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Collections come in all shapes and sizes. Dolls, dinnerware, vintage lace, buttons, old magazines, postcards, you name it. Items are picked up at garage sales, antique shops, passed down in the family, found in old attics. Things come to a head when folks want to downsize and move. Then it's time to dust the treasures off, find out what they are worth, and sell whatever you are not keeping.

I think collecting is part of the human DNA helix. It's in our blood to collect. Everyone I've ever known, despite their best efforts at denying having any collections, has had one or more collections of whatever.

What makes it collectible? Well if it's over 100 years old, it's an antique; if it's over 50 years old, it's vintage. We're just getting started. What makes it collectible is that little mark on the bottom, the artist's signature, or the fact that it is a completely non-identifiable, non-descript piece that somehow fits in with the rest of what we've got.

Porcelain, glass, and pottery, which includes dinnerware, are usually marked and easy to identify. Depression glass is quite a bit harder as there were so many manufacturers who at the time did not mark their items. Clothing, shoes, handbags, bonnets ~ they are generally identifiable by their style. Furniture can be identified by the construction.

Your first step should be to take good quality photos of each and every piece. Pay special attention to item details, markings, and anything unusual. Next you would want to research your item on the Internet, and depending on the type of collectibles you are researching, you'll usually find adequate information if you do a good bit of digging. You'll also see the average price that the item is going for currently.

You'll be listing the item then in your eBay store or on your website. Put up the best photos you have of the item plus any closeups of the markings or unusual details. Write a good and knowledgeable description ~ as best as you can ~ concerning what you've found out in your research, what you personally know of the item, measurements, and anything else that will give your shoppers a clearer perspective on this possible treasure. Set a fair price and you're done.

To "get the word out" about your collectibles that are for sale and to increase traffic to the items from more interested parties, write about it in your blog, on your Squidoo lens, or in a forum you may belong to. Search engines are quite savvy these days, and your posts about your collectibles for sale will be found quicker than you think in the search engine results, thus bringing you a more targeted bit of traffic and hopefully your treasures will be sold into yet another collection!

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