As in any business venture,
making a profit requires luck, research, product and market knowledge – either
yours or some-one else’s. Auctioneers are often a good place to start, if
you want to use some-one else’s expertise. Auctioneers earn their income from
the percentage commission they make selling. They normally get a percentage
of the selling price from both the vendor and the buyer – so they have a built
in vested interest in getting the highest price they can for you (or from
you) – but bear in mind that you only get a high price at an auction when
at least two people want to buy the same lot and they bid against each other
… if there is only one bidder it will go on the “maiden” bid if you are lucky
- at the reserve level (if you set one) and “that is that”, it is gone.
Above:
A Lowestoft Teapot. ( it is a contemporary copy of a Worcester Dr Wall pattern),
Although the damaged spout does lessen the value of this late eighteenth,
blue and white, transfer printed porcelain tea pot the retail value of this
piece is around £150. Perfect, it would be worth considerably more.
Below
Left: A small English Ironstone Dish. Shaped in the style of a
meat platter this early nineteenth century ironstone dish is unusual. Either
a stand for a small tureen, a pot stand or part of a child’s play set, the
dish is easily worth £45.
Below
Right: A mid-nineteenth century Chinese Tea Bowl. Unlike early
nineteenth century and earlier chinese porcelain, mid nineteenth century
pieces tend not to command a high value. This is a well painted piece
and, with its saucer, might fetch £50 at auction. Had it been the seventeenth
century piece it is imitating, the cup and saucer would be valued over £130
Below
An English Porcelain Cup and
Saucer c. 1815 If identified and attributed to a maker this colourful,
unmarked, Hand painted, London Pattern Cup and saucer would sell at an
Antiques Fair
for around £145. As it stands, at an auction, it might make around £60.
Below
A Samson “Armorial” Mug. The typical “faux oriental” pattern
quickly identifies this late nineteenth century French Mug. Made by the
Samson Factory as a tribute piece in the style of Chinese pieces from the
seventeenth and eighteenth century, these Victorian Fakes are now collected
in their own right - in good condition this hand painted piece would fetch
about.£85
Is what you are selling
valuable? Is it collectible, unusual or old? Do you know that it has no particular
intrinsic value because you have seen the same items in charity shops and
car boots at a fraction of what it cost you to buy, or do you suspect that
it is potential gold dust… If you put a rare antique in a house clearance/
bric-a-brac auction you are unlikely to sell it for anywhere near what you
would get at an antique specialist’s auction, but it is quick - which is why
many professional dealers buy their stock from auction rooms and house clearance
sales.
On the other hand if you
put it in an antique centre to sell on commission – you may lose money for
months on shelf rent before it sells at the “asking” price and it could end
up costing you money – or it might go in a few days leaving you a hefty “profit”.
If you are considering
buying to sell – Examine the “under table lots” at general auctions. A box
for a tenner may have thirty or forty items that can sell for a pound or more
if sold one at a time at a boot sale …or it may hide a gem for an antiques
stall ...or it may be another ‘booter’s’ clearance box of junk they couldn’t
give away and be worth even less than you paid… But, be warned and don't get
carried away with auction fever – many professional car-booters buy at these
auctions too, so there can be some surprising competition on even the under
table boxes of bric-a-brac…
How much do you want to
get rid of?
A few bits and pieces
– a couple of shopping bags worth – is a totally different prospect to clearing
out Granny’s house so she can move somewhere smaller. Large clear outs or
large items (like heavy furniture) need a totally different approach to that
of cashing in on one box from the back of the wardrobe – as does the speed
with which you want to get rid of it… least bother (and least profit) to you
is likely to be invite a house clearance auctioneer or dealer round – they
will clear the house for you – cream off the best and “skip” the rest – literally,
down at the local dump.
An honest
dealer/ auctioneer will give you a fair price, for the effort they have to
go (to sift and shift through the stuff you can’t be bothered to sort out)
– yes, they will profit from you, ruthlessly, but – if you can’t be bothered
or don’t have the time – why not ? It is their livelihood and they have put
the time and effort into learning their trade the hard way. I lost well over
£1500 worth of rare Art Deco Bedroom furniture at a clearance auction sale
once – no reserve and it sold for £5 – but, whilst I still grouse about it,
it was my fault for not checking first, for not asking the auctioneer if it
was worth putting on a reserve, for being in a rush to move house and for
not wanting to pay the storage costs, whilst we took the time to sort kit
out! Remember – if in doubt, ask – and, if asking, ask more than one “expert”
from more than one place!
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Many
of us, over the last few years of “make money from old junk” TV programmes,
have wondered whether or not we were the proud possessors of hidden wealth.
Could this be a weekend money earner, a business opportunity or just a chance
to clear some space for the new TV?
Some of us might go so
far as taking a “collectibles” book out from the library, to see if Mum’s
old teapot is worth hanging on to… a few might even drag a box of hopeful
items along to a local auction house, for a free valuation day – or even ask
a Dealer from the Yellow Pages, or an Antique Centre, to come along to have
a look… but most of us don’t bother to do much… until that fateful day when
we realise that we are running out of space to keep the junk we have accumulated,
without ever consciously noticing how much we have… ...and
that is where something has to be done…
and that is how we start
down this particularly slippery slope. Car-boot, auction, dealer, antique
stall, E-bayer where next?... And where to start?
You
need to be sure, first of a few critical things...