Seriously where do I start???

[rebeccahc79]

I posted a while back that I was going through all my hordes of jewelry and I've been asking a lot questions on the boards. Here is a FRACTION why...

I could really use some extra money right now so if you were me, where would you start??? Any suggestions?

[rebeccahc79]

Please ignore the sticky notes...that organization plan obviously didn't work out...

[don-franciscos-sister]

I'm in roughly the same position...starting to sort through several thousand pieces! What's working best for me at the moment is to make the following groups:
1) No damage
a) List as single items
b) List as part of a lot
2) Need repairs
a) Repair, then list
b) List as a repair lot
3) Keep for now (includes pieces I'm not ready to sell at the moment for a variety of reasons...easier for me to segregate these as I go, so I don't have to keep sorting them)

I also separate out all the fine jewelry and deal with that differently

[rebeccahc79]

Oh no! Those are good tips. Thank you! Do you break up items as type. I.e. Necklace, bracelet, brooch, etc.? When you don't have a large pile, which items do you like to move first? Large or valuable or something else? Do you list things as you're going through and sorting? I've tried both but either way, I seem to keep running across this squirrel every time I turn around...

[goaldeelocks]

Well, if your immediate goal is to raise some money, I'd start with the signed (or otherwise identified as special) items. My (limited) experience is that there are more people actively searching for those so they will be seen and likely purchased.
Another suggestion - search for sold auctions with items similar to yours and then sort the result by "highest price+shipping". You can do this for specific designers or general kw's. e.g. "Trifari brooch" or "rhinestone brooch". Might turn up something you have that sold high and give you some ideas.
In other words, try to go for the highest return items first to help meet your "raise money now" goal. Then you can work on downsizing and getting rid of what you don't want.

[rebeccahc79]

Sounds perfect. Thank you! I have a good bit of signed jewelry so I'll start on that. Do you see anything that immediately catches your eye? 

Research wise, there is A LOT to know about selling jewelry and it's been a while so I'm rusty. I can spend hours researching something, put a picture on here and have answers within minutes. I pray that one day I'll be as knowledgeable as the people I get advice from. I live in an old historic city with old money and no money so every thrift store visit is a guess - sometimes I don't know if I've hit the jackpot or a bunch of junk. 

[don-franciscos-sister]

I would do as Diane suggested, unless reducing clutter vs raising immediate cash is the goal (as it is for me!). I will be trying to move the lowest value, or (in the case of non-jewelry items) the largest items first. Generally speaking, the best designer items will be more likely to hold their value (or even increase) over time. A notable exception is when something in currently in vogue (e.g. Victorian banded agate or saphiret at the moment)...then you should strike while the iron is hot, because they may not be in high demand a few years down the road...

[don-franciscos-sister]

As an aside, "need to do more research" is one of the reasons a piece may go to the "keep for now" pile!

[dins9187]

This is a wonderful example of why I folow this jewelry board.  Love the advice given for this person.  I have boxes of jewelry and also need to raise  some money to pay some bills.  The sorting advice is greart.