GMT -8
Reminds me of a school storage area I cleaned out. There were cases of insects with the glass broken out by accident 3 decades past. I wish I knew what chemical was used because 30 years exposed and they remained undamaged! It might have been the C14 that was stored near it but I don't know.
Tyson
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Post by Chris Grinter on Aug 11, 2020 15:31:34 GMT -8
Your real issue is in not shipping. Most of us ( at least myself ) started out with purchase specimens with high show quality with minimal data. As a kid I was thrilled to have them. That has not changed. I would either sell in large lots ( with or without shipping ) or donate them. Museum not interested ? Try a school. I am donating my non museum material to a Catholic High School. They are thrilled.
good luck. Tom Thanks for the input Tom. Everything has data, but how accurate I don't know. No offense, but I won't donate to anything other than a natural history museum. I've seen what happens to collections donated to small city museums, state colleges, and (worse) schools. It doesn't make sense (to me) to donate thousands of bucks worth of specimens, without compensation or tax benefit, so that they can be dust in five years. Slightly different topic, anything wholesaled as a "lot" never gets close to the sum of the individual items. Even if I did Ebay the contents of a drawer, who's going to drive 500 miles? No, they're going to want shipment, and that's why I'm thinking Riker mounts. More ideas, help me here! Chuck Any non-profit school or institution counts for charitable contributions! You can get a write off for those local donations, the same rules apply. Anything over 5k will need an appraisal to get your full value write-off, which can be rolled over for up to 5 years. If you have prices or inventories of what you purchased that can be used in your appraisal, which is fair market value of specimens. Of course you're right they will be dust in a few years, but they will be used for outreach and education, so some good is coming of it. Local science centers can be good, and even major museums have outreach departments that sometimes want low value collections. At the Cal Academy we occasionally take donations like this to be used for outreach.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Aug 12, 2020 0:45:21 GMT -8
I would imagine that many museums would be happy to receive commercial material as a tax-deductible donation so that they could update their fading public displays with fresh showy specimens to wow the public rather than having to use specimens from their scientific collections.
Adam.
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Post by exoticimports on Aug 12, 2020 7:00:53 GMT -8
I would imagine that many museums would be happy to receive commercial material as a tax-deductible donation so that they could update their fading public displays with fresh showy specimens to wow the public rather than having to use specimens from their scientific collections. Adam. Probably true; Bob also has mentioned that in another thread. Truthfully, being unemployed in a crashed economy, having already been warned by the governor that the state is going to fund wasteful spending with higher property taxes, and with the new US tax structure, it doesn't make sense for me to give away commercial specimens.
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Post by kevinkk on Aug 12, 2020 8:32:59 GMT -8
Judging by the prices people pay on ebay these days thats where mine will be going, the bidding wars people get into are completely crazy. If you don't have to invest any money, you can't lose with Ebay, but in my 20+ years of buying collectibles, with Ebay, it's timing a lot of the time, one day something will sell for twice what it does in 6 months. Luckily, even being self employed, my home repair hasn't suffered, I actually turn down work often times. They are raising our property taxes as well, "urban renewal", along with the city's new ideas about garbage service.
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Post by exoticimports on Jun 4, 2021 3:25:59 GMT -8
So I find myself back in the same dilemma. I "fixed" it temporarily by compressing drawers by tiling, freeing up drawers, and also buying six more. Now I'm packed again. This stuff has got to go.
Options: 1. Sell individually on Ebay in Riker mounts. 2. Sell individually on Ebay after softening and papering. 3. Sell by the drawer full, pinned, NO GUARANTEE 4. Sell by the drawer full, delivery within ~100 miles of Buffalo NY 5. Have an "open house" in Fall, if I can make it that long.
#1 and #2 are a lot of work. #3 invites whiners no matter what, so I'd not use Ebay or PP due to the risks to seller. #4 and #5 limit the number of buyers, thus the selling price.
Anyone have thoughts/ observations on the above?
Chuck
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Post by Paul K on Jun 4, 2021 4:26:48 GMT -8
I personally would go with option #2.
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Post by yorky on Jun 4, 2021 10:37:20 GMT -8
Depends on what you want, a quick sale at lower prices or a more prolonged sale at higher prices, 3 if you just want rid, 2 if you want more money.
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