I need help...

[Neon Sparkle]

Ok, long story short, I attempted to sell my entire MLP collection to a local comic shop that I have done a lot of business with and their offers have usually been more than generous but I declined because I felt like their offer of $100 was just way too low. They've given me twice that for stuff I would have personally considered to be utter crap. understand that this stuff probably is much more of niche market than what they're used to dealing with but if I'm honest, I have to admit that it stung more than a little, especially after all of the effort I put into curating it all and sorting through all of the accessories. It's mostly G4 stuff and spans a good bulk of the line but I also have some vintage and a number of con things and other exclusives. Maybe my pics werent't good enough? I dunno. I'm really just looking for a fair assesment in the general ballpark of what my stuff's worth. Am I really overshooting? I was expecting $200 at the bare minimum so when I saw $100 I was honestly a bit shocked.

I tried to take pictures of specific key pieces but I guess if you don't know anything about MLP then you'd probably have no idea what you're looking at. These people usually look this stuff up before giving me an offer but I just pulled up 5 sold listings on ebay of lots that weren't even a quarter of what I have that went for between $150-$500 just for the rarer items. I have all of the earlier wave non mane 6 G4s that may have only ever had 1 or 2 releases in the entire line, all with accessories. I have the TRU Collectors stuff, the SDCC/Pony Fair Pony. I dunno. I'm sure MLP, especially G4, isn't as big money as something like Transformers but $100 honestly felt like a kick in the gut. It's whatever tho. I love that store and their staff have always been great with me so I don't take it personally. I wasn't even asking for cash. They usually offer more in store credit so I was just gonna have them give me credit to put towards stuff in the store since I buy from there a lot. They've generally given me around $180-$300 for assorted lots of stuff much smaller than this.

I know I come on here every other year or so reminiscing about the old times so I'm not gonna lie to myself and pretend like I'm gonna come on here and start regularly posting again, lol. I miss this. MLP was such a huge part of my life for a good chunk of a decade when G4 was at it's peak. Collecting these brought me so much joy and I have so many happy memories of interacting with other fans and community members and I met two of my best friends in the entire world through this fandom. I miss these times so much. I love and cherish every moment I've ever had as an MLP collector. The main reason I was looking at selling my collection is because so much has changed in my life since I was an active member on these boards. I've moved on to other special interests and collecting hobbies and I just don't have the space to keep everything. My living situation has changed dramatically since I was actively collecting Pony stuff. It actually took a lot for me to finally decide to let go of this stuff so I think that's really why the lowball offer bothered me so much. I'm not looking for a fortune, just an offer that is proportionate to what I have.

My pics make everything look small but it took me a LONG TIME to go through all that. Most of it has been packed away for the last 5 years between 3 different moves. To give scale as to how much all that stuff spanned my living room floor, My TV is 80".

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[Henpatch]

I understand exactly where you are.......
I have moved three times and ponies accompanied me everywhere.......
I LOVED collecting MLPS, but now I am retired (older too of course) - smaller house, 6 grandSONS non of whom can leave their computer things - let alone take an interest in toys but I have to slowly but surely started to sell my collection.
As you have found - it is hard to do on several levels, but I have made a start -on Ebay at the moment.
International sales are hard now - postage can be expensive - not to mention the unfortunate happenings of parcels not arriving or going missing. How can you tell where they go?
Prices are hard too as you say - if you don't know about MLPS what are good or not!
Still I have made a start - I had hundreds of G1s so it is going to take a while (who to sell, who to keep as a memory?)
Good luck with your sales - I know all about it!!

[toyjunky]

Understandable to feel that way and I get you. In the last year or so I started downsizing my massive Little Mermaid collection as well as my Barbie dolls and sometimes the prices things are going for hurts. These are just my few thoughts below.

1) The thing with stores is they all have to make a profit. So generally speaking, they will always offer you way less than half and usually you will always get more if you take store credit.

2) MLP is a particular market. I have been to LOADS of "Comic & Collectible" shops with my husband (he collects Transformers) and more often than not, they will have that sort of stuff but not anything MLP or maybe just a couple things or just POPS.

3) If they allow to bring in store (and you lived close enough) you could try again but simply pick out a few of the pieces that you think have the most value. They may just not be interested in dealing with the entire lot.

4) Ebay is a very usable option. Advantages are that you can put things up for sale at the prices you want (keeping in mind current sale values of course) and you can put them up at your own pace. Sometimes though it may take a little while for things to sell. I find it is always easiest to start with the things that you can easily part with verses parts of your collection that are  more meaningful.

[goddessofpeep]

I’m sorry. That’s rough:(   It’s really hard to have someone devalue something you love.

Unfortunately, MLP is very much a niche market, and only places that cater to that specific niche will give you anything anywhere close to market value.  I would say that a comic books store will have far fewer customers looking for MLP of any generation than say, a vintage collectible toy store. A comic book store’s customer base is likely mainly after comic book related things, and other things that go with that(scifi stuff, d&d style gaming, collectible card games, anime, etc).  Despite the large influx of guys into the pony community during G4, MLP remains a firmly “girly” item, and most comic book stores would struggle to sell to that market.  Most toys/figures you find at comic book stores tend to be comic book toys, or other toys that appeal towards guys more. 

Also, G4’s fandom is well into decline, and many people are dumping their collections, flooding the market.  There’s a lot of G4s hitting the market right now, and it is depressing prices. There were a lot of bronies, but even at their peak they were a limited market, and they were more into high end “show accurate” items and not so much mass produced kids toys with brushable hair.   Stock takes up space, and if something isn’t likely to move fast, stores will be looking for rock bottom “deal of the century” type prices.  It’s nothing to do with the quality of your collection and all to do with the business needs of the store.  They’re not going to risk buying a huge collection that will take up a lot of space that can be used on product that they know will move unless they’re getting it for a bargain of a lifetime.

If you’re looking to maximize profit, you have two options - find a store/reseller who’s part of that niche market, or put the time in yourself to sell things on a marketplace that pony collectors frequent.  The more work you put in, the more money you’ll be getting out, but it’s very time consuming, and you’re taking all the risks(chargebacks, lost in post items, scammers, etc).  There’s also just the volume of work involved with photographing, listing, shipping, answering customer questions, and all the rest. 

If you want it to be easy on you, you’re going to be getting a lot less because someone else is going to be doing all the work. If you go this route, you can just toss the whole thing up on ebay, either as one lot or a series of lots. You can split the difference - cherry-pick the best stuff, sell that individually, and then dump the rest on ebay in bulk lots. The more work you put in, the more money you might make, but it’s going to be time consuming- both in the work involved, and the wait for the right buyer.

Or you can look for a collectible toy store that sells similar items and see what they offer.  Look for girls toys. If they have a lot of girls toys for sale, odds are they’ve got a customer base that will be interested in ponies and you’ll get a better offer.  Despite the sausage fest that the brony community was, most stores will consider MLP to be a girl toy, and if they don’t sell to that demographic, you won’t get much from them. You won’t get nearly as much from a store as if you sold it yourself, but you’re saving hours of work and hassle.

[Taffeta]

I think the above have given decent practical advice.

You would need to target actual collectors of the line to get collector value, which has always been the case with all gens of MLP and is not a new thing for G4. The problem with trying to sell now is that I imagine it's caught in a dip wave...by which I mean, G4 just ended, a bunch of people have moved on and are trying to sell their stuff. That automatically shifts the supply and demand in favour of the buyer and not the seller, and may impact current value.

What was x price when you bought it/5 years ago may not be x price now because interest in G4 has waned. This is one of the issues with collecting a toy that's current and popular - the moment that drops, it can hit the value. This is the time period in which it's really easy to pick up G4 at charity shops and carboots and flea markets because all the kids are also clearing out their stuff to buy new toys. It can be hard to compete if you're targeting a more general collectable toy store. (Although I understand your feelings about $100).

If you have some special and rare stuff, I would maybe pack that away for the time being if you are not willing or able to go piece by piece listing (which may take a long time). Anything more common or generic you can then pack up in a job lot, without it being a massive loss to you overall.

If you don't feel like going back to the comic store with this, you can probably put an online listing, sell through a site like this (or more probably a G4 site since I don't know how many G4 buyers there still are here), on ebay or etsy or some other site, etc.

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Lots of great advice above!

I can't see whats in the image very well, but it would be wise to pick out the more expensive pieces and list them online seperately, and then throw everything else into a big lot. Unfortunately, lots of G4 are just going for low prices right now. Lots of parents are now trying to sell their childrens' toys online instead of going straight to the thrift store, so there's a wide array of things available.

[Snapdragon]

I think you've already got a lot of great advice in terms of reselling. I think we are also seeing the semi-expected market crash in G4 prices after the show ended. For a lot of people, without the immediacy of the cartoon keeping them active, they fall away from the fandom and/or collecting the toys. Understandable, so it means a lot of people are liquidating their collections, which means there's a lot of G4 toys available on the secondhand market right now, plus of course the inevitable 'my kid is growing out of this so I'm putting their toys up on eBay' boom. FIM came out in 2012, and it's 2022, so if kids started watching around 3-8, they'd be 13-18 now, which aren't really big toy-collecting years. Plus, ten years is a long time; a lot of people who got into the show in their teens and early 20s are in a different stage of life now, and the ponies don't necessarily have a place in it anymore.

It's sad, as someone who still actively collects, but it makes sense. So I can see why the comic shop would (unfortunately!) be unwilling to offer you a good price. (Which is a shame, since I'd love to walk into a comic shop and see ponies for sale!) G4 is the most common pony to see at the thrift, and they probably don't understand the difference in collectability between 35 McDonald's Pinkie Pies and SDCC exclusives.

Like everyone else said, I suggest eBaying the most complete/rare ponies (especially the SDCC exclusives!), and maybe put the rest into an eBay lot. You won't get as much money as selling them individually, but you also won't tear your hair out trying to wait for them to sell in the glut of other ponies on there. (We're also coming into a good time to sell; the summer is thin as people are garage saleing, but we're heading into the pre-holidays shopping season!)

One last bit of advice; I highly suggest keeping any ponies that have a lot of memory attached to them. Your first pony, your favorite pony, the pony a beloved friend gave to you, the pony you fought so hard to get. These tend to be the ponies people regret selling, since you can't rebuy your memories.

I think a lot of people are in the same position as you; missing the fandom boom, checking the forums more sporadically, reflecting on past times as you move to a new stage of your life. Pony will always be there when you need it! But you don't have to own 300 of them to enjoy them! I hope you can figure out a solution for your collection!

[kestral_kitsune]

majority of my g4's when i decided I didn't want them anymore was split between the local elementary to use as prizes in their school fair as some parents had complained that there were more stuff geared towards boys, and a local toy drive. I did keep the ones I wanted or was gifted to me an the exclusives.

did that cause outside of trying to sell on ebay I wouldn't get too much cause there really isn't that much value to get back if I took them to a comic/game shop the fact that you were offered 100$ for the lot is honestly a good deal coming from a store like that. normally they'd offer 40$ from my experience trying to sell stuff to get money I needed.