Selling Antiques

 Consignment Sales / Broker / Outright Purchase

 We are full time antique dealers and our full time jobs are dealing in and selling antiques.

Our websites www.Patented-Antiques.com   &  www.AntiqBuyer.com  are both very visible on the internet and well indexed with various search engines.  You found us and so do 1000 some other unique visitors each day. 

We have sold a lot of good antique and collectible merchandise for consignors during the 9 plus years we have had this internet based antique website.  We have a large data base of Past Sales Results at our sister website www.AntiqBuyer.com that you can see and utilize if you are seeking general information and that information  This site is our Antique sales site and you can see what we are currently offering through the links on the left.  . 

We are not weekend warriors or part time hacks who dabble in it to supplement their income, create a write-off come tax time, justify their vacations or other social reasons. We consider it our job, and treat it as such 

If you have something good to sell we can help you sell it, or your whole collection of antiques.

We sell antiques and collections of antiques in three ways: 

In this scenario the typical adversarial conflict between antique sellers and antique dealer / buyers is not a factor.  We work with the seller / owner to find the right buyer / end user for their antiques.  We are working together to each other's benefit to maximize the return for both parties. In addition, the seller get his price, not what it might bring at an auction.  We only get paid upon a successful sale. 

In a consignment sales approach a consigner / seller's antiques will be researched, photographed, listed for sale, marketed, and sold from the sales pages of this site www.Patented-Antiques.com and / or on our sister site www.Antiqbuyer.com for a reasonable commission.

Or, after consultation and agreement on a price, sold privately to a collector within our network of buyers on a commission or fee basis.

This approach has many benefits for the seller.  The upside potential includes the consignor can (within reason) control the price that his antique(s) are offered for and can realize a larger profit upon sale than through an outright sale to most antique dealers or through local auction or eBay.  There are other reasons as well and these are discussed on the FAQ page as well as other pages on this site.  The downside is the consignor may have to wait for a sale and receives no payment until the sale is fully consummated. 

When selling your antique(s) on consignment we work with you, on a lower markup having minimal financial risk and minimal carrying costs.  We invest our time, expertise, labor and knowledge.  Only upon sale do we collect the agreed upon percentage.  A Win-Win situation for all parties involved.

Consignment sales are generally not a feasible option for single lower priced items. For example, 20% of a $20 item listed for sale would never be worthwhile at $4.00 commission in my pocket.  Even with a 50 / 50 split @ $10.00 does not cover my overhead on pieces valued this low.  I just can not do it. 

Broker / Consultations / and Auctions

Another option we use in certain situations to sell antiques is to utilize internet auction sites such as eBay on a commission basis. This approach works best if your antique is currently selling well there, and / or you want a quick sale. 

For a reasonable commission your item(s) will be properly presented, well photographed, and accurately described to enhance the chances for a higher auction result. We have over 2000 positive feedbacks there and understand the system unlike many of the local listing services who sell on eBay. We sell there under the name TheAntiqueMerchant, and here is an example of Salesman Sample Farm Machine we sold there.

In this scenario, eBay and CC fees generally amount run 10% or so.   Depending on the listing format used, reserves, upgrades like featured item, what the piece sells for and so forth, eBay's fees can be considerably more approaching 20% -30%.  We charge our standard commission plus whatever eBay's fees come to when providing this service, and will consult with the owner / seller prior to listing anything there.. 

We will consult with and advise potential sellers on the best alternative auction houses should the seller want to go that route and not use eBay.  In general this approach is used for very special items and in special circumstances. Great pieces do great in the right auction and it can make all the difference in how your antique does.  At most auctions, most pieces sell at wholesale to dealers to be marked up and resold later. This approach should only be used when appropriate.

Outright purchase of your antique(s)

This is the simplest, cleanest, most often used method to sell or acquire antiques.  It works especially well when the seller knows what he has and what he wants for his piece.  This approach insures that the seller is paid immediately.  The seller has no concerns with future marketing, repairs, discounts, theft, loss, bad checks, rip-offs, returns or other problems with the end buyers.  Simply agree on a price, collect your money, and you are done.  Clean and simple. 

Problem is most sellers who want an outright sale also want to play some other game without admitting it. 

The main obstacle is agreeing on a price and the adversarial position most sellers create saying they have no idea what they want for their antique, when in fact they do. 

Typical buyers of antiques exasperate this problem with their approach to this aspect by continually asking how much the seller wants, and refusing to ever make fair offers.  It can be exhausting and frustrating for both parties.  I rarely participate in this "game".

Researching Your Antiques Value

FREE Antique Appraisals

If you are not looking to sell your antique, or pay for an antique appraisal, but want to know what it may be worth, do some research.   Online appraisals or valuations are available for many categories of property or antiques at different internet sites. Some sites charge a nominal sum for this service.  Others imply they will do it for free if you give them something first or otherwise meet their requirements. 

I believe that the caveat about you get what you pay for applies and hopefully you have lots of spare time and like receiving spam emails if you choose to go that route.   Also sometimes you get very little worthwhile  info even if you do pay.

Seriously though, the best approach to get information concerning the value or history of your individual antique is to run searches on Google or other good internet search engines.  Be creative try different searches and key words.   Or check eBay sales results or other available auction results to see what information you can gather there. It can take time, and time is money.  This is what I routinely do and most times this approach gives good current results for the value of different antiques and collectibles. Please try to refrain from asking me to spend my time doing your homework for free.

Please Note:  Finding my name and website in a Google search when looking for info on your antique and then firing off an email asking me about the history of, and what your antique is worth without reading the page is not the type of research I am talking about.  

Below are some links to get you started with your endeavor and past that approach.

Run a search with Google or another search engine on your antique to learn about it and its value.  Start with general terms and get very specific. 

Find a similar piece on my pages, or in the Sales Archives on our sister website and then price yours accordingly.  Here is the button to get you to my Site Search Page.  There is also a search feature at our other website www.AntiqBuyer.com. 

We offer antique sellers many free resources on this site to help you determine the age (see Patent Date Chart) and value of a given antique, and we encourage you to use them.  Our Sales Archives pages are a wealth of information for giving you a sense of the antiques we are most interested in, the quality of merchandise we sell, and the level of our experience and scope of our knowledge.

If you are looking for free appraisals look at these sites from a Google Search for free antique appraisals and see what you can find.

If you are looking for a paid appraisal look at these sites from a Google Search for paid antique appraisals or go to a local appraiser you find in the Yellow pages.

Making Offers on Your Antiques