Remarkable... We have just taken delivery of 200 new A4 signs, printed onto 'Dibond', as used widely. The printing cost for these new are around UK£5 per unit. Most will make permanent some laminated ones, but some will replace others. Is there a demand for old ones? - at Chester prices, would be very nice and we could put the money to good use or maybe less.. We could list some on our website....
Anything is only worth what people will pay. For me, Chester have priced these beyond decent and reasonable value for money for a bit of bric-a-brac that really hasn't got much history, but who knows what some avid collector will pay. I get that cash is very valuable at the moment too, and good luck to them. But still.. @Andrew Swales it certainly seems there's a market for your old signs out there.
Wingham are considering selling their old signs from Sandwich, rather than just binning them, but I hope they don't base their pricing on Chester, these seem far too expensive. I'd be interested in an old sign or two if they were affordable.
While the demand would definitely be there. From personal experience the signage at Burgers' Zoo sold out within a short 2 week time period, with several refills. I personally don't believe in the Chester prices myself to be the ones that will get you the best sells... As I said earlier, my 6 signage piece collection is of less value then 1 small signage from Chester.... I think depending on the material the signage is from and the size your price should be formed. Personally think that around the 15 to 25 euros would be ideal for smaller sized signage since then you also have reasonable shipping costs, assuming with the current pandemic you'd be shipping them out countrywide/internationally, and for larger signs 30 to 50. I personally would most definitely be interested!
We will have to see what is left when this batch and the next one of A3's arrives and is up. Chester used eBay in the past, but eBay are very greedy and take a lot of commission - but as everyone says, their current prices (for modern signs with little historical interest) does seem seem excessive. We will need to check shipping costs as I think your figures might easily double when this is added in...
I think you would have a lot of takers for them going on the website, I would be very much interested in binturong, possum and some of the other very nice species you have!
Well, I would be loathe to pay Chester prices but I'd certainly be very happy to support any collection - including yourselves - through the purchase of old signs etc at more reasonable price. It's something I wish more collections did over here; I was once told that the signs relating to Asian Golden Cat, Aardwolf, Marbled Polecat etc at Edinburgh went into a skip not entirely sure how true this was, or whether I was being spun a "stonewall the enthusiast" line.
Chester were selling some old signs on ebay a few years ago and there was a metal London Zoo map up for sale but the seller took it off
I collect magnets, artwork done by animals, and ornaments. I've also started getting pins in the last two years or so. And anything cheetah Especially postcards. I'd definitely be interested in zoo signs for some of my favorite carnivores and ungulates, as long as they're nowhere near Chester prices! Animal art varies a lot price-wise, too. An 8x10 from one species can be $20 at one zoo and $500 at another.
I buy zoo guide books but only when visiting a zoo. I also buy books about zoos and some (vintage) zoo posters but I do not consider that as collecting (I really don't have to have them all, like f.e. from a certain time era or a certain region). . I would consider buying zoo signs or other things but only when fitting my home decor.
I try to bring home a magnet each time, although at my regular zoo I'm running out of magnet options aha!
Mainly elephant stuffed animals and elephant figurines from zoos I visit. I also collect books about Dutch zoos.
I collect Schleich Plastic Animals. I have over 200 of them. I do have about 30 hippos, but no more than 5 of any other animal.
I used to collect zoo maps. It was interesting to see the evolution of a zoo over many years & visits. Unfortunately most zoos around here have stopped giving out maps in recent years, but I still enjoy the ones I have
I used to get a plushie from every zoo I went too, though, I forgot one at San Antonio (and I'll never ever be back). And then mainly from an animal that was more specific to the place I was at, and if it had some sort of tag with the name from the place on it. I don't know about other countries, but I've noticed since being in the UK, all plush are basically the same, and rarely have a tag or anything with the name on it, so I kind of stopped getting more. I then recently decided I should get a magnet from everywhere we go. But then we went to 5 different ones last week, and only the 1 had a decent magnet with the name/logo on it. So now we got lots of different things from everywhere we've been. Plush, keychains, magnets, maps, pins, trump game. And we seem to be starting a collection of guide books now too.
Have a bit of a mixture of Zoo Ephemera... Mostly old posters, but also have some unusual items like silver cutlery & signage along with a huge collection of vintage photos and guides. Actually had a new sign arrived in the post today... Much bigger than I thought it was going to be! Normally only collect old zoo bird signage, but couldn't resist a bargain
