How to appraise the resale value of a vintage mannequin

We wish there was a “Kelly Blue Book” guide with prices of used mannequins like there is for used automobiles, because people ask us all the time about how much their vintage mannequin is worth. 

We are never able to recommend a specific price for people to resell their mannequin because determining the resale value depends on so many factors – even if the mannequin is indeed rare and has all of its parts.

Since we've seen almost every type of mannequin imaginable in the 20+ years we have been selling used mannequins. This article will give insights from our experience on how to price a mannequin for resale.

Many times people bellieve a vintage mannequin or dress form that has been in their family for years is a collectible item worth a lot of money.

Unfortunately mannequins do not hold their value the same way that jewelry or automobiles do. And the pool of customers interesting in buying mannequins is shrinking due to the changes in the retail industry. 

For example, a luxury retailer that purchased 6 vintage mannequins from us back in 2003 and recently closed many of their locations. 

There are some mannequin brands that are highly coveted by mannequin collectors and can resell for hundreds of dollars.

The resale value of the mannequin will vary widely depending upon the brand. Just like with automobiles, a used Mercedes will be worth more than a used Ford.

While all cars have the same features - four wheels, steering wheel, engine, seats etc. - the craftsmanship, durability and design of these features will vary with the brand. The same is true with mannequiins.

What are the mannequin brands with the highest resale value:
Adel Rootstein (Download our Free Ebook about this Brand)

How do you know what brand of mannequin you have?

Most, but not all, brand name mannequins will have the company name imprinted on the head, bottom of the foot or on the metal attachment fittings. 

Knock-offs of brand name mannequins will not have a company name. 

This blog post HERE  has a photo guide to help you identify some of the most popular mannequin brands by their hardware if the name is not imprinted on the body. 

If you can't identify the brand, we suggest you post photos of your mannequin on the Facebook Group VINTAGE MANNEQUINS and ask the members for assistance. 

The members in this group are mannequin collectors from all over the world. Many of them are former visual merchandisers and have personally worked with all the top mannequin brands. 

Key factors that impact the sales price, regardless of the brand.

The mannequin must have all its original parts -nott a hand or arm that belongs to another mannequin - even if that part is from the same manufacturer. Mannequin collectors tend to be very picky about the mannequin being in the exact posee as the catalogue.

Also mannequins with glass eyes tend to fetch more money than those with painted eyes. 

Here are other factors that impact the resale value: 

 1. Condition – Mannequins with broken or missing parts are not going to be as valuable because of the difficulty of finding replacement parts and the cost of repairs.

2. Pose – Mannequins in seated or reclining poses are hard to find, so they tend to sell for more. 

3. Series – A Rootstein mannequin like Cher, Joan Collins, or Twiggy is going to bring a lot more money, even if it is damaged, because they are highly coveted AND hard to find. 

However a Rootstein mannequin from a series that was widely available, like the Calendar Girl series, might not be worth much even if in mint condition.

This is because all the major mannequin collectors already own one or more from these series.
 
4 Face: A mannequin with a realistic face is always more desirable than an abstract, egghead, or headless mannequin.

One exception with faces are the mannequins produced by Ralph Pucci. Their whimisical painted faces are appealing to artists and interior designers as welll as mannequin collectors. 

5 Ethnicity – Asian and African American mannequins are harder to find because they were not widely produced. Their scarcity increases their value.
 
Many vintage African American mannequins have been “WHITEWASHED” so they look Anglo. (The opposite of Blackface) Often the paint is chipping and the darker skin tone is visible underneath the white paint (as in the photo on the left)
 
This means that it is going to be expensive to restore it to its original skin tone. Buyers will factor that into what they are willing to pay.

6 Restoration Costs: A few years ago we acquired a bunch of highly coveted realistic vintage Rootstein mannequins from a museum.

Although they were in excellent condition structurally, they had been completely covered from head to toe in yellow or lilac paint.

Even the glass eyes on the highly coveted Cher mannequin had been painted over. This caused us to get far less money than she was worth  because the seller was going to have to spend a lot of money to restore her. 

8 Shipping- Packing a mannequin for shipment is a lot of work and, if not done correctly, could result in the mannequin arriving damaged.

So if you don't want to ship and have local pick up only, this will mean you will have a smaller pool of potential buyers.

Many of the mannequin collectors who have the resources to pay top dollar may not live near you. 

Check out our article on shipping a mannequin here: 

Once you decide on a sales price, what next?

When you post your mannequin for sale, include a photo of the product catalogue if possible, especially if you have a brand name mannequin. 

On our Pinterest board, we have catalogues for Decter, Rootstein, Pucci, Greneker, Hindsgaul and Patina V mannequins. 

You might want to monitor sites like Ebay to see what the current going rates are for your style of mannequin.

Check to see if is SELLING for the price, not just LISTED. Some mannequins have been on Ebay for months without a sale because they asking too much for it.

While Ebay has lots of traffic and that makes it a popular place to sell mannequins, we personally feel their fees are too expensive and don't post there as often as we used to.

We suggest alternative sites: Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and the Vintage Mannequin group on Facebook.

If there is a used mannequin vendor in your city, perhaps they will sell the mannequin on your behalf on a consignment basis.  We do that quite often.

In Conclusion

We agree with the statement below from Keith Dillion, a visual merchandiser, and administrator of the group Vintage Mannequins: 

“You may ask whatever you want for a mannequin and, if someone is interested, they will pay what they’re willing to pay. I’ve seen very collectible brand name mannequins sold for $50, and I’ve seen incredibly basic, mass produced, inexpensive mannequins sell for hundreds over what they could be bought for brand new.
 
It all comes down to what the value of it is to both you and the potential buyer.

Ask for what you would be happy to get right now, and someone will pay what they would be happy to pay right now. Negotiate to meet in the middle where you’re both still happy.”