Our Dolls and Bears
Do you have dolls that need to find a new home?
Perhaps you are downsizing or have inherited dolls from a family member or friend and don’t have room for them in your home.
You need to consider whether you are wanting to realise some financial value for the doll(s) or whether you are seeking a good home for them and want to find someone who will cherish them.
One of the major challenges is knowing what you have: antiques, reproduction dolls, modern dolls, limited edition dolls or mass-produced dolls. Some are highly collectable and others may take a long time to sell.
If you are selling you have several options like:
- Using an auction house, especially if you have antique and unique dolls. Remember that there is a selling commission.
- The more general online selling options include eBay and Gumtree. Here you need to photograph your dolls and establish the price that you are willing to sell them for. You can check the prices received for completed sales on eBay by putting a filter on the same classification of items.
- There are a number of Facebook groups that act as selling sites. Some who currently do include: “Selling Porcelain Dolls Australia”. You can just put “Dolls Selling + Australia” in the search box and look at all the groups to find the one that is selling dolls similar to yours. Some to consider include:
- DOLLS, ANTIQUE & VINTAGE ITEMS, AUSTRALIA –
www.facebook.com/groups/351003114947861/
- ALL DOLLS, BEARS, PRAMS BUY & SELL AUSTRALIA & NZ only –
www.facebook.com/groups/796271990403741/
- DOLLS, BEARS, GOLLIES & VINTAGE TOYS - AUSTRALIA & NZ –
www.facebook.com/groups/729997940373991
- You could inquire about having a sales table at one of the many doll fairs or doll clubs around the country. Again, you need to establish a price that you are willing to sell your treasures for.
If you are considering donating the dolls, this could include:
- Giving the dolls away to family members and friends of the collector. They may each appreciate a keepsake. The whole collection may be overwhelming but one or two may be appreciated and treasured.
- Donating them to a Doll Club where they can be sold to doll collectors with the funds going to the club or to their designated charity for the year.
- Donating them to charity stores such as Vinnies or the Salvation Army where the funds raised from the sales goes towards their charity work.
- Depending on the type of doll, the local school, kindergarten or childcare centre may have a need for play dolls. Remember that condition, cleanliness and sanitisation will be paramount in their considerations.
Please note, most Doll Collectors Clubs may have limited storage capacity to accept large donations and may reserve the right to review items being donated prior to acceptance. Both groups like the doll clubs and shops like River Dolls of Goolwa find that it is quite challenging to sell large quantities of modern porcelain like ‘Hillview Lane’ and ‘Copper Art’ style dolls in particular.
Remember that many dolls on the second-hand market will not receive the money that was originally paid to acquire them. Even antique dolls are not achieving their previous high prices unless they are particularly unique and rare, given that many people living in cities are now confronted with living in smaller homes and possibly downsizing or being very particular in the dolls and collectables that they acquire.
Thank you to The Doll Collectors Club of NSW for permission to use information from their website. https://dollclubnsw.com.au/
