Bargains on Dept 56 on eBay RIGHT NOW!
Written by Admin on August 15, 2008 – 8:34 pm -
Snow Couple at Christmas
photo credit: Marion Doss
If you missed the annual “bottoming” of the the Christmas Village market in late May/early June, as observed by the bellwether Christmas village giant Department 56 listings on eBay, you haven’t necessarily missed the boat on the bargains. I took a look at some numbers for D56 listings on eBay over the last 2 years and came up with some surprises. Here are a few fun facts for you.
|
ALL DEPT 56 |
|
|
|
| Total D56 Listings Sold (#) |
2.6k |
3.5k |
23K |
| Total $ Volume Sold |
$69k |
$95k |
$608k |
| Average Price Per Listing |
$25 |
$26 |
$28 |
What I find interesting in these numbers is that while the supply of D56 village items (and this includes all villages, buildings and accessories) varies tremendously over the cycle which peaks in December, the dollar value of each listing is as steady as a rock. I looked at the last 2 years’ history of D56 on eBay, and found hardly a jiggle off the $25-$26 average price per listing.
This means a couple of things. First, there’s a pretty firm price-point for most D56 items and it average $25 per listing excluding shipping. Second, Village Nuts shop year-round - even at the low point, $69,000 per week worth of Christmas houses is nothing to sneeze at! The selection is greater as we get closer to the holidays, but buyer demand easily absorbs it. In other words, this is a pretty stable market for a seasonable item.
But what drives the growth as the holidays approach? The hottest Village series continues to be the venerable Snow Village, followed by Halloween Village which was split off from Snow Village when it became phenomenally successful. Just to see what was going on, I looked at D56 listings of Halloween items to see the impact:
|
Halloween Village |
|
|
|
| Total Listings Sold (#) |
162 |
588 |
107 |
| Total $ Volume Sold |
$3k |
11k |
3K |
| Average Price Per Listing |
$35 |
$33 |
$51 |
While the growth rates in Halloween Village have been strong and average prices are higher, the absolute numbers of listings and sales values are still fairly small. Too small to to be wagging the D56 dog on eBay at any rate.
So I took a quick look at Snow Village to see what was going on there. Over the last 2 years, the data for Snow Village reflects the first chart. Not surprising, since Snow Village is the largest of the D56 village series’. Average prices are very steady, just like D56 as a whole, averaging about $30 per listing which is higher than the combined average price. Both Buildings and Accessories are strong sellers. However, a look at individual items in the Snow Village category show that there are still quite a few Halloween pieces listed in this category, and they tend to bring higher prices.
Other popular pieces over the last month have been:
- The simple, charming Adobe House: $1300 sell price
- A cracked & repaired original Cathedral Church: $787
- Budweiser Brewery: $737
- Mickey’s Diner: $487
- Flamingo Motel: $470
There are many excellent deals on individual pieces, and there are REAL STEALS if you want to buy a lot (one lot had over 60 SV buildings, 100+ accessories, and lots of miscellaneous pieces and sold for about $900). Watch the shipping costs, and use the geographic search tool to find lots in your local area.
I’ll be doing reviews of other villages by Department 56 as well Lemax Carol Towne, Heartland, and other popular series so be sure to bookmark this site and come back often!
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Tags: buying and selling, halloween village, snow village
Posted in D56 Halloween Village, D56 Snow Village, Marketplace |
By Taylor from Adobe Flex Training on Nov 19, 2008 | Reply
Sounds like it is a much better deal to buy in bulk then going for individual pieces. Sounds like a good way to make a buck off a little hard work.
By Admin on Nov 19, 2008 | Reply
Definitely buying in bulk is the way to go, especially now with the economy as bad as it is. People are liquidating their collections - not just Christmas villages, but anything else of value. If you’ve got spare cash, this is a good time to stock up. Note, only buy if you’re prepared to enjoy them yourself. These have never been “investment” items, and people who believed that are now crying at how little their “investment” is worth.