Chris,
You would have several options depending on your time and interest.
You could donate the specimens to a museum. There they would be
incorporated into the research collection in perpetuity as long as the
specimens have associated data: locality, etc. While few museums have
funds to purchase specimens, you would be able to take a tax deduction for
your donation. We at the Carnegie Museum would be happy to discuss this
option with you if this is your desire.
You could donate the collection to a shell club such as COA or a local
shell club. If they are a non-profit group, this donation would be tax
deductible as well. The difference form the museum example is that the
club would then auction the shells at one of their meetings to raise funds
for their activities, usually student research grants. Again this would be
a donation they would not buy them for this purpose.
In the museum/club example you would have to put a fair market value on
your donation. The non-profit cannot do this for you, the IRS considers
this a conflict of interest.
You could sell them to a dealer. They would pay you between 33-50% of the
market value. The difference is their cost to them try to resell them.
Advantage of this method is that the transaction takes place in one
motion, you package on shipment and your are done with the collection, and
you know what you are going to earn.
You could take out an ad in a magazine such as American Conchologist.
There is a fee for the ad, depends on the advertisement's size.
You could sell the shells yourself on sites such as Ebay or
ShellAuction.net On Ebay you could photograph the collection and sell it
as one item or sell the individual shells. The later would requie you to
photograph each shell, list each one, and deal with the shipping, etc.
ShellNet is an site where folks sell shells around the world. The auctions
are done monthly. A few weeks before the auction, sellers load the photos
and descriptions of the shells. Then the auction opens. Those interested
in Liguus or land snails would view you specimens and bid on them. You
might sell some, most, all, or none! This would depend on quality,
starting price, and who is viewing that month. Both Ebay and ShellAuction
charge a fee for each specimen sold. These site, if you are not selling
the collection as one item, would require more of your time, however, if
everything sold, you would maximize your return.
Others may offer other options, however these are the ones of which I am
aware.
Good luck and if you have any questions, let me know.
> What is the appropriate place or procedure for selling a collection of
> 180+
> liguus? Collected between 1913-1966, they are part of a collection I
> obtained 15+ yrs ago. I have never sold any of my shells before. If this
> question doesn't belong here, I hope someone will kindly contact me off
> list
> with advice about where I should be asking. [log in to unmask] Thanks.
>
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Regards,
Charlie
.................................................
Charlie Sturm
Treasurer
American Malacological Society
Research Associate - Section of Mollusks
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Associate Professor - Family Medicine
Fellow-American Academy of Family Practice
Fellow-Academy of Wilderness Medicine
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