When and how to sell your collection

[monsterdeer]

Some of us have large collections say 30-100 or more rods. So when and how do you sell the collection. I am going to talk about my experiences only so think of this as a case study rather then doctrine for anyone. As I aged I notice that I could climb any mountain. Today I enjoy it when I can climb the stairs. My collection was huge--couple of pinkys, couple of dickersons, boat load of paynes, powells, leonard,s winstons, t&T and orvis. i have owned every single orvis specialty rod including the caenis and its cousin the yamame. I look at health crisis' as Bad and Real bad. Bad you find out you have cancer. Real bad you have 4 stage cancer with a few months to live OR you recently went code blue at the hospital. I had bad news a few years ago and panicked and sold over 30 rods. but i kept a bunch. now i am selling the rest. folks you may have a will and family and friends but you are asking them to sell over 30 priceless rods. your best friend is no longer a friend after he/she went thru the hassle and horror of selling 10-15 of your rods. forget about your family. sooner or later some of your rods will end up in a garage sale. so your still alive and wonder what to do. you have options. i contacted dealers and no one wanted to buy the whole collection. they wanted to cherry pick and pay poorly. next i tried a bamboo rendezvous and hardly anybody bought anything from anyone. so i am left with the forum or the auction we all know about and maybe even hate. i am old and paranoid. I only want to sell with total protection. kind of like using 2 condoms. the forum has no seller protection. a guy can buy it use it break it and he wants to return it and files with paypal or the credit card company or the guy paid by check and threatens to kill your selling reputation. both bad. how about this? guy buys it with a check then manufactures some phony papers and goes to the police to get his money back and keep the rod. then there is the on-line auction which i chose. why? 1) I am clueless of what the "going rate" is for bamboo. with the auction you can set the starting price based on previous sales that occured every where bamboo is sold and then let the market determine the price. 2) I want seller protection. recently people want serials numbers. i gave the number of one rod to a person and it was my worse nightmare. immediately the scammer said it was a stolen rod and he some bs proof. i told him i was going to report him to the auction. next email please dont contact the auction i made a mistake with one of the numbers. i contacted the auction and they are now dealing with the scammer. so there are not just sellers who are scammers but now there are buyers who are scammers. so what did i learn? after talking to the auction they said never ever ever give personal info out. i also learned that unless i do face to face sales i will chose whatever has seller protection. so i went with the auction. NOTE everybody has an opinion. please try to at least base your opinion on what is currently (2022) occurring in the marketplace. i had no idea that I needed two condoms. Bummer.......

[Cross Creek]

I recently bought two of your Orvis rods from the auction site (so far) and have to say that you’ve been a pleasure to deal with. I’ll take good care of your treasures, and hopefully fish them for a couple of decades before it’s time for me to pass them on. Personally, I like seeing serial numbers of Orvis rods in listings because I can check out their origins in Greg’s database before bidding. But I understand your caution, and of course now that I know you’re a forum member, I’ll be content to wait until I receive the rods I get in the future.

[NewUtahCaneAngler]

monster deer, thank you for your advise. I've seen some very nice rods come out our your collection and some are reaching a premium, others not so much. You can protect this by setting a minimum bid as you likely already know. IMHO, dealers are still using market values of 4 or 5 years ago, which is often WAY too low. Good if you are buying, bad if you are selling. I have you saved to my favorites. I wish that I could just pop over and see your collection in person and come to a reasonable price agreeable to both, but can't at this time. Good luck with your sales.

Cheers,
Joe (aka Utahwinecollector too)

[AlexP]

From a buyer perspective, I am more skeptical of the auction site than dealers or forum members...

As a seller, if you use PayPal or Venmo (or any other electronic transfers) don't you have more protection conducting business in the forum? You ship the rod after you have received payment. If the buyer is not happy with the rod, you would only refund them the money once you received the rod back.

You can also research the potential buyers based on their forum posts', although not sure if that breaks the forum rules.

If you have the time to deal with all the individual sales through the auction site and the work load does not bother you, I guess it is the best method for you. Selling through a dealer some of the rods might reduce risk and hassle, but obviously you "pay a premium" for that.

I don't have that many rods and reels, so I don't have this problem, but I appreciate your feedback. I hope you can still enjoy some fishing.

Tight Lines

[ibookje]

How did ‘we’ handle such situations in the past? It sounds like a (mild) nightmare.

Can’t a dealer just list it on his website and pay you as the list gets checked off?

[Oxbow]

How did ‘we’ handle such situations in the past? It sounds like a (mild) nightmare.

Can’t a dealer just list it on his website and pay you as the list gets checked off?

I thought so also. I know some dealers buy outright but don't most work on consignment? Seems an easy way for both seller and dealer to work together!

[Webfly]

eBay is as good as anywhere if you have the capability to do it. I would just keep on trudging through. It does require some work on the sellers behalf, fees and possibly some slight hassles. Not sure why anyone would think that there's a really easy way to make the most money per rod and it magically appears in your bank account. Otherwise, take half the value and let someone else do it for you. This comment is a general statement, not necessarily aimed at the OP, which looks like he is doing the right thing. I'm just not sure if there is actually a question to answer.

[creakycane]

Find a good dealer, ship a half-dozen rods at a time (mix of highly desirable and standard fare) and let them handle it.

[Hellmtflies]

If you still have that Orvis Yamame I'll take it! I have a mint Hardy Tealweight waiting for that rod for a few years now.

As for getting the most from your collection one thing to consider is to not sell it as a whole lot. When one floods the market like that the value is diminished. Try selling them as individuals or as a collection of say 2 or 3 at a time.

[quashnet]

To expand upon Hellmtflies' good advice: take everything one individual step at a time. No wonder you're feeling terrible as you stare at the entire mountain of perceived problems that you listed in your post. Sort out the priorities and start with those, especially if bad health requires you to expedite the planning process. Define one thing to do, get it done, congratulate yourself on that accomplishment, and then define and do the next thing. Find someone within family, friends, or professional services with whom you can discuss your concerns. With proper guidance in a will, the executor of your estate should be able to sell the rods you've left behind without hassle or horror, and without dumping them in a yard sale. As the executor, a few years ago, of a large estate with many complicating factors, I can say that disposing of a few dozen fly rods would have been a refreshing diversion! Ethical buyers of large tackle collections are still out there; I recently received a nice Paul Young fly rod in a private sale from one such collection. My basic message is: take a deep breath, set achievable step-by-step priorities, and climb the mountain one step at a time. You've got this. Best wishes.

[GerardH]

Some sage advice being offered above. From my perspective, it's overwhelming to look at everything as a whole...but on an individual basis, it's much more manageable. Pick away at it one or two at a time and pretty soon it's gone.

The hardest part for me is deciding what to let go and what to keep going forward.

Good luck!

[FreestoneVintage]

I'll throw in my 2c here. As a dealer, I regularly have conversations with people exploring what to do with their collections. Smaller collections tend to be simpler, but large collections require a bit more care.

The best way to handle a large collection is dependent on time constraints. Usually if someone is interested in paring down a collection over a long period of time (several years), I recommend working with an experienced dealer and consigning 5-10 items at one time. This is typically the best way to maximize value, and I think it helps people work through what's important and what isn't, as stated above.

If time is of the essence, it's often easiest to sell a large collection to a single person/business. You won't get maximum value for every item, but the simplicity of selling everything at once can be the most attractive option. This also puts the burden of listing things over a long period of time on the dealer. For instance, it doesn't matter if a collection contains 15 mint Dickerson trout rods, I can't list them all at once. "Flooding the market" is a concept that usually gets blown out of proportion, but it's something to consider.

I am happy to make a cash offer on any quality collection, large or small. Some people prefer the cherry picking process, but I will always come up with a fair number for everything, warts and all, if asked to do so. When I purchase a large collection I assume a level of risk that is avoided with the consignment process. I am always up-front about expected values, and I ask sellers to keep an open mind, particularly when the sums start to climb. Most of the time we are able to arrive at agreeable terms and get a deal done.

Again, just my 2c, there are lots of different ways to approach this. I applaud you for thinking about it ahead of time, you're a step ahead of most.

-Nate

[Booman2]

This is not an easy question to answer and I expect many of us that have been buying/collecting/selling bamboo over the years will chime in. For my perspective (and I have been badly burned twice) I think that establishing a good relationship with a quality dealer is very important and that should be the lifeline in the event a collection needs to be liquidated quickly. When Marty Keane was alive, he and I could do almost any deal over a phone call and we both were happy.
If I were slowly selling some of my rod collection now, I would -not in any order - (1) use the auction site, (2) call a good dealer, (3) ask around in my club, and (4) list on this site. I've done a couple studies and found that percentage-wise, the best things appreciate the most. For example, my 7'3" #3 Howells bought new from Gary for under $500.00.

[bamboo rodley]

There was a thread on here not so long ago about new rules at e-bay regarding sellers being required to provide e-bay with their bank account information. I assume the information in the thread was accurate, although it has been quite some time since I have sold anything on e-bay, and that was not the case the last time I did sell something. I would guess that if you are a regular seller on e-bay, you would get a separate bank account just for e-bay transactions. I would be very reluctant to give anyone my personal bank account information, especially e-bay. I do buy on e-bay quite regularly, but doubt that I will sell on that site again.

[joep]

You can always start by putting a price list in the classifieds. You may thin it out by 10% I no time.

[Mister Bill]

I wish this topic was discussed more often, giving ideas and experiences.

Thanks for posting.

I am hoping my grandchildren will step up in time.

[G-ManBart]

There was a thread on here not so long ago about new rules at e-bay regarding sellers being required to provide e-bay with their bank account information. I assume the information in the thread was accurate, although it has been quite some time since I have sold anything on e-bay, and that was not the case the last time I did sell something. I would guess that if you are a regular seller on e-bay, you would get a separate bank account just for e-bay transactions. I would be very reluctant to give anyone my personal bank account information, especially e-bay. I do buy on e-bay quite regularly, but doubt that I will sell on that site again.

The current system eBay uses is one where you tell them the bank account where they send funds after your item sells. You aren't really giving them any info other than the account to send the money to.

In the past it was typically PayPal where the funds were sent, but PayPal actually held the money and you had to link a bank account to PayPal to add or withdraw funds. PayPal actually had significant ability to freeze your bank account based upon the terms of service. PayPal was also a subsidiary of eBay for much of its history....so not a lot of separation.

The new system where eBay sends funds to your bank is quite a bit safer and as you mentioned, most people set up a separate account just to be on the safe side.

[G-ManBart]

To the OP's point, I think it's easy to forget that any of us, at any age, can have an untimely demise, so it's not just something we can wait on until we're older.

I have documented all of the rods and reels I have, what the specifics are, what I paid for them, roughly when I bought them, etc. I figure the worst case is I get hit by a cement mixer and at least my wife will know what's there, and a ballpark value. We've even talked about it a little bit, and we know a few people who run online estate auctions...think HiBid or Proxibid. With a good description, good pictures, and the right venue I think it would work out just fine since she honestly isn't going to need the money from my rod/reel collection to survive. Now that I think about it, worst case might be if she looks at the list while I'm still alive!

I'm starting to do the same thing for pretty much all of the valuable stuff I have. For example, I pretty much have a machine shop with a mill, two lathes, surface grinder, drill press, band saw, chop saw, hydraulic press, two TIG welders, two MIG welders, one welder/generator and some very expensive, massive bench vises. For each major item I wrote down the details, any overhaul work done, etc. Telling someone "it's a Bridgeport mill" is one thing. Telling them it's a Bridgeport 2J2 HP variable speed mill with a 9x42 table, Acu-Rite DRO on the X & Y, rebuilt head in 2021, includes a Kurt D688 vise with swivel base, set of R-8 collets and an Albrecht 1/8 - 1/2 keyless drill chuck is something very different.

With that sort of information readily available I think it will be at least easier to get help if she needs it...hopefully.

[wrong66]

There was a thread on here not so long ago about new rules at e-bay regarding sellers being required to provide e-bay with their bank account information. I assume the information in the thread was accurate, although it has been quite some time since I have sold anything on e-bay, and that was not the case the last time I did sell something. I would guess that if you are a regular seller on e-bay, you would get a separate bank account just for e-bay transactions. I would be very reluctant to give anyone my personal bank account information, especially e-bay. I do buy on e-bay quite regularly, but doubt that I will sell on that site again.

The bank account information that eBay wants (account#, routing#, phone#, address, etc.) is clearly printed on every check that you send or hand to someone you've never seen in your life.

[Webfly]

There was a thread on here not so long ago about new rules at e-bay regarding sellers being required to provide e-bay with their bank account information. I assume the information in the thread was accurate, although it has been quite some time since I have sold anything on e-bay, and that was not the case the last time I did sell something. I would guess that if you are a regular seller on e-bay, you would get a separate bank account just for e-bay transactions. I would be very reluctant to give anyone my personal bank account information, especially e-bay. I do buy on e-bay quite regularly, but doubt that I will sell on that site again.

The bank account information that eBay wants (account#, routing#, phone#, address, etc.) is clearly printed on every check that you send or hand to someone you've never seen in your life.

Very true and I actually do not have any problems with eBay's fee and payment system the way it is set up right now. It actually allows customers to pay with many formats other than Paypal, including directly from their own bank accounts, avoiding any fees to me from the likes of Paypal or other credit card style payments.