The four routes
- Piece by piece, yourself. Usually the highest total, but every piece needs photographs, a description, questions answered and a parcel. For a collection of hundreds of pieces, that is months of work.
- An auction house. Strong for rare and valuable pieces. The ordinary pieces are often grouped into lots, and both seller and buyer pay commission.
- A dealer. Quick and simple, often for part of the collection: the dealer takes the best and leaves the rest.
- One buyer for all of it. One price, paid at once, and nothing left over to deal with. Fastest, and the right choice when time, space or energy is short.
Inherited a collection?
Take your time. Do not throw boxes, manuals or papers away, do not clean or repair anything, and leave the shelves as they stand. Photograph them first; a slow walk round on video says a lot. Write down what you know: who collected it, for how long, and what they were proudest of. That story is worth something, to you and to the next owner.
How Unseend buys a collection
We buy collections of ten pieces or more, in any condition: cameras, lenses, watches, audio, consoles, figures, Lego and design objects. You tell us what is there and send a few photographs. A person replies within two days. Within Europe we come and collect at a time that suits you; from further away we agree the price first and arrange the shipping and the customs papers. One price for all of it, paid at once, in your own currency.
If you like, we record the story of the collection, on camera where it stands, on a video call, or in writing. It goes with every piece to whoever keeps it next. It never changes the price, and you can always say no.
When it is better not to sell to us
If a collection consists mainly of a few very valuable pieces with a known history, an auction house can be the better route. If you have the time and enjoy it, selling piece by piece yourself usually brings the most. We would rather say so than buy at the wrong price.