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"Sell Your Toys" at Brian's Toys
Interview With Brian Semling On His Easy and Hassle Free Service...
Brian's Toys has been buying toys for over twenty years, and continues to make selling easy and hassle free. Now with their new Price My Toys mobile app, selling your toys just got that much easier. Submit a list, receive an offer, ship at no upfront cost and get paid fast.
To find out more about Brian's Toys' "Sell Your Toys" service, we went to owner Brian Semling to get the answers. Read on...
Figures.com: What are some of the requirements for selling your toys? Do they have to be mint in pack or can they have some card damage?
Brian Semling: We purchase most licensed toys from the 1990’s to the present day in their original packaging. Quoted prices are based off of mint condition toys, but we do purchase toys with light to moderate damage at a reduced rate. To get pricing for modern toys, submit a list using the Price My Toys mobile app and get an offer in 1-2 days!
We also buy vintage toys from the 1970’s and 1980’s from many toy lines. For vintage toys, condition is a big factor in determining price. In this case the collector provides photos of their items.
Figures.com: Why do you not accept loose toys? How does the no loose toys policy work for LEGO sets, toys that I see most collectors opening and building? Can you disassemble the set and place it back in the box?
Brian Semling: For most collectibles, the value decreases dramatically when an item has been removed from its original packaging. The loose items which retain their value the most are vintage Star Wars action figures and we buy these pretty frequently. It is tricky for us to purchase LEGO out of the package since it is time consuming to verify that all original parts are intact. However, there are a number of collectors that do keep LEGO in sealed packages. Overall, we will purchase most items out of the package, though it lowers the price significantly.
Figures.com: Is your service available internationally?
Brian Semling: We do buy toys internationally, especially when they’re rare or high value items. The main deterrent for international sellers is the shipping charges. For a high value item this may not be a large issue, but for most modern toys it is an issue.
Figures.com: How does shipping work?
Brian Semling: Ship using the Brian’s Toys UPS account. Box up items, print a shipping label and drop off your packages at any UPS location, orwe will set up a delivery for your boxes. The discounted shipping cost is deducted from your payment.
Figures.com: What guidelines does Brian’s Toys use to establish a price quote on a particular toy’s worth?
Brian Semling: Our price quotes are based on current market value for a particular item. We use both the most recent pricing available as well as the quantity of sales for a particular item to determine its value. Our offers are typically 40-60% of this current market value.
Figures.com: Your prices vary on the condition of the toy. Any room for negotiation or trades? Can you receive store credit instead of cash back?
Brian Semling: We will consider negotiation for some collections. In particular, we will provide extra 25% trade credit for collectors that trade items to us in exchange for other items.
Figures.com: Your site mentions that you’ll receive a price quote within 1-2 business days. Approximately how long does it take to receive your money after sending in your toys?
Brian Semling: Once your collection is received, the items are reviewed to confirm their condition, usually within 1-2 days. After a seller approves the final price, payment is sent within 1-2 days. We pay by direct deposit, Paypal or check! The time between receiving a collection and sending payment payment can vary with certain collections, for example Vintage figures require additional time to confirm condition. Most sellers can expect payment within a week of their shipment arriving at our warehouse.
Figures.com: You currently accept a wide range of licensed toys, including big names such as Star Wars, Transformers and GI Joe, and even some unexpected brands like My Little Pony and American Girl. How do you determine which licensed toys you’ll buy? Are there other licenses you are actively looking to add in the future?
Brian Semling: We are always expanding the brands we buy! We have added many new toys in the last year including Strawberry Shortcake, Jurassic Park and DragonballZ. For the most part, we will buy almost any licensed toy in packaging. If you collect a brand that you don’t see on our site, use our mobile app Price My Toys to get pricing for these toys.
Figures.com: What are some of the rarest toys you have purchased from sellers?
Brian Semling: Last year we bought an extremely rare L-Slot Rocket Firing Boba Fett action figure which was a prototype that had never been released to the public. This figure had been authenticated and graded by Action Figure Authority to be in near mint condition, with a grade of 85 out of 100.
Others rare figures that we have purchased include vintage Power of the Force Anakin Skywalker, 12 Back Vinyl Cape Jawa, 12 back Double Telescoping Luke Skywaker, Ben Kenobi, and Darth Vader, among others.
Figures.com: One of the biggest questions on my mind is, what exactly do you do with all the toys that you purchase? Are they resold or do some join your collection?
Brian Semling: Most of the toys that we purchase are sold on brianstoys.com, eBay, or Amazon. I do have a personal vintage toy collection as well, and very occasionally may add a rare item to it.
Figures.com: What are some of the advantages and/or benefits of using Brian’s Toys’ “Sell Your Toys” over other services, such as eBay?
Brian Semling: Selling to Brian’s Toys is quick, easy, and hassle free with no fees, and no upfront cost. We have worked with thousands of collectors for over 20 years, and pride ourselves on quick response time and fast payments. With sites like eBay, sellers must create listings for each their items, pay the fees to post their listings, and ship their toys individually. We offer a service that makes selling convenient for our clients.
Special thanks to Brian Semling for taking the time to answer our questions. To get started using Brian's Toys' "Sell Your Toys" service, visit brianstoys.com/sell-your-toys.
