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Post by kevinkk on Jun 4, 2021 18:37:13 GMT -8
I personally would go with option #2. Agreed, although you could make lots of papered material- I disposed of all my deadstock to one individual who wants more. The issue is that a person will never get what the animals cost you in the first place, at least most of the time. I sold ex-cocoon stock for a fraction of what I paid, it's just one of those things that happen, it's that or keep it in the freezer-besides the glut of specimens on the auction sites, you can't get premium $. At least I liked playing with at the time, that's worth something. I have had this exact issue with old comic books- not junk, but good stuff, the same with other collectibles, sometimes you just don't come out ahead. Buy what you like and like what you buy, and then you run out of space. |
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Post by nomihoudai on Jun 4, 2021 19:45:31 GMT -8
Depends on how many specimen there is. It's usually best if one can manage to sell in bulk to somebody interested. Relaxing and putting them on eBay is only sensible when the specimen go for around $10.
I had a splendid eBay reputation with over a thousand reviews built by selling other things, ruined by a single person not happy with butterfly specimen I had sold them. They had won several auctions and rated each of them with a negative review. They never messaged me to sort out the issue. If they had, I would have reimbursed them entirely and let them keep the specimen. There is no point in getting a negative review for a specimen that isn't as shiny as an ex-pupa specimen, let alone 10 in a row.
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Post by africaone on Jun 5, 2021 1:02:34 GMT -8
ebay + paypal takes around 25-25 % of you ammount following the items price or customer. Add that shipping and post cost a lot for small amount. Then include a large part for that in you price
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Post by wollastoni on Jun 5, 2021 4:30:21 GMT -8
ebay + paypal takes around 25-25 % of you ammount following the items price or customer. Add that shipping and post cost a lot for small amount. Then include a large part for that in you price Indeed that’s why we have created the Insectnet Marketplace, it works like ebay and we take only 5% fees Some sellers now sell for about 2000 USD per month on Insectnet. They are saving more than 2000 USD per year in fees. |
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Post by tv on Jun 5, 2021 20:08:42 GMT -8
I would say #2 (perhaps on insectnet rather than ebay) is going to be your best shot to recover as much money as you can. It will be more work, but I don't think the Riker mounts are going to be worth it in the end based on the increased cost up front.
I don't know about the leps, but for mounted beetles, I've actually purchased a number that were still on the pin and shipped with no issues. This was done with relatively small specimens, like Eupholus, but spreading them out with a few pins to hold them from rotating seems to do the trick. these were even shipped overseas, so I would say they're probably getting banged around more than something domestically. I'd probably be a little more wary if they're super high priced or large.
Just out of curiosity, what kind of beetles are you looking to sell?
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Post by exoticimports on Dec 24, 2021 12:14:44 GMT -8
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Post by bandrow on Dec 24, 2021 14:29:17 GMT -8
Hi Chuck,
What's the intended fate for these? There are a couple I'd be interested in obtaining (buying?), if that's where they're heading...
Cheers!
Bandrow
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Post by exoticimports on Dec 24, 2021 16:57:41 GMT -8
Hi Chuck, What's the intended fate for these? There are a couple I'd be interested in obtaining (buying?), if that's where they're heading... Cheers! Bandrow Museums, people who’ve helped me out, then I’ll drag the remainder to some bug show or meeting. I don’t have time to nickel dime and ship stuff. Will trade for MG34 or Vickers parts. Chuck |
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Post by bandrow on Dec 26, 2021 8:17:43 GMT -8
Understood! And I have to admit... I can tell one beetle from another, but couldn't tell a MG34 from a Vickers on the best of days!!
Cheers!
Bandrow
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Post by exoticimports on Dec 26, 2021 10:48:35 GMT -8
I just counted. Even after culling out the three pictured drawers, plus one packed with Sphingidae, I'm still nine drawers over capacity. I'm so screwed. It's taken me three days to re-collate my Solomon Islands material; I had put recently set specimens wherever they fit physically, so I had various Papilio and Nymphalid species spread across four drawers they didn't belong in.
BTW that blue nymphalid, bottom photo, specimen to the left of the top right specimen, is dated 1904.
Chuck
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Post by trehopr1 on Dec 26, 2021 15:10:21 GMT -8
Hey Chuck, why don't you show us a few quick picks of some of your "special stock"; that is the material which is closer to your heart !
The "keeper" kind of goods...
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Post by exoticimports on Dec 27, 2021 7:20:37 GMT -8
Hi Trehopr,
I don't think you'd much like my "keepers" as my selection isn't based on condition, but usually location. I have of course posted photos in various threads of my favored specimens. Overall, my reference collection isn't very impressive to most: I have one drawer of Speyeria, and three Catocala. Perfection and beauty-focused collectors would probably best enjoy the drawers I keep for public education, the big showy junk that eats up a lot of space...but I consider it part of the responsibility.
One of my favored keepers is a male O. urvilleanus which has a name scratched across the wings. The kids catch them and write their names on them, and the game is to see if you can spot yours the next days. From a scientific perspective it's simply one of many ubiquitous and low-variation urvilleanus; from a bauble perspective it's ruined; so it's only real value is from a cultural perspective. But it's still one of my favorites.
Most of my ssp are endemic to specific regions, yet garner little interest. I have twice had a conversation with two different collectors who claimed to have every species of Papilio. When I asked if they had a particular subspecies, in both cases they were completely disinterested- species was good enough. This to me is completely foreign and shocking.
Some might want to beat me as an idiot, but I've twice recently turned down free Teinopalpus from an old collection. I have no use for them. And I have sufficiently desirable trade material I'm pretty sure I could work out a swap with at least one institution to trade into P. homerus- but what would I do with it?
No, my stuff is pretty boring, except to me and a very, very few researchers.
Chuck
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Post by foxxdoc on Dec 28, 2021 8:51:11 GMT -8
Certainly the person most likely to want your unwanted is another collector. Sell here. OR: What ever happened to that box that you could contribute and take specimens ? still going on ? If you don't need the money add to the roaming box; make someones' day.
BEST
TOM
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Post by exoticimports on Dec 28, 2021 19:34:43 GMT -8
Hi Tom, I could sell here- I'd LOVE to, but as I said, I don't have the time to nickle dime stuff out the door, nor to pack it. And I certainly don't want to get into "ooohhh it arrive A- I want my money back" or deal with the unknowns on the Marketplace area. No thanks. Same reasons I quit selling my 1960s - 1980s vinyl on Eghey.
As for the Swap Box, it got lost by USPS a few months ago. It was a great program, albeit with issues. That said, I don't have time to relax and paper specimens. Easier to stick them in Riker mounts, but then it's still back to nickle-dime.
So far I believe two of the drawers are likely spoken for. Some of the stuff I haven't yet culled is going to Cornell (though they don't know it yet. LOL.)
I'm hoping we can have local swap meets (discussed previous page) and I can unload more there easily. I still have nine drawers to somehow free up- and then there's next year's research to deal with too. And when we move south all of this is NOT going with me, but what does and doesn't is a completely different problem.
One thing I have done besides getting species where they belong is remove the unit pinning trays and tiling, that saves substantial space. Of course some of that is STILL active research, so I'll kick myself when I have to pull them out for photos.
Interestingly enough, I called this material "commercial" which to me now means "bred." However, in looking at it, a lot of it is wild caught, some ranched. Not much of this old material is mass bred, like it is these days. Really what I'm culling is "bought" or "traded" as opposed to "caught while carrying an automatic rifle and suffering malaria in the middle of nowhere." It's rather a neat reflection on how the hobby/ science has changed- in the olden days most of the stuff one bought was wild-caught, whereas today it's bred by the thousands. The former may reveal more interesting taxonomy, the latter a greater variety of morphs and abberations.
Thanks for the ideas.
Chuck
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