When should we sell these items on eBay (if at all)?

[neatdesign]

Mark and I have various stuff that we'd like to sell on eBay, but for two items in particular I'd like some feedback from people about the best way to go about selling them. I'm hoping that there are a couple of eBay gurus here who could help us decide whether waiting would be worth it.

Ok, the two items are:

My wedding dress ensemble -- This consists of an Oleg Cassini silk wedding gown, veil, crinoline and matching shoes. The dress was professionally preserved and has been in a sealed, acid-free box, along with the other items, for the past 11 years, so it's in excellent condition. However, I'm hesitant about selling this on eBay for two reasons. First, while my dress is a size 8, it's tailored to fit someone short (I'm only 5'0ft tall). And all of us short girls know that you can't just buy something without trying it on first! So I'm wondering if I wouldn't be better off taking it to a consignment shop, where it might have a better chance of being sold. My second hesitation is, if we end up selling this on eBay, whether we should wait about six months, when more women are preparing for summer weddings and more likely to be looking to buy their dresses.

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Deluxe Edition -- Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that this is the 7th and final book of the Harry Potter series, released just last night. Because Mark works at B&N, he gets a 30% discount on his purchases, so he pre-ordered this deluxe edition with the sole intent of selling it later. There were only 100,000 copies printed, so it should become a bit of a collector's item. What we're wondering is whether we should sell it now while "Harry Potter fever" is raging, or wait until October/November when people will be looking for these sorts of items to buy as Christmas presents. On the one hand, if we wait there might be more demand because the eBay market is saturated with this item right now; but on the other hand, six months from now most HP fans will have already read the book (maybe more than once) and might not see the need to shell out more money to buy the deluxe edition "just to have it."

So, let me know what you think!

~ Jenney

[disneysteve]

There were only 100,000 copies printed, so it should become a bit of a collector's item.

Sorry, but I completely disagree with this statement. 100,000 is not a limited edition of anything. That isn't a quantity that warrants the description of "only". I would be very surprised if you saw any significant appreciation on this item now or in the future.

For the record, I've been a collectibles dealer since 1986 and have sold everything and anything you can think of from books to theme park souvenirs to vintage china to antique medical devices. Just because a manufacturer brands something as a "collectible" or a "limited edition" doesn't make it so. The fact that ebay is flooded with them now is a pretty good clue of how "limited" they actually are.

If you want to sell it, I'd probably do it now since you got it at a good discount, but I wouldn't expect to get more than store price for it, and maybe less since the buyer will have to pay shipping.

[neatdesign]

I'm sorry if I misspoke. I am not an expert when it comes to collectibles; I got the 100,000 figure from news articles online. Still, it is a special edition as it has extras that the original/regular book does not have.

Even if we only get the retail value, we're still profiting $20.00, so that's still pretty good in my book -- better than $0!

~ Jenney

[disneysteve]

Even if we only get the retail value, we're still profiting $20.00, so that's still pretty good in my book -- better than $0!

Absolutely. That's why I think now is probably the best time to capitalize on it. If you wait, chances are that everyone who wants one will have one. Chances are also good that the vast majority of those were purchased by dealers hoping to resell them for a profit.

Sorry if my first post was kind of harsh. Manufactured collectibles are a pet peeve of mine. I specialize in Disney items (surprise) and Disney is notorius for this. They'll bring out an item that is truly a limited edition, making perhaps 250 of them. When they sell out in 5 minutes, they'll bring out a second edition of 1,000. When those are gone, they'll launch a 3rd edition of 10,000 or 25,000 and those will linger on the shelves for weeks or months, ultimately being clearanced for 75% off, because 25,000 simply isn't "limited" in the way that 250 is. They keep flooding the market until it is oversaturated and they can't give the stuff away. It just dilutes the value of the truly collectible items.

I wish you luck with the book. I've certainly been wrong on things before. Hope this one does well.

[Hypersion]

Looking at completed auction on fleabay the HP deluxe goes for about $63 w/ shipping. Take away ~$8 for ebay/PP fees and ~$5 S&H&I and your left with about $50 take home. Can mark make a profit on that?

[usnavy_233]

Personally, I've found that craigslist: san francisco bay area classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events is a much better place to try to sell your items, in general. You can sell them locally, so no one has to worry about shipping costs, the mail system, making your way to the post office, etc. And, since you're selling in your local area, you're usually not competing with 10K other people around the globe selling the same item.

Take a look and see if it's worth your time.

[Gruntina]

I wanted to chip in about the wedding ensemble. As a recent bride, I did search eBay, craigslists and various other online place. I ended up buying my dress directly from the store because they mark it off up to80% if it was last year model sometimes. I bought a Pronovias gown that was selling for 1600 for only 299 dollars the day it decided to be discontinued which was slightly a year after first production. If fit me perfect. Most brides get alterations and usually alterations cost just as much as the dress or more. It is alarming expense that most brides not realize at first.

I would suggest trying to sell your dress on eBay if you do not mind getting little for it. I hear it is very difficult sell a wedding dress at a consignment store. (Most consignment store will not accept wedding dresses anymore in my location so you might need to check out yours first).

Honestly, the sooner you sell your wedding dress the better luck you will have. Most brides do not really want an outdated dress. I am aware of Oleg Cassini is one of the top line brand and is a desired brand but the dress is 11 years old depending if it was new when you first bought it.

I recomend brides selling their dress within one year of their wedding day.