“What’s my Department 56 Christmas figurine worth,” you ask? Not much, is the brutally honest answer. “Where do I sell my Christmas figurines,” you may continue? Not to us.
People frequently offer us the chance to buy the large collections of Department 56 Christmas figurines and villages they’ve collected or inherited. We say no to those offers as fast as we do on offers to buy collections of Hummel figurines. Here are some of the reasons why many dealers like us don’t want your Department 56 Christmas figurines:
- There is a massive overabundance of the figures on the market, and little demand for them. Too much supply and not enough demand always means bad news for any collectible.
- Too much supply and too little demand equates to little value. Antiques and collectibles dealers, e-bayers and other resellers can’t afford to invest our time and money into items that rarely sell for much. There are a few Department 56 Christmas figurines and displays that may occasionally sell for more than $100 but those are the exceptions rather than the rules.
- Department 56 items typically take a long time to sell. The overwhelming supply and lack of demand means companies like ours can get stuck with them for a very long time.
- Christmas collectibles in general are out of fashion. Our ability to sell anything for good money that’s related to the holiday has steadily declined for a decade. There are larger religious and cultural issues for that than we can address here. From a sales perspective, though, Christmas just isn’t as popular as it used to be.
More truth about the challenges of selling Department 56 figurines
We laugh every time we see yet another misguided article about how wonderful Department 56 Christmas figures are. It’s the same reaction we often have when we’re watching American Pickers on TV. (It is a good show but it absolutely fails to portray how hard and unglamorous our work can be — and how long it takes to find buyers for so many “treasures.”
Department 56 figures rarely ever sell quickly unless you’re willing to undercut the price of everyone else who’s selling them on platforms ranging from Amazon to eBay. eBay sellers like us are going to pay eBay a commission in the 14-percent range. Considering the massive work involved in photographing and listing the items and then packing them and taking them to the Post Office, it’s not worth the hassle or time. We’d make more money flipping burgers at McDonald’s. And for every ten of them we list, we’re lucky to sell three in any reasonable time frame. We end up dumping the rest at a local auction house and cutting our losses.
Do auction houses want Department 56 Christmas figurines?
Orion’s Attic isn’t an auction house so we can’t truly speak for any auction house. The ones we work with, though, tend to groan each time we call them and ask if they want the latest massive Department 56 collection someone is offering us. The ones we work with in Maryland and Virginia will often only even consider taking them if they’re in mint condition AND come with their original boxes. Boxes are often key selling points for collectors. The auction houses will sometimes take them if it happens to be approaching Christmas AND if we’re bringing a big load of much more valuable, in-demand items from one of our estate liquidation projects.
The moral of the story?
With some exceptions as always, your Department 56 Christmas figurines and villages are likely to be greeted with with a big bag of bah humbugs when you try to sell them. But as well tell everyone, it’s about perspective. You’ve enjoyed them, gotten your money’s worth out of them. Now it’s time to let them go find second lives somewhere else — regardless of how little you make from selling them.
One good move for your figures? Donate them to a great charity. You’ll help an organization continue it’s work. You’ll create jobs. And you’ll get a tax break.
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Orion’s Attic is a full-service estate liquidation, downsizing and home cleanout company based in Silver Spring, Maryland. We also buy antiques and collectibles. We serve the greater Washington, D.C./Maryland/Northern Virginia region. Our service area includes Montgomery County (Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Gaithersburg, Germantown, Olney, Potomac, Rockville, Silver Spring, Wheaton, Takoma Park, etc.), Frederick County, Howard County (Columbia, Ellicott City), Prince George’s County (College Park, Greenbelt, Hyattsville) plus DC and Northern Virginia. We will occasionally go further if a project is big enough.
