Selling a Porcelain Doll Collection?

Judy
Gold Post Medal for All Time! 677 Posts

August 25, 20180 found this helpful

The dolls that won awards are worth something. I would visit doll dealers and get their opinions.

Pghgirl40
Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 196 Feedbacks

August 25, 20180 found this helpful

The best and easiest (to me) way to research dolls is to simply type their name or markings into eBay and go to the sold section and see what they are selling for in today's market.

With 30 if they are all clearly marked, it could be done in under an hour.

That is, of course, assuming the dolls all have easy to find names and markings. They often don't.

For those that won awards, you may try typing the award name into eBay and seeing what comes up for that. Just a word to the wise, never us asking prices to set value on items--only use SOLD prices because that is what someone actually paid. To me, something, anything is valueless unless someone will fork over their hard earned dollars for it...eBay sold tells you just that...what someone paid. IF there is more than one sold and they are all identiical, I aveerage the prices to get a value.

Remember, condition matters to, so if someone is selling a pristine XYZ doll for 1,000 and you have XYZ but her hair is mussed and she was well loved, you may only get 500-800. If she is missing arms or legs, you may only get 100-200. Honest (of the condition of yours) apples to apples matches are a critical part of this process.

The second easiest is to find an expert and take them to the person and talk to them about insuring the items--not selling them--so you can get an idea of true value (price).

Remember appraisals will cost and if you are looking to sell these items, could take a big chunk of your profits, especially if you find that some are those mass produced ones like Ashton Drake and Seymour Mann dolls, that have values in 99 cent to 25 dollar range.

I don't know this person, but he seems to have a good rep in your town: www.isa-appraisers.org/.../thomas-m-helms

A third suggestion is to use the link below and see if there is a doll museum near you and take them on a road trip (call ahead first to see if they can help you). I have been wanting to do this since I learned of them:

www.thesprucecrafts.com/doll-museums-around-the-world-775042

Hope this gets you started figuring out who you have and what they are worth!! Post photos if you have any that are very valuable! I personally love to learn about all things doll!

cybergrannie
Gold Feedback Medal for All Time! 949 Feedbacks

August 26, 20180 found this helpful

Researching 30 dolls will be a very time consuming doll and since you may find one or two that are not very valuable you may tend to get discouraged. If the "original" owner had a doll store then you may be fortunate as she may have some information attached to each doll. Any information is better than having to start from scratch with each doll.

• I would suggest you set aside 5 dolls and start your research and be sure to have (and keep) notes on each doll, especially where you found any information (websites, people) so you can always go back and find it again. Place any information you find along with the whatever information the doll has with her now as some of this information could be very useful when trying to place a value on a doll.
• At the same time as you are doing your research, check the back, neck and hairline (even feet and body) for any kind of markings/symbols/numbers/names and make note of all.
• Then takes pictures of each of these dolls and especially any markings. Take pictures of full body, face, shoes, clothing and keep these in a folder (on your phone or on your computer) so you can find them when you need them. Take measurements (how tall) and describe anything you think is special but especially the composition; all porcelain, part porcelain, part cloth, etc.
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• Start your research with whatever names you have; check eBay, Etsy, Ruby Lane, Google, and Replacements.com. Above all, keep good records on each doll.
• You can ask about each doll (only ONE doll at a time) on this site and they may be able to supply useful information. They will need pictures and information on each doll.
• www.tapatalk.com/.../
• Do all of this with the first 5 dolls so you will have a good sampling of what you have in the 30 dolls.
• Dolls that are in low value you can place them on your local sales sites like Craigslist, IOffer, Letgo, OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace and more probably. All of these sites are very easy to use and only require pictures and a little information about the doll. Christmas is still a good time to sell dolls as even collectors look for dolls at this time. You can keep each doll listed for as long as you like but if no interest is shown then you may have to reduce the price.
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• I do not recommend new sellers using eBay as there are a lot of pitfalls and mistakes can be costly. Also, you should gain more profit (usually faster) by using your local sale sites (and no shipping involved).
• Do not start with 5 more dolls until you have finished your research on the first 5 and decided what you are going to do with those dolls. Otherwise, you will be overwhelmed and may make a mistake with even just one doll.
• Doll appraisals can be obtained free but using the doll forum is a better idea and usually a local person will see those dolls and give you a low figure because they will know you have no idea what you have - many will just say "I'll take them off your hands" for $100 and, in reality, that may not be a bad figure but how will you ever know? They may not even offer $100.
• Hope you can enjoy doing your research and hopefully, you will find one or two truly great "finds" that will make it all worth it.