You can always tell when a collecting theme or specific collectible achieves super status on eBay, and it isn't just because such items attract heavy bidding or regularly break auction price records.
One giveaway is new terminology applied to the hobby of collecting the item. 'Philately', for example, for what was once merely called 'stamp collecting', and 'deltiology' which means collecting postcards. More recently 'eBayana' encompasses all things specifically related to eBay or carrying the eBay logo, and 'railwayana' covers train and railway collectibles.
The other most important tell-tale sign is when eBay dedicates its very own exclusive category to a popular collectible, such as Disney Collectibles, called 'Disneyana', to describe items relating to Walt Disney, his characters and worldwide operations, and also one of the fastest growing and most profitable areas on eBay to focus your business.
Disney collectibles have been hugely popular for many decades, depicting hundreds of characters and storylines and featuring thousands of different product types, such as novelty snow globes and car mascots, to more practical items like dinner services and kitchen accoutrements.
There are many unique items too, such as badges worn by famous cast members and staff on individual Disney films, props and scripts, and so on, which the Disney company often sells direct from its own Internet sites. Those items are often bought for resale on eBay where really high profits are enjoyed by few people currently aware of Disney's direct selling ventures from where many top eBay sellers obtain their high profit stock.
Disney sells countless products, with new items appearing literally daily, which are sold at their many Disney holiday and leisure resorts, so even items picked up during a family holiday have resale value on eBay and can contribute significantly to vacation expenses.
There is a lot to know about Disney collectibles, most of it quite irrelevant to making big profits on eBay, but worth learning as your business develops to help you answer bidder questions and to more accurately determine profit potential on items you consider buying to sell on eBay.
To illustrate, last week a tatty wireless with a tiny emblem depicting Mickey Mouse was valued by staff at an auction I often visit as worth between £40 and £60. It went for over £1000. Three Mickey Mouse telephones, offered as one lot, pre-valued at £100 to £150, made more than £200.
Auction staff at that event, among the most experienced in the UK, were wildly mistaken on both items, and many more Disney artefacts sold that day. The wireless transpired to be one of less than a dozen similar items known to exist, and will almost certainly fetch many thousands of pounds more on resale. That's where a little or a lot of background knowledge of your specialist subject can pay handsome dividends for the lifetime of your business.
As for the telephones, I researched them on eBay the day before the auction and found dozens listed of which most went unsold or fetched around eight quid apiece! There's another time where prior knowledge not only prevented me from bidding now and losing money later, but also revealed a great chance for me to purchase individual Disney phones on eBay to group and resell locally.
Disney collectibles have their own ageing system, also used on eBay, to determine at what stage an item ceases to be 'modern' (in Disney terminology 'contemporary' and created since 1968) and becomes 'old' ('Vintage' according to Disney jargon and covering items made between 1928 and 1967, described by Disney and eBay, somewhat confusingly, as 'pre-1968').
On UK and USA sites, Disneyana usually* goes under main category 'Collectibles' ('Collectables', wrong spelling, in the UK), with sub-categories:
- Contemporary (1968-Now)
- Vintage (Pre-1968)
* 'Usually' because some items have double collecting appeal, such as Disney Pez disenspers and Walt Disney's autograph, which also, in the UK, belong respectively, under 'Collectibles > Household > Pez Dispensers' and 'Collectibles > Autographs'.
Further sub-categories vary little between eBay country sites for 'Contemporary' but are immensely different for 'Vintage' categories which exist aplenty in the USA but number zero in the UK. In the UK all Vintage Disney items, currently just 131 listings, are lumped together under 'Collectables > Disneyana > Vintage (Pre-1968).
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