General questions about selling Waterford crystal stemware

I have a total of fourteen glasses in two different patterns, Lismore and Millenium. There is one pair, and three sets of four. (With apologies for lousy photo.)
The questions:
• Should I sell them in pairs or one pair and three sets of four?
• Pricing—My old habit is to start an auction low, like $9.99, and let bidding drive the price up. But that seems like it might be risky here, and maybe I should start an auction at the price I'd be willing to accept. In the past, I've heard to aim for about half of what the R site asks. But they've listed my water/wine goblet at $239. Yikes. They're not fetching close to that on eBay. Also I see one champagne flute that sold for $9.99. So that's out. Sigh. I really don't know how to price them.
• When a listing says "Artist Signed," does that mean an actual artist, not the Waterford mark? And (I forget) is it a hallmark? An acid etch mark?
• Timing—Of course I want to take advantage of people preparing for holiday entertaining. Is now that time, or should I give it another week or two?

 

PS. I checked carefully and they are in mint condition.

 

Hey there! Long time no see!

Can't answer most of your questions except that Waterford marks are usually etched, although I gather some of the more recent giftware has a sticker instead.

Glad to know that you've been spreading the word about this place. https://www.antiquers.com/threads/glad-i-found-the-antiquers.12417/

 

• Should I sell them in pairs or one pair and three sets of four?
• Pricing—My old habit is to start an auction low, like $9.99, and let bidding drive the price up. But that seems like it might be risky here, and maybe I should start an auction at the price I'd be willing to accept. In the past, I've heard to aim for about half of what the R site asks. But they've listed my water/wine goblet at $239. Yikes. They're not fetching close to that on eBay. Also I see one champagne flute that sold for $9.99. So that's out. Sigh. I really don't know how to price them.
• When a listing says "Artist Signed," does that mean an actual artist, not the Waterford mark? And (I forget) is it a hallmark? An acid etch mark?
• Timing—Of course I want to take advantage of people preparing for holiday entertaining. Is now that time, or should I give it another week or two?

If these were mine I would list them in pairs using a buy it now / best offer format. I only use auctions on crystal that is very desirable & hard to find. While Lismore is desirable, it is still an active pattern, so not very hard to find. As far as price, I would do some searching around, find a price you could live with, set that as your BIN price to see what happens. I would also go ahead & list them for the folks who do Thanksgiving gatherings. I have already sold several of my turkey plates. JMHO

Peggy

 

Thank you, Peggy. Your HO is much appreciated!

And Bakersgma, always nice to see you pop up. Thank you for the link to Claudia's thread!

 

I'd do them singly. I suspect people are after replacements for single broken ones. Other than that, agree with Peggy on pricing.

 

Singly? There's a thought.

I did it once when I sold a spectacular service for twelve in red Salviati Murano glassware from the 1890s, custom made. I had twelve goblets, among other pieces. I listed them singly, one week apart. The first went for 15, the next for 50, then about 100, 150 and finally 170.

Thanks, Ownedby!

 

You're very welcome. I've often been on the hunt for a one off!

 

Well, I may have missed the chance to take some good advice here, but in the end I decided to offer pairs—BIN with Best Offer. I aimed to start them high enough to have a little room to come down some.

They're currently scheduled. I will start them today at 1 pm eastern time. Once they're active, I would welcome any additional feedback.