I have a bunch of porcelain dolls I am trying to inventory for an elder friend so she can get ready to sell. Some Cathay Collection, Some Seymour Mann, and more. Where would be the best route for online research?
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There is no need to do research. These are mass-produced dolls whose value has decreased dramatically from the original purchase price. The highest price I have ever seen is $25 for a doll never taken out of the box.
You will probably do best selling as a lot.
The market is flooded with all brands of dolls and this causes values to be very low - even $5 - $25 - but most are listed for months/years and sadly most will never sell.
If you wish to see what these dolls are actually selling for - not asking prices - then you can check out eBay's 'sold' doll site as more dolls are sold on eBay than any other site in the world.
You will need to use as many of these descriptions as possible:
the brand name, doll name if available, inches tall, style, artist name if available, and even color of dress sometimes will help.
All of these companies mass produced all of these dolls so it is very rare to find one doll that is valued higher than $25.
When you check eBay dolls you will see a list of descriptive items listed on the left side. These are the items you can click to narrow your search. You will also see a link for 'US only' as well as 'sold'. Those are the links you will need to check for each brand name doll that is in her collection.
You may find additional information from past answers:
www.thriftyfun.com/
The most mainstream websites for selling porcelain dolls are Amazon and eBay. You can try etsy.com. Craigslist is good too, because it's a bit difficult and expensive to ship porcelain dolls (they need special packing).
Start by researching the price of similar dolls on the target website. Compare it to other dolls from the same manufacturer and time period. Determine their selling price first. Once you find out the essential information related to your doll, it's easy to determine a price range for it. Whether you choose to bring it to an auction, sell it online, or visit a pawn shop, you'll be able to determine if your buyer is making a good offer.
Next, take several high-resolution photos of the dolls from all angles.
Write attractive listings for each doll, including as much detail as possible.
If selling on eBay, start with a minimum price.
Also you can ask information about your dolls on this site. Remember to include their height, add good photos of each doll, photos of their boxes, labels, certificate of authenticity, etc.
Cathay Collection has not only cheap dolls, but also expensive ones, for example, with a price of $70-200 www.ebay.com/
Expensive dolls are hard to sell. Check at what price sellers have managed to sell their dolls on ebay.com. Decide on the real value of your dolls.
Good luck!
These sites have good overviews of how to rate your doll's condition, type, age, etc, and value:
www.historyofdolls.com/
blog.pawnguru.com/
www.thesprucecrafts.com/
To see what dolls are going for now, look here:
www.ebay.com/
Good luck researching.
Here are some references that may help you:
www.dollreference.com/
antiques.lovetoknow.com/
www.dollfixer.com/
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