Educating yourself quickly about antiques can be fun and save you a lot of money some tips.
Our partners at Mulberry Bank Auctions offer a free valuation service on every house clearance we do. But how do you know if there is a possibility of finding something valuable?
Regarding the value of any of your Fine Art Antiques or Collectibles, it is of course defined as what someone is willing to pay for the item on a given day. Like all things antiques and collectables go in and out of fashion, too know whats in at the moment, TV and Radio shows can be a useful pieces of information. The best examples would be Antiques Road Trip and Flog It. Sometimes they are more for fun, for casual information on your items which you are trying to determine a true value for then any exact reference.
They are very few if any reliable companies out there who are willing to give free information on the true value of Art, Antiques and Collectables. There are lots of antique and collectible books which have information about almost all antique or collectible from the past. The best places to find these sources are of course bookstores and online books like Amazon or Ebay.
Antique stores are great source of information and knowledge because you can handle and inspect each items. Having a hands on experience will tell you a lot about the item. Also go find the dealer or an employee of the store and always ask questions, they are trying to sell the item to you, so get as much information as you can. Normally staff who work in antique stores are interested in antiques and have a pretty good base knowledge about most antiques and collectibles they are selling. However, I have had personal experience they do sometime drift from the truth. Be very careful in taking a dealer’s information as the final word unless you yourself are very familiar with the product and dealer.
Visit your local auction houses. Who should always offer you an appraisals. In some cases they are free, there are a great many auction houses out there and contacting them is as simple as getting online and doing a search on the net. Using your local auction house will allow you to pick up printed catalogue listing items past and present value of the items.
Check online auction sites. Ebay, Amazon and others who have great sites with plenty of choice. Here is where you will get what is the closest true evaluation of all antique or collectibles, don’t take to much notice of the Buy it Now price. Look at items with lots of bids. Remember any item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.