Copperlock Collection

[A&E]

I have one of the largest first-year copperlock collections that I've ever seen. I'm curious how to value the entire thing or if I should sell it off piece by piece. Ebay fees are ridiculous. I have a store here (I've sold ONE knife in the past). I'm thinking of getting a premium membership and just posting pictures of them in the "for sale" forum. Any thoughts on how I should value it though? When I look at completed listings on Ebay, I wonder if that's a good way to determine price/value. Or if I sell the entire collection at once, I wonder if I should discount it for buying in bulk. Anyway, any thoughts on how I should do this/get started would be helpful. Thanks All.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Eric, selling them individually will usually bring the most out of a collection. It’s a lot more work but it’s something that I enjoy doing. You get to interact with other collectors too and that is a real bonus, you meet some really nice people this way. You could try taking pictures of the collection and selling it here on the forum, that is if you are a paying member. You might find a buyer. I know several of us that have stores buy collections, but to get the most out of it, selling them individually would be the best.
Hope this helps.

[A&E]

Would you recommend ebay for maximizing what I get out of them, or selling them here? The fees are lower here, but the auctions typically get the knives up to market value, so I don't have to figure out what they're worth and put a price on them. That's always the hard part for me. Actually determining a price that will work for everyone.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

You could go that route. But a word of caution about relying on auctions for the best price. It seems that every time I have tried that I ended up getting much less than I expected on many knives. Some folks only bid to get a steal of a price and that will keep the bids low. If it’s an interesting piece that has some significance, you might be surprised at how high it goes, but that’s not been my experience. I think that eBay also doesn’t give all auctions the same attention. Folks that don’t sell a lot on eBay have a hard time getting noticed and the big sellers get all the attention. That’s why I have gone to buy it now pricing on eBay. You run the risk of pricing things too high and not selling but putting an “or best offer” is a good way to find out what people are willing to pay for it. Good luck.

[Mumbleypeg]

My experience is eBay sold listings are a good indication of what buyers are willing to pay. Some say this is not the same as “value”. But that’s immaterial IMHO, because if you can’t get what you believe to be “value” when selling it, what is “value” anyway?

I watch a lot of eBay auctions mainly just to keep up with what selling prices are for different patterns and eras of knives. Every day there are 100’s of new listings for most popular brands - the market is saturated. They sell, but unless you have something old (pre-1980 or older) or unusual that stands out from the crowd, it’s a tough market. In your situation you need to find a buyer that values “first year copperlocks” as much as you do. To everyone else they’re just another knife.

Ken

[herbva]

Eric, I agree with everything posted above. I have sold quite a few knives over the years, and all I can add, is if you want to maximize your returns, you have to put a lot of work into it. Post a LOT of clear pictures, and provide full descriptions. I have used a number of venues, and without a doubt, selling on ebay will get you the widest audience for whatever you are selling. But, you will have to deal with occasional non-paying bidders, crackpots, stupid reasons for returns and other nonsense, and ebay collects a big chunk of your selling proceeds. Good luck!

[A&E]

Thank you Everyone for your advice. I'm getting the collection out, getting them photographed, and will soon make a decision between AAPK and Ebay. Maybe I'll use both. I don't know. It makes sense to that selling them individually will get me the most $$, but wow, it will be a lot of work to ship them all individually, etc. But it should be a fun summer project. I'll post some pictures in the "for sale" forum once I get my premium membership here.