Advice On Selling An 200 Vintage Pen Collection

[MERCURY7272]

Hello, i am new to this site so please be kind if i make a mistake or two. I am asking for advice on selling a 200 vintage fountain pen collection put together over the last 40+ years. I wish to sell this collection and wish to sell it as a collection rather than putting each item up for sale. i will leave that to others with more time. so my question is what would be the best way to do this? i have sent a picture of some of the pens to give you an idea.it includes all the top brands like Conklin, Parker Mont Blanc Shaeffer .

[Chrissy]

You may have luck with an auction house

[markiv]

Cannot tell much based on the picture. You could try pen shows.
Selling it as a single lot could be challenging. Perhaps offering lots by brands may help.

 

Good luck.

[Uncial]

I would never put it in an auction house and certainly wouldn't consider selling as one lot unless you can put the reserve you want on it. Be warned there are auction watchers though and if it doesn't sell at or above your reserve you may then find it very difficult to sell it after that anywhere near the price you wanted for it.

 

Pen shows sounds like a good route, or you could even sell them here. Selling here is perhaps a lot of hassle, but at least you can set a price unlike ebay for instance.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

If this is something you inherited and have no interest in yourself, then I understand wanting to sell it all in one transaction and get it out of the way. I've been in a similar situation with different collectibles that didn't interest me at all. But depending on exactly what you've got (I can't really tell), you'd probably get significantly more by selling one pen at a time, even if it takes longer. Maybe as a compromise, start by breaking it into groups by brand and see how many are in each group. Learn something about different filling mechanisms and how to inspect a nib and try to determine which of these pens are in usable condition (hopefully all of them, but it might depend on the collector).

 

At any rate, don't hurry. The more you know about what you're selling, the less you're likely to have people taking advantage of you. And the pens aren't going to depreciate sitting around for another year.

[penmanila]

some dealers (like our member speerbob, if i'm not mistaken) are willing to buy whole collections, but i would expect that they will naturally want to buy a 200-pen collection at a steep discount, given all the risks they're taking and the work they have to do to check out and prepare each pen for resale.

 

i'm sure every interested dealer will also want razor-sharp pictures (and descriptions, if possible) of the pens, both capped and uncapped. you can start with that, by taking better pictures and posting them here.

 

if you know the pens well, you might want to sort them out into first-, second-, and third-tier pens.

 

selling them as a group might help you dispose more quickly of the less desirable pens, but also possibly at the cost of lower prices overall for the high-end pens.

 

good luck!

[Wahl]

From my own experience,

 

If you try sell the collection in one transaction, you will not get offers of more than 50% of its value.

 

To get full value you have pens shows, forums like this one,(read the classifieds rules) and ebay. And yes, it will take time.

[opus7600]

FYI, other people known to buy collections include David Isaacson and Rick Propas. The same caveats apply there regarding value.

 

Also, that picture appears to be a picture not of pens, but of a computer screen displaying a picture of pens. If you take an actual in-focus picture of the pens, you'll get more interest.

Edited February 15, 2016 by opus7600

[jar]

There are others that take consignments like the great enabler at Chatterley Pens and the Gross' at Pens Plus.

[BobR]

Fivestarpens also says it will purchase a collection:

 

http://www.fivestarpens.com/we-buy-pens.html

[MERCURY7272]

I really do appreciate all the advice from everyone. i knew selling them one by one on ebay or here was the way to go but i was just trying to make a dent amount on it and maybe give someone a chance to buy a really nice collection of pens put together over a 40 year period . here is a spreadshet and more photos. i do have some pens that i couldnt tell what they brand they are maybe you guys can help me identify them.

[MERCURY7272]

i tried to attach an excel spreadsheet inventory but it says i am not permitted to upload that type of file so if anyone would like to view the inventory please send me a note to gcaffey23@outlook.com and i will send it to you. thanks again

[Parker51]

Hello, do you have any boxes? And do you have any ink? Also, any ephemera? And do you know anything about the person whose collection you have, such as if they restored their pens, or perhaps had them restored?

I am asking, as if these we're a family members collection, they likely had pen related materials that have value that you may have overlooked, if however you acquired them fram an auction or estate sale, then those items likely didn't make it into the sale given the lack of knowledge many in the business of clearing out estates have.

[Drone]

@MERCURY7272

 

I would like to thank you for coming here to the FPN and asking for our help. Vintage writing instruments will never be made again, therefore they are a valuable part of our collective history. In my opinion, it is our responsibility to try and preserve these beautiful items so future generations can experience them.

 

That said...

 

The good thing is it seems you have a spreadsheet with an inventory of some sort. In my opinion, your first move should be to post that list so knowledgeable people may comment on it. If the FPN won't let you upload the file (it should), then convert the spreadsheet file to plain text (do save as...) then copy and past the text in your next post.

 

Beware of any offers you get privately right after posting the information. People will be people - even fountain pen people. Someone may be trying to cherry-pick your collection and/or take advantage of you. Take your time, try to understand at-least something about what you have before jumping to sell. There is one good thing about early offers though - they help you understand what items may be most valuable in the collection.

 

Some pens may be worth a lot more than others (most pen collections are like that). Therefore, depending on what motivates you it may be best to separate the high-value specimens and move them individually rather than incur the steep discount you will see if you sell them with a lot. The lower value pens can go discounted as a lot to a professional restorer/reseller because in the end, the time and effort to move them individually may not be worth it to you.

 

The problem with trying to separate the collection is that you need to have at least a some knowledge about vintage pens and their value. But if you don't know much about pens at all, a common-sense brute-force approach is better than nothing. This divide-and-conquer approach should yield significantly more compared with selling the collection as a lot:

 

The first step would be to (obviously) first focus on anything that is made of precious metals (gold, silver).

 

A note on salvage value: Vintage fountain pens made of precious metals or with precious metal overlays are worth far more than the by-weight salvage (melt) value of the metal alone. Don't even think about going to a Jeweller or Salvager and selling the pens just so they can be melted down. The same goes for any solid gold nibs on the pens. You would be surprised how little metal there is in a gold fountain pen nib, it is worth little in terms of salvage compared with selling the pen as a whole.

 

For arguable reasons, Mont Blanc pens can command a higher price, especially some vintage and limited edition models, plus they are typically easy to spot. The next candidates may be the best quality specimens that are obviously vintage and have gold nibs. Vintage pens made by known known big manufacturers such as Parker, Sheaffer, Waterman, Swan, etc. can bring good prices and should be grouped by brand as this aids in identification and appraisal. Italian made pens, especially those with gold nibs that are in good shape can command high prices. Japanese pens are harder to identify when it comes to which pens are more valuable. Generally, if a Japanese pen is larger, has a gold nib and seems to be of high-quality, it should be separated-out. If a Japanese pen has a particularly attractive or ornate finish it may be worth a lot. Remaining specimens that appear to be of poor quality, are broken, or discolored etc., would be set aside for last.

 

Important: Make sure you keep track of what pens are what compared with the original inventory you have.

 

With the suspected higher value pens separated-out, try to do some research on-line to understand what you have. Ask questions on pen forums. With the pens separated, this becomes easier.

 

Good Luck, David

Edited February 20, 2016 by Drone

[MERCURY7272]

EXCELLENT ADVICE DAVID THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I AM A FOUNTAIN PEN FAN AND USER. I HAVE BEEN USING A FOUNTAIN PEN AS MY SOLE WRITING INSTRUMENT FOR 20 YEARS NOW. I HAVE NEVER REALLY HAD THE FUNDS TO BUY A HIGHER END FOUNTAIN PEN SO I HAVE ALWAYS USED THE CHEAP ONES(WHENEVER I COULD FIND THEM THAT IS) FROM HOBBY LOBBY OR OFFICE DEPOT UNTIL ABOUT 3 YEARS AGO WHEN I RECEIVED A VERY NICE AND VERY EXPENSIVE FOUNTAIN PEN MADE BY PORSCHE DESIGN (4600) AS A GIFT FROM A WEALTHY MAN WHO BOUGHT SOME ITEMS FROM ME.. II ACTUALLY SOLD THAT PEN ONLINE AND USED THE MONEY TO BUY 4 REALLY NICE VINTAGE PENS THAT I MUCH PREFER AND I HAVE BEEN USING THEM EVER SINCE. THE COLLECTION I AM TRYING TO SELL CAME INTO MY CARE TAKING RECENTLY AND WITHOUT NOTICE SO I WAS UNPREPARED. I WAS TRYING TO SEE IF I COULD SELL IT AS A LOT BUT I NOW REALIZE I WOULD NEVER COME CLOSE TO RECEIVING THEIR REAL WORTH BY SELLING THEM AS A LOT SO IVE DECIDED TO GO AHEAD AND SELL THEM ONE BY ONE ON EBAY AND MAYBE A FEW OTHER SITES LIKE THIS ONE. I DID NOT KNOW ABOUT YOUR SITE UNTIL I STARTED RESEARCHING SELLING THIS COLLECTION BUT I CAN TELL YOU I REALLY ENJOY IT AND WILL REMAIN A MEMBER AND HOPEFULLY BE ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE SOMETHING AFTER SELLING THESE PENS SINCE I AM SURE I WILL LEARN A TON OF INFORMATION ALONG THE WAY. IS THERE ANY WAY I CAN SEND YOU THIS INVENTORY OR POST IT ? I TRIED BUT IT SAID I COULD UPLOAD THIS TYPE OF FILE ? I WOULD LIKE FOR EVERYONE TO SEE WHAT I HAVE EXACTLY AND MAYBE HELP ME IDENTIFY SOME OF THE UNKNOWNS. THANKS AGAIN GENE

[MERCURY7272]

TO PARKER51,

IF YOU GIVE ME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS I CAN SEND YOU THE SPREAD SHEET THAT I HAVE ON THE PENS . THE COLLECTION WAS AMASSED OVER THE COURSE OF 40 YEARS BY A GENTLEMAN WHO DID VERY WELL IN THE INSURANCE BUSINESS. HE ALSO HAS A VERY LARGE COLLECTION OF HIGH END WRIST WATCHES AND VERY HIGH DOLLAR COWBOY BOOT AMONG OTHER THINGS. HE IS VERY OLD AND WANTS TO SELL NOW RATHER THAN LETTING HIS HEIRS DO IT LATER. HE IS REALLY NOT ASKING A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY CONSIDERING THE ITEMS HE HAS. I WILL FIND OUT ABOUT THE BOXES AND ANY OTHER RELATED ITEMS HE MIGHT HAVE AND LET YOU KNOW.

[Drone]

IS THERE ANY WAY I CAN SEND YOU THIS INVENTORY OR POST IT ? I TRIED BUT IT SAID I COULD UPLOAD THIS TYPE OF FILE ?

 

To attach a file to your reply post:

 

When you make your next post, at the bottom of the editor click the button, "More Reply Options". The full editor page will then load.

 

At the bottom of the editor under "Attach Files" click the "Browse" button, then find your file and select it.

 

Next, back in the editor page click the "Attach This File" button. The file should upload.

 

Type a message in the editor to describe the file you uploaded.

 

Post the reply by clicking the "Add Reply" button at the bottom of the editor.

 

I hope this works for you. For new members, I seem to remember there is some minimum number of starting posts required before file uploading a is enabled. But I can't remember how many. Try the upload anyway and see what happens...

 

Regards, David

[sharonspens]

I note that the OP is in Texas. Perhaps a visit to a local pen purveyor, like Dromgoole's if you are in Houston, would help you sort out some of the basic questions about what you have an how to best sell them. If there is enough of value, you might even find a shop willing to sell on consignment (I've only been to Dromgoole's once, so I don't know if this is the sort of thing they might handle).

 

No affiliation, yada yada

 

Sharon in Indiana

[ac12]

The 'syndicate' might be interested, but it all depends on the specific pens in the collection, and if they determine if it is worth it.

 

I also caution you that your initial asking price may be WAY TOO HIGH.

Old does not = valuable and worth a lot of $$,$$$.

I have a bunch of old pens in my collection that are definitely NOT worth much $, but more in sentimental value, to me.

And that is a common problem in collections; to separate the pens that are worth $$$, from the sentimental pens or other pens.

Edited February 28, 2016 by ac12