Inexperienced seller downsizing. Totally overwhelmed, please HELP!

[Leopard_Print_Unicorn]

I’m not sure how many people remember me, I was around a lot more some years ago but always as a buyer. My life changed in 2018 when I got pregnant by surprise some years after being told that would very likely never happen without fertility medications.  I now have two little boys and a house in the country instead of a condo in the city. Finding and collecting all these ponies and spending time on the forums was a bright spot in an otherwise very dark time in my life, and I will say without hesitation this is genuinely the kindest online community I’ve ever been a part of. But everything is now in plastic storage containers now and that just doesn’t do my extensive collection justice.  I have made the difficult decision to radically downsize my MLP herd. I want to be able look at and enjoy my ponies, not just have a totally overwhelming number packed in plastic bins for “someday,” taking up too much space. My original purpose, when I dug my childhood herd out of storage and started buying ponies again over a decade ago, was to do and have something FOR ME when I otherwise give so much to my partner, my job, my pets, and now years later my kids and widowed mom. I’m not going full Marie Kondo (yet), but I am trying to make my collection meaningful to me again. It seems like an enormous task and I don’t even know how to start. 

I still have a hobby room/ work from home office that is mostly mine, and my eventual goal is shelf space to display my G1s and Nirvanas, even if I have to rotate them every so often. I’m also keeping a few of my favorite G3’s because there are some that I really like, and most of my small herd of G4’s to play with my kids, since they really don’t take up that much space and are up to modern safety standards for children. I’d like to sell all my G2’s, most of my G3’s, and some of my G1’s and G4’s, maybe a few fakies and a few other toys/collectibles. They would be going out AS IS and are in widely varying condition from bait still in box.

Ideally, I want to make some of my money back to save up for my boys, but I don’t have a lot of uninterrupted time to devote to it. My little one is almost 18 months old and still doesn’t sleep through the night so I’m TIRED and I take daytime naps when I can. I work in healthcare, so humbly but from a practical standpoint, I have to weigh any time spent on this against what I would make signing up for an extra work shift. It may not make sense for me to spend a whole lot more time to make a few extra dollars when I could pick up a work from home weekend shift instead and make a whole lot more.

I am also very aware that eBay, Paypal, etc., heavily favor buyers. Fortunately, I don’t need to sell ponies to pay the bills right now, but I still don’t want to risk a more expensive pony to a scammer. I’ve read infuriating stories from ripped off sellers here over the years and my husband, who collects some action figures, recently had a bad experience with Paypal. The buyer used a Paypal credit card, then claimed “identity theft” and had all his charges refunded. Even though my husband provided proof that the items were shipped and delivered, Paypal sided with the buyer and took back $85 from his account, wasted a lot of his time on the phone, and someone (presumably the buyer) still has his figures. He would be the one doing a lot of the actual listing and shipping, since he is a stay-at-home parent right now, but obviously needs my input for pricing and pony details.

Is there still a market for G1-G4 and a safe way to buy and sell them? It looks like this community has a whole lot less activity than it used to, although when I was last really active I think Friendship is Magic was at it’s peak. Looking around, it seems that many others who were around “back in the day” have downsized or gotten out of collecting altogether. What is the best way for me to sell off several hundred ponies to collectors who will give them the love and care they deserve, without turning it into a full time job or risking our bank account or eBay/Mercari feedback on scammers? I got an email that the MLPTP is doing an auction site now, has anyone tried it? Are regional pony meets still a thing? Would it make sense to sell in lots, especially the G3’s? We are a smoke-free, pet-friendly home if it matters. Thanks in advance for any help and advice!

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Selling in lots makes a lot of sense and is a great way to get rid of a lot of common ponies quickly, especially if you bundle with a more htf pony.

I think most of the community is splintered onto FB and IG. Mercari is my favorite place to buy and sell ponies! It's very easy to use with a smartphone.

[maycrestmom]

those are all really good questions.   I would answer immediately yes - here at the arena is a great place to buy and sell G1-G4 although yes, it seems slower these days with IMO the heavy hitting nirvana market moving to dedicated groups on FB.  I think if it were me I would first take pictures of what is planned to sell and organize it so that you know where those items are (so section off into dedicated tubs, shelves, boxes, etc)  so that way you now have a medium for then posting those sale items.   That picture taking and posting part is going to be your biggest time factor spent but it can also than save you time later in response to buyers as you can have that folder/link already established for later reference. We now have a wider variety of means for selling - here, MLPTP, FB, ebay, mercari, bonanza, etsy, and more I don't know about so this is where to decide how many and which ones to list with.  So that is where you make the cost vs time decision.  If you go the auction route you may get more, you have higher fees to contend with and scammers potentially so that has to be weighed.  If you are not needing to sell now I would suggest that you can make the posts of what you are selling here and MLPTP as well as on sites like mercari and bonanza.  You will just need to have a good means of getting notified when a query or purchase comes in regarding your sales.  In speaking for myself I love to work with fellow collectors here and on MLPTP and buy usually in ranges like 100-200 so a lot at one time if possible as postage costs to me is a factor but that may be just me.  Point is as a buyer I would try to save you the time by looking through your photos and lists of what is being sold and then contact with a PM to find out what is available, any other questions so simple enough IMO when you are selling through here EXCEPT when you have a popular item/items that EVERYONE wants so in that case you might need to notify the sales post in advance that any item with 5 or more immediate responses will thereafter be posted as an auction.  Just a thought I don't know how many nirvana if any you are parting with as it seems this is more downsizing to those items that are meaningful so I would presume hard to find items are not going on the sales list, unless they hold no meaning so in that case those rare items yes, I would suggest auction here, MLPTP and run it for at least a week or two to accomodate time zone differences as well as you may want to consider joining some FB groups for that purpose... sorry to seem that my proposals may be time intensive but if you dedicate a few days or a weekend if possible, you will hopefully reap the success of allowing those interested to be able to buy/adopt and it will be a win-win experience for all

so all the best on your sales adventure and welcome back from another old-timer ;-)

[Snapdragon]

I'm so glad to hear that you're planning to keep some of your favorites! Most of the regrets I see from collectors is that they "stopped" (or just took a break), downsized everything, then regretted selling a lot of ponies who held special memories for them. I definitely suggest keeping any ponies you have strong memories attached to - especially your childhood herd! (Similarly, ponies that might be almost impossible to get back without breaking the bank, like if you found a Rapunzel for 50 cents at a tag sale or something!) I'd divide ponies into 'go now' and 'go later', and then if you have any hesitancy, put them in the 'later' pile. Maybe once you get rid of a lot of ponies, you'll realize you're okay keeping more, or you'll be more comfortable downsizing further!

In terms of safety, I think eBay is still the 'gold standard' for selling, even though it's become less and less safe for sellers over time. They're very focused on the 'buyer safety' that it comes at the expense of the seller. Still, it's a popular place, and you'll get lots of eyes on your stuff. Etsy has imposed pretty gnarly seller's fees, and a lot of folks are moving away from selling there if they can. Mercari does have some safety precautions in place, like how the seller can't get their money until the buyer has confirmed they've received their item, or a few days after tracking confirms it arrived I think? Mercari does seem to be racing to take eBay's place, although I don't think they've succeeded yet. I also hear whispers of folks selling on Depop, but I haven't personally made that leap!

Do be aware that the IRS recently imposed a new hobby tax, or something of the kind; if you sell more than 3k of goods, you have to claim it on your taxes now, which is a whole pain. eBay will offer tax forms, I think? But idk about the others.

If I was in your shoes, balancing the worth of spending hours selling ponies that I could be spending working or sleeping, I'd divide things up into small lots. Pull out any rare, expensive, or accessorized ponies and list individually, then make groups of everyone else. I'm not super 'up' on G3 prices, but some of them are starting to see a resurgence, as the G3 kids grow up and get their own spending money. So I'd suggest a couple groups of bait, maybe to list here on the Arena first (since collectors will understand 'bait' better than eBay buyers, and it'll minimize confusion), then groups of 3-6 G3s at a time, and group up G1s in like groups for eBay. Like, mommies and babies, a lot of baby ponies, rainbow ponies, maybe something like that! Dirty is fine IMO, just photograph them well (clear photos of both sides) and the buyers should be able to figure it out!

That's basically what I did when I downsized my doubles last year, and everything went pretty smoothly! I still have some ponies leftover (some Dance N Prance ponies just won't find homes, no matter what you try! ), but I got rid of a TON of ponies, and I made some nice cash! I promptly spent it on more ponies, of course! ::

If you don't want to expend even that amount of effort, you could make mystery boxes and sell on the Arena! Those are always fun!

Best of luck to you!! Downsizing a bunch of ponies with a small child doesn't sound easy, but I hope you can figure out a method that works for you! Big hugs!

[Leopard_Print_Unicorn]

Thank you all so much for your suggestions.  Maycrestmom and Snapdragon, it's good to see you both still around, I remember you from the days when I was here frequently.

I think I will start going plastic bin by plastic bin and sorting into "keep" and "sell" piles.  I have a few other smaller collections, Jem and the Holograms and Fashion Star Fillies, that I want to sell off my duplicates as well. So I may even start there because those are smaller. If I get through one bin every week or so, that will be good progress for me.  Thankfully, I kept good lists when I was actively collecting, and I was able to pull those off my old hard drive last night.

I think I'll make a concerted effort to hang around here when I can, to get a feel for prices and what sells. Then when I have sorted some and feel confident about pricing, I'll start putting them up. Maybe Mercari, too, since my husband has some experience there. I'm still undecided about eBay. Do you think phone pics are good enough? That's what most people use nowadays, right? I don't have any kind of professional camera but I do have an iPhone 10 something.

Snapdragon, I agree with not selling anything that I might regret. I'm keeping my entire childhood herd, as well as my Nirvanas and HTF G1's like Mountain Boys, mail orders, etc. I'll probably end up keeping over half of what I've got, but that still frees up some space and clutter in my office and makes room for me to display the ones I want to see.

[Beth3346]

if you have group photos of the ones you plan to sell you can post them here. you can get help with pricing and gauge interest. your iphone is probably good enough for photos. i used an iphone 10 when i last sold on ebay.

selling duplicates IMO is a little easier. i've sold and regretted it a couple of times. but taking it slow can help.

[Rainlove The Pegasus]

I use Mercari for looking into my wish list! I am familiar with Ebay and Etsy. Another thing I always do when online shopping or buying online is read the item description and then I view the sellers profile. It helps me make sure the seller is not a scammer.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Do you think phone pics are good enough? That's what most people use nowadays, right? I don't have any kind of professional camera but I do have an iPhone 10 something.

That's absolutely fine! As long as you show relevant flaws, I wouldn't worry at all about picture quality. I do find taking natural light pictures works quite well if you're selling ponies piecemeal, but that's perfectly sufficient.

[Snapdragon]

Thank you all so much for your suggestions.  Maycrestmom and Snapdragon, it's good to see you both still around, I remember you from the days when I was here frequently.

I think I will start going plastic bin by plastic bin and sorting into "keep" and "sell" piles.  I have a few other smaller collections, Jem and the Holograms and Fashion Star Fillies, that I want to sell off my duplicates as well. So I may even start there because those are smaller. If I get through one bin every week or so, that will be good progress for me.  Thankfully, I kept good lists when I was actively collecting, and I was able to pull those off my old hard drive last night.

I think I'll make a concerted effort to hang around here when I can, to get a feel for prices and what sells. Then when I have sorted some and feel confident about pricing, I'll start putting them up. Maybe Mercari, too, since my husband has some experience there. I'm still undecided about eBay. Do you think phone pics are good enough? That's what most people use nowadays, right? I don't have any kind of professional camera but I do have an iPhone 10 something.

Snapdragon, I agree with not selling anything that I might regret. I'm keeping my entire childhood herd, as well as my Nirvanas and HTF G1's like Mountain Boys, mail orders, etc. I'll probably end up keeping over half of what I've got, but that still frees up some space and clutter in my office and makes room for me to display the ones I want to see.

Aw, I'm so touched you remember me! I'll probably still be here when I'm 80, I hope this place sticks around that long!

I think that's a great list of ponies to keep! Pony prices have been increasing steadily along with inflation, of course, but the G4 popularity coupled with the pandemic really spiked prices into the atmosphere for some ponies! It might be really hard to re-collect some of these, so it would be worth keeping them even on the slim chance you may want them in a few years, IMO! But if you do decide to sell, well, maybe they'll be even more costly!