Advice Needed On Selling Leatherwork Collection (Mostly Books, Some Supplies)

[mnnurse11]

I am seeking advice on selling my leatherwork collection. I attached a list of the books, dvds, stamps, and other items that I hope to sell.

Where have you found the best luck in selling your items: this site, Ebay, other sites? Do you recommend grouping items together or selling individually? Any suggestions on getting the best pictures?

How do you recommend pricing the items? I'm assuming a few books, like the Home Study Course, are harder to come by but am not sure of it's worth. I was unable to find the record of what I had paid originally.

We live 25 miles from town, which only has a post office. We do not have a UPS or FedEx nearby. Any thoughts on how to ship items?

Any help, advice, suggestions, comments, or two cents would be appreciated.Thank you.

Leatherwork Books and Supplies - Inventory to Sell.doc

[TomG]

You'll probably make more from them by selling individually. But it's a lot more work. You may want to sell individually, and after a few weeks or so, off whatever is left as a package...

USPS has a large variety of shipping methods available, including a book rate for the manuals and DVDs.

Their Priority service has up to a 70 pound rate. I see nothing you have that could not be mailed.

If you have a PayPal account, they have a Multiorder shipping tool that will let you mail all of this stuff from your house. You can create and pay for your labels and postage from your PC - including 1st class postage - and your carrier will pick it up like your regular mail.

You should be able to even have the post office deliver Priority boxes and envelopes to your door at no charge. You'll have to provide your own 1st class packaging.

I'd be surprised if you don't get quite a few responses here. You have a nice collection.

[cgleathercraft]

I agree with Tom - offer what you have here - Paypal + USPS flat rate shipping. Quick, easy, and secure.

there are a few in the list I've had my eye on for a while so individually or small "like" groups should go well.

[Reegesc]

Yeah, sell them individually. It will take longer, but you'll make a lot more. You might try selling them here first as that would save you some money on commission fees (10% on eBay). But surprisingly this isn't a very active or robust market. For pricing, look up past sales on eBay and new and used book prices on Amazon. Just scanning through these, I'd say your looking at an average of $15 per book. For your Home Study Course, I found one sold listing at $60 (seems low to me though).

eBay is an obvious choice with its sizable marketplace for leather craft items, books included. I would also take a look at Etsy as these are vintage items and you're likely to fetch a higher price there with the vintage angle although it is a smaller marketplace:

Listings for "Al Stohlman Books"

Etsy 6

Amazon 67

eBay 88

TomG is right -- shipping will not be an issue if you get yourself a USPS account and use online shipping. It's not only ultra convenient, it's cheaper too as you get an online discount.

If you would rather not mess with any of this and just have someone do it for you (there's a lot to learn and do if you're new to this), there are services that will do it all. eBay has a large "drop off" network that includes all FedEx locations. These consigners will create the auction listings, manage the auction, field questions, handle payment, ship the product..... everything.... and they cover all selling expenses. They charge around 30% of the selling price. Here's a directory where you can find one in your area.

I scanned through your list a second time and noticed the saddle making encyclopedia set and figured those would be worth more than the others, and they are. Volumes 1 and 2 are worth around $90 each. BUT, it looks like volume three is a rare and collectible book. Be sure to research that one carefully. Here's what I found.

Amazon $1,207

Abebooks $3,474

eBay $1,214

Good luck

[biglew]

I scanned through your list a second time and noticed the saddle making encyclopedia set and figured those would be worth more than the others, and they are. Volumes 1 and 2 are worth around $90 each. BUT, it looks like volume three is a rare and collectible book. Be sure to research that one carefully. Here's what I found.

Amazon $1,207

Abebooks $3,474

eBay $1,214

​I agree research..... but you can ask a million dollars..... doesn't mean anyone will buy them. We just sold a couple of 800 dollar books for 160

Good luck

[TomG]

Yeah.. Big Lew is right. You can't always trust places - especially Amazon - for price guides. Many time I've seen items that are available from 6 vendors for $10 and then 1 vendor has it for $326.23, So who knows.

But., I'll third it.. Do your research.... Price accordingly

[mnnurse11]

Thanks for your comments! I am in no rush to sell, so maybe time is on my side and taking the time to research will benefit all involved.

[jmkjmk2]

Saddle making books by al stolhman: 3 for 179

http://www.zackwhite.com/Stohlmans-Encyclopedias-of-Saddlemaking-Vol-1-3-B61940-05_p_5638.html

[Art]

I bought out a Tandy in 1999, I have all those books and they are collectors items. They are worth exactly what you can get for them. I wouldn't say there is a big active market for the things. I would say to put all of them up on leatherworker.net for 1/2 to 1/4 of their cover price and sell them out over time. The site is free. You might want to research what the books are going for, but at 1/2 to 1/4 of cover price you can't go too wrong. When I bought the Tandy, I had big multiples of everything. I kept one of each and gave the others away to guilds and libraries, and took the writeoff up to the value of what I paid for the store. Worked for me and the IILG was happy to get all that stuff. Don't forget the local Boy Scout Troop, Girl Scouts, and 4-H.

After what you have listed is cherry picked, just put one price on the rest of it and blow it out.

Art