Expert: Irene Schwall - 7/20/2008

Question
Hi Irene,

My grandmother collected thimbles since the 1970's. When she passed away, my family inherited her collection. She has over five hundred thimbles, many are whole sets of various subjects/locations/etc.  She also has a complete set of Franklin Parslin thimbles. While we will be keeping some (sentimental value) we would like to sell the majority. We would love to find a good home for them and someone that would appreciate them as much as my grandmother did. Unfortunately, we're a little bit lost on how to do this. Ebay seems too time intensive and we don't really have a good idea of what we have. We're located in Ohio and we were hoping that you could offer some suggestions on antique stores or collectors that we should contact.

Any help that you could give would be appreciated.

Jennifer

Answer
Hello Jennifer,
I am pleased to read that you will be keeping some of your grandmother's thimble collection.
eBay is very time consuming and depending on what you sell, it is not necessarily a profitable endeavor because of the fees associated with selling.
Do you have a list of her thimbles?  Perhaps she kept a catalog system? Do you have photographs of her thimbles?  
I do take antique thimbles and sewing tools on consignment but I'm very picky about what I take on consignment because of time vs. cost.  It has to be profitable for me and for the consignor or we are both wasting our time.
Please feel free to contact me at: xtahoeviews@yahoo.com if you would like to discuss this further.
Best,
Irene