Where to find valuable antiques where owners are unaware of the value?

In my part of the world (Midwest USA) I still find sleepers or moderately-underpriced items at thrift shops. I visit regularly and focus my eyes and brain only on small sections of shelves and racks at a time with specific items in mind to look for. I spend a significant amount of time educating myself on items/categories I'm interested in by looking at similar sold items on ebay, and doing other online research (I think that's the only way to stay ahead of thrift store pricing staff). I focus mainly on vintage clothing, accessories, and jewelry, but have also found hidden treasures in housewares and textiles. Occasionally I find something for less than $5 or $10 that I sell on ebay for more than $100-$200, but most things I find sell for maybe $10-$50 more than I paid--I'm not getting rich, but making a little extra retirement income.

 

Joe...I like your moral values.....but unless you've been brought in by the heirs to appraise an estate sale........I've never heard anything like this before....
"the seller is relying on you to treat them fairly."

I always thought it was the other way around ...!

 

& just for the heck of it......
I've seen enough Pawn Stars.....where the seller wants 4000....the expert comes in and says it's worth 12,000.....and Rick asks " so, now what do you want for it ?"...and the seller almost always shoots back ...$ 12,000 !!!
To which Rick replies..." that's never gonna happen ! "

I've had my fill of sellers.....who are not relying on me to treat them in any manner whatsoever...other than agreeing to their price !!

 

I occasionally feel like a predator when I about steal something from a private individual who's selling an inherited cameo they do not want & know nothing about. But I have worked hard at gaining the knowledge that lets me spot such things, and, as has already been said, the same knowledge is available to one & all.

I have absolutely no compunction about getting a deal on a hardstone cameo represented & priced as plastic when the seller is a professional who puts GIA after their name.

I do virtually all my buying on line. One thing I do sometimes is search for common typos: corral for coral; angle for angel (as in angle skin corral). I pay attention to the input/output of search functions: does entering 'cameo' also turn up listings for 'cameos'?; it may not. I take note of how sellers of cameos who really do not know which words to use in the title tend to describe them. I have a handful of equally knowledgeable competitors in the market. I have figured out which search I run regularly has most often turned up treasures they appear to have overlooked. I have a ton of things on my watch list (so glad they took off the 200 item cap) I have no intention of buying, to see the results & keep a feel for the market.

 

A few years ago a local coin shop owner told me a story about an older gentleman who came in to his store with an assortment of inexpensive coins worth no more than a few hundred dollars. The shop owner examined each one with the gentleman and formulated a list of what he could pay and other options to dispose of the remainder which he didn't want.

After the terms of sale were completed the client mentioned that he had been to several other coin dealers and none of them would tell him the time of day since they coins he was selling were of low value and they were busy with other more important business.

A few months later the client had found more inherited coins, this time the good stuff worth several hundred thousand dollars and this time he knew who to sell to and whom to avoid. Making consistently low offers can create a reputation in the community, you want to be the person known for being better than the competition and you will see more quality items.

 

For a time I bid on turquoise jewellery from a seller who listed it as torques. I loved him for it, but I guess someone corrected his spelling, and bidding went through the roof.

 

Like said above I have no guilt about picking a professional seller. It is their business to know what they are peddling.

 

Yes, but you can also get known as the dealer how pays the most , and then get swamped with folks coming to sell you their also-rans ....for top dollar..!

 

I agree. I picked up a 9ct necklace chain, bracelet and 3 rings with CZ in them at the carboot. I was told they were gold by the seller, so she knew what they were. I asked how much and she said £8 for the lot. The chain scrapped at over £100. I felt as if she had the knowledge to find out about her things but hadn’t bothered.

 

To me it boils down to who the buyer and seller are. Is the seller a dealer or someone with a couple of items to sell? Is the buyer a dealer/store owner?
If the seller is a dealer I would pay the $10 and have no guilt. The same goes for on-line sellers - if you are running a business it is up to you to know what you are selling. bercrystal said it well 'Everyone/dealers has access to the same information I do, but some do not want to take the time or effort to research an item'
If the seller is not a dealer, just an everyday individual that goes into your store with an item(s), then yes, you should be paying a fair price. People are coming to you because you are in the business and will have the knowledge of what they are selling and an idea of value.
For me there have been lots of times I've been at community sales and paid more than what they were asking - they were just everyday folks cleaning out their garage/basements and trying to get rid of stuff. The items were not million dollar items but I made some money and they were happy to get more than what they were asking. Many times this turned into 'we/I have more stuff at home, would you like to come and have a look'.
Making consistently low offers can create a reputation in the community, you want to be the person known for being better than the competition and you will see more quality items.
As a dealer, I agree . I'm in a small community and reputation is huge in this business. Being fair with people always pays off.

 

My situation is different, but have certainly found that generosity with information has never hurt me. Of course, I'm mainly generous concerning items I do not want myself, but I often write amateur sellers with info, mainly about the subject on their 1 cameo, sometimes to clarify the material used, particularly if they invite additional info. Once in a while this leads to being offered first dibs on a piece. Usually not something I want, but the reciprocity is nice.

Had a different kind of beneficial return recently, when having done research on a piece to help out someone else (she then made absolutely no use of it) gave me the clue I needed to work out the signature on a piece of mine, with a very happy result.

 

@Bronwen I didn't know cameos are signed!!

 

Very interesting discussion.
I tend to agree with Peggy, aka Bercrystal.

A few times I have gone to a rummage sale at a church or temple and picked up a few items that were marked so low in price, that I gave the seller a bit more money because I knew how much I would make on them and felt like I could help them out some.

These are mostly elderly folks clearing out their unwanted items and don't give a hoot about getting the best price. Or they want to give the money to their house of worship.

I also feel that if I go to estate sales and never haggle over prices, they will
quickly take me for someone who doesn't know that I can haggle. Newbies at these sales often don't know they can counter -- these newbies are sometimes folks who just saw one of the photos on line and wanted one or 2 items shown.
Standing in line waiting to get in often times, there is a need for chatting. And sometimes you can help a newbie understand how things work.

I always am polite when I ask for a lower price. I have seen some really ugly incidents here with bad buyers and bad sellers who square off in the midst of an estate sale.

I don't want to be pegged as someone who doesn't know what the right buying price is and just takes the word of the sale runner.

Just my 2 cents.

 

Same for me!!!

 

If you know what you are looking for, walk door to door and knock. Ask if they anything they want to sell.

 

The vast majority are not & the signatures on many are illegible, although any kind of signature tends to boost value. Best are pieces signed by a cameist who was documented in any way, even if just by being listed in 19th century guidebooks that tell tourists to Rome the best places to go for various goods & services.

Picked up many of my signed pieces from sellers who showed the signature, or part of it, in their photos but failed to mention it in any way in title or description. My avatar is one of those. Took the successful gamble that the 'ig' visible in a photo of the back was part of the name 'Tignani'.

Edit: And when I carefully examined a cameo I bought from a swanky outfit on 1st dibs, suspecting it could be signed, found that it was, completely overlooked by seller. Sometimes a name is scratched in so lightly you have to get it at just the right angle to the light to see it.

 

My previous comment was directed towards sellers on ebay, dealers at an mall, consignment shops or professionally run estate sales.

If I was dealing with someone who was looking to sell their own stuff, it would be a whole different matter. For example a few years back I was asked by a mutual friend to call on an older lady who was downsizing. I did end up buying several items from her & in the course of talking with her she brought up selling some sterling items. I knew I could sell the stuff without any problems, but I also knew she would do much better by taking it to the auction house where I worked. I hooked her up with the auctioneer & she was extremely pleased with how well she did there.

She was also a very accomplished artist & surprised me with one of her original watercolors to thank me for suggesting she use the auction as well as my help in transporting all of the stuff to the auction house.

On the other hand, last night at the consignment shop I felt absolutely zero guilt when I bought a whole slew of stuff that was priced way below market value.

 

Oh, forget about making an offer at an estate sale here. The prices are firm, only the last day is discounted. Some estate sellers let you put in a bid before the discount day.

Interesting. Sharing information has come back to bite me, so I am very cautious. I tend to share it if I don't want an item. If you share around here, they watch you like a hawk and charge you top dollar.

I have NO compunction about paying a dealer a low price. Most have no compunction for charging high prices. And I have seen enough disreputable dealers outright lying to people about their wares.

Now individuals are different story. It depends on the person. If they are nice, I pay more/share information. If they think they know it all or laugh at me, well, hahaha all the way to the bank.

 

It pays to be nice. You don't want to get on the BAD side of the estate sellers here.

I have to say I really must exercise the utmost control when somebody at a flea market or a yard sale is asking $50 for dollar store items and tells me "that's what they get on ebay." Sometimes I lose control and tell them "Wow, you SHOULD sell that on ebay!!!! You should get a camera, open an ebay and paypal account, take lots of pictures, upload them, list the item, pay the listing and selling fees, use your printer ink to print out the label, make sure you have packing materials, ship it out, and hope it is not damaged or returned."

 

I do tell people about mistakes when I don't want the item. I went to one "estate" sale that was really a moving sale held by an estate sale company. Found zilch, but did see a nice porcelain horse head statuette. They had it priced at $4. I told the manager to stick another digit on there somewhere; it was a German brand whose name I forget. She repriced it at $34 and it sold about two minutes later. I've also paid church sales more than the asking price. Ordinary estate sales, consignments, antique stores etc... they're on their own.(LOL)