bmac Posted 30 November , 2012 Share Posted 30 November , 2012 A relative needs to sell some medals and I wonder if anyone has any recommendations for the best auctioneers or anyone else who might get him the best prices. They are all relatives so I presume some family background, etc., can be attached. For information the medals are: Daniel T M Coyle Queens South Africa Medal 5 bars BELFAST DIAMOND HILL TRANSVAAL ORANGE FREE STATE CAPE COLONY 2183 CPL DTM COYLE Scots GDS Kings South Africa Medal 2 bars South Africa 1901 and 1902 2183 SGT DTM Coyle Scots GDS 1914-15 Medal 250168 SM DTM Coyle 3rd Londons 1914-18 Medal 250168 SM DTM Coyle 3rd Londons 1914-19 Medal 250168 SM DTM Coyle 3rd Londons Blanche Higgs, Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve 1914-18 Medal Sister B Higgs 1914-19 Medal Sister B Higgs with oak leaf and citation Arthur Higgs, 11765 Royal Lancaster Regt, and 83881 Lance Serjeant Royal Fusiliers 1914-15 Medal 11765 Pte A Higgs R Lanc R 1914 -18 Medal 11765 CPL A Higgs R Lanc R 1914- 19 Medal 11765 CPL A Higgs R Lanc R H E Brook 1914-15 Medal Eng LT CR H E Brook RN 1914-18 Medal Eng COMMR H E Brook RN 1914-19 Medal Eng COMMR H E Brook RN A Powe Queens South Africa Medal 3 bars JOHANNESBURG TRANSVAAL NATAL 11871 GNR A POWE 10th M B RGA UNKNOWN Khedive star 1882 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
royalredcross Posted 30 November , 2012 Share Posted 30 November , 2012 A dealer will normally give you about two-thirds "book" price for medals. Auction houses these days have extortionate percentage fees for both buyers and sellers, unless the medals are very interesting and liable to arouse a lot of interest. With buyers premuiums now standing at 20%, you will probably not be offered much less if you use an auction room. However, there have been some really silly prices paid at auction lately. If I were selling these medals, I think I would contact one or more of the leading dealers. You will get an fairly immediate offer and quick settlement. Selling by auction is a protracted process if you only have a few pieces. NGG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmac Posted 30 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 30 November , 2012 Thanks for that. Any dealers recommended? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 30 November , 2012 Share Posted 30 November , 2012 I would put them on ebay. I have always made far more using ebay than flogging through dealers or auction rooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waggoner Posted 30 November , 2012 Share Posted 30 November , 2012 My first step would be to try to determine what they are worth on the open market. I would do this by consulting the current Medals Yearbook, on-line dealers lists or local collectors. Based on that knowledge, I would then contact a well-established dealer or list on eBay. Knowing the approximate value in advance allows you to know if you are being offered a reasonable price for them or to set a minimum bid at auction. All the best, Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbarchetta Posted 30 November , 2012 Share Posted 30 November , 2012 I would advocate Ebay too - very low cost to sell, and should reach a 'retail' price as you are usually selling direct to the collector, so cutting out the middleman (either dealer or auction house, or both) and thus their profit. Not much hassle, and the selling process only takes 7 days. Yes you could set a minimum price, but the chances of a group like this 'slipping through' on Ebay are nil, there are enough collectors out there to ensure things reach their market value - just list it in the right place and make sure your title and description pick up all the salient facts (regiments, medal nomenclature, battles etc), so a bit of research would help. James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 30 November , 2012 Share Posted 30 November , 2012 I have sold quite a few WW1 medals on ebay in the past few years, and they have gone for pleasing (to me ) prices - there are simply tens of thousands of collectors and dealers keeping their eyes on the medals section, on the look out for their specialism. And your medals look very interesting indeed. The right buyer might well pay a very significant sum for the Sister Higgs pair. Make sure that you obtain a scan of the medal card if there is one: - since the medals only bear the first unit the recipient served with abroad, you often find a more interesting subsequent unit. For example if this is the Machine Gun Corps the value increases somewhat, and if the RFC or Tank Corps the value can increase significantly. William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magnetchief Posted 30 November , 2012 Share Posted 30 November , 2012 Go for Ebay, but make sure the descriptions are well written. Also include good photos showing the naming details ect. Be prepared for all the chancers in the world to offer to 'buy it now' Fight the urge to sell quick. They are just trying to scam you out of the best price. Hold firm and sell at the highest price. That includes all the offers you will get from just posting on this forum, There are some nice medals there, your relative should make a nice tidy sum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmac Posted 30 November , 2012 Author Share Posted 30 November , 2012 Thanks for all the advice. I know my cousin has never used Ebay and is wary of doing so but I'll put it to him this may be the best way of getting the best return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pylon1357 Posted 30 November , 2012 Share Posted 30 November , 2012 Keep the groups together, meaning all the medals to each individual soldier. Splitting of these groups is a curse that dose nothing but succeed in breaking up the groups. Also, this tends to put off many collectors from bidding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 1 December , 2012 Share Posted 1 December , 2012 Thanks for all the advice. I know my cousin has never used Ebay and is wary of doing so but I'll put it to him this may be the best way of getting the best return. Before I started selling on ebay I bought a few small items to get the hang of the site and what people required of a seller, and to get a modest feedback score (buyers are wary of sellers who are obviously using the site for the first time). I then sold some small items (postcards in fact) so that I learned how to list items and sell them properly, before starting to sell large value items such as medals; I would recommend this course of action to others, and it was well worth the effort in the end. William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 1 December , 2012 Share Posted 1 December , 2012 William is right, have a good look around ebay to get used to it. There are many on here who don't like it or rate it highly and to be honest when I made the suggestion earlier on in this thread I thought someone would have a go. I have used it for years and have seperate accounts for buying and selling, it isn't often you don't make what you expect (or considerably higher). My one tip is if buying look at the postage before bidding, especially from the US. Don't be afraid of it, as long as you are careful it isn't that much different from real life. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitchener's Bugle Posted 2 December , 2012 Share Posted 2 December , 2012 Keep the groups together, meaning all the medals to each individual soldier. Splitting of these groups is a curse that dose nothing but succeed in breaking up the groups. Also, this tends to put off many collectors from bidding. I agree, this is a family collection - keep it together, and if anyone asks for it to be split down then refuse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottmarchand Posted 2 December , 2012 Share Posted 2 December , 2012 What he means is keep the discrete groups to each individual together, it is pretty unlikely that the whole extended family group would realistically stay together outside of a family member. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auchonvillerssomme Posted 2 December , 2012 Share Posted 2 December , 2012 The other problem of course is that it is a family group, does any other family member have a claim to any of the medals, selling them could turn into a family minefield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archangel9 Posted 2 December , 2012 Share Posted 2 December , 2012 While I agree with all that has already been said you do need to be wary of eBay/Paypal. You will undoubtedly get the best audience for the medals and almost certainly the best price but there are of course a lot of unscrupulous ebayer's out there. I am told that in a dispute situation Paypal come down heavily on the side of the buyer and will not hesitate to pull back payment from your Paypal account if the buyer logs a dispute. With a valuable item or items insurance and signed for delivery is recommended. Also there are certain countries that should be excluded from bidding on the listing, Italy being one with a terrible reputation for post going missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmsk212 Posted 2 December , 2012 Share Posted 2 December , 2012 Hi, Sell them on eBay but research them first ie H E Brook is Harold Edwin Brook born 28/09/1879 and his RN Officer Records are available on-line at the National Archives in Kew. This will show the ships that he served aboard etc and will increase the value of the medals to collectors that cannot research them for themselves. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamRev Posted 2 December , 2012 Share Posted 2 December , 2012 While I agree with all that has already been said you do need to be wary of eBay/Paypal. You will undoubtedly get the best audience for the medals and almost certainly the best price but there are of course a lot of unscrupulous ebayer's out there. I am told that in a dispute situation Paypal come down heavily on the side of the buyer and will not hesitate to pull back payment from your Paypal account if the buyer logs a dispute.... Perhaps........But I have now logged up 996 ebay transactions: that's about 200 selling transactions, and 800 buying transactions (a transaction can be any number, perhaps one item, perhaps several dozen items, bought/sold at once, and I have bought and sold at least 5,000 items altogether on ebay), and have yet to have a single problem with ebay or Paypal. I haven't had any disputes of any kind. My opinion is that these things are often rumours spread by people who are not experienced ebay buyers or sellers (but have read somewhere or been told by a friend.....) . Just my opinion, not a cue for everyone to start whining on about ebay . William Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old joe Posted 2 December , 2012 Share Posted 2 December , 2012 I would like to echo the thoughts of others on the importance of keeping the respective groups together if possible. I have no problems with ebay but the scope of this offering may be better handled by at least approaching a dealer first. Regards, Joseph Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingo794 Posted 19 December , 2012 Share Posted 19 December , 2012 Some dealers offer a service, offering your medals for sale, for a small cut of the takings. Sometimes free, depending on the amount of sales you have put his way. Steve Law of Great War Medals did this for me some time ago and the deal worked out very nicely for both of us. When I have sold items on ebay, I have found it cheap and easy to monitor. DickW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingsnorth36 Posted 20 December , 2012 Share Posted 20 December , 2012 Hi There Just my two-penneth as a medal collector who buys and sells occasionally. There is nothing wrong with using EBAY or major auction houses, One tip is to have a look on a website such as dnw.co.uk, in their auction archive it can tell you what similar medals have sold for, great tool! often the value will be impacted heavily by the regiment, rank and actions that the recipient fought in. The value is in keeping the family groups together and value is always increased by a photo or ephemera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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