We Buy Precious Moments

 

We are active buyers of Precious Moments and fine collectible figurines. Below you will find some important information about your Precious Moments including values, packing tips and how our buying process works. Thanks for visiting and considering our services. We look forward to serving you. If you have questions that are not answered here, feel free to call us at 630-761-1500.

 

A bit of Precious Moments history

 

Sam Butcher's Precious Moments with their signature endearing teardrop-eye children have become very popular in the collectible and gift market. It all began in the early 1970s when Sam and his friend Bill Biel started Jonathan & David, a company which featured Sam's art on cards and posters. Sam was approached by Enesco Corporation to develop figurines based on his "Love One Another" artwork. The first 21 figurines were introduced in 1978. New pieces are added each year, and due to Sam's deep religious beliefs, many of his pieces celebrate Christian values. Precious Moments are so popular that the collection has grown to over 1500 pieces. Avid collectors are among the 400,000 guests each year to Precious Moments Park and Chapel which was opened in Carthage Missouri in 1989. In 2005, the Precious Moments figurines joined the rest of the Precious Moments line at Precious Moments, Inc.

 

What are Precious Moments worth?

 

We understand that before you bring in or mail in your items you will have concerns on the value. Since Precious Moments are lovely and affordable collectible pieces, most of them are fairly common. Here is information on some of the more valuable pieces.

 

In addition to how rare or common a piece is, several other factors will affect the value.

 

  • Condition of the piece. While a damaged piece is no longer considered mint, a few will still hold value. Not all damage is readily seen at first glance. Check your items carefully for condition. To help illustrate how easy it is to miss damage at first glance, here are a few examples of damage to figurines.

     

  • Condition of the box and packaging. The highest value of course will come with mint and clean figurines that have perfect original box as well as all of the original packaging, tags and inserts.

     

  • Mark. Precious Moments are marked with a symbol indicating the date of manufacture. The oldest ones did not have a mark and are more valuable. Other than the no mark pieces, currently the marks usually make little to no difference in the value of the piece. Here is a table of marks to help identify when the pieces were made.

     

  • Box style. The oldest Precious Moments came in white boxes, which would be the most valuable of the box styles. Here are pictures of Precious Moments boxes.

     

    What we pay

     

    On larger and less common pieces, our goal is to pay half the estimated resale value for items that resell for $20 or more. We buy all kinds of Precious Moments both with and without original boxes. The condition of both the packaging and the item will of course affect its value.

     

    Current price guidelines for Precious Moments that are clean and in mint condition are as follows:

     

  • Larger and less common pieces are priced individually
  • Pieces with older style boxes and no mark pieces are priced individually
  • Sets such as Nativity or Noah's Ark are priced individually
  • $2.00 - $4.00 for average size Precious Moments that have no boxes
  • $3.00 - $10.00 for Precious Moments with original mint boxes and packaging
  • Precious Moments with clean crisp boxes and all original packaging will be at the high price range or more depending on the item
  • Members Only Figurines with few exceptions are quite common and priced the same as other figurines
  • $0.50 Sugar Town Figurines that have no boxes
  • $1.00 - $7.00 Sugar Town Figurines with original mint boxes and packaging
  • $0.50 - $7.00 for Precious Moments ornaments

    Prices are subject to change without notice.

     

    How our buying process works

     

    We are not a consignment business. We buy your items outright.

     

    If your want to bring them in, we recommend that you make an appointment, so that we can have a buyer available to help you. There is no need to list your items, but if you have more than one brand or product line it helps to sort them that way. Our buyer will go through your items, give you pricing and in most cases, get a check cut for you during your appointment.

     

    If, like most people, you wish to mail them in, we recommend you read our packing tips for fragile items. After that, fill out our form to get things started and let us know your items are coming. If you have enough to qualify for free shipping, we will get prepaid UPS labels to you. While items usually arrive with no problems, we occasionally have items arrive damaged. We are NOT RESPONSIBLE for lost or damaged packages. If you prefer, you are welcome to insure and ship them with the carrier of your choice at your expense, but please fill out the form anyway and include the words "self shipped" in your item description. That way we will be sure to have accurate information for sending your check.

     

    Once your items arrive we will process them and mail out a check usually in 1 to 3 business days. Please remember that once we drop the check in the mail, the amount of time to deliver the check is in the hands of the postal service. If you want to know exactly when your items arrive, please note your tracking numbers on the prepaid UPS labels and go to www.ups.com to track them.

     

    Packing tips for fragile items

     

    It is important to package your items carefully so they arrive safely and to protect the value of your items. Also, shipping companies generally do not pay claims for broken items if they are not properly packaged. Please read our packing tips for fragile items. Professional packaging is also available at many shipping stores, but it can be quite expensive.

     

    Some items we have purchased

     

    Just for fun, here are some pictures of collectibles that we have bought.

     

    THINGS WE BUY:

    Pictures of some of the items we have bought.

     

    Handbags & Accessories: Coach, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Gucci, Prada, Tod's, Hermes, Salvatore Ferragamo...
     
    Figurines: Lladro, Hummel, Precious Moments, B&G, Royal Doulton, Disney...
     
    Crystal: Swarovski, Lalique, Crystal World, Waterford...
     
    Time Pieces: Rolex, Movado, Pocket Watches, Elgin...
     
    Plush Toys: Ty Beanie Babies, Disney, Warner Brothers, Coca Cola, Steiff...
     
    Jewelry: Engagement Rings, Gold, Silver, Class Rings, Broken Gold and Silver Jewelry...
     
    Dolls: Barbie, Madame Alexander, American Girl, Lee Middleton, Ashton Drake, Seymour Mann...
     
    Cookie Jars: Glenn Appleman, Fitz and Floyd, Star jars, Puritan, McCoy, Hall, Shawnee, American Bisque, Acme, Radko, Metlox, Goebel, Hull, Warner Bros, Disney, Treasure Craft...
     
    More: Railroad items, Cookie Jars, Trains, Coins, Antique Toys...