Our deaccession policy does not directly address eBay...but then it's a
few years old!  :)  But before we even considered such a thing, we would
look at other avenues first.   Once having determined an item was
inappropriate for our collections and having gotten approval from our
Board, we would first consider approaching the donor(s) of the item, or
their descendents, if possible.  Next option would be to consider
transferring it to another museum, if that made sense. The idea being to
try to honor the intention of the donor by placing it with us in the
first place.  Only if these things didn't make sense--given the type,
condition or quality of the item--would we consider auctioning in some
fashion.
 
And I would absolutely not want that auction item on eBay to be
associated with my institution.  It could be a public relations disaster
to have your museum thought of as selling their collections off on eBay.
No amount of money can buy your museum public trust...and where are we
without it?
 
Stacey Otte
Executive Director
Catalina Island Museum
www.catalinamuseum.org
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