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!
