I don’t know why he would do this to this family but it just goes to show, some dealers are just liars, malicious, jealous, pissed they weren’t the first one into the house, or whatever. Either way, his actions were unethical and unfortunately, there are many more like him out there.

Then again, when I worked in a coffee shop 15 years ago I was shocked at the amount of money people spent for Mother’s Day. A new deluxe coffee-maker, a grinder, 5 pounds of beans plus a new set of mugs for Mom. Come Father’s Day, customers would buy 1/2 pound of coffee for dear old Dad and be done with it. I thought it reflected the amount of time fathers spent with their childern in the past – something I believe is changing with today’s parents.

Nick

It’s always a good idea to get an appraisal from an appraiser, and then sell to a dealer. Don’t sell to your appraiser, as that’s a conflict of interest on his part.

It’s better to get an appraisal, then sell to a dealer, knowing the appraised retail value of the item.

(Or, you can always just skip the appraisal and offer it to several dealers, and take the highest price offered.)

“He then told her the rugs were much more than what she sold them for. She never again trusted an ‘expert’.”

Of course the rugs were worth more than what she sold them for; a dealer will always have to pay less for an item than he will price it for. He has to make a profit when he eventually does sell it to someone else (which may not be immediately).

Some dealers will offer more than others, and it doesn’t necessarily mean one is more or less honest than another.

It depends upon their knowledge, circumstances, if they have a buyer waiting or will have to keep it on hand for a long time, etc… So many different factors go into determining a price.

For examples of what goes into pricing collectible books, you might see my article at http://www.emptymirrorbooks.com/collecting/first-edition-values.html

(The principles discussed there apply to items other than books items as well.)

My two cents.
Denise

For example, I’ve been watching a Space 1999 spaceship toy I used to have. With a box, they regularly sell for over $300. There are people asking as much as $7995. Others have sold for as little as $185. I’ve also seen parts sold separately (just the spaceship, just the box, etc), that could be bought and assembled for $150.

Although it didn’t help in the case of the dishes above, you can make offers on “buy it now” items too. I’ve had my offer accepted a surprising number of times, even without a counter-offer.

I’ve been watching a tea set for more than a year. The seller is asking $419. A well-known collector with lots of knowledge in that area tells me he would pay $125. But the seller says she had it appraised for $350 several years ago, so she wants $350 — never mind that values have fallen as the economy crashed. That’s just one example — several other things I collect have been priced beyond reason too.

Some folks have told me that if I truly want it, I should just buy it, but that ridiculous. I don’t mind paying an “I must have it” premium, but I can’t (and would be stupid) to overpay by hundreds. So I don’t buy.

My tea set aside, I think these dream prices are a bad trend for collectors. It could drive up prices eventually, or it could drive even hardcore collectors like myself to other interests.

negligible…….really? Most? no……not from what I see.

In real life I find that to be an untrue statement.

Especially when it’s a family item, or they’ve paid a lot for it. I hate to try and explain that their emotional value doesn’t enter into what someone else will be willing to pay. Nor is it fun to tell them either they paid too much in the first place, or the market has moved.

Sometimes, these sentimental items are sold when the family needs money. I point out to my wife what I call “mortgage payment” yard sales. In an attempt to raise money, they bring out the things they count as valuable. The sad irony of these cases is, they probably left items with less emotional and more cash value at home.

I recently had an email “discussion” with a client about a painting she believed was worth considerably more than I had valued it because she spoke with Sothebys and they had sold his paintings for much more. She wasn’t considering that the paintings by that artist, that had sold for more, were larger and of a different subject. I valued it based on comparables of similar size and subject matter. Not to be swayed by the facts, I ultimately needed to locate another appraiser who came in within 5% of my value. If methodology is the same, the results should be similar.

My point here is, sometimes no mater how you explain it, some people cannot be convinced.

I knew my grandparents very well (I am 57)We have longevity in our genes, grandpa was 100 when he died,his sister was 106, both had full faculties.

My mother has a vast collection of items that her mother and grandmother made, not just “girly” things, my grandmother was an excellent woodcarver as was her mother. A hand carved wooden coal scuttle comes to mind which my mother still uses to this day. I believe that in our grandparents age and beyond the ladies of the house were far more productive in what they did (not that they are not now, but times and demands change)I was brought up to respect these items and my children (now in their 30′s) Also respect them.

Grandfathers on the other hand, unless they were handy at something themselves like carving, rarely left anything as hand me downs, work was hard, hours were long. Relaxation time for the man of the house was probably recuperation time before work again. Maybe some fishing rods, some books, their own personal items like razors etc, show up as treasured items but that’s about it.

I hope this has helped with Aside #2 for you and given you thoughts for a future column.

Kind regards, Nick

“The third difficulty with old is that today’s young generation does not have the same degree of respect for age and antiquity as do their grandparents.”

This seems a rather large generalisation and I am always pleasantly surprised at the amount of youngster at our auctions buying the most bizarre items (for a youngster anyway) often initially encouraged by parents. They are in the minority, but they are there.

Lastly, and I know you have been here, explaining to the customer, “But, it’s a Fake / Reproduction” Similarly “limited production runs 1/500 seems to entice many a customer, they never ask how many actual production runs where there when purchasing.

Keep up the excellent articles, regards, Nick

As to the point of why it’s always Grandma’s things, it’s probably related to bicycles. Boys bikes are worth more than girls bikes. The boys destroyed their bikes, so there are fewer of them around. Same with a lot of guy things. They’re either broken, given to a buddy or sold. There aren’t many things guys hand down (guns being a major exception here in the South).

In my opinion of course.