A reader writes:
I have a 9-piece Thomas Kinkade "Hawthorne Village" set, all of which have their Certificates of Authenticity, only one has been displayed, 6 have never been out of their boxes, and 2 boxes have never even been opened. Please tell me where I go to find the current value of this set. I have tried E-Bay, but none of those offered have the same status as mine, i.e., all of them have been opened and removed from their boxes. I also went on the Bradford Exchange website, but my set is from 2001-2002, and none of theirs go back that far--at least as far as I could determine. Can you help? Thanks.
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Unfortunately it's hard to know the value of these things without putting them on the market and hoping for a bidding war. There is no "blue book" for them, and if there was, I wouldn't trust it, as values change by location, time of year, consumer confidence, and a dozen other factors that have nothing to do with the piece itself.
For a very long description of what I just said, check out our article: How Much is My Collectible Worth?
http://www.familychristmasonline.com/mu ... tibles.htmIf the set you have is still being sold, then the maximum value is whatever the individual pieces are selling for now, times the number of piece.
The minimum value would be 25% to 33% of that - if you sell to a shop owner, that's what they'll offer you since they need to make a profit and pay their expenses, and have room to offer a discount if the thing doesn't sell at all.
If it's no longer being sold, looking on eBay for similar sets is a good way to get a general idea. Look at what the set actually sold for, not what they're listing.
The rarest sets go for more, and I don't think you have one of those. By the way, Hawthorne Village has produced several Thomas Kinkade villages. Lamplight Village is their most common. Your village should have another name besides Hawthorne village. That would help me figure out if you have one of the more popular sets.
If your set is still sealed in the box, you might could add 20-40% to that, but that is only important to a REAL avid collector. Most people - even most collectors - still buy these to display them, so the "sealed-in-a-box" factor is not quite as important as you might think.
That said, every time I bought a Thomas Kinkade building from eBay SOMETHING was broken off it, even though it was advertised as "new in the box," so a "serious" fan with experience buying over the internet might be willing to pay more. Unfortunately, that's a small market, and the folks who might be interested may already have those pieces.
Sorry I can't be more specific. Hope this gets you started at least - Paul