Hummel’s Discontinued

Daryle Lambert’s 31 Club Blog

Hummels Discontinued.
This is of no surprise to me, and it shouldn’t be to you. I have been saying this was going to happen for over a year. Even if someone does take over the manufacturing of these cute little figures, it won’t be the same, and the prices will have to drop tremendously for them to sell. When I began to see examples of the Hummel figurines that previously listed in the price guide for $500 selling as low as $75, I knew there was a crisis coming for the collector.

I have written about the couple that had a collection valued at $250,000 by the guide, set aside for their retirement, that today would not even bring $35,000. You may have thought that your portfolio has dropped in value over the last six months, but you might be lucky compared to this couple.

Don’t despair, though.  There may be a silver lining here.  The true collectors are still there, but they will be looking for only the best and at better prices than in the past. This is where you come in, because as prices drop, people will sell the rare and the ordinary for nearly the same price giving you a great opportunity to cash in if you know the difference. In the future, only the Crown and Full Bee Hummels will really command prices that will put money into your pocket. For this reason, I would advise you to buy nothing below these marks unless by purchasing a whole collection it even brings the price you pay for the rare ones even lower.

My rule, until I finally quit buying the Hummels, was 25% of the book value, but today I would lower that to 10-15 %. You may think that this is too low, but I guarantee you that they can be purchased at this price today. This would be a great time to advertise for Hummel collections, because a few thousand dollars could go a long ways in purchasing a hundred or more of these today. This would assure you of a nifty profit when they are all sold.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008
PRODUCTION OF HUMMEL FIGURINES TO STOP SOON

PRODUCTION OF HUMMEL FIGURINES TO STOP SOON
Goebel Germany is stopping production of Hummel figurines on October 31, 2008. Demand has dropped to one third of expected sales. They will sell the figurines as long as they have supplies. We spoke to Carrie Kulak, the American media contact, and she said the 2008 International Club Convention in Germany October, 17th and 18th is cancelled. An announcement will be made in Germany at a special event on the 18th about the “solution” to the question “will there be more Hummels?” We are sure the rights to make the figurines will go to another manufacturer. Will prices for old Hummels go up or down? What do you think?

Posted by Ralph and Terry Kovel at 3:33 PM
Labels: Goebel Germany, Hummels

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Posted by Daryle Lambert at 5:06 AM

Antique Stemware Right Under Your Nose

 

Tiffany Favrile Ribbed Glass Stemware Service, circa 1901, recently sold on eBay for $4,500.

Most companies conducting a house sale or estate sale will put their better items in showcases, in the dining room hutch, or on a table in the living room close to the check out. This way, they think these items are more secure and less likely to be damaged. So, this is where I usually look first. I check for the more rare and expensive art glass items, figurines that might catch my eye, and good artwork. Often times, I’ve left empty handed. However, recently I found a way to make leaving empty handed a less likely occurrence.

You see, now I know I may have been passing up fine treasures in the area of stemware because of my lack of experience in these items. Little did I know that some stemware can command prices equal to the finest art glass. This really adds up when there is from twelve to fifty pieces of the same pattern being offered in stemware and accessories. When you figure the potential profit per piece from $20 to $100 each, for example, you can see that a nifty profit can be had. Until I realized that stemware could make the day for me, I would have passed on these treasures. I seldom attend a sale without seeing groups of fine stemware being offered and this has now opened up a new avenue for me.

One stemware winner that has appeared on eBay recently is a set of Tiffany stemware that sold for $4,500. The set included nineteen stemmed pieces, each one bringing in over $230 apiece. I have no doubt that the seller had less than 30% of that price in as his investment. If my math is right, his profit should have been almost $3,000.

Baccarat, Moser, Gorham, Waterford and Orrefors are just a few of the better names in stemware you might watch for, because they all can make you serious money when you buy them right. What I like about these items is that there is a ready market, even if you choose to use eBay to sell them. Regular auctions can be a great outlet to sell, and now you have the opportunity to use the 31 Marketplace with its extremely low fees to sell as well. The sale of stemware should almost be immediate, and your investment plus profit will be back in your account to use for your next purchases.

Look where other eyes pass over the obvious and be willing to continually learn more. By doing this, your bank account will be greatly enhanced.

Treasure Hunters:

You Find It.
We Buy & Sell It.
You Net 35%.

Partner Up with 31 Club on High Quality Treasures You Find. We Do the Rest!!

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at 31 Gallery & Marketplace.
Keep More of Your Money.

Buyers:

Buy High Quality Items for FAIR PRICES
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Join Today!

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Posted by Daryle Lambert at 1:29 PM 0 comments Links to this post

Labels: 31 Club, Baccarat, Daryle Lambert, estate sale finds, Gorham stemware, learn about antiques, Moser, Orrefors stemware, Tiffany Stemware, Waterford

Time Spent Researching Artist’s Signature Can Pay Off

Diego Rivera

If you came across a quality painting with only the initials “CC” signed, would it be worth your while to find out if this might be something of value? On the one hand, the time researching might pay off handsomely, but on the other hand, the time spent researching might add nothing more than another layer of knowledge, possibly to be used next time around.

This is the way it is in the Fine Arts business. You’ll often find signed paintings, but can’t decipher the signature. It may take you a lot of time researching and there’s a chance you’ll come up empty handed. But, the rewards of finding something valuable are fantastic. I found a painting one time that I knew had to be painted by a talented artist, but I couldn’t read the signature. My only solution was to go through the entire set of signature books I had, so I decided to do this. About halfway through the first book, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I found a direct match. At this point, I still didn’t know the value of my piece, but once I saw this artist’s signature in the book, I knew he was a listed artist and I could track this down.

I grabbed my Davenport’s Art Price Guide and quickly look him up. I discovered that the $150 I paid for this painting had been well spent. The least expensive of this artist’s work brought $5,000 while his top sale was over $82,000. I soon sold this painting for just over $12,500. If I had paid myself $200 for the time I spent researching, my profit still would have been over $11,500. Not bad for a little work.

Remember, we are looking for things others miss, and often the point where they walk away is when there’s a signature that isn’t clear. How many people do you suppose looked at that painting and thought that it just wouldn’t be worth the effort to research it.

There are other things people walk away from in the art world. For example, many famous artists used only initials to sign their work. If you don’t have a book on these monograms, then they’ll mean nothing to you. I use the American and European set of books called “Signatures and Monograms” by John Castagno. If you can find these used on the Internet or through Abesbooks or Amazon, they could be like gold to you.

In these books, you’ll also learn that artists often painted under more than one name. A woman may have painted under her maiden name, as well as her married name. These books also contain sections on indecipherable signatures and the symbols some artists used on their paintings.

You will also find where artist often painted under more than one name. A lady for instance my have painted under her maiden name and also her married name. They also have a sections in these books on indecipherable signatures and symbols that some artist used on their paintings.

Back to my original question – if you found a painting marked “CC”, would you take the time to research it? If you did, you’d discover it was painted by the famous artist Jean Baptiste Camilla Corot, and it would be very valuable. If a painting is signed, “Picasso” most people would pay attention, but if it had the initial D with the number 32 after it and you researched it, you’d know it was by Diego Rivera and it was time to snatch that up. And what if you could buy one of these for just a few hundred dollars, because somebody didn’t know what it was. The record for one of Rivera’s works is over $1,500,000. Like I said in my book, let’s spend our time where the money is.

One of our members just emailed me about a painting she purchased for $1200. If it’s genuine, it’s worth over $28,000. I have my fingers crossed for her. And presently, I’m researching a painting that could very easily be worth $65,000 or more. I’ll share the results with you when I get them, and it wouldn’t hurt to have your fingers crossed for me, too.

There are other sources of looking up artists, such as AskArt.com, ArtNet.com and ArtPrice.com. These are subscription based services. If you’re a member of the 31 Club, rather than subscribing to these yourself, you can give us a call and we’ll check the name and prices for you. That’s just one more advantage of being a member.

Treasure Hunters:

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We Buy & Sell It.
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Posted by Daryle Lambert at 12:50 PM

Labels: antique business, artists initials, Artists signatures, Davenports Art Prices, fine art business, pricing fine art, Selling Fine Art Paintings, unreadable artists signatures

Folk Art: Antique Windmill Weights

Just the other day, after I posted a blog about the Whirligigs sought after by collectors, I guess my mind started going back to the days I spent growing up on a farm. Before I knew it, I was researching Windmill Weights. Maybe windmills were on my mind because of the need for this country to find new energy resources. Maybe the windmill images from the T. Boone Pickens commercials were forward in my mind. Only the Good Lord understands the intricacies of my mind. But, boy! I’m glad I did the research. I always thought windmill weights were in the form of animals, birds, moons, or stars, but I was mistaken, and I got quite the education on these folk art collectibles.

In case you’re not as old as I am, I’ll provide a little background info to understand the historical interest in windmill weights. Yesteryear, in parts of rural America and other parts of the world, many farms used windmills to capture the power of the wind to pump water out of wells for use on their land. Windmills also provided the energy to pump well water to fuel the early locomotives. Grain, especially in Europe, was ground by the energy provided by windmills. These windmills had many moving parts, of course, and a windmill weight was one of them.

Today, these weights are very collectible, valuable, and make great folk art. And there are lots of collectors who’d be grateful if you found a real beauty for their collection.

There are four different kinds of windmill weights – the Tail Weight, the Governor Weight, the Spoke Weight and the Regulator Weight. The Tail Weights are the most decorative of all.

There are hundreds of windmill weights to find, and they are still out there in the old barns and sheds. And some are quite valuable. Many of the weights you’ll find are painted, but I learned that this was usually done after the weight had out-lived its usefulness and later became a piece of folk art.

Many times paint is used to disguise a reproduction, however there are many ways to distinguish the real thing from a new reproduction.The best way is to look for rust. When these weights were used, they picked up sand in the rust, and this is what made the finish on the older weights. Watch for holes in the weights. They shouldn’t be straight up and down on the real ones, rather tapered. Any damage can quickly reduce their value.

I was fortune enough to run across the book, Windmill Weights, by Rich Nidey and Don Lawrence. I took a look at a site with some info on their book, and boy – what a head full I got.

I know you’re waiting for some price examples, so here they are:

A Black Bull with white writing, 18X24 inches, $920. Horse standing,white paint,16 X 17 inches, $920. Rooster, writing, Power & Pump Co. , 13 inches, $1495. ARooster by the Elgin Co., 15X19 inches, could bring you over $5000 today.

Today’s Photo comes from Ames Hill Antiques and this 15 inch star weight made by the U. S. Wind Engine & Pump Co. Batavia, Ill. c, 1890. is mounted on a tiger maple stand and has provenance to a Minnesota farm. It’s priced at $2250.

I think you’ll agree that these nifty items are worth looking for.

There is an endless stream of items people collect, and if we find them for collectors (or for ourselves) our coffers will be filled. An old saying I recall says, “Go where others have feared to go.” 31 Club says, “Look where others have failed to look.”

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We Buy & Sell It.
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Posted by Daryle Lambert at 10:21 AM

Labels: 31 Club, antiques and collectibles, antiques blog, Daryle Lambert, folk art, windmill weights

Antique Snuff Boxes: Small and Valuable Treasures Worth Sniffing Around For

Swiss Enamel & Gold Snuff Box, circa 1740. Photograph property of M.S. Rau Antiques

I often tell Members of the 31 Club that money in the antique and collectible world can be made with items smaller than a bread box. Besides not taking up too much space in your home until you get them sold, you won’t be faced with transporting these small treasures back and forth, which eats away at your time and erodes your profit. Snuff Boxes and Snuff Bottles certainly qualify as items smaller than a bread box, and they can be quite valuable. Today, I’ll focus mainly on snuff boxes.

Snuff, used for many centuries, is a tobacco that is ground into a very fine powder. It’s sniffed through the nose, tucked behind the lip, or tucked inside the cheek. It came in either a dry form or a moist form.

In Europe, in centuries gone by, the use of snuff was a very popular social ritual, mainly with the elite. Many a high society lady or gent would never leave home without their stylish snuff box and would often have several to choose from. They even had snuff boxes for every season. In China, snuff bottles were very popular, and the bottle stopper had a little pad on the inside of it. The process for use was the same.

In 19th Century America, some women might have smoked cigars in public for its shock value, however, there were far more ladies discreetly using snuff, which was perfectly acceptable. This was Women’s Lib 19th Century style, and it caught on.

Fast forward to the 21st Century and we find that anything to do with snuff has become highly collectible. If you find one for a collector, they’ll pay you handsomely, especially for the right one.

Snuff boxes can be made from almost any material. They were often made of antler, silver, wood, brass, gold, pewter and many others. They also can be a combination of several materials, artistically decorated. Most boxes were decorated with gold or silver, often with the owner’s initials engraved on them. Many were highly decorated, and of course, these are quite valuable. Let’s look at a few values in Kovel’s Price Guide to see if your eyebrows move a little north:

A 3” Gold Enamled Box of a Harbor Scene, c. 1830 valued at $17,250. If that’s too rich for your blood, how about a Metal, Gilt, Musical, engine-turned panels sized at four inches for $14,950. These must have been owned by a very special lady or gent.

$32,500. That’s the price of the snuff box shown in Today’s Photo. Offered at M.S. Rau Antiques, and this Swiss Enamel and Gold Snuff Box, circa 1740, looks like it contains a double ivory portrait,adding to its value. This is a real beauty. When you take a look at all their high end snuff boxes, you’ll have a better idea of the high quality, high end boxes out there.

Remember, we look for the higher end, rare items. As we work our way up the 31 Steps, our ever increasing knowledge of true quality and rarity will help us along the way. Please make every effort to attend antique shows in your area to see high quality items up close and face to face. The first goal is to be able to recognize quality when you see it.

Snuff was not reserved for the high society crowd. We regular folks used it, too. I can still remember the way my Grandmother would quickly sniff a little, sneeze, and then hold her dainty handkerchief to her nose. As a child, I often wondered why she would do this. Maybe to clear her nose, I thought.

Today, snuff is a dying industry. To the ladies and gents of days long gone, aside from being the socially chic thing to do then, that special little high from nicotines was what they were probably after. In those days, the use of snuff also made the dentists very happy, too. It caused many a mouth problem and surely increased the bottom line in the dentists’ books.

If you’re interested in “sniffing out” more information on snuff boxes, you might start by reading Christopher Proudlove’s Blog on Snuff Boxes at WriteAntiques.com and Tobacco.org has a very informative timeline of tobacco that’s quite interesting.

Treasure Hunters:

You Find It.
We Buy & Sell It.
You Net 35%.

Partner Up with 31 Club on High Quality Treasures You Find. We Do the Rest!!

Sellers:

Sell Your High Quality Items for LOW FEES
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Buyers:

Buy High Quality Items for FAIR PRICES
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Posted by Daryle Lambert at 5:39 AM

Labels: antique business, antique snuff bottles, antique snuff boxes, antiques blog, chinese snuff bottles, collecting, tobacco collectibles

Break Out The Silver Polish

Daryle Lambert’s 31 Club Blog

The Only Antiques & Fine Art Club Teaching Dealers & Newbies Wealth Building

Have you seen that the price of Gold and Silver are declining? For those of us in the Antique & Collectible business, this decline will make it possible for us to make money buying Gold and Silver items again.

For a long while, the market was adding no value for the rarity or beauty of a piece, only weighing the value of its base metal. But now, these wonderful items, that have lasted the test of time, will once again make sense for us to buy. I’m thinking tea sets, compotes, vases and even silverware at prices that are sensible enough for us to make a fair profit.

Gold jewelry may get to the point where the dealer doesn’t just weigh a piece and quote you the base metal price. I think the metal will always have a value and be a component of the actual value of the item, but other factors will become important. The spread between the offer and bid will again be wider.

A friend of mine came by the house today and showed me some items her elderly aunt took to a company who advertised an event at a local hotel to buy jewelry. She attended with her aunt to oversee this offer. to buy. I’ve been aware of these, what I would call scams, for over year. My friend was smart enough to prevent her aunt from selling these fine pieces for next to nothing, and when I looked at them and she told me what they offered, I don’t believe they even offered the price of the gold. I’d recommend staying away from these types of events.

As prices decline for gold and silver, people will have fewer and fewer places to dispose of their fine jewelry. You see, these so called “merchants” will no longer be able to simply weigh for the gold and silver content and offer you very little. And what do they do with the gold and silver once they “buy” it from you? They melt it down for the metal and then they’ve made their money.

I remember the good old day when I bought a sterling tea pot for a few hundred dollars. No, the silver content wasn’t worth that, but it was produced by a famous silversmith from the late 1700’s. I knew this was a special piece the moment my eyes landed on it. Believe it or not, I called all over the world before finally selling it in Australia for several thousand dollars.

It will be fun again to do our research and look for items that can return us 10 or 20 times our investment. Still, I don’t think this change will affect silver plate or gold plate much, and these items should probably be avoided except in rare cases.

I just can’t resist mentioning that earlier this year I strongly recommended my readers sell their gold and silver. At the time, the price of silver was around $16. I was a little early, because it did go briefly to $20 before coming right back down. At the time I made that recommendation, I had people e-mailing me hate mail, threatening my life and questioning my intelligence for making that recommendation in writing and sending it to the news services. But, of course, these were the people in the business of selling gold and silver to the public.

I stuck to my guns and continued to write about selling silver anyway. You know, I haven’t heard from any of those people again. And now, all their customers who bought at that time have lost a great deal of their investment while the fat cats have already cashed their checks and danced into the sunset. It isn’t over yet. I predict silver be $6-$8 soon enough, and gold will be back to $600 an ounce. Then it will be time for us to load up on it.

*******

Treasure Hunters:

You Find It
We Buy & Sell It
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Keep More of Your Money.

Buyers:

Buy High Quality Items for FAIR PRICES
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Dedham Pottery Find

31 Club Members Travel From Ohio to Shop with Daryle

Dedham Turkey Plate is offered in the 31 Gallery & Marketplace.

 

31 Club Members, Ron & Mary, traveled from Ohio to spend the day antiquing with Daryle.

 

As I mentioned in Sunday’s Blog, I had the opportunity to spend the day hunting for antiques with 31 Club members, Mary and Ron, who traveled from Ohio to visit with me. One of the high points that day was the discovery of a Dedham Turkey plate. I was able to purchase it at a very fair price, and it is now offered in our 31 Gallery & Marketplace, here. This isn’t the first time a Dedham piece has been good to me.

Several years ago, I was shopping and spotted a strange looking five inch pitcher among items sitting on a table. It had a strange design, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off of it. I must have picked it up and put it back down four or five times before taking it to the sales table and asking the dealer what their best price would be. The dealer wanted $175, which seemed ridiculous to me. But, there was something about this piece that was gnawing at me. So, without knowing what I had in my hand, I offered $100. The dealer said no, but she’d take $125. I had to think about that for a minute, and, as I’ve taught you before, I never put the piece back down until I made my final decision. I decided to take it at $125.

It was a very different piece with an owl on one side and a rooster on the other. I don’t remember the rest of the design, but it had the appearance of being crazed all over, and the mark on its bottom was smeared and not legible. Somehow, I just knew it was special.

When I got home and did some homework, I found out it was a Dedham piece called the “Day and Night” pitcher. I sold it very close to $1,000. There is a lesson here. If something seems to stand out as you are searching, it might be your subconscious memory telling you that it’s special. In fact, you might have seen it in a book, magazine or at an auction at one time and had forgotten it but your subconscious hadn’t. In today’s guides, I see that this pitcher now sells for a little less than what I sold it for, but to me back then, it was a real home run.

The Dedham company was founded in 1872 in Chelsea, Massachusetts by the Robertson family. Dedham went through several transitions and finally closed for good in 1943 during the war. They became very famous for their crackle ware, most of which featured animals, flowers and other natural motifs.

Just to list a few of their better known pieces, the Polar Bear 8 ½ plate lists in Kovel’s Price Guide for only $10.18, while the Lily 6 ¼ brings $1150. A real treasure is the Thistle 8 ½ inch plate signed by Hugh Robertson, listed for $2970. They also made vases, and most of these bring big money from $2000 up.

There are some authorized reproductions of Dedham, and further information on these are available at the Dedham Historical Society.

This is definitely a company’s wares you should keep in mind while searching in the field. that you should keep in your mind while searching in the field.

*******

Buyers — Buy High Quality Items for Fair Prices at 31 Gallery and Marketplace.

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Treasure Hunters — You Find, We Buy, We Sell, You Net 35%. Partner Up with 31 Club on High Quality Treasures you simply find.

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Link: Dedham Historical Society

Libbey Glass: Not Only Kentucky Derby Glasses

Not Only Derby Glasses: Libbey Cut Glass

Libbey Bowl in the Ellsmere pattern recently sold on eBay for $615.

Because I and others have written about the value of Libbey Glass Company’s Kentucky Derby Glasses, a lot people may have their radar raised at the present time on these valuable treasures. However, this fine company produced a wide range of products, and some pieces can be quite valuable as well.

I seriously doubt that many people are looking for Libbey vases or bowls. These cut glass items can command prices in the thousands. For example a 20” vase made in the Harvard pattern, Amethyst cut to clear can bring $3400. A signed Amberina Perfume Bottle might fetch $2450. With these prices, it might be wise to become familiar with this company’s higher end items.

Libbey Glass Company started in 1888 in Toledo Ohio and was later purchased by Owens-Illinois in 1935. It is still in production today and makes a very wide range of products.

You may have already figured this out, but the older pieces will usually bring the most money. I am one of the people guilty of passing by cut glass pieces because I think there will be damage on them, which there usually is. Another reason for me passing these by is due to the number of new or fake pieces I run across. But, I’ve discovered that it would be well worth my while to set my assumptions aside, slow down, and spend more time looking very closely when I come face to face with cut glass items at sales. I encourage you to do the same.

Most people will not be able to distinguish the rare from the common items produced by Libbey, but with some study, you will. Marked pieces always sell at a premium in most items in the antique business, and this holds true of Libbey as well. Libbey’s marks are often very difficult to find, however. Should you come across some cut glass you’ve identified as having the quality of finer cut glass, be sure to take the time required to search for a signature, if there is one.

Damage to cut glass will reduced its value considerably, more than any other category of antique items. A flake, chip, or hairline crack will reduce its value by up to 90%. Even if a very valuable vase is ground to disguise a flake, the vase will drop in value significantly.

While finding any of Libbey’s higher end and more valuable items might not bring you as much as finding a 1940 Kentucky Derby Glass would, it could very easily add a few thousand dollars to your coffer. But don’t give up on discovering a Derby Glass. We found one a few days ago. Watch for it to be listed soon in the 31 Gallery & Marketplace.

I haven’t found that very special piece of Libbey cut glass yet, however I did find a small bowl once, marked for $25. Its sale for $500 was a big deal for me at that time in my life.

When you’re first starting out in the Antique & Fine Art Business, making $500 early seems like a very big deal, but later it might take making a profit of $5,000 to feel that same thrill. As you progress, it might be $50,000. This is why I have never tired of the Antique and Fine Art Business and I love it so much. My goal now is to find that special piece worth $500,000. Oh, it doesn’t matter if I find it just yet. Knowing that it’s out there waiting for me keeps me alert and ready to take on the day.

Treasure Hunters — partner up with 31 Club on high quality treasures you find. You find, we buy, we sell, you net 35%.

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Antique Business: Historic Events and Value

To be in the Antique and Fine Arts Business, history must hold some interest for you; enough interest to search out things from the past. Perhaps this business takes you back to those times or the events when the items you’ve discovered were produced, and this is an important connection in your life at some level. When I discover a great painting, I feel as if I knew the artist, because I am holding his work in my hands. Have you ever had that feeling?

 

The news coverage of this presidential election and the current news coverage of Hurricane Gustav has made me think about other events in our history. People’s memories are often short, but to the Collector of Historical Items, these events are forward in their mind and close to their heart. Those of us in this business have a deep appreciation for history, and this appreciation can help fatten our wallets and help to provide for our families by connecting those items we’ve found with a collector who is seeking them.

So what might be the historical events collectors seek items from?

On my local front, The Chicago Fire caused many stories to be created about its source. Did Mrs. O’Leary’s cow really kick over the lantern that set the whole city ablaze? If you come across items associated with this fire, there are many collectors who’d have great interest in this. How about events in your region of the country?

The Great San Francisco Earthquake is a great part of U.S. Western history. Even today, all the stories about future quakes are compared to that one. I am sure there are great pieces from this era that can only be found by looking in every old trunk you run across.

What could be more vividly etched in our minds than 9/11 or the assassination of President Kennedy? I can’t count the times I’ve heard people reciting exactly where they were when these events happened.

Remember the Martin Luther King letters I told you about? They were found by a friend of mine in a box lot at a local auction house who holds auctions twice a month. He bought them for next to nothing. It wouldn’t surprise me, if today, these letters could bring over $10,000.

How about the original copy of the Declaration of Independence that was found behind a two dollar print? At one time, an auction house estimated this to be worth over $3.5 million. Since that time, this document has been sold at auction, however, I don’t remember the exact hammer price. You can be certain is was quite substantial.

In our hunt for items from history, we should always remember that most of these items aren’t discovered out in the open. Rather, they’re hidden in trunks, basements, attics, behind cheap framed prints, or in scrapbooks or shoeboxes just waiting for us to uncover them. Even if they are out in the open, most eyes can’t recognize them, because many people who see them don’t have the knowledge of history necessary to know their value.

The story of a box of several dozen love letters written by a sailor during the Second World War brought great interest to me recently. The article seemed to infer that these letters would have significant historical value, and therefore, dollar value. Why did this interest me? Because the day I saw that story, we had just purchased 147 letters from a Confederate Soldier written to his wife. If the first letters, written sixty years ago, were considered valuable, how about letters written 160 years ago during the Civil War – one of the most significant events in this country’s history?

Only so many Tiffany Glass pieces or Rookwood Pottery items were produced, but the number of items that have historical content are unlimited. This gives us a great opportunity each day to find one of these treasures, if we’ll only look.

I am sure that you can think of many more events from the past as well as the people associated with them, either nationally or local to your area. If these events mean something to you, they might also have importance to others. And they might hold some surprise value when a Collector wants to buy it from you. Who knows? A Historical Society or Museum might even be interested.

If you have found anything of historical significance, please send me an email describing it and I will share it with the rest of our members.

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Auction House Fees Out of Line

Fees, Fees, and More Fees. When Did Our Belongings No Longer Belong to Us?

There was a time when a person could take his belongings to an auction house and pay a 5% fee on the final sales price for the service. That left 95% for the seller. Not any more.

 

 

Auction houses today increased the sellers fees, particularly for less expensive items. I’d say the average fee is about 25% with fees up to 50% for less expensive items. But still, this wasn’t enough dough. So, the auction houses began to charge the buyers a fee to buy. These fees run 20-25%. Now they get paid on each side of the sale, so this caused buyers to reduce their bids. This reduced bid affected the sellers final price.

Wow! Sellers went from getting 95% of the sales price to under 50%. I may be an old fossil, but when did our belongings no longer belong to us? When did we gain an equal partner in our own belongings?

Next came the eBay stores, a place where the seller took their things to a public place who listed them for the seller on eBay. Their fees were up to 40% of the sales price. eBay got up to their 15% and Paypal got up to their 5%. I’d say that leaves the seller 40% of the sales price for their own stuff. That makes you an unequal partner in your own belongings. Fortunately most of these operations died a quick death, as they should have.

But, now there’s a new plan emerging.

The seller finds a company to appraise their items, then that company consigns them to the auction they think fits them best. And yes, there is a fee for this. It can be 5% or more. (This might seem fair if the customer was able to obtain a discount from the auction house. Like 10% off their regular seller fees.) Let’s do some math. 5% for the company who consigns your own belongings to auction, 20-25% to the auction house when they sell your belongings, another 2-5% in fees for insurance and advertising for your belongings, and then whoever buys your stuff gets charged 20-25%. Please tell me where else someone gets charged to buy something – other than a government sales tax?

By the time you’re done with the transaction it comes to 46-60% in fees paid to a company to sell your own stuff. You, the seller, would end up with about 48%.at best. I wonder how long the public will put up with this. You just started out wanting to sell you own belongings for a fair fee, didn’t you? I’ll let you decide what is fair.

 

Taking on the big boys like this doesn’t make me the most popular man in town. But, I”m not expecting to win any popularity contests. Just trying to protect you, the seller and the buyer and offer something better than what’s out there.

 

That’s why I ask you to take a look at the 31 Club Gallery & Marketplace when you want to sell your high quality items. We offer much lower fees than anywhere else you’ll find. And buyers, there is never a fee to buy from us. Buyer and seller will benefit most by becoming a member of the 31 Club. Look here for fee details.

If anyone has comments and opinions on the auction house fee situation, please make a comment here. I think this is a very important subject.

Buyers — buy high quality items for fair prices at 31 Gallery and Marketplace.

Sellers — sell your high quality items for low fees at 31 Marketplace and Gallery.

Treasure Hunters — partner up with 31 Club on high quality treasures you find. You find, we buy, we sell, you net 35%.

Our Members are Newbies to Seasoned Dealers, making more money than they thought possible. Join Daryle Lambert’s 31 Club, today.

My 220 page book, 31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles is FREE with your membership. Join Today!

Check out the new Paintings and new items in our Gallery and Marketplace here.