Anyone have luck selling cookbooks and Dpt 56 Snow Village items at a garage sale?

[ilovediznee]

I am thinking of having a garage sale with many items, but specifically with my old Southern Living cookbooks and Department 56 Snow Village houses and accessories. Anyone had success with selling these?

Thanks - Diane

 

[dryvithome]

Didn't try garage sales for my cookbooks, but I did sell them on a facebook group for a local beg, barter, buy, sell. Posted them for sale and they had a buyer in less than an hour. Maybe I priced them too low, but they are gone now!

 

[Iowajes]

I don't think you'll get what you want for them at a garage sale. People go to garage sales looking for very cheap.

You'd probably have better luck at craigslist. Meet your buyer somewhere in public and only accept cash.

 

[JandJ]

DH goes to garage sales almost every Saturday. He and his buddy go for coffee and drive around and it's like his "social time" haha! He comes home with at least one cookbook nearly every trip. He's never paid more than $1.00, usually 50 cents, and that includes things like a classic Martha Stewart cookbook, a reprinting of Julia Child's Art of French Cooking, and a huge volume of America's Test Kitchen. So, unless you're willing to part with your cookbooks for $1.00 a piece, or less, a garage sale may not be the way to go.

 

[amcnj]

In general books are low value items, and I think collectibles would also be a tough thing to get any decent amount for at a garage sale. Unless you just happen to get a collector at the sale who knows their value. But if you do price them high and they go, then great, if not have a plan "B" for trying to sell them. Unless you are wiling to let them go no matter the price.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Garage sale will get you super-low price and will be a lot of work. I second the vote for a local facebook group, with Craigslist being second choice. You'll get a much better price.

 

[wellesleyprincess]

I echo what's been said already. If you just want to get rid of them, yes they will sell, but they will likely be low priced items in order to do so.

 

[OhMari]

What about the Christmas Villages.

 

[tinktinktink]

What about the Christmas Villages.

What brand? Is it a collection? I think it all depends on that.

 

[LovesTimone]

Have you thought about eBay, this way you can reach people all over the country or world.

The department 56 items I would most definitely put on eBay, they are collectable, and there are lots of people working on their collections, especially if the piece is retired. I had a 2 of the same piece Yankee candle Halloween Skelton Hand. I put it on eBay on auction, and it sold for 68.00 dollars plus shipping, I had only paid around 10.00 for each of them, I bought them after Halloween.

As far as the cookbooks, I would do some research on eBay and see if you have any that are hard to find, also check out the book rate at your post office so you know how much to charge for shipping. If you list them on Craig's list, meet in a crowded place with your husband with you never go alone. On another thought. If you have a antique mall near you, you might want to go and see if one of dealers might want to buy them.

You could donate them to your local library, and use it as a tax deduction.

 

[OhMari]

What brand? Is it a collection? I think it all depends on that.

St Nicholas, I have been collecting for 25 years. Not all buildings, some years I bought accessory pieces. I never had a proper place to display all the pieces, I only displayed a few a year. Once I put them all under the tree like a village, which was pretty, but one broke when it got kicked.

My mom has a collection of villages from the 50's and hers now are worth money. She gave each of us a few if the pieces. Those are made if cardboard, I saw on Ebay each house was worth $40 a piece.

 

[ilovediznee]

I have been looking at Ebay for sometime and the prices dropped so much over the last few years and then there is the shipping and such. I just thought that "maybe" someone had luck selling them at a garage sale, but I also agree that I would get a lot less. I am on a group selling site where I live, so I may take a group picture of them and list each one and their price.

As far as the cookbooks, I need to go to a few sites that buy books and pay for shipping. I don't recall which sites they are, but you put in the ISBN (?) number and it tells you how much they would give you for each one.

I think, for both, I will list on my local site first just to see if they sell. That would be a lot easier than listing them on Ebay and also the book site.

Thanks all!