Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Ok, right off the bat. What will this cost me?

A: If your item does not sell, nothing. If your item or item sells, we will collect a 20% per item commission on the selling price below $500. At $500 and below $1000, our commission is 15%. At $1000 and above, it is 10%. That covers our listing the item on our Web site, corresponding with buyers or potential buyers, and making the final sales transaction. As the buyer pays for shipping and handling, that shipping and handling charge will be added to the total charged to the buyer. Our per item commission will be for the selling price only and will not include the shipping and handling charges.

Q: Do I have to sign a contract?

A: Yes, we ask that you do that. The contract protects both of our interests and insures that the process is conducted in a businesslike and professional manner.

Q: How long does the contract obligate me? How long is it in effect?

A: That depends. How long do you want it to be in effect? You may stipulate a length of time the contract remains in effect. The minimum length of time is three months. The contract will renew automatically unless you let us know to terminate it. The contract simply states that for the designated time period, Dooley's Treasure Chest will agree to list your items on our Web site and that should a sale be made as a result of that listing, we will collect payment for the sale, reserve our commission and turn the remainder of the sale price plus the shipping fees over to you. The contract also expects that you will keep your end of the arrangement by shipping the items to the buyer in a timely and safe manner.

Q: What happens if the end of the contract time occurs and my items have not sold?

A: One of two things. You may elect to not renew the contract in which case, by your notification to us of that decision, we will remove the listing from our Web site. Secondly, you may elect to renew it. You may inform us of your intent to keep your items listed. If we do not hear from you with your decision to remove your unsold items, we will assume that you wish to continue. We will continue to leave your items listed until you tell us to remove them.

Q: How do I know what is a fair asking price for my items?

A: There is no way to know for certain what the best selling price will be. You may have a good idea what you want for your item. That may be a very fair price. Then again, even if it is a very fair price, is it a price which buyers are willing to pay? We ask two things of you. One, give us your desired price. Two, give us the minimum price that you are willing to accept. Certainly we will try for your desired price, assuming that it is reasonable. Setting a desired price of $1000.00 for an item that in times of good economical conditions would be expected to fetch no more than $750.00 is not reasonable. We will do some research to see what other like similar items are selling for, or at least being offered for. Do consider that a buyer is not going to pay more than he or she has to. If we list your item for a significantly higher price than other on line sources, the chances of it being sold are reduced. On the other hand, we want you to receive a fair price for your item so we will not list it at the lowest comparable price, unless that happens to be your desired price. Certainly, the more attractive the price, the better the chance of making a sale and a quicker one at that. The reason we ask for a minimum price is simply to help us in the price determining process. We will go for the maximum desired price or what is determined to be a reasonable price between your desired price and your minimum acceptable price. We will never list or suggest listing at less than your minimum level. That is unless you decide you wish it done.

Q: I have a large collection of Daddy's Long Legs dolls. Can you tell me what they are worth?

A: Unfortunately we can not be a central source of pricing information. We do not have a central database of current pricing for these dolls or any other collectible items. When we are commissioned to work with a client for the purpose of selling that client's collectibles, we do everything possible to find the best selling prices for those items. We can not answer general questions concerning the price or expected value of an item we are not going to be selling for a client. We understand that a seller may neither have the time nor resources to determine his or her desired prices. That's fine. We will do that work for you. We will find what seems to be the best market prices. Remember, what may seem like a great price for a seller may hold little appeal for prospective buyers. If you don't have any idea what your items are worth, or more accurately what you might be expected to get for them in the secondary market, if you are contracting with us to sell or at least try to sell, your items, we will work the pricing end. We will let you be the final word whether or not the price is acceptable.

Q: How long will it take to sell my items?

A: That is an almost impossible question to answer. So many factors have to be considered. Demand for that particular item. Condition and scarcity factor in. Asking price also. The condition of the economy dictates how many willing and able buyers there are.

Q: What items will you not sell through your consignment service?

A: Obviously, such things which would fall into the category of illegal or otherwise not acceptable for sale through any legitimate service. Nothing pornographic in nature. If it's an art object, we may have to make the judgment on an individual basis. We can not handle anything which would not be easy to ship through normal common carrier means, or might be considered hazardous to ship. We can not handle firearms or other potentially dangerous items. The exeption to that would be for digital media items. If you have such items you wish to list with us, you will need to have a method of electronically delivering the sold items to buyers.

Exceptions may apply. If you have questions as to whether or not your items are appropriate, please contact us.

Q: What if time has passed and my item has not sold at the listed price? Can I lower my asking price?

A: Absolutely! You tell us. We will make the change right away.

Q: Will that affect the commission owed to you if the item sells?

A: Yes, it will be lower. Remember, it is 20% of the final selling price. Whatever that is.

Q: What if while the item is listed on your site, I run across someone who wishes to buy it from me directly?

A: Simply tell us that you have done so. We will remove the listing and consider the contract canceled. Or rather that item represented by the contract if that is the only item you have listed with us. Naturally if you have multiple items listed with us, those other items will remain listed and unaffected by the sale of that one item. That is our service to you for allowing us the chance to sell it for you. And no, you will not owe us any commission on that item you sold.

The same situation exists if you simply wish to remove one of the items from the listing for what ever reason. You don't have to give us an explanation. Simply say that the item is no longer available for listing.

There is one thing we must insist on however. If you make one of a kind objects - jewelry, art dolls, etc. - which you are actively selling through other outlets, we may not be able to handle those items. We can not expend resources to add items which may only be on our site for a week or so, and then be notified that you have sold them and then have to remove them. If you are making items which are reproducible, at least in style, allowing us to retain a running ad those are most welcome. We can not be a "second source" for sales. We need to limit our listings to those who otherwise do not have another outlet for sales, or for those who can offer ongoing production of their products. In the case of the latter, we welcome being an additional outlet for your creations.

Q: Ok, you tell me you have sold my items. How do I know that the payment you have sent me is actually what was received from the buyer minus your commission?

A: That's a fair and honest question. I will send to you immediately upon the sale of the item or items, an exact copy of the transaction notice I received from PayPal. Should the buyer pay by another means such as a bank check or money order, I will send you a photo copy of that. I want to make sure that you have complete trust in us for this transaction. If we deal dishonestly with people our business is bound for failure and that is in no one's best interest.

Q: As the seller, what are my responsibilities?

A: We need the same level of fairness and honesty from you that we extend. We need for you to represent your products as accurately and honestly as possible. We need for you to consider whether or not the buyer will be happy with his or her purchase and if they will believe that they have been dealt with in a courteous and honest fashion. If your items are mint condition, great. If they are intact with all of their described accessories, great. If they are in or have their original boxes and all paperwork, great. If they have imperfections, let us know what those are. If they are missing parts or originally included accessories, let us know that. Let's give the buyer exactly what he or she is expecting.

Also, please be sure to properly pack and ship the items to the buyer and do so in a timely fashion. If insurance or other extra shipping conditions have been agreed to, let's make sure that those are honored.

Q: Do I need to send you photos of the items?

A: That would be much appreciated. We will want to display good photos on the Web pages. The more attractive and informative the photos are, the better the items will appeal to buyers. If the items are commonly known and available items, such as collectible dolls for example) and they are mint condition and in their original stock condition, and you do not have photos, we will use stock product photos as we have done on the others already listed on the Web pages. If the items have been enjoyed (played with, and perhaps modified as to clothing and or accessories, or are less than perfect) photos from you will go a long way towards accurately depicting them for potential buyers. If the items are unique such as handcrafted jewelry, woodwork, handbags, or other items which could be visualized in no other way than to see them, naturally we will need photos. Accurate and complete written descriptions will be helpful in building an attractive and effective on line listing ad. If you have digital photos, then sending copies is easy. If they're not digital but rather on actual print paper, then if they can be scanned and converted to digital then that is fine too.

Please try to make photos available. In many cases we may have stock photos or we may find those readily available, but not always. The photos don't have to be perfect so don't worry about making them look too professional. Try to make them as sharp and clear as possible. The better they are, the better your item will show. Your photos may be in either digital or printed form. If digital, they must be in one of the common formats such as JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, etc. Please do not send photos made in the formats of subscription photo services. We can not work with those. If in doubt, ask us. If you are sending printed photos, we will be happy to return those to you after we have scanned them to use in the ads. Please let us know if you wish those returned. No, we won't charge return postage. If you simply do not have photos and it's not possible to obtain any (know a friend or relative who has a digital camera you might borrow or have take the photos for you?) and we can not find stock photos of those items, we will still list them for you, but be aware that it does create a selling handicap. Buyers do want to see what they are paying for.

NOTE: If you send printed photos, please realize that it's going to take more time to get your pictures and listings on line. I can only scan things when I am in my office, and as I travel frequently, they will have to wait until I return home and can get to them. Scanning and preparing scanned photos for listings is a time consuming process.

Also, please try to send the best quality of prints you can get. Scanning images does introduce (though it is only a little) some degredation in image quality. The better the original print, the better will be the final image we can place on our site. A poorly focused picture can not be made into a sharp, clear one. A poor quality picture is not going to make your item look appealing to potential buyers. If you use a typical point and shoot film camera, chances are your pictures of fixed items shot indoors with flash are going to be marginal.

Q: Is there a minimum value for an item you will accept on consignment?

A: To be profitable for both of us, we can not accept items for listing which can not sell for at least $25.00.

Q: Where on your site will my items be listed?

A: We are constantly looking for new ways to better present our products and that applies to our consignment listings as well. Each product category has a page or pages dedicated to just that category. As we list more and more items, it is not possible that all of them will be listed on the first page within that category. We are working to make pages within a specific category as easy to navigate through as possible. We will also try to insure that each of our consignor's products enjoy equal exposure. That may mean we will occasionally rotate items between pages. In no case however will they be relegated to obscure and hard to access locations.

Q: What's next? How do I go about getting my collectibles listed on the Dooley's Treasure Chest Web site?

A: Send us an email stating your desire. Give us your mailing address and we will send you a copy of the contract as well as an item inventory form. Sign and complete the contract and return it to us along with the inventory form. That form lists the items you wish included in in the listings as well as your desired and minimum acceptance prices. By all means, make copies for yourself of the documents before returning them. As you will no doubt have other questions please feel free to contact us at any time regarding those.

Q: Do you sell items on consignment on eBay?

A: Yes. Based on certain conditions. Please contact us individually for those conditions. In general, depending on how well the item is selling on eBay and if the asking price is within the range of the same or similar items currently or recently selling on eBay. Also we prefer to list those items on eBay which we have in our possession. That simplifies shipping arrangements by us and also assures us - as we would be doing the shipping ourselves to the winning bidder - that the item will be shipped promptly and safely. We must protect our good feedback rating and that is the only way we can guarantee that.

Q: I've sent you the signed contract, and photos and descriptions of my items. How long does it take to add them to your site?

A: We will work hard to add your listings as soon as possible. It may take us a couple of days, or a week or so. It all depends on the number of items involved and the amount of information added to the page or pages. On occasion, scheduling issues here create small delays. In all cases though, work on the project will begin right away. Also, rest assured, the time of the contract life will not begin until the ads are fully in place and operational.

Q: I cannot find your email address listed on this Web site. How come? How can we contact you?

A: You absolutely can contact us through email. No, our email address is not published on this Web site. There are no email addresses displayed on this site. We have intentionally kept them off the site to protect against abuse by spammers. Anywhere you see a link on the site which says "Contact Us" or "Email Us" or something to that affect, that will allow you to send us a message by email.

For further information or questions, contact us