Hello all,
I am new to this site and thought folks might be kind enough to help me out. My father recently passed away and I now have his considerable and beautiful collection of lighthouses that I sadly cannot keep. I have a list below of some of the pieces and would love any advice/help/ideas for the best way to sell them and what they might be valued at. I am happy to sell them to folks on this site. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!
-Beth

Harbor Lights (all without boxes but can get certificates and all in mint condition and displayed in a glass case in a smoke free home):

1. Halfway Rock, ME 2005 HB105 (CLH101) 178/1200
2. Huron Light Vessel Anchor Bay 1997 #AB 103S 94/4,000- glass case with wood base and plaque
3. Chesapeake Bay Lightship 116 #AB 101S 2045/4000- glass case with plaque and signed 1997
4. Roosevelt Island, NY, 1998 Special Event Exclusive- Signed
5. Kilauea Point, Hawaii, 1999 Special Event Exclusive- Signed
6. Heceta Head, OR 1994 #144 5032/5500- Signed
7. New Canal, LA 1995, #148 3674/5500
8. Biloxi, MS 1995 #149 3208/5500
9. Wind Point, WI 1995 #154 6999/9500
10. Pemaquid Point Light, ME 1996 #164 7669/9900
11. Ida Lewis Rock, RI 1996 #174 Lay Lightkeepers Series 5131/9500
12. Fire Island, NY 1996 #176 8976
13. Toledo, OH 1996 #179 5682/9500
14. Drum Point, MD 1997 #180 5612/9500
15. Spectacle Reef, MI #410 1995 #182 926/9,500 Stamp Series
16. Sharps Island, MD 1996 #185 9167/9500- signed
17. Beavertail, RI 1997 #188 6687/10,000
18. Middle Bay, AL 1996 #187 2783/9500
19. Morris Island, SC 1997 #189 8762/9500
20. Grand Traverse, MI 1997 #191 7605/9500
21. Cape Henry, VA #196 8967/9500
22. Hook Head, Ireland 1997 #198 5570/9500
23. Pidgeon Point CA #199 5729/9500
24. Presque Isle, PA 1997 #201 6789/9500
25. Horton Point, NY 1998 #205 5034
26. Old Saybrook, RI 1998 #206 4897/10,000
27. Lorraine, OH 1998 #207 5019/10,000
28. Chicago Harbor, IL 1998 #208 4588/10,000
29. Cape Florida, FL 1998 #209 6489/10,000
30. Execution Rock, NY 1998 #210 6950/10,000
31. Hunting Island, SC #211 5734
32. Grand Haven South Pier, MI 1998 #212 6970/10,000
33. Bass Harbor Head, ME 1998 #214 5283/10,000
34. Faulkners Island, CT 1998 #216 5901/10,000
35. Dunnkirk, NY 1998 #221 4365
36. White River, MI 1999 #226 2929
37. Big Sable Point, MI #228 4225/10,000
38. Hudson-Athens, NY 1999 #230 4201/10,000
39. Esope Meadows, NY 1999 #231 3334/10,000
40. Tarrytown, NY 1999 #232 1931/10,000
41. Sapelo Island, GA #239 5530/8000
42. Cape Henlopen, DE 2000 #243 4720
43. Eldred Rock Alaska #257 3542/4000
44. Cape Hatteras, NC #401 Limited Edition 1833/9500
45. S.E. Block Island 1995 #403 GLOW A1735
46. Montauk Point, NY 1998 #405 GLOW A3745
47. New London Ledge, CT 1997 #406 GLOW A1971
48. Ponce De Lion Inlet, FL 1998 #408 GLOW 1860
49. St. Augustine, FL 1997 #411 GLOW 0943
50. Barnegat, NJ 1998 #414 GLOW A4517
51. Sea Pines, SC #415 C1303
52. St. Simons Island, GA 1997 #416 C655
53. Alcatraz Island, CA 1997 #417 GLOW 42366
54. Boliver Point, TX #422 GLOW A3526
55. Tybee Island, GA 1998 #423 Signature Series B1102- Signed by Younger
56. Assateague, VA #425 A183
57. West Quoddy Head, ME 2001 #431 GLOW A185
58. Spyglass Collection of 4 1996 #503 - Admiralty Head, Cape Hatteras, West Quoddy and Sandy Hook
59. Amelia Island, FL 1997 #505 Society Exclusive 16553
60. Port Sanilac, MI 1997 #506 Society Exclusive 6163
61. Cockspur, GA 1998 #508 Society Exclusive 2336
62. Seven Foot Knoll #521 3289
63. Baltimore, MD #524 Society Exclusive 6869
64. Pt. Fermin #528 Anniversary Edition 389
65. Southwest Reef, LA 2000 #530 Society Exclusive 16,508
66. Cold Spring Harbor, NY 2001 #533 Society Exclusive 9504
67. Rose Island, RI 1998 #616 Collectors Reunion 2972
68. Fresnel Lens 3 ½ Order 2002 #650 Clamshell 2052
69. Fresnel Lens 3rd Order 2002 #651 Beehive 2388
70. Fresnel Lens 2nd Order 2002 #665 Boston Lighthouse 2845
71. Christmas 1996 Colchester Reef #701 6142
72. Christmas 1997 White Shoal, MI Light #704 5078
73. Christmas 1999 East Quoddy, Canada #708 5894
74. Christmas 2001 Michigan City, IN #712- signed
75. Bolivar, TX 2000 #LL120 TLLOM
76. Hecheta Head, OR #LL122 TLLOM
77. Southeast Block Island, RI 1999 #LL114 TLLOM

I moved this topic from the Trading Post to this forum based on the fact that:
#1 Values were being asked for and items were not being sold.
#2 The Trading Post is strickly for Harbour Lights of HL related items.

If you would like a totally unbiased opinion, your first stop should be eBay. Type in harbour lights in the search, and you should come up with approximately 200 plus Harbour Lights on auction at this time. Look at the auctions and see if any of the pieces you have are being auctioned off. That will give you a rough idea what people are willing to pay for similar pieces to yours.

I went over your list as posted and didn't see any that would bring big bucks in today's secondary market. Then I went through the flag numbers to see if you had anything low or unusual that might make the piece more attractive to some potential buyers. Other than Halfway Rock, there was nothing that stood out.

What this boils down to is your HL's are only worth what someone is willing to pay you for them. There are many collectors here at the Collector Forums than have built their collections buying from the "Trading Post" here at the Collector Forums. The likelyhood of someone here buying more than one or two is highly unlikely.

Basically you did the right thing coming here with your request. By now a few hundred people have seen your list and may have already contacted you. That is good if it has happend. Don't feel insulted if people have made offers well below what you thought the collection was worth. They probably are well informed what they go for on eBay and you have to take into consideration the cost of shipping and insurance.

I see that you list Gloucester as your location. That is a great seaside community with many lighthouses within a short driving distance. How about you putting an ad in the local newspaper offering the lights for sale. It would be worth the cost of a classified ad, and if a potential buyer can view them and pick them up in person, he or she can save a bundle in shipping costs.

You could also try a consignment store. Many potential buyers may not know anything about Harbour Lights and may think they are getting the bargain of a lifetime if they can buy a piece for $35 that originally retailed for twice that. If they look at eBay they could probably buy the same piece for $20-$25 but would have to pay another $10-$12 to ship and insure it.

If you would like me to put an assigned estimated value on each individual piece that would be my rough estimation of what you may get on the secondary market, just email me at biri97@aol.com and I would be happy to do that for you. Another consideration would be to keep the HL's and hope for better pricing in the future.

Harbour Lights has a strong following of collectors that seek these wonderful lighthouse replicas. Harbour Lights is truly the best manufacturer of lighthouse replicas that I know of. The unfortunate part is most HL collectors already have what you have to offer. Maybe you'll get lucky and find some new collectors who would love to add your pieces to their collections.

Bob

Great advice, Bob. Spoken like a true saint! That is why these Forums are so very valuable to all of us lighthouse collectors.

Judy

Yes- thank you indeed Bob. Folks on this site have been incredibly helpful and it is much appreciated.
Please keep it coming!
Best,
Beth

Excellent advice Bob.

I would like to expand on what Bob said. The market is way down on many of the Harbour lights and it is to the point where it becomes a challenge and a lot of work to sell a large collection, especially if there is “no boxes”

To add on what Bob said instead of just using Ebay as a price index you may just go ahead and sell them on Ebay. You could place each lighthouse on Ebay and set a low reserve (most use $9.95) and take what ever you can get. Then those that you could not sell place again with no reserve. You can make higher reserves if you want to try for more money but I would not go over $35. You may also try to group similar lighthouses together and sell them as a group. You will get less on this but it is less work.

Another thing to do is to have someone sell them for you. I believe most Pawnshops will do this.

My last idea to add is to donate them to a good will or some other agency that takes donations. You made no money but now you can move on to other things.