Sell Your WWII Military Collectibles to War's End Shop. Yes, we also buy stuff!

War's End Shop regularly purchases original military antiques and collectibles, vintage clothing, entire collections, and individual items directly from collectors, families, estates, museum overflow, and members of the public.

If you have an item you are trying to identify, value, or sell, feel free to contact us with clear photographs and any information you have about it.

Email: kemilitaria@yahoo.com
Phone: (330)429-5081

 

We are particularly interested in WWII German militaria, WWII women's items and related historical material, but we purchase a wide variety of military collectibles and even civilian and lifestyle items for the 1920's to 1945 like clothing and home goods.

 

We are also fairly well acquainted with the broader militaria market so we can help get your item to the best person for it. Even if it is something that we are not specialized in we might know who is.

 

What Is My Item Worth?

We are happy to help you establish the value of your item for insurance purposes or in the event that you seek to sell it yourself. If the item is something that I am interested in for the website, I can also make you an offer and usually provide you with a shipping label. 

Does War's End Shop pay full retail price?
No, we can't do that and stay in business but I can say that I make a genuine effort to make you the best offer that I can. 

Why doesn't War's End Shop pay full retail price?
Selling stuff actually costs a lot of money. The cost of simply doing business can actually eat away at a retail sale fast. I have only managed to remain in business nearly 20 years because I keep myself mindful of overhead expenses and many of the other little problems and occurrences which quickly chew through your expected margin. In those 20 years, I have seen a great number of militaria businesses come and go because they did not properly account for their cost of doing business. We all want everyone to be happy, but paying to close to full retail will quickly destroy a business by not accounting for the cost of selling and being in business in general.

What is my item worth?
I like to break value down into 3 prices

• Asking Price - This is generally a range around the top end of the value, it is the price someone might pay if they absolutely have to have it and can not find it anywhere else. This is also the number typically used for insurance purposes as it is basically the replacement cost to have it now without shopping around for years for the best possible deal.
• Actual Price - This is the worst case scenario for retail, say no one actually wants this thing, this is the price that will actually move it along. This is the price that is a safe assumed sale price.
• Offer price - This is the maximum I can pay for this to ensure that I do not loose money when I eventually sell it. Is it the biggest number? No, but it is a definitive number that I will actually give you, right now, with no additional rigmarole or hassle. It is less risky than an auction, probably better than what you will clear after seller fees, and means you do not have to deal with any of the selling. Trust me, if you do not sell stuff frequently there are a ton on headaches that come along with it, maybe not with every sale, but more often than you would expect and often completely devastating for a single item. 

When purchasing any item there is a lot that I have to consider beyond price; research, photography, storage, packaging, accounting of occasional loss or damage, payment and marketplace fees, advertising, shipping-related costs, taxes and overhead, the possibility of a return, and the amount of time the item may remain unsold. This list could actually go on but these are just the immediate things that keep most small businesses up till 2AM. I am writing this at about 1AM so I will have a whole extra hour to worry about these things.

For these reasons, purchase offers are naturally below expected retail value. The rare exception might be if you just happen to offer me something that I truly have to have for myself. In that case I may actually offer even more than asking price! Just do not get your hopes up, I am getting very close to having seen it all.

There is no single percentage that applies to every item. Desirable items that can be authenticated easily and sold quickly may justify a stronger offer, while objects that are difficult to authenticate, expensive to ship, slow to sell, damaged, incomplete, or in limited demand may require a larger difference between purchase price and expected retail price. There are also a great many items that might be worth money but are just not something I want to deal with for a variety of reasons. If I tell you that I am not interested in something you have, do not take it personal, its just not something that I want.

As a rough example, an item with an established retail value of $1,000 might receive a dealer offer around $600, but the actual offer could be higher or lower depending on the particular item and circumstances.

We are happy to explain how we arrived at an offer.

Why Sell Directly to a Specialist Dealer like War's End Shop?

Selling an item yourself can sometimes produce a higher gross selling price, but the highest advertised or auction price is not necessarily the amount the seller ultimately receives.

Depending on the method used, a private seller may face auction commissions, marketplace fees, payment fees, shipping expenses, returns, research and photography work, authentication questions, and the possibility that an auction ends below the expected value. Not to mention you might end up dealing with some unsavory character. You meet the best and worst people in the militaria collecting community, the worst ones can be pretty awful.

Specialized military collectibles can also be difficult to market effectively without an established reputation among collectors.

Selling directly to War's End Shop offers another option:

• No auction uncertainty.
• No seller commission charged by us.
• No need to create listings or market the item yourself.
• No need to wait for an end buyer.
• No need to establish a reputation within the collecting community.
• We understand the specialized market and can evaluate unusual material.
• You know our offer before deciding whether to sell.
• We can find your item its best home. Some pieces carry sentimental value and we have gotten pretty good at knowing who the best person is that should own this item and many pieces never even go on the website, we go directly to where it really should live.

A direct sale will not always produce the highest theoretically possible gross price. Our goal is instead to make a fair offer that accounts for the item's expected resale value, our costs and risk, and the convenience and certainty provided to the seller.

You are never obligated to accept an offer.

Does War's End Shop sell items on commission? 

For average normal items, No. It is just easier for everyone if I simply buy it directly and deal with it on my own time. 

For extremely rare, valuable items, Yes. 

This is because organizing and tracking commissions is time intensive so it is only a worthwhile endeavor if the item sells for several thousand dollars or more. These things fall outside of our automated system which means I must personally keep track of it so that level of attention must be very worth while to distract me from the the running of the rest of the business.

Selling on commission is very similar to custom manufacturing, riddled with complications that can produce unsatisfactory, and unproductive relationships. Our way of doing business it designed to be as simple as possible, and produce a final result as quickly as possible without dragging out the process. I understand you want to get as much for your item as you can but that often is not worthwhile for a great many items, making your life easier and straightforward is worth more.

We Also Buy Collections and Estates

We are interested in individual pieces as well as large collections, accumulations, veterans' groupings, estates, and material that has been stored for many years.

Do not assume that an item is unimportant simply because you cannot identify it.

If you are unsure what you have, send photographs before discarding, cleaning, repairing, polishing, or altering anything. Original condition can be very important to value. I have seen countless people obliterate the value of an item while trying to fix it. Even if you hate items associated with the Third Reich, does it really make the world a better place if you destroy a piece of history or might it be better to get the most out of it so you can use that to do more good in the way you see fit?

How to Get an Evaluation

Please send:

1. Clear photographs of the entire item.
2. Close photographs of markings, labels, stamps, damage, or unusual details.
3. Approximate dimensions when useful.
4. Any known history or provenance.
5. Your general location if the item or collection is too large to ship easily.

We can then tell you whether the item is something we are interested in purchasing and, when possible, provide additional information about what it is.

Email: kemilitaria@yahoo.com
Phone: (330)429-5081

War's End Shop