Sell whole collection?

Hi all,

I have 100+ items I want to sell, and would like to do it as one big collection. My thought is someone would re-sell. Do folks ever do this?

Includes:
Very fine antique kilims, textiles, trappings
Large collection of fine antique ladies fans
Fine antique plate silver
Blenko glass
Large collection antique valentines
Porcelain Dolls
Much more...

Do people do this?

Thanks for the help!

 

@AmyMCB - Welcome to the forum!!

Yes, there are dealers/pickers who do this & then sell the stuff to other dealers, at their booths, at antique shows, etc.

However, I will warn you that a dealer/picker is going to offer you half or less than what they think they can sell the stuff for later. I purposely put the word "they" in bold letters because it is very important that you understand it is not what you think they are worth.

Also, as @Bookahtoo pointed out you would have to deal with all these strangers coming to your house to look at your stuff.

I would do as she recommended to investigate local auction houses in your area.

 

There are some antique dealers that are generalists and will buy anything and everything in a particular estate. However many of these dealers don't pay the strongest prices and generally as the bulk lot gets larger, the weaker the overall price gets. You might want to sort out smaller "collector" lots and group similar items together to sell in a group, like the art glass in one lot and the dolls in another so that you also get interest from specialty dealers and even some collectors.

The auction house suggestion is a good one or you could set up at a flea market if you wanted to take a more hands on approach.

 

Maybe itd be a good idea to get some sort of appraisal first,so you dont let Marie Antoinette's fan go for $5 ! Also,itd give you a general idea of what you have and what it might be worth. I dont sell often,but when I do I always figure on MAYBE getting 20% of what it might be worth. With things so up in the air at the moment with covid,etc,it might behoove you to wait until things are more calm to try and sell. A LOT of people are selling right now ,trying to keep a roof over their heads or feed their families. From what I can see the market is glutted at the moment. Anyone else think that ?

 

I would be more than willing to offer twice that amount for Marie Antoinette's fan.

 

Personally I think the next few years are going to be great for buyers/collectors and very tough for anyone selling. I've never seen so many good estate auctions in such a short time and several auctioneers I know are booked solid every weekend for months in advance. Same with estate sale companies.

 

I think your assessment is spot on.

 

put a sign up, "Estate sale" and take offers.

 

And yet, all three of my booths in antique malls made record sales last month. Not only record for August but record for any 1 month, ever!

Linda

 

We may get a bounce later from the mess on the West Coast. Sad but true. Folks whose things burned will need to redecorate sooner or later.

 

My 2 penneth, I'm a buyer who searches 1000's of lots each week and I've found during Covid the market has been dry of any really good antiques. I think I would sell individually and make as much as you can.

 

All great ideas and advice above. Do you have any expertise with any of the item types that you’re trying to sell? If you’re not in a position to identify and grade things accurately it could make them hard to sell yourself

 

Going by the specialised nature of the items you are selling I would either try and find an auction where textiles in that field are being sold or sell individually on ebay, I know ebay can often be a pain but at least you will have the whole world to sell to rather than a small area, especially given you have a large number of the same type item, you don't want to flood the market.

 

It's a time vs. money equation, isn't it? Only you can really know which is more important.

Debora

 

as a lot...you'll never get the best prices.

 

Good Idea to group them in Like item lots. Dolls, Glassware etc......Then take a picture of the group and post them here and i'm sure many of us would like to see them and advise you on anything that might be worthwhile to take a second look at.

 

I get the feeling that the OP thinks ...or would like ...one person to buy all her stuff in one shot....

I just can't see that happening..