Lessons Learned: How to sell a Coke piece

I began my blog in January, and I’ve received quite a few questions about the best way to sell a Coca-Cola piece -- or an entire collection.

So welcome to the first of a new series: “Lessons Learned.” I’ll try to tell you more about Coke memorabilia and collecting, based on my experience working at Coca-Cola.

In 30+ years, I’ve seen any number of Coke pieces and been asked almost everything about Coca-Cola! (Well, I thought that until I started answering questions here. You continue to surprise me!)

“Lessons Learned” will answer frequently asked questions, and I might break up some entries into a few posts, since I’m covering a lot of ground!

Question: I’m interested in selling my Coke collection (or a single piece). What’s the best way to do that?

Answer: There are a number of ways to sell Coca-Cola memorabilia, depending on the size of the collection and rarity of the collectible.

For general Coke items or more recent Coca-Cola pieces:
One way to sell a Coke piece is through an auction site such as eBay. This kind of site lets people who are specifically interested in buying Coca-Cola pieces find your item. Using an auction site also exposes your piece to people around the world.

There are tens of thousands of Coca-Cola items on eBay each day, and Coke collectors know they can find all kinds of collectibles in this one spot. That said, there are many pieces available, so one thing to note is that a potential buyer may not see your item.

The other place collectors know to go to find Coke items is through the Coca-Cola Collectors Club. Once you’re a member of the Club (you can join online), you can place free want ads in the newsletter that goes to the more than 3,000 Club members. You also can attend conventions or local chapter events and sell your Coke pieces in person.

For rare or unusual Coca-Cola pieces:
Depending on the piece or collection you are selling, you also could try an auction house or local estate sale service. Three auction houses that regularly feature high-end Coca-Cola collectibles are Morphy, James Julia and Allan Petretti. (Please remember that these businesses are only interested in rare and unusual collectibles in really good condition.)

There is a fee for this kind of service (usually a percentage of the sale), but -- if you have a valuable piece -- an auction hosted by someone who is an expert in Coca-Cola items may be a good idea.

Of course, valuable pieces sell at Coca-Cola Collectors events and on eBay as well!

Please remember:
No matter how you sell a Coke collectible, always do your homework! You want to know as much about an item as you can so that you are an informed seller. That way, you can write the proper description of the item, answer questions potential buyers might have, and maybe even know if you want to keep that Coca-Cola piece instead of selling it!

Lessons Learned: How much is this bottle worth?
Lessons Learned: Coca-Cola pub mirrors
Lessons Learned: Newer Coca-Cola collectibles