Is your chess set rare or valuable? How do you find out? What if you want to sell it?
You could ask around. You could email companies. Search the Internet. You might find an appraisal service.
But is there a better way?
There is a rather unsophisticated, clever answer that has worked for some people, including myself.
Say you own this chess set…
"An Eminent Victory – The Apache versus The Sioux” from a now nonexistent company called, “American Indian Life and Legends" © The
set uses a different American Indian for each of the pieces of the set.
When purchased the “Certificate of Authenticity” included the
following information: "This is to certify that “An Eminent Victory”
has been produced by American Indian Life and Legends © and our foundry
artisans from the original works of Native American artist Lowell
Talashoma.” Is there any way you can ascertain some kind of
appraisal of the set? Also included in the Certificate is, “It is
further certified that each piece is crafted in solid pewter, and then
finished in pure silver for the Apache and pure gold for the Sioux.”
So, how do you put a price on this chess set?
Find someone with a good Ebay account and feedback rating (trust factor) and decide what you'd be willing to sell it for (even if this is much higher than you think it would actually sell for).
Now, write a detailed description, including photograph, and get the facts on the table. The more genuine information the better. Now, list the item with the price you're willing to sell as the RESERVE price. Unless the bidding reaches this price, it won't sell!
Next… here's the REAL win-win strategy.
If it sells, great!
If it does not… the whole exercise reveals its usefulness.
1. Track the number of "watchers" for the item. (It shows you how many people were interested and put in on their watch list.)
2. See if anyone "makes an offer", you get a sense for what the market will bear. (Ebay is huge. If you listed the item well, it will get many view – you can also add a view counter to the item). Most of the time people will ask what the reserve price was.
3. Learn from questions that people may submit. You might find someone that knows about the specific set, or makes an inquiry that will help you sell it the next time around.
4. Use the increase exposure from the first listing, to create a listing that will sell the second or third time at a price you like!
At the very least you can use the feedback to make a decision to re-list at a lower price.
As an Ebay seller with a trusted account, I know this can yield results.
Try it!
