In “How to Sell Elegant and Depression Glass Part 1” I shared how I approach selling glass.
Step 1: Figure out what you have. Ideally identify the pattern and piece, but if you are not able to match your glass to a pattern, get a general sense of what you have. Depression glass? Etched stemware? Newer pieces?
Step 2: Get a sense of the nominal value of your glass. Using books is a good place to start. A better method – if you know your pattern – is to look at the current market value.
Go to eBay and browse pieces in your pattern. Don’t be surprised if you find wide ranges of prices – remember, what you see are the asking prices, not the actual prices glass sold at. To see actual prices check the “Completed” items. Check Ruby Lane and other sites like this. Check Replacements.com for their prices listings.
All of these prices are general guidelines to give you a realistic ballpark of what your glass might sell for. Remember, the actual price is what you agree to with your customers, not what a book says or what someone else sold their glass for.
Why is this important?
I have seen way too many ads on Craigslist that read something like this:
Pink depression glass. Lots of pieces. I don’t know what this is but I do know it is extremely valuable. $200
Can you see why this seller will not be successful? She has no idea what she has. She didn’t tell us anything about how many pieces she had, nor the condition. She assumes her glass is valuable.
If you don’t find your glass listed, then a few rules of thumb are that dinner plates run somewhere in the $10 to $40 range. Goblets are $10 to $50; sherbets are $5 to $30. Cups and saucers are $10 to $30. Remember some patterns will go for far more while undistinguished, generic glass with no pretty design or pleasing shape sells for very little if at all.
You need to have an idea of approximate market value to price your glass wisely.