Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Has anyone sold a whole collection? Seeking advice

Long time member but haven’t collected in many many years. I will be looking to divest most of my stuff (45 mid range globes, various signs and smalls) in the near future. What are some of the advantages or disadvantages to selling collections. Auction House, EBay? I’m open for ideas? Thanks in advance everyone!

There are several guys on here that buy whole collections if you have a price in mind for the collection you should list it here first

TAXES .. ...

Offer to oldgas members- list shippable items here (smalls, signs, etc) to sell to collectors.


Bring items (globes, larger signs) to a show - no hassle of shipping, etc etc. If you price right, it can be gone in a couple hours and you'll have a pocket of cash.

I helped my father sell a majority of his collection last year. He collected for 20 years, and had 500+ items (1,000?) We ended up auctioning it off. Here are the thoughts we had and why we ended up going through an auction.

1) ebay - ebay will still cost you up to 15% of what you sell, plus the hassle of taking pictures and shipping it. Plus, you take the risk of the packing and if someone is unhappy with the item. In addition (unless our gov't changes current tax laws), the IRS will get a statement of the sales, which means you'll be required to fill out tax forms. Then you'll need to figure out what you actually made on the items. Ie, you didn't actually make $50 on the item when it sold for $50.
2) Selling at a show - this would be the easiest route if you're up on the latest prices. But we didn't know how to accurately price items, plus we knew that not everything would sell, and we'd be hauling stuff to shows, or listing it on ebay, whatever.
3) Facebook - Marketplace will still cost you, and then your sales will still be sent to the IRS. If you go through a Facebook group, you're then listing every single item.
3) auction house - Yes, they take their chunk of fees. But, you just hand them the goods. Typically, their response when you ask them about taxes is: "that is between you and your accountant". Ours did not give anything to any tax official. They just sent the check to my dad and it was done.

I was surprised that every single item sold. Some sold for way more than I ever thought they would, and others for less. But that was to be expected. In the end, my dad made some money, got rid of his stuff, and there was no hassle whatsoever. It was fun actually. I suppose he could have sold to an individual buyer, but I don't think he would have gotten what he did through an auction. I guess we'll never know!

offer it here first

Are you having your show this year? If so when

Yes and no- the show is Sunday April 7. Chris O. is now running it.

I may be biased but I think you would do well there with the signs. Lots of sign buyers- collectors, pickers, wannabe pickers, and flippers. You could post photos here of globes, signs, etc and pre-sell to oldgas members, with delivery at the show. And/or post photos of what you have as a "teaser" of what you are bringing to the show.

PM me to discuss, or inquire about vendor space.

I think if I had a lot of items with "general interest" and wanted the least work per dollar earned, I would do one of the bigger Mecum shows, Kissimmee maybe. I've sold some items there and its gone well, the fees are huge but you seem to get it back. Make it into a fun road trip, get all the items together, drive there, check it all in few days before the auction and you'll get a check for everything about a month later. Mecum has a dedicated "Road Art Monday" at the Kissimmee show, get in that. You'll need to supply them with pictures of everything and a brief description a few months before the auction. Otherwise I would just sell it slowly on FB marketplace but will be work.

I was at Glenn Millers auction today. Got some good prices on items. Check him out

There have been a number of queries about selling collections. Here is a good one...
https://www.oldgas.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=132967&Number=763063