So why bother making an archived record of your collection? There are many reasons:
To know exactly what you own
Make a list of what you own and a list of what you want. If you’re like me, then as your collection grows you forget what you have and often end up buying multiples of the same thing. I also forget what condition my items are in - letting an item sell to someone else in ‘mint’ condition when my own copy is in no more than ‘good’ condition. Some collectors need to buy variations of an item and keeping track of what variations they have and what they need can be almost impossible without accurate records. With our site, you can be at a collectors’ fair - not sure of whether to buy an item or not because you can’t recall if you have it already, call up your lists and know straight away what you have, what condition it is in and what you need.
To assist in theft recovery and for insurance policy compliance
If the unthinkable happens and an item, or your entire collection, is stolen, then an accurate photographic record can be provided to the police and auction houses at the press of a few buttons - quickly and easily. You can also upload scans/photographs of receipts for your items and describe who you bought them from, when, how much you paid and so on; all the things that you forget or lose over time. Again, if the unthinkable happens and you have an item stolen, then your insurer will want proof of purchase and evidence of ownership. By having an accurate database of your collection, you can show photographs of the item, receipt, emails, purchase correspondence and so on.
For valuation purposes
Often insurers require a valuation of your collection before they will even quote you for cover. The starting point for that is to have accurate records of your collection for an expert to provide a valuation. We intend to bring on-board a team of experts to do just that and recording your collection is the starting point.
To know what you have spent and what the present value is
Using our database forms you can enter the price you paid, what its present value is (for example you may have bought an item for $50 from a flea market but its true value at auction may be $200) and what you anticipate annual growth to be. The database will provide cost and value of your entire collection and each individual list you make. The value is updated daily.
Sell on eBay with a professional looking template
You can choose to sell your items on eBay and we’ll convert your item page to a html template, with all links to your photos at our site. Your listings will be made more quickly, look professional and show off your items with large high resolution photos – giving you the best chance of getting a higher price.
Import items from eBay:
Import your watch list and purchase list. Convert your purchase list in to items in your collection and add your watch list to your wants and snipe items.
Sell on our site, with no listing fees, commission fees or time limit for listings
You can choose to accept an offer on your item by clicking the ‘Sell - Accept Offers’ button or ‘Sell at a Fixed Price’ button and anyone in the world browsing the site will be able to make you an offer or buy at your fixed price. In addition, your item can be found on our site by anyone doing a standard Internet search. It will bring them to your item page. They don’t have to find our site first. The whole world of collectors can find your item from a standard Internet search. You don’t have to sell any of your collection; there is no need to sell any of your items in order to record your collection on this site. It’s just a service we offer.
Showcase your collection
Show your collection to the world. You make a profile of yourself at our site and you can upload a photo of yourself, or not if you prefer. Your items will be available for the whole world to view and not just you. You can choose to allow viewers to see your whole collection from any of your pages or choose not to allow your whole collection to be viewed – it’s your choice. You can choose to remain anonymous and choose a username only or can use your real name. None of your personal details are taken by the site, such as name and address. We do this for security purposes. We appreciate that collections can be extremely valuable and security is of the utmost importance, so even we won’t know who or where you are.
Browse collections
Browse other people’s collections, learn how to spot fakes by seeing examples of the real thing, get better images of those elusive items and just enjoy looking at some fabulous items.
Catalogue your collections your way
Let’s say you collect pottery and with this example I’ll explain why making your own lists can be incredibly useful. So, you have a rare figure of a girl and it’s Meissen – German, circa 1850, is worth £2,000 and is the most valuable item you have. Your lists could be headed ‘European Porcelain’, ‘Girl Figures’, ‘Meissen’, ‘Top 20 Valuable’, ‘My Favourites’, ‘1850’s Pottery’, and so on; you name them as you wish. You can call up a list and your item will appear in each list, with a summary of cost and value for each list, together with a cost and value of your whole collection. It may have some damage, so you could make a list called ‘Damaged’. As we showed you earlier – you could be at a fair and see one the same as you already have but can’t recall the condition of yours, so you could call up your own list - ‘Damaged’, and there it will be. Click on the item and see your own photos and your description of the damage. The possibilities are huge – you could collect pairs of items and you could have a list of ‘Right’ and ‘Left’ – it goes on and on and is up to you. You can create ‘private’ lists that only you can access, and ‘public’ lists, that anyone can access. The same goes for descriptions – you can create ‘private’ and ‘public’ descriptions. Every item can appear in multiple lists and the number of lists you can have is only limited by your membership level.
Add the collector’s page to your want list
Do a search for the items you want amongst other people’s collections and add the collector’s page to your wants list, so you can see exactly what the real item looks like, ready for when you’re searching at a fair or on eBay.
Make a wants list
Add photos, a description, minimum condition and the price you are willing to pay. Anyone searching our site will find your item and can offer to sell to you. Even more significantly, anyone doing a general Internet search can find your wanted item at our site. That means the whole world of Internet users can find your wanted item! They don’t have to be on our site already. You may not be looking to buy right now. Do a search for the items you want amongst other people’s collections, then add the collector’s page to your wants list, so you can see exactly what the real item looks like and a reminder of what you need, ready for when you’re in the market to purchase.
Rapid access to your collection database
Do a search of your own items; go straight to your item and pull up photos and a description immediately – it’s a lot quicker than pulling out boxes, albums and so on and physically searching.
eBay snipe
If you forget when eBay items are coming to an end and fail to bid, or can’t always do that due to prior engagements, then you need to have an automatic system to do it for you. That’s what we offer with our snipe facility. Import your eBay ‘watch list’ and tick off what you want to purchase via snipe, or just input the item numbers. Set your maximum price and the snipe system will bid for you in the last few seconds of the auction.
Remind yourself of upcoming auctions
You may be looking to buy at an auction house. You have a rough idea of when your items are coming up but possibly forget to log in and bid on time or attend in person on time. I know I’ve done just that many times. Our reminder system lets you have email reminders sent to you, with your message. So, let’s say you want to buy something from the Sellitsoon Auction House. It’s lot 472 and you’ve worked out that your lot will be coming up at around 12:30p.m. Write a message to yourself; “don’t forget item 472 at about 12:30p.m. in the sellitsoon auction”. Set the email time for 12:20 p.m. and forget about the auction for now. At 12:20 p.m. you’ll get an email reminder from yourself. Of course, you don’t have to remind yourself about just your collecting world; it could be anything - you could remind yourself to pick up a bunch of flowers for the husband on his birthday (just how politically correct are we?).
We don’t live forever
Perhaps the most unusual and least appealing reason for making an archive record is to let our next-of-kin know what our collections are worth. It’s unlikely that you’ll part with your collection in your lifetime as most of us only sell when we upgrade or we end up with too many of the same thing. So, when you’re gone, how does your next-of-kin know the value of those items you’ve kept for all these years? Often, a lifetime’s collection will end up in a non-specialist auction house, with items selling for a fraction of their true worth. I know that because I’ve bought such items! The buyer makes a killing but sadly the family loses out. Archive your collection here and leave all password details etc. in your will. Make sure your family members get what they deserve.
Review our videos which demonstrate further what this site offers you