No rotten tomatoes, please, even virtual...Lenox & Bradford query

I don't take my own advice. Never sell for anyone else because it's a pain and they usually want you to sell random junk that they think is worth a fortune.

Here I am again not saying no to a friend. Her Mom collected Bradford Exchange Coca Cola Christmas ornaments. They're still in the Styrofoam shipping boxes. How do I gently tell her that it's not going to sell and if it does, it won't be worth the time and effort for what she can get?

 

I couldn't find any completed listings for ornaments, but some for Bradford Coca Cola. Does any of that stuff match up? You could also tell her to wait until it's closer to Christmas.

 

In my experience, no one is really buying this stuff. I also have three large boxes of glass ornaments from Christmas tree shop still in their original boxes. They're marked $2.99 so I figure they'd bring about 50 cents a box. Again, shipping would cost more than they're worth. Why do people think because Mom or Grandma had something, it's valuable?

 

Just tell her gently, explain to her that listing is time consuming, Show her how they don't sell, and then offer to teach her to do it herself.

 

Hehehe. That's the trick. Getting them to do it themselves shows that it's not so easy.

 

Don't forget to mention the FEES. The listing fee, the final value fee, and the cost of packing and shipping! You might also say that you can't list under your name because if the IRS ever audit your account, the sales for her stuf would be counted as Income for you!

 

Hi,
I used to sell a lot of stuff for this crazy old lady. She had the most incredible stuff but no business sense. I met her after she had a yard sale. There were piles of stuff at the curb waiting for the trashmen. I looked and there were a dozen Wedgwood cups and saucers marked 10 cents each or 12 for a dollar. I sold them two days later for 8 hundred. When I got the money I went to her house and gave her 3 hundred. She said what was this for. I explained about taking her stuff off the curb and selling it. I asked her if she had anymore stuff,
Her garage was packed. I sold a lot for her. She did not even care about the money it all went to a local food bank. She asked me about a large pink Barbie suitcase, I told her I do not know enough about it but they usually sell for a few bucks. Little did I know that in the suitcase was 25 outfits for Barb. She sold the entire set for $10. I almost had a stroke.
Other people I sold for where jerks. One guy I sold a Heisey seahorse for 400 dollars. He was pleased until he found out that the actress Betty White bought it. He went livid and said she should have paid a lot more for it. I did not sell for him again.
Sorry to rant but I was in the mood. lol
greg

 

He got all cross because someone famous bought it, and he didn't get the opportunity to chisel her out of a few more dollars??!! What an absolute creep! I bet he's the kind of guy that when told the party is BYOB, brings beer, and then drinks everyone else's scotch. Ugh!

 

I can't even say how many people have asked me to sell their parents' collector plates. I tell them, as gently as I can, that they will not sell for much so it isn't worth it. I tell them to donate them to a local thrift and take a tax deduction

 

Along those same lines,though I don't sell for people,I cant tell you the number of times Ive been asked to give an opinion on some "fabulous" antique,and they NEVER are ! I humbly explain Im an amateur and decline to offer an opinion, because when I used to try to do so,they never wanted to hear the truth !