As an on-line antique shop owner for over 7 years, I get 20 + emails a day from people asking me “what is this blue bowl worth.” There is rarely a photo included with the email nor much of a description and frankly, my powers of ESP are pretty worthless so these emails usually end up getting deleted.
I have spent many years studying and researching antiques, collectibles and memorabilia items of all types. From furniture to 17th century porcelain, cracker jack prizes to masterpiece art. I love it all and part of the fun for me is the learning process. I have amassed a huge library of books on a variety of topics and I subscribe to most of the antique related publications on the market. This is my job and I feel that in order to do my very best for my customer’s I need to provide them with as much information as I can.
Besides selling antiques I also have spent many hours compiling an antique marks and history section on my website. It does not contain every single mark and backstamp ever used but it is fairly comprehensive and I continually add to it. I have an antique forum where people can post photos and ask questions about their particular item and I am putting together another Antique Information Center. So here are 3 different resources that are available to the public to identify their items.
You cannot forget the value of the local public library. They are still a terrific source of information. They have antique marks books covering many titles and some of the larger libraries have old catalogs and magazines which I find to be amazing resources to aid in identifying china patterns as well as glassware patterns.
When it comes to determining the value or worth of an item there are several things that you need to take into consideration;
** Why do you want to know the value (personal knowledge, insurance purposes, to resell)
** If you are going to sell the item, where are you going to do so (on-line auction, antique shop, on-line antique shop, garage sale, estate sale)
If you need the value for insurance purposes then you need to get a written appraisal and this needs to be done every year but at least every two years so that it is current in the event you ever need to use it. You can contact your insurance company for a referral or I do have resources on my website for you to use to aid you in finding an appraiser.
If you want the value just for your personal knowledge, everyone’s instinct is to jump right to the antique price guides. Remember, these are “guides” and the prices listed come from a variety of resources one being auction houses which add an additional amount to the final sale price, therefore price guides might be better used to find the insurance replacement value. I recommend doing a search on-line for the same or similar item and see what items are selling for. You can also look at the “closed” auctions on the on-line auction sites and see what the item may have sold for. Visiting local antique shops is also a great way to see what your item may be worth and to learn and explore other antiques and collectibles.
You want the price to resell the item, if you are going to buy and sell antiques, collectibles and memorabilia on a regular basis please invest in some reference books. I don’t know how many people ask me the value of their items so that they can sell them on the on-line auctions. This somewhat puts me out, I am giving my expertise so that they can make money. I do offer appraisals but I am going to implement a mandatory “donation” for requests such as this, it is just getting way out of hand.
Back to the topic. You need to look at the venue where you will be selling your item and price it accordingly. If you are selling through an on-line auction research what the same or similar items have sold for, on-line antique shop or live antique shop use a formula based on what you paid for the item (mark it up 50%) but you should be continually studying the field and know what is selling at what price and what is currently not selling. Garage sales…. you can price yourself out of sales if you try to price items at antique shop prices. Estate sales can bear prices that are somewhat higher than garage sales but once again you need to know what the market is doing.
In conclusion, while it is easier to just pop off an email to someone who seems to know what they are doing you need to understand that the person on the receiving end is getting numerous similar requests a day and if they respond to each of these requests they have taken up a tremendous amount of time that could have been devoted to other aspects of their business. Time is money is a very true adage.
We are never to old to learn something new especially when it comes to antiques, collectibles and memorabilia. Who knows, it might evolve into a whole new career or part-time business. It also keeps your brain cells functioning.
