I have over 100 collectible Barbies in their original boxes- never been opened. They are absolutely stunning. Many are complete series sets. They are part of an estate. Mint condition. I posted a couple. How do I determine approximate value and what's the best way to sell?
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
This collection is worth a lot of money. I would not list this on eBay if I were you. If you take a look here on this site you can see where one Barbie doll sold for $302,500 and this doll was released in 2010. Many of your dolls are much older than this and would be worth a lot of money.
This site here can give you an idea of the most valuable Barbie dolls and the prices you can get for them. 247wallst.com/
If I were you I would go to an auction house and talk with them about these dolls. They will more than likely list them and sell them one at a time. You are looking at making a good sum of money when they are sold. Good luck on this one.
Thank you so much @poehere! Ive been trying to look at prices and its all over the place so I was a bit confused. I appreciate all the help I can get.
Original Barbie dolls in the box are worth thousands. I would look up each doll on eBay. Make sure you filter so that you are only looking at sold items. This will give you a clear idea of the value.
Hi! Barbies are awesome!! That is a nice estate lot you have,
Over 100 is going to take some leg work to sell (but it totally doable).
I can tell you this honestly because Barbie's are one of my specialties in my resale repertoire AND I was a very long time collector and sold off my own dolls over the years with the last of them being sold off this year.
One thing to know, there are still some dolls that are worth a few hundred dollars each (some of the older holiday Barbies still fetch a few hundred each) but the bulk of them have peaked in the market and fetch as low as $10 to $25 each--like your Jeans gal is averaging SOLD VALUES at $15 (see below).
The market crashed for all dolls including Barbies. It is not the market of the early 2000s any more (sadly).
Below, I am going to lay out the best plan of action for the most money and then option 2 and 3 for less money, but an easier processes.
First step no matter which option you take is to:
--Start an excel spreadsheet or paper if you are old fashioned and write down every doll.
--Then go to eBay sold and find SOLD examples of every doll on your list.
--Most you will need to do an average SOLD price because there are more than one sold and they sell at different prices (this is for many reasons from some are sold with SELLER paying shipping--you lose money) and some are sold cheap because the seller just want to get rid of them.
--I did this for the Bloomingdale/Jean gal, I typed Bloomingdale Jean Barbie into eBay search, clicked the SOLD button filter, found a bunch of her sold at a bunch of prices, added them all up, divied by the total and if my math is right she is a consistent seller between $5.00 and $20.00--AVERAGE is $15.00
Do this for every doll down the list. If you see a doll where there is only ONE that sold for a VERY HIGH price and the rest are selling for average prices DROP THAT DOLL from your average value. This is a scam sale and you cannot factor that gal into your average.
What I mean by that is is say doll X sells consistently at 10.00, but someone sold it recently and it fetched 1000.00. DROP that sale from your calculations as this was a either a shill bid (someone drove their own price up, or it was a money laundering thing). If the bulk sell for 10, then 10 it is.
If you think you have the original 1950's gals still in the box, first (if you need to make sure it is not one of the re-released dolls--they released the original Barbies several times for anniversaries. These are considered REPRODUCTIONS and while they still have some value, they are not ORIGINAL TO THE YEAR in value. It is critical to do an apples to apples match for exactly what you have and exactly what has sold. This is one place where you CANNOT do a "Like comparsion" which means oh, I have a doll in a red dress, there is a doll in a red dress that sold, that is my doll. NOPE, it needs to be exact...I have a Year, Dress, Box Match, Hair Color Match, Eye color match to compare to in my hand and sold.
Barbie collectors are serious collectors...it matters down to eye color with this folks!!
NOTE--If you have any of the true original dolls from the 1950s/1960s post back with a photo and I can work with you to figure out who you have and their value.
NOTE 2--When you are are doing your price list other things to consider are box status. If your box has even one tiny bend or ding in it and the comparable are pristine, you will be knocking a few dollars off of your final value.
Once you have all 100 priced out you can start to list them on eBay (be sure to know exactly how much the box weighs and the box size--so have them ready to ship before you list them because this is an important part of the listing process so you don't lose money on shipping.)
eBay or there are Facebook Market place sell groups--type Barbie sales into the Facebook search engine and you will see a bunch are the best way to sell and if you are accurate in your descriptions and shipping, even a beginner seller can be successful here. SEE MORE BELOW!
Write very clear ads (include things like eye color and nail polish color if you can see it--don't remove the dolls from the box). DON'T EVER use the term MINT or PRISTINE in your ads. Even if you think it, DON'T...mint and pristine to a collector mean the only people who have ever touched it is the maker and the seller--and even then they want people to have only touched it with gloves on).
In your description point out any damage to the box, any smells, if you have a smoker or a pet around them this needs to be disclosed as Barbie buyers are lovely people, but VERY picky about every detail.
List them as 7 day auctions at average price and let them sell.
Now if you have never sold on eBay before, eBay will limit you to 10 auctions a month until you are established (so this is not going to be a quick process to sell).
If you are experienced and either have a store on eBay or get the 100 or 200 "free" auctions, you can list them all at once with no listing fee (you get hit with the fees AFTER they sell).
That is the most money process.
The lesser amount processes are to take your excel from the step above and sell them IN A LOCAL VENUE like a Facebook Sale Want and Trade Group, Estate Sale, Yard Sale, Flea Market. You can do them one at a time or a lot). If you do them in a local venue you will get up to 1/2 less than the eBay values.
I recommend doing lots of likes--like Holiday Barbies together, Designer Barbies, etc. (IN THE LOCAL VENUES--NOT ON EBAY)
If you really want to get rid of them in one fell swoop--put them on Facebook local group as a lot (all of them being sold to one person) giving the total you calculated from eBay solds on your excel and expecting to get 1/2 to 3/4 of that total.
3rd option is take them all to a nice consignment store and have them sell them for you. You will get them out of the house and get a check when they sell. Here you will get a percentage of the sale (the store I like is a 50/50 split, but some are 60 store/40 owner--shop around to find the best percentage).
I am happy to give you more info if you need it. It is really important for you to know your options, not to be disappointed if you don't make millions or even thousands, but to still get a nice sum for them AND to make the buyers happy. As picky as Barbie collectors are, they are generally happy people who love their Barbies and getting a new one is like having a new baby!! Seriously....people love their gals that much!!
Looking forward to helping more if you need it!
Add your voice! Click below to answer. ThriftyFun is powered by your wisdom!
