Places to sell - Suggestions requested...

So that is certainly one place to sell, there are others depending on how many items you have, and what sort of idea you have about what the property is worth. https://www.etsy.com/ is one venue, https://www.rubylane.com/ is another, https://www.chairish.com/ is another they are larger sites and generally require you to manage and then sell the listings yourself, there are other managed sale platforms that sell your property for you, which I have found to be https://www.artzze.com/ is one and https://www.allthedecor.com/ is another, you send them your property and they list it and sell it on their platform if your property doesn't sell they ship it back, I personally prefer it, its personalized service, I don't call the Philipines to ask about my items..they are domestic and knowledgeable about my items, and from what I have heard their buyers are actually grateful instead of scam artists and cons like some of the buyers we have to deal with on "some platforms". etsy buyers are normally ok, chairish, and rubylane as well...I would also talk to your friend about if the buyer breaks your item or damages it, you arent responsible for paying for it, I have had that happen where we shipped items to a buyer and they damaged to file -INAD-and get the free return...best of luck to you..

 

@Arthur A. Thank you for sharing and responding to my question. Best,

 

I've been selling on Ebay. at a somewhat leisurely pace, for several years now. Out of the last 100 items or so, I've had maybe 2 pieces break(covered by postal insurance), and perhaps one fraudulent refund request. YMMV of course.

 

Have you considered Ruby Lane I used to do well on there. Although I havn't been on there in about 5 years, It was always easy, an nice buyers. It's a totally different class of people than what you run into a lot on ebay. Now you do have monthly fees but for me it was worth it just not having to deal with all of ebays BS

 

Similar. I'm probably jinxing myself, but I'm on Ebay w/1700 FeedBack (of which maybe 100 items were purchases, the rest sales) since not everyone leaves feedback, probably translates to 2500+ sales, and I've only had one item break in shipping (learned a painful lesson on that one) and zero fraudulent requests. But certainly have heard about frauds happening, and a bit more risky for a new seller I would think. I do go the extra mile in descriptions, describing every defect no matter how small. In fairness a lot of what I sell is unlikely to break (jewelry, etc) but occasionally sell glass and pottery and can tell you that I OVER package anything breakable. I was told to pack things so they can "be dropped from 8 feet on to solid concrete". A USPS postal clerk told me that, so anything expensive and breakable gets a double box and double care.

That said, I almost never sell on Ebay for anyone else, because that is where trouble can start. There is an assumption that it is really easy to list and ship but it is very time consuming, there is a learning curve, fair amount of fees (possibly IRS taxes) and as far as values you really need to know what you are doing. Also just when you hear that the person you are selling for "doesn't care what it sells for" you may learn that they are disappointed and now after all the work you have an issue.

As far as Ebay itself, it can be good for super desirable items where you want a bidding war, lower value items, esp some pottery, probably not worth your time due to the weight and extra care shipping takes. Ebay takes it's cut out of the shipping cost, too, so you really have to do the math if things are heavy.

If you don't know pottery, I would suggest as a very first step, posting it here to see if anything stands out. Most pottery isn't worth too much, but the odd piece can be worth in some cases, thousands.

If you are going to show items to an antique buyer, but sure to get references because many in my town would happily to pay you $10 for a $1000 item.

Maybe best, start here with photos. Also if you do decide to try Ebay, list a few small items first just to get a feel for it and see what you think.