Selling pottery online

My house is now too full of pots, some of them have to go and online is probably the most practical place for me to sell them.
This is just a general question about selling, really. I've sold a few before but they were all makers I knew so, with a good photo and accurate listing, selling was simple. The ones I've got trouble with are the unmarked & the unidentified. What's the best way to list them? Unknown? Mystery pot? What gets a pot seen in the midst of so many listings? And what seems to be the best way to price something about which I have no idea of value - start low and take a gamble or higher and risk a no-sale? And are there any other particular details that pot buyers look for?

Any tips appreciated.

orangefrog wrote:My house is now too full of pots, some of them have to go and online is probably the most practical place for me to sell them.
This is just a general question about selling, really. I've sold a few before but they were all makers I knew so, with a good photo and accurate listing, selling was simple. The ones I've got trouble with are the unmarked & the unidentified. What's the best way to list them? Unknown? Mystery pot? What gets a pot seen in the midst of so many listings? And what seems to be the best way to price something about which I have no idea of value - start low and take a gamble or higher and risk a no-sale? And are there any other particular details that pot buyers look for?

Any tips appreciated.

Good Photos, Good Description, Good Condition, and Good Luck ..

if you don't know what it is just wax lyrical,start at a low price and enjoy the suspense

If you don't know the Id of your pots avoid listing in categories like other etc. list them in studio especially if you think they might be british , start at 99p , if they are any good they will be spotted , I try and avoid high starting prices unless there is a small market for certain pieces , use your title with searchable words , , ie leach era , style , etc , rather than beautiful or stunning , who is going to google beautiful ?

And obviously, all of this should be after asking for ID here and a bump

xx

boootifull

Also , if you can ,try and mix pottery with glass or other different items ,etc ,

Like this Ed?

"Boootifull Troika vase with a set of golf clubs and a glass fish, Leach era!"

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've been putting off listing 'mystery' things thinking I'd put some time aside and research them. But I think the house is likely to burst before that ever happens so it's time to bite the bullet, get them well listed and, as said, enjoy the suspense..........

have to say, I disagree with the instinct to list at a 99p starting price. If you don't know what it is, but someone else does, yes they may bid it up to a reasonable price. But they may also get a 99p bargain if no-one else has spotted it. Your own ignorance doesn't mean that you should lose out on getting a fair price (even though as a buyer, it's exactly those kind of bargains i admit to looking for!). I would say, start a price that you would feel happy selling it at. If you don't know what it is, but feel it is worth more, try your luck. If it doesn't sell, you can always relist it at a lowered price.

car boot and charity shop a bit then

the 99p start has worked for me for years , if you are in the correct category , you have no worries , starting high at a complete guess is a no no in my book and just accentuates the fact that you don't know what youv'e got and it puts people right off imo .

I'm not saying start the bidding at hundreds, just what you'd feel comfortable selling it at. And of course, you'd be foolish to sell it for less than you'd paid for it, so either start at that price or put a reserve on it (unless you think you probably did over-pay for it yourself and are happy to let it go to get some of your money back).

i'm sure Ed is correct that a 99p start won't make much difference to the final outcome for most things. For you sake, however, i don't think you should take the risk of selling something cheap when it may be worth a lot more - simply because you didn't know what you had. Yes, plenty of other people out there may recognize it as something really special, but there's no guarantee that they will be around on ebay at the time to see it. It's like ANY auction, if the bidders aren't there for it, someone will get a bargain, at YOUR expense.

The treasure hunter in me hopes for those kind of bargains, but as someone who has on occasion sold stuff very cheaply, only later to find out what i'd let go for way less than it's true market value, i'd urge caution on unknown/ unidentified pieces. If you are able to write an amazing description with full attribution, good pics of signatures/potters marks etc, then chances are someone will pick up on it. But if you haven't give much info away, you might be unlucky and sell on a rare Bernard Leach for a pound.

Good advice. I'll start with the ones I'm sure of and have a think about how best to list the others.

perhaps you could try a few lots with 6 or 7 pieces included and call them small collection

Why not list some here for an Id ?