My aunt has a collection of dolls that she has accumulated over many years. She has lost interest in the hobby and wants to sell the majority of them. She has asked me to sell them for her on eBay. I'm experienced with eBay, but have no clue about the value of dolls and vice versa for her. My question is, would she be better off to look for a collector to take them all, or simply sell them individually here? There's upward of 300 dolls she wants to sell....imagine the time involved in 300 plus auctions. Is is worth it? Thanks in advance for any knowledgeable advice offered.
I think a lot would depend on what kind of dolls were collected. Are they porcelain, cloth, all from one artist or company, antique, modern...etc. Depending on what area you live in, there may be doll collectors or flea market or antique dealers that might be interested in buying the whole collection at once. However, depending on the dolls, you'd probably only get pennies on the dollar. It might be worth your time to consult a doll guide to see what they might be worth - most libraries can get a copy of a book for you, if they don't have it themselves. Once you have a general idea of what they might be worth on the market today, then you'd have a better idea of what venue to use to sell them. You might also want to check at your local Borders or Barnes & Noble for doll collector magazines - there are several out there, and it would be worth a few dollars to at least pick up, say, "Doll World". They often have ads in the back relating to buying and selling dolls. However you go about it, you're probably going to end up having to take a lot of pictures of the dolls to show potential buyers. Hope this is a help to you.
With ebay, you list the doll ad take your chances, and hope that you come across someone like me that happens to like a doll that is designed and made by a very special designer, such as Susan Wakeen or Lee Middleton
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