Care to share images of what you have? Always curious about rare sets and this may help you get feedback on a suitable place to sell.
Any reputable and well known auctions for chess sets?
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Feb 15, 2025
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#3
I would never go down the auction route. Auction houses typically charge the buyer between 25 and 35 per cent of the sale price, which is money that the buyer was willing to pay for the set...but that you're not getting. In addition, they charge the seller anywhere between 10 per cent and 30 per cent.
Much better is to sell it through the dedicated chess groups on facebook. All of the collectors are there, and many of them are willing to help you establishing the right price as well as screening potential scams etc. You get a better price and so does the buyer.
Agree with @Scrumpymanjack. You can look for collectors on Facebook and even forums like here I have seen threads where people talk about buying and selling chess sets. But if you are looking for the chess set to gain attention, auction might be an option. However, we would love to see the chess set if you can share any photos.
Chesty-Morgan wrote:
I joined one group after the Facebook suggestion. I am waiting for a response from the group chess equipment buy sell or trade but I have already been waiting a week for approval to join. I find Facebook very difficult to deal with. The group has 29k members though so I will continue to wait that is a good audience size. The chess set in question is more of an art piece than anything which is why I was willing to deal with an auction house. Auction houses can be really good if you got the right item. I have put items for auction before knowing the auction estimation was low at $2500 but never expected the results which was a hammer price of $25000. Commission on that high of a price was only 10 percent which I was happy to pay for the work they did. For a chess set like this though I think you are both right that a private sale through Facebook with myself doing the leg work is the best option.
Good luck with that. Is there any progress in the matter?
I have been looking around for a reputable auction house that does a dedicated chess related auction once a year or so and receives decent attention. I have a rare set that I would like to sell and would be happy to pay a higher commission rate than what eBay charges for a better audience of buyers and a more trustworthy business than eBay to broker the sale. I see that Christie’s of London did one a few years ago. I am located in Canada and would love to find a similar thing closer to home. Any advice would be appreciated, thank you.