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.

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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.

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

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Link: Dedham Historical Society

Antique Painted Chests and Other Painted Furniture. Does the Paint Have Value?

Daryle Lambert’s 31 Club Blog

 

Learn to Build Up Your Personal Finances Trading Antiques, Fine Art & Collectibles at the 31 Club.

 

19th Century Cupboard with old blue paint is offered at Hillsdale Barn Antiques for $2,250

Some of you have heard this story before, but repetition reinforces something in your mind. So for those of you who have already heard the story, it’s a good idea to read it again.

A participant on the Antique Road Show brought a highboy dresser to be appraised. He told the appraiser that when he purchased it, it had been covered in horrible red paint that covered the beautiful grain of the wood, so he had it restored. He gave the highest praises to the restorer.

The Antique Road Show appraiser asked him, “Which would you like first, the good news or the bad news? The man chose the good news first, and that good news was that it was a wonderful piece with no repairs or added pieces. The appraiser told him it was worth about $35,000. “But the bad news is that you washed $100,000 of red paint off of it.”

 This story brings me to what I want to discuss today; antique painted items, like boxes, trunks, chests, tables and more. If these painted items are genuine, they can bring big bucks.

 

 How do you know painted antique items are genuine?

 

For starters, their paint shouldn’t look like it was painted yesterday. Something that’s over a hundred years old should look its age, and have a very mellow patina.

Next, I’ll often ask the person who owns the piece if the items has any history. I’ve often been told the whole story of where it came from and who owned it. Don’t let this be your only means for evaluating an item though, because sometimes the story doesn’t match the piece you’re looking at. When you go to antique shows and antique shops, you can examine the real thing and this will prepare you for when that special piece is offered to you.

As you research the patterns that were used during certain time periods on painted items, they’ll become familiar to you. That way, when you see them, bingo! You might have just rung the cash register, and we aren’t talking small bucks here, but very possibly some extremely green money.

A recent example of what I’m talking about showed up at Cowan’s Auction last March 15th. There were several nice painted pieces in the catalog, and one was a nice 19th century Bentwood box that had an estimate of $500 to $800. Another was a box painted with flowers estimated at $700 to $1000. Next came the Pennsylvania Dower chest estimated at $6000 to $9000, and what a beauty it was.

Be sure you examine all painted items, large or small, because if they are from the 18th or 19th century they have true value. While some dealers will just pass them by as being new, with your keen eye, you will pluck them right out of a pile of trash.

Put a Turbo Charge on your Antique & Collectible Treasure Hunting Skills. Join Daryle Lambert’s 31 Club.

Get FREE MENTORING in the Antique and Fine Art Business. Learn Inside the Industry Secrets that help you increase your profits. Then Learn to Grow Your Money Exponentially Buying and Selling only Antiques, Fine Art, and Collectibles with Daryle’s Strategic Business Plan. 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.

 

 

 

 

 

Quality in Unidentified Paintings

Daryle Lambert’s 31 Club Blog

A Jean Faurege Paris Steet Scene sold for $5,000 at 31 Club Gallery & Marketplace

Did you ever spot a painting but kept on walking because you couldn’t find out who the artist was?

Sunday, at the Chicago Antique, I purchased a small oil painting in a wonderful gilded leaf frame for $120. Cindy asked if I knew the artist, and I told her I didn’t. She asked me why I bought it. Cindy isn’t afraid to ask questions because she wants to learn. I told her I bought it because it’s signed, so if I can figure out who the artist is, I might have found a treasure. Now, I didn’t buy just any signed painting. It was very well done, and it also had a wonderful gilded leaf frame that was worth more than I paid for the painting.

I also purchased a very nice signed watercolor that was also very well done. I couldn’t pass it up for $30. I researched the name on the Internet and have e-mailed the artist to verify that it is her work. If the e-mail comes back positive, it could make my month.

Did I start out looking for a $30 painting? Not at all. Truthfully, I had more like $5,000 on my mind, but this $30 painting could bring a couple thousand. That ain’t so bad, as this country boy would say.

Go to our Fine Art Gallery and look at the painting by Jean Faurege. It just sold for $5,000 because it has the quality of an Edouard Leon Cortes or an Antoine Blanchard. No, you won’t find Faurege in Davenport’s or on AskArt.com, but his work is outstanding. True collectors can appreciate it for what it is.

By the way, you did hear me correctly. This painting sold right here on our Marketplace for $5,000. This could have been your painting.

A 31 Club Member called yesterday to ask me about several paintings they spotted, of which only one had any interest. It was what she called a “couch painting.” But, after hearing her describe it, I knew that it should be purchased at about $50, and that had been the price that was in her mind to offer. At $50, she couldn’t go wrong. I’m hoping she acquired it because it might turn out to be a real find.

When you see a painting, you must judge the quality of the piece before you pass it by. No, you can’t pay $5,000 for an unidentified painting, but what about $100 or even $200. This may well be the best buy you make for a while.

The secret is to be able to examine an item and make a quick decision on what to do next. Time can quickly pass by and indecision will cost you money. Even an occasional mistake can be quickly overcome by correct decisions made quickly before someone else beats you out.

I have seen people pay hundreds of dollars for a potato that looks like some special person, knowing full well that the potato will shrivel up and rot after a short period of time. This makes me feel confident in buying items that I think are well worth the money, because I know they won’t shrivel away.

Thursday, I’ll be leaving for the Smokies for ten days, but I’ll have a cell phone and computer if you need me, and also Cindy will be there to serve your emails and calls.

Put a Turbo Charge on your Antique & Collectible Treasure Hunting Skills. Join Daryle Lambert’s 31 Club.

Get FREE MENTORING. Learn Inside the Industry Secrets that help you increase your profits. Then Learn to Grow Your Money Exponentially Buying and Selling only Antiques, Fine Art, and Collectibles with Daryle’s Strategic Business Plan. 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.

Art Business: A New Trend in Prints?

Daryle Lambert’s 31 Club Blog

Using Fine Art Paintings, Antiques, Collectibles to Grow Personal Wealth

For years, I have said that prints held very little interest for me. However, my attitude might be changing for the short run.

Having worked with a lady for several months on selling her Andy Warhol prints, I told her I could no longer present them on our website when I secured a buyer at the posted price and she decided not to sell them. At the time, the price was $35,000 each for Warhol’s “Howdy Doody” and “The Witch.” I checked prices the other day on these two Warhol prints and found that they have almost doubled in price since I listed them. I know you won’t believe this– I hardly did, but the asking price for Warhol’s Mickey Mouse print is now over $100,000. For a print!!!

I might say that this is an exception, but some good fortune has come my way by this increased value of prints. I scanned the completed sales on eBay for a Marc Chagall print I’ve owned for some time, and there on the screen right in front of me was my print. And it had just finished its auction at $12,000. You can bet there will be another one listed soon.

Then, Cecil called me this morning to tell me that a print he had hanging in the booth at the antique mall where he sells many of his items, had just sold for over $1,000 and another one for over $400. These prints, by Buffet, had been there over a year, and Cecil half expected them to be just decorative wall paper to make the booth attractive.

So what is happening in the print market? Has true art has become so expensive that most people no longer can afford it? And, what do we do with this trend?

While I still have very little faith that this market in prints can be sustained, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t take advantage of this trend while it’s here. Money is money. If people are willing to spend big bucks on prints, let’s scour the countryside for them. Be sure, however, to list each print you buy quickly, so you don’t get stuck with many of them should the market reverse course.

The only warning I would give you is to not buy prints that have a certificate of authenticity with them. Usually these pieces were produced to take advantage of the buyer by unscrupulous sellers. There are exceptions, but let the buyer beware.

To build your client base in the Art business, it will always be best to encourage them to buy the real thing, and the best they can afford. In the Art World, it isn’t how much you own, but rather the quality of each piece in your collection. If you help your clients to assemble an art collection with the best they can afford, always putting their best interest above making money, they will be your customers for life, and you will become the person other people will look to for advise in building their collections.

Put a Turbo Charge on your Antique & Collectible Treasure Hunting Skills. Join Daryle Lambert’s 31 Club.

Get FREE MENTORING. Learn Inside the Industry Secrets that help you increase your profits. Then Learn to Grow Your Money Exponentially Buying and Selling only Antiques, Fine Art, and Collectibles with Daryle’s Strategic Business Plan. 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!

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

Ephemera: Great Finds by 31 Club Member – Historical Document and Railroad Collectibles

Daryle Lambert’s 31 Club Blog

Peter F. Rothermel’s 1851 painting of Patrick Henry’s “Treason” speech before the House of Burgesses. A Patrick Henry Historical Document will soon be listed in the 31 Gallery & Marketplace.

Little did our 31 Club Member, Cecil, know that a real country flea market in Greenville, Kentucky was the setting that would put him at the right place to uncover historical treasures. In case you’re wondering, a real country flea market is one of those markets where you can buy chickens, pigs, ducks and even a mule if you need one. You might also find homemade jams and jellies and a selection of tempting cakes and pies, and an assortment of other merchandise.

”I was walking down the rows of booths,” Cecil told me, “and my eyes focused on a pile of old papers. After some study, I discovered that they were stock certificates for the Nashville, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad Companies. I counted them, and there were 55 of them. I asked the dealer the price for all of them, and I was surprised that he asked so much — $90. I bought them anyway.”

Cecil listed one certificate that night and was surprised that there were already bids on this item the next morning. When the auction was completed, the final bid was $27.

“I estimated a price on the remaining certificates,” Cecil said. “Then I added them up and saw that my $90 investment could come near to $1,500 by the time I’m done.”

Can you imagine this much money for “worthless paper” that wasn’t even filled out?

As I’ve said before, there’s a collector for almost anything, and you can be sure that the attraction of these certificates will be from those who collect Railroad or Transportation items.

I am consistently amazed at how Cecil can pluck out treasure after treasure, even at an event like this one.

How many times have you gone to a garage sale or a flea market and seen stacks and stacks of paper lying in a heap? Newspapers, Magazines, Advertising, and maybe even some old stock certificates are often put out at sales like these. I’ve seen people looking through these stacks, just looking — having no idea what they were looking for. And if there was something valuable, it would’ve gone unnoticed.

Cecil never misses the chance to browse through old paper, and it was his browsing that turned up a Historical Document from the time of the Revolutionary War, signed by none other than Patrick Henry. (“Give me Liberty or give me death”) Cecil used the 31 Club’s Associate Program to help purchase this historical piece and it’s now for sale in our Gallery & Marketplace.

I think you’ll agree that Cecil had a pretty good week. Remember, this is the same Cecil who bought ten vintage travel posters, still in their tubes, for $30 each yet still hasn’t listed them. I’m hoping he will list them on our marketplace, because I know a least one of the posters is selling today for about $12,000!

Paper collectibles has been very good to Cecil and Paper can be good to you if you’ll study and gain the knowledge necessary to separate the wheat from the chaff. Perhaps one of the reasons I enjoy writing about Cecil so much is because I know where the first fruits from his grains go.

Put a Turbo Charge on your Antique & Collectible Treasure Hunting Skills. Join Daryle Lambert’s 31 Club.

Get FREE MENTORING. Learn Inside the Industry Secrets that help you increase your profits. Then Learn to Grow Your Money Exponentially Buying and Selling only Antiques, Fine Art, and Collectibles with Daryle’s Strategic Business Plan. 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!

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Antiques & Fine Art – The New Market During the Financial Storm

Daryle Lambert’s 31 Club Blog

Every day, there’s more bad news about plummeting stock prices, the spiking foreclosure rate, and about the high price of gas and food causing many financial hardships. However, this financial climate has created the perfect storm for those of us working in the antiques, collectibles and fine art markets, particularly those of us who are working the 31 Club Plan.

The 31 Club Plan is the plan I wrote about in my book, 31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles, published just last year.

Those of us working this plan are looking to profit substantially by locating and purchasing rare and valuable antique treasures to re-sell to collectors and the world’s wealthy. We work this market because we’re looking to build our financial futures, but find the traditional ways, like the stock markets and company 401K’s, just don’t seem to be doing what we need them to do.

We’ve discovered that there’s a limitless amount of money that can be made in the antique and fine art industry, so we’re getting ourselves up to speed. Many of us were already antique lovers, but some members are just now beginning to appreciate these fine items.

We’re learning, having fun, and meeting great people as we build college funds for our kids, and aim to have enough retirement money to live well, and not just get by. Our members each have their own personal financial goals, and they set their path accordingly. Right now, while the markets might be taking a beating, the higher end of the antique and fine art markets are still a blazing fire. This is where we want to be, and this is what we get educated about at the 31 Club.

By working in the high end of the antique and fine art markets, along with the plan I’ve laid out in my book, you will discover that trading in the kinds of tangible goods sought after by the world’s wealthy will be the path that sets you and your family financially free.

But, first ask yourself if you consider yourself trainable and are okay with doing some hard work. You’ll need to be both.

At the 31 Club, we’re educating ourselves to recognize and locate these high quality items. We’re using specific strategies for buying, selling, and growing profits. And we’re doing it all in the Antique, Fine Art, and Collectible Markets. When we follow this disciplined approach, well – quite frankly we’ll find that people will be counting us among the world’s wealthy.

Right now during this perfect storm, I’ve seem more estate sales advertised then I can possibly attend. I’m certain that antique items that have not seen the light of day in decades will likely turn up, as people sell off their valuables for cash.

In my book, I’ve done my best to lift the veil of secrecy that pervades this business, so that anyone can gain access to it. And when it comes to making money, the simple truth is this:

Money is made buying and selling, not sitting in an investment account or a piece of property. A planned approach to buying low, selling high, keeping your money turning and compounding will enable you to accumulate more cash than your banker or your broker will ever get for you. All in the Antiques, Collectible and Fine Art Markets.

Most 31 Club Members a begin with a $100 purchase in the antique, collectibles and fine art markets, and continue to grow their money from this initial investment. That’s the 31 Club Plan. I’ve laid it out in my book, and I Blog everyday to help educate you. Members e-mail me and call me for guidance. Some of our members are making more progress than they ever thought possible. If you’re new to this blog, stick around and take a look at our archives. We think this is the place you’ll want to hang your hat. And if you’re already a member, let this serve as a reminder to continue on the path.

Put a Turbo Charge on your Antique & Collectible Treasure Hunting Skills. Join Daryle Lambert’s 31 Club.

Get FREE MENTORING. Learn Inside the Industry Secrets that help you increase your profits. Then Learn to Grow Your Money Exponentially Buying and Selling only Antiques, Fine Art, and Collectibles with Daryle’s Strategic Business Plan. 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!

Visit Our Website at www.31Corp.com

Antique & Collectible Trading Success Starts With Basic Tools

Daryle Lambert’s 31 Club Blog

Some of us have been working together for almost a year now, but are you prepared for success?

Yes, we have studied antiques & collectibles, listened to stories of success, but have we assembled the tools needed to master this market?

These questions came to me as I was working with one of our members yesterday. She’s one of the best students I have run across and never fails to do her best to meet the assignments I give her. Her eye for quality is impeccable, and the knowledge she has acquired through her international travels serves her well in the antiques & collectibles arena. But, as we visited, it became apparent there were some basic tools still missing. Like a current computer!

You see, we tried to upload her new digital camera, but couldn’t. Her computer was too old to handle it. Without a computer and digital camera, I don’t know how you can compete in the Antique, Collectible and Fine Arts Markets today.

To Compete in the Antique, Collectible and Fine Art Markets Today, a Digital Camera and a Computer That Can Handle it are Two Necessary Tools for Success.

A fairly new computer and a digital camera is a requirement. Most of you already have one that is sufficient, but if there are members who need to upgrade, this might be a good time. The prices have dropped at an unbelievable rate for desktop models, and you can probably get all you need for $400. A reconditioned computer will be even less. If you’re not able to do this, I’ve seen the “buddy system” work well. One person has the camera already, the other has the computer, and they work together.

Without these two items, your connection with the markets will be very limited. Each day, people send me photos to look at. With those, I can help the sender decide whether or not to purchase the item, or what price to ask for it when they sell it. I also have people who offer me certain items, and e-mail me a photo to look at first, before deciding if I’m interested enough to consider buying it. Once people know you buy antiques, collectibles and fine art, they’ll want to e-mail photos to you, as well.

The computer can help you access auction sites, such as eBay, Rago Arts & Auction, Treadway and others, to do price research, as well as general research on just about everything imaginable. With the use of a good computer and digital camera, you can create limitless results.

I see so many trying to make it in the Antique field who don’t take time to research and learn. The computer can help you research like never before, and if you’ve joined the 31 Club you have these tools already aiding you on your success in this trade through many of our professional subscriptions that are costly to subscribe to individually. Access to a wide network of professionals and collectors can also be at your fingertips when you join us. If you haven’t joined, why not do so today? My 220 page paperback book, 31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles is free with your membership, and the complete list of trade tools is listed in the book. Join Today!

Our community is growing everyday and I think you will agree that our site is becoming the standard for the industry. Cindy, Chris and Jeremy have done an outstanding job and the best is still to come. Clarke is waiting in the wings for his next assignment, and I can guarantee it isn’t far a way.

Join with like-minded 31 Club Members and put a turbo charge on your antique & collectible treasure hunting skills. Get FREE Mentoring. Learn Inside the Industry Secrets. Learn to make high profits and continue to grow your money buying and selling antiques, fine art, and collectibles.

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

The book is also available on Amazon.com. If you buy the book on Amazon, then the membership is FREE.

 

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Antiques & Collectibles: Only Buy What Has a Secondary Market

Daryle Lambert’s 31 Club Blog 

 

“Casablanca” movie poster sold for $23,000 in March of 2006 through Heritage Auction Galleries (http://www.ha.com/)

What is the true value of an item? This is the most important question that can be answered for you in the Antique, Collectible and Fine Art business. Being able to understand what creates an item’s value will save you unlimited pain and loss in the future.

There are many areas within the antique & collectible business and several of these areas you will want to avoid at all cost. So, before you get started, you’ll want to scratch them from your want list because they will likely not create profit for you, regardless of their price.

Franklin Mint items are tops on the list. I once saw a young man with Franklin Mint collectibles that he had paid over $30,000 for turn around and sell them to a dealer at $1500 – and the dealer still lost money. This is also true of the collector plates, most often sold on the Bradford exchange. Today, these plates are listed at ten cents on the dollar of their original selling price.

I’ve had to learn some valuable lessons in these area myself. I once attended a large auction in Louisville, and I couldn’t help myself when a set of twelve plates came to the block. I had researched them and found they had originally sold for $3,600. I won the plates with my bid of $400, and I was sure I had found a treasure that day. I kept them for many years, and after moving to Chicago, I thought I’d test the water on my great buy, so I listed them at a local auction. They sold for only $300. The only way I could justify my $100 loss was to tell myself that at least I hadn’t lost as much as the first buyer.

Another market that hasn’t done so well for me is the Movie Poster Market. You can look in the Kovel’s price guide for Movie Posters and find prices for many posters as high as $5,000 or more. However, I am very familiar with prices that reach tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands for the most rare posters. Heritage Auction Galleries auctions movie posters and recently, a Bride of Frankenstein poster sold in the high 300,000’s. The movie poster market is a very controlled market, and a poster getting anywhere near the posted price is nearly impossible. Go to any dealer that specializes in Movie Posters and ask the price for a rather rare one they are showing. Return later to the booth and tell them you have one of those posters, and I will almost guarantee you they won’t give you a price. I do think that some movie posters are wonderful, but we are in the business of making money. If you buy something and can’t sell it at a reasonable price, then you must go on to the next item.

For the consumer, Galleries selling works of unlisted artists might be the most unfair market that I know of. There isn’t ever a secondary market for this type of art work that I can find, and after it’s bought, the paintings will only have a value similar to other decorative art items.

I once was call to a house by a woman who needed money for a surgery. She showed me a painting that her father-in-law had gifted to them, having paid over $18,000 for the painting at the time. Many phone calls later to auction houses and galleries, I was finally able to sell it for $1,000 to a buyer. (He did me a personal favor by buying it.) If the artist isn’t listed or the painting doesn’t have a record of its history, pass on it and go to the next item.

The final area of items to stay away from is Limited Prints. If the prints aren’t signed by the artist, I have no interest in them. Unsigned prints are a dime a dozen and are to be avoided at all cost. The framing will be more valuable usually than the print. Signed prints are a different story. Most of the prints you find will be signed within the print. But, what you’re looking for is where they have been signed after the print has been produced. So on most of these they will have a double signature and usually one will be in pencil.

While you’re on the lookout for valuable antique and collectible treasure, keep these three words in mind: Secondary, Secondary, and Secondary. I repeat it three times so you’ll not forget it – ever. If there’s an item you are considering and you don’t know if there is a secondary market for it, let someone else have it and save your money for a better buy.

Join with like-minded 31 Club Members and put a turbo charge on your treasure hunting skills. Get FREE Mentoring. Learn Inside the Industry Secrets. Learn to make high profits and continue to grow your money buying and selling antiques, fine art, and collectibles. My 220 page book, 31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles is FREE with your membership. The book is also available on Amazon.com. If you buy the book on Amazon, then the membership is FREE.

Antique Furniture – Clothing Chests

Daryle Lambert 31 Club Blog

 

This Connecticut Chest on Chest, circa 1790, sold for $18,000 at Hood Auction.

We are all very individual in our tastes when it comes to decorating our homes. Some like formal, some like casual, and there is a chest for anyone’s taste. For most of my life, I preferred Queen Anne style but now, I’m more into early America. Regardless of style, the one thing that most catches my is quality. Beautiful wood crafted by a true artist certainly gets my attention.

We talked about blanket chests, sugar chests and today we’ll continue with clothes chests, which we’re most familiar with. These beauties can be very valuable under certain circumstances. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:

A gentleman brought a chest to the Antique Road Show inquiring of its value. He told the director that when he purchased the piece, it had been painted in an ugly red paint, but he had it stripped and refinished. When the director asked him if he wanted the good news or bad news first, he opted for the good news first, and the news was that his piece was worth about $35,000. The owner was thrilled. He asked how there could be bad news. But, there was. And the bad news? By stripping the original red paint finish, he had washed away $100,000.

This is a lesson we must not forget. It’s best to buy each piece as it is, at the value it is in the condition it is in presently. Never stray from this rule. Yes, you might be able to make a piece prettier, but in doing so, you risk reducing the true collector value. Always let your new buyer make the decisions on what he want to do to improve what you’ve sold him.

There are many styles of chests you can run across. The federal style, with its straight lines, appeals to me. Your taste might be more toward Chippendale or Empire style. The true antiques in these styles can be very expensive. You might be expected to pay from $10,000 to $500,000 for a bow front mahogany or a birds eye maple chest. If you’re not familiar with styles in chests or furniture, nor the appeal of various woods, I believe the best way to learn about furniture and its styles is by first studying books. There are many books to choose from, and you might even spend some time in the library studying. Then, find a shop that carries a variety of high quality antique furniture and take a look at these items close up. You’ll find the shop owner will probably be more than happy to answer questions and help with your education.

I once bought a very nice three drawer walnut chest for $500. It had all the original hardware and had a patina that was true to its age. I got a little excited, and priced the chest at a little over $2,000. It sold immediately. This was another time I wish I had waited and allowed myself more time to research before selling. I would’ve made a lot more money. So, please take some time to research your piece as best as you can, and don’t be shy about calling in an expert or two or three. I am sure you can tell that what I share with you has been learned by making some of the very mistakes I warn you of.

Hepplewhite, Queen Anne, Sheraton are also styles that will add beauty to any room. When you are on the hunt, never be distracted by price. If the price asked seems too rich for your blood, that’s the moment go and do your research. Yes, you might lose the piece, but being safe rather than sorry is always the right decision. If you return, and it is gone, it probably wasn’t meant to be at this time. Remember, the best decisions we make are based on knowledge.

If you find a piece of furniture that fits all the rules, buy the piece and have the sales person put a “sold” tag on it immediately and continue your hunt. If you stop to secure the piece or take it to your car, the other fabulous treasure waiting for you in the next room might be missed.

There is a pot of gold waiting for you, if the right chest comes your way. But, remember, it will more than likely require waiting for several months for it to be sold at the proper auction. For special pieces, the wait will be well worth it.

Join with like-minded 31 Club Members and put a turbo charge on your treasure hunting skills. Get FREE Mentoring. Learn Inside the Industry Secrets. Learn to make high profits and continue to grow your money buying and selling antiques, fine art, and collectibles. My 220 page book, 31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles is FREE with your membership. The book is also available on Amazon.com. If you buy the book on Amazon, then the membership is FREE.