I’ve started this photo ephemera collection about 15 years ago but now I’m a single dad and struggling and need to sell it for some income. There’s 1000s of slides tons of pictures, a few albums, and some tintypes. Most if not all are from the 50s-70s. Ancient sites, cars, travel, Vietnam war, etc.
by fstop570
15 Comments
$3.50
Sorry guy, it sounds like you are finding out the hard way that these things don’t really appreciate in value and best barely hold their cost.
My father-in-law runs multiple booths and says he avoids that type of item simply because he typically loses the money
The folks you bought from (given the size, I’m assuming mostly antique shops and estate sales) sold them to you at barely a profit. anyone that is likely to buy them is not looking for an individual seller, but stumbled upon them the same way you (again, I’m assuming).
try this over at r/FoundPhotos you’ll get a better response
Unfortunately or fortunately the old wooden cigar boxes are probably the most valuable thing. I had a similar problem with about 300 CD’s in those storage sleeves I was tired of moving around. So I listed them on eBay in the past under a listing called “junk drawer collection of CD’s” I put them all in big pile and pulled out 8-10 random ones. Most auction sold for 12-20 dollars. Maybe you can do that, it’s a lot of work and eBay fees and shipping takes a lot of time and eats your profit but it’s better than nothing.
Tree fitty.
I see all of this & I think, so much lost family history.
The cigar boxes are probably worth more than the slides or photos
Honestly – if you don’t have time to closely document and list on ebay or such, checking to see if you have a local auction/antique auction house in your area might be a great option. We have one here that handles all the pics and listings but runs their own auctions – advertises far and wide and gets a good response.
I hope you get a good price – there is some neat stuff there. It’s a niche market of course, but hopefully someone will want to pay a fair price for your collection.
Edit: they run their own, as in they don’t use the common sales/auction/ebay sites. They have a whole thing of their own. Frankly, I find that some of the folks listing on ebay for others, tend to have an unreasonably steep fee scale – but even that might be worth looking into.
Edit #2: spelling, always the spelling
As much as someone will give you for someone elses memorys
I love collecting slides, but I very rarely come across them. How in the world did you amass so many?
You’d have to have patience and look through them. My dad has TONS of slides that, god bless him, he’s converting to .jpegs. I loved slide shows night when I was a kid. But they’re probably mostly sentimental. You never know! Someone might pay a lot in hopes for something rare!
i will take it off your hands for a crisp two dollar bill
So for the folks that say slides are worthless, why can you regularly find large lots like this that have gone for $100-$400?
https://ebay.us/m/VppRs1
As someone who is vaguely trained in archival work, you’d have to get someone to process it to see if it needs any preservation. The condition it’s in will determine the cost. Archives don’t purchase collections, they typically only accept donations, but I mention it as a point of reference for appraisal. Appraisal determines the historical value of a record that is accessioned, and you’d need someone to appraise it (beyond looking at a picture on the internet) to determine the monetary value.
If you don’t end up selling it, but still don’t want to keep it, I highly recommend you donate it to a local archives. They are the ones who are preserving our history and do it well.
You can sell bundles on Etsy. If you browse you’ll see how others are selling them and gauge accordingly. I imagine this won’t be helpful in the immediate present but in the long term you could sell them. I’ve bought old photos before so I know there’s a market. I love stuff like that.