I have several dolls given to me throughout the years and I would like to sell them. Where do I find what they are worth and where can I sell them?
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Before considering selling your dolls, you need to know exactly who/what they are and their value.
There are dolls out there worth nothing (some of which costs hundreds new sadly) and dolls worth thousands of dollars.
Taking the time to carefully research your collection will give you the best idea of how to proceed with selling or even if it is worth selling.
The best way to find the value is to look up each doll on eBay and go to the SOLD section to see what people are paying for them. (NEVER USE ACTIVE AUCTIONS TO SET VALUES AS PEOPLE CAN ASK THE WORLD, SOLD IS WHAT SOMEONE ACTUALLY PAYS!!)
This gives you the current market value.
Research is easy when you know the doll maker. With these steps:
Look at the box or the dolls neck, back, feet, butt for markings and determine who she is. If she has a certificate of authenticity, that should tell you all you need to know.
1. Type the dolls info into eBays search engine
2. Click to search
3. Go to the left side of the screen and click sold auctions
4. Match your doll to the photo and that gives you the value (SOLD = VALUEasking price only = what the seller thinks it is worthNEVER use asking price to value something).
5. If your dolls are not found in the sold section, unclick the sold button and look to see what people are askingthat does not give you a value (value is only what people pay), but it will show you what people think they are worth. It can give you a VERY LOOSE starting point, but usually asking price is not helpful for valuing anything.
NOTE: sometimes you need to scale back the info in the Search Engine if you can't find the exact match the first time.meaning if the first time you put X doll brand + the dolls name + the dolls air color in the engine and nothing comes up) try X doll brand 18 inches or X doll brand and name only.
Sometimes you just have to put the hair color or dress color from the doll and look through thousands to find a match. It can be tedious, but if you love to research, it is a FUN challenge!
Keep track of your findings on a piece of paper or in a spreadsheet.
Note about SELLING PRICE and what people charged for shipping.
Shipping info important to determine value as if someone sold a 10.00 doll with free shipping, the value is going to be pennies as it costs to ship in free shipping means that comes out of the SELLER (YOUR) pocket, but if someone charge 10.00 shipping, the BUYER pays that and the doll value would be the selling price plus the shippingif you decide to try to sell them in a local market like Facebook Market Place or Craigs List or LetGo etc.
Once you know all your valuesthen you can determine how or if you want to sell, keep, donate, find a child who will love them.
Selling dolls on eBay (and Etsy) is a tedious process and your profit (value is what you ask, profit is what you get after everyone takes their fees) is small since the fees are killer.
Shipping them is even worse as they are so fragile and must be packed very carefully. If you dont figure shipping right you can end up losing the value of the doll and more, which is why I tell everyone if you are going to sell, package and weigh the doll BEFORE you list it so you put it into eBays calculator correctly DO NOT EVER, EVER, EVER let eBay calculate the shipping cost. It is wrong almost always!
That all said, eBay and maybe Etsy, are the best places to get the most value (and profit) for dolls if you have rare, old and valuable dolls.
OVER PACKAGE (layer after layer of bubble wrap, air pillows, cardboard etc.) The USPS is rough on packages.you need package carefully and make sure to do this BEFORE you list so you can weigh the doll wrapped and charge the right shipping. I have forgotten to do this sometimes and sadly lost money on shippingdont be in a hurry about this like me :(
If you find that many of your dolls have little or no value (like under $10) you could consider grouping like brands together to sell as a lot which in selling lingo is selling 2 or more items together (like mentioned abovethrough Facebook Marketplace, Craig's list, Nextdoor.com, Let Go etc.)
The local sales bypass the terrible challenges of shipping, BUT require someone come to your house to get the item or you meeting them in a SAFE PUBLIC PLACE! That can also be a hassle. SAFETY FIRST IS CRITICAL HERE!!
Also for low value dolls you can also consider finding a consignment shop to sell them for you (which means they set the value and split the profits with youa great option if you can find a consignment store who will take them as many have a GLUT of dolls and dont deal in them.
OR, if you can take the tax write off, consider donating them to a place where they actually get into the hands of children who would love them, like a Toys for Tots program, a childrens hospital or rehab, a women and childrens homeless shelter etc. This is my favorite thing to do for dolls that are lovely, but have no financial worththey have lots of worth in being loved by a child.
Last is if you have little ones in your family who would love them, give them to them and let the dolls be dolls and loved and played with.
You need to find identifying marks. Undress the dolls and look in the back, bottoms of feet and the back of the neck.
I would first do a search on Google, put all and any information you can find about your dolls . Defiantly go to eBay and see if there are any dolls like yours on the site for sale. eBay is the largest site in the world that sells dolls. You could even put a couple of your dolls on eBay , name a reasonable price and see if they sell, you are not charged any thing if they do not sell and remove your dolls after the stated time to sell them. Remember eBay does take a percentage of the selling price, and consider the cost of mailing the dolls .
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