Hi
It was purchased 30 years ago at an antique shop in Melbourne.
I want to sell it.
How much is it worth now?
Regards
Description and history
This is a circa late 19th Century/early 20th-century hand-carved solid wood horse tricycle. The wooden hand-made wheels tell us this isn’t a reproduction or a later model, but a true Victorian-era tricycle. I find it curious that it doesn’t have a leather seat, it was quite common at the time. Instead, the seat is carved on wood which is considered rare.
I can see the tail is made of real horsehair. It was common to find glass eyeballs as well, from the pics I can they are carved on the wood. The handlebar and pedals are made of metal, while the handles are made of wood, which is perfectly fine for an original tricycle from that period. There is no maker’s mark, so it isn’t possible to find who made it. In this case, the origin is impossible to determine, most likely it was made in center Europe.
The general condition of the tricycle is really wood for its age and I think it is comparable with top tricycles like this one:
Appraisal Value ($)
– 2,000-2,500$
How to sell it
As this object is made from precious metals, some precautions are needed to sell it. Safety first, if you sell it directly to an individual, make sure you meet the potential buyer at a public place, for instance, a coffee shop. If you ship the object, please, make sure to use a fully-insured shipment method and specifically declare the value of the shipment goods in the forms. The increased insurance fee is an investment and most likely, mandatory all the time. If you have any doubt about the buyer, I would recommend to inmediatly decline the sale. It is really easy to sell this item, so it isn’t worth taking excessive risks.
To sell the items, I would recommend doing so through the internet. You have plenty of options, for instance:
– Ebay, Craiglist, Etsy, Facebook ads, Amazon marktplace
I would probably go ahead and take a couple of good pictures, like described here:
https://www.channelreply.com/blog/view/how-to-take-photos-for-ebay
Then I would use the provided description as a text to the ad, and an attractive ad title will make it.
There isn’t any special difference between selling it on Etsy, FB or Amazon. I would recommend to upload the same ad to at least two or three platforms. It will ensure a high visibility of the ad.
The asking price can be close to the value, it depends upon how fast you want to sell. In general, an agressive strategy of 20% price cut will work great, however it depends upon your specific location.
About the valuation method
To value this item I have considered the results from past auction sales. Keep in mind that the final price can be different from asking prices that you can find on the internet. You can see ads on the internet with different asking prices. However, a very high asking price doesn’t normally find cash from a buyer.
That’s why our method comprises searching and comparing similar past sale results that had a buyer. That’s why we can provide an accurate estimation of this item.
