Topic: Help!!! - GHEW - paperweight

[Liz1]

Thank you all very much for your help.

Do you know the best place to sell paperweights as I don't really want to pay commission from an Auction house but I have no idea what it is worth so can only think of EBay. Are there special glass paperweight sales anywhere? (sorry to sound stupid but I don't collect glass so really have no idea of the best way forward!!)

Thank you again.

[jamalpa36]

Hi

Ebay is more than likely the best bet as most Auction houses are not interested in one modern weight.

You will still end up paying around 10 % of the sale price even with Ebay.

Most Paperweight dealers will sell on commision but this also can be 10-25%

A private sale is your best bet

Roy

[alpha]

Selling on ebay will probably cost you in the 8.5% area if you sell in the auction format and 12.5% if you sell in the fixed price format. And I think Roy is a bit under on the dealer percentages. Dealers here in the states charge 30%. And if you were to put it in an L. H. Selman's auction the commission is 25%, plus a 1+% insurnace fee and a $25 photo charge (or at least that's what it used to be). I suspect that most auction houses would not want a consignment of a single Whitefriars weight - it just isn't worth the effort. Bottom line: ask Roy to make you an offer and I'll bet it's a reasonable one. Selling privately is probably the best bet, especially when you have someone who has expressed an interest.

[mjr]

The one problem with a private sale is that you have to have a good idea of what the true value of the weight is. This is fine for an object where the value can be ascertained by comparison, but for this one? It's really a question of how much the purchaser wants the weight. There are probably a number of whitefriar collectors who havent got one of these initial weights and would really want one. As Roy has said, he has one - as I have, and both of us would quite happily have another but would we pay the same as if we didnt have one?
It's the same for Whitefriar Butterfly owl and bee weights. I havent got one and I want one, but too many other people do and so they are always out of my price range.  Or, the square blocks with thermometer and star canes (by the way, I have a spare one of these).
The one thing with ebay is that it is likely to reach the widest audience and find its value. 

[jamalpa36]

Hi

I agree with MJR in that selling by Ebay will reach the widest audience but I hope he is not comparing your weight with the Owl,Bee or Butterfly. I have 2 Owls 2 Bees and 3 Butterflies and you can't buy any of them for under £500 and that would be a bargain. The point is they are rare and beautiful whereas the initial canes are just rare.

Roy

[mjr]

I have 2 Owls 2 Bees and 3 Butterflies and you can't buy any of them for under £500 and that would be a bargain.
Roy

Now that's just showing off!!!! -- and is making me very jealous.

But those are weights that do have a known value,  which I agree is in excess of any other Whitefriar weights.  But what is an initial weight to be compared to?. It would be more than the normal coronation weights, and more than the Triplex, but then what? And what if a Black swan came on the market?. Not the beauty of the beeterflowl, but for "I want that-ability".......    Also, xmas weights - the most boring and least artistic of them is the bell, but it is at least twice as expensive as the others, purely down to numbers.    Yer pays yer money and yer takes yer choice.

Now about how long that piece of string was   

[johnphilip]

Dont forget the Partridge , anyone know what they go for now ?

[jamalpa36]

Hi

Having confused Liz enough with our views on her weight I can answer that last question.

I know of one dealer asking £600 and of one private deal that went through last month for £500 and both parties were happy.

My own spare Partridge is available  :nix: :nix: :nix:

That is the nearest thing I can find to a Partridge

Roy

[tropdevin]

***

One way you can use eBay to get a feel for the market price of the more desirable weights is by advertising at a strong 'Buy it Now' price, and inviting 'Best Offers'. The odds are that the first 'Best Offer' or two you receive will be below market price..... , but they will give some indication of the figure.  You just need to set a 'Buy it Now' price you would be happy with, in case it does sell!

It costs a few pounds to advertise a weight at, say, £350.00 - but you would get a feel for whether anyone was interested in making an offer, and at what price.

Alan

PS Roy - you don't tend to find penguins anywhere near partridges....