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Toy Pictures and values CLICK HERE
Antique metal toys from Tonka, Nylint, Wyandotte and others have been selling well on ebay for the pass 10 years or so but now with the economy tanking is it time to find another alternative to the low sales on eBay and other online auctions?
Personally after selling on eBay since 1996 I believe it is time to look at another place to sell if the research is done right and you are in a good location. Brick and Mortar auctions have picked up a large market share over the last few years especially with people buying to resell on eBay. Now the prices have risen at the brick and mortar level and the market has fallen off at the internet level.
eBay has raised their listing fees and commissions so much in the past few years that it really makes the 20 to 25 percent you have to pay the in house auctions worth looking at. With the new commision rules relating to shipping it is going to be even harder to make money selling on eBay. Yesterday I attended a large house auction in Aberdeen, Ohio which takes place once or twice a month and took notice of a large lot of used toy trucks and cars from the different toy manufacturers.
If you don't know what an in house auction is then let me explain. There are different levels of this type of auction. Some are too small to deal with as they will have mostly junk and low crowds. The larger ones have a good past history and normally large crowds that are regulars at this auction. The auction will have items from several different people or maybe an estate has been brought into the auction house for different reasons. Either way the place is usually full and they do good advertising on the internet to help bring in the crowds.
One has to look at how the sales of these toys have fallen off. There are several reasons for this on eBay, saturation of the markets, bad economies and of course bad dealers. Over the years I have kept up with and wrote several articles on the comparison of online auctions and brick and mortar auctions. If you are going to make money selling the items you collect from yardsales, storage auctions and estate sales then you will have to start looking for alternatives to make money on these items. I have done a comparison of the pieces that sold yesterday with items from ebay along with pictures from the items that sold yesterday.
Remember I am talking about general use toys and not the mint or the mint in the box toys. These toys can still command top dollar sold online.
If you are interested in selling in a brick and mortar auction and don't have access to one then research is needed to find one close to home. There are certain things to look for and one of the major things is size and history of the auction house. Remember without people with money in their pockets you are not going to get very much money for your items.
The pictures I have posted with this article include the money the pieces brought but one thing I really noticed was the poor condition of the pieces relating to dirt and dust on the pieces. Taking a piece to a auction that is dirty and covered with dust will not help bring top dollar from the piece. It will help the person buying the piece but not the person selling it. Clean them if possible without affecting the paint or decals.
This group of toys were from one seller and they brought a total of $247.50 less the 25% house fee the gentleman cleared $185.63. With some cleaning of the toys his profit would have been higher.