Mechanical
Nature Antiques
FAQ &
Consigning &
Selling Antiques
Where are you? Do you have a store? When are you open? Etc.
We live in California and do not
have an open antique shop! This and our other antique website
www.Antiqbuyer.com on the Internet
are our storefront. We have been working on and maintaining
our antique oriented websites for over 8 years. We are "open"
24/7, but we also have competing interests in addition to the duties
involved in maintaining and running these antique shops on the internet. We are
oftentimes on the road buying or selling antiques, and we also attend and participate in several different antique
shows in different parts of the country throughout the year!
1. Do you both sell & buy antiques?
Yes, we are constantly buying and selling antiques and collectibles. We
help sellers sell antiques, and help antique collectors and buyers buy them---from entire
collections of antiques to individual antiques offered for sale for
consignors, collectors, antique dealers, private individuals and others.
We are mostly helping people sell their antiques through the consignment
service we offer. These consigners are either the original
collectors who are downsizing, or spouses or relatives of the original collector
who have been left to deal with the collection.
We help consigners
sell select individual antiques or entire collections of antiques related to our main areas of interest
which are patented and mechanical devices, tools, or scientific and technology
related antiques. We also deal in Americana and what is known as
Country or General Store antiques and related advertising.
If you have a
single antique or an entire collection of antiques for
sale we would be interested in please contact us at LCM@patented-antiques.com giving
us your name, phone number and other contact info
and we will get back
to you ASAP. Please
include as many details as possible in your initial correspondence.
Please Note: Prior
to contacting us about your antique(s) please review this page and the pages in green in the
column to the left to determine if your piece would likely be of
interest to us.
Please see the
Antiques Wanted
page
and other parts of this
FAQ
page for more specific info.
2. Do you offer online Antique Appraisals / Give Valuations
for antiques that are not for sale?
I will discuss values with potential consignors with no obligation or
fee as part of that service that we offer.
We offer appraisal / valuation service for a fee for other folks. If you contact me with a
request for a value or for further information on your antique that is
not for sale I will
send you a Paypal invoice to fill out and pay through. I offer a two-tier fee schedule for antique appraisals:
1. Simple Appraisals or valuations and any info for individual antiques I can perform off the top of my head
or with minimal time expenditures are $9.95.
2. Detailed appraisals in writing that entail further research are a
minimum $19.95 and up depending on the volume, time spent researching, and level of information
you are looking for. We can discuss the details if needed.
If I am not well versed in the category of your antique, or I think you might better
spend your money elsewhere, I will tell you this before sending you the
Paypal invoice.
Please Note: I do not respond to some appraisal requests. To get a sense of why
and to take a look at a few examples of the numerous requests for free information
/ appraisals we receive on a daily basis please see
this page.
3. Do You Make Offers on Antiques?
Yes, we do make offers on antiques in certain
circumstances.
1. Basically only on those antiques or collectibles
that we are interested in buying, and that are
physically in front of us. If your item is only of minor interest,
we are not likely to feel compelled to make an offer on it.
2. If you simply write to me and say "what will you offer me
for my "_______" , with or without a picture or more info, I am probably not going to be very helpful and your
request might end up on the page where I list other such requests.
3. What if I do not know what my antique is worth but want
to sell it?
There are several answers to this question.
- Consign it to be sold here on my site and we can discuss the
value, as partners rather than as adversaries.
- Pay
a reasonable amount for a real appraisal then either consign it or find
a buyer through other means.
- Put it in auction.
- Do research on eBay or in a price guide to see what similar
pieces are bringing and then decide what to do next.
- After you have a sense of value show it to the local antique
dealer and see if he offers you more than .10 on the dollar.
In the end it is the seller who has the final responsibility for
setting the price of his merchandise after doing research, having an appraisal done,
or agreeing to list it here on consignment where we can work together to
determine a fair price.
4. How much % wise can I expect to get for my antiques if I
consign antiques to you?
This really depends on the individual piece its value, and the mode
or method we employ to help you sell your antique(s). In general
we charge a 20% commission rate for items listed on, and promoted
through our website. Our commission can range as low as 10% for
expensive antiques we can sell with no more
effort than a phone call to the right and known buyer. And up to 30-40% for antiques or collectibles listed on
eBay with
reserves, listing fee bells & whistles, and the end buyer using Paypal or
a credit card.
5. How do I consign or sell antiques to you?
Simple!! Contact me with as much information as possible about your
antique(s)
telling me what you want to do, and we will get back to you ASAP. If your antique is something
of interest we will discuss the options, value, and go from there..
If your antique is not of interest we will
tell you so.
If you just name some object with no
price or description or real information and ask if I
am interested I probably will not respond. Without details and a
general idea of what you want, or think I have no idea if I can help, or am interested or not.
6. Do you sell Antiques on Consignment?
Yes.
-
In general the antique(s) you want to sell on consignment
must be something we are interested in or have ready buyers for.
No rugs, no Iranian artifacts, no full size washers in the
basement etc.
-
The antique(s) must have a reasonable value. We are
currently listing and selling a large collection of antique tools
including both common and rare tools with values that run from $10 or
less to $5000 or more. I can do this because I am selling
the entire collection. I can not sell your single $10 or $20 rule,
square, or plane on consignment for any number of reasons. (Please see bottom of page for explanation concerning values)
-
You need to have realistic expectations and are going to have to
state them. If you want to sell or consign your antique(s) on
my webpage there is no danger or reason not to state what you
expect or think. We are working together to try and sell your
piece for the most we can, so we both benefit. I am trying
to help you!!
7. Why should I consign my antiques to you instead of
selling them locally, through auction, or on eBay?
This could be a long answer, but i will try and keep it short.
First the upside. We are honest, visible, and well known as
honest and forthright antique dealers. We are active, motivated,
and care. We like what we do. We can provide numerous
references if requested.
You found our website, and some 500 other people a day do as well.
Over 80% of them are new visitors. Each Day. I have over 5,000
page views per day on this site. Each Day. I sell a lot of stuff
for consignors.
As for eBay, it can be great for some things, or a disaster for most pieces. We routinely
sell things on this site for more than they bring there. The
anonymity of
most sellers at eBay is frightening to many buyers and rightfully so. The rules and caveats
sellers there
demand are scary.
When we list things there we do not use phrases
like "good for its age" "buyer beware" No returns, no guarantee,
etc. We do not tell our buyers they are responsible after they say
I will buy it for shipping damage etc. I read most peoples ads on
eBay and wonder why anyone would buy anything there. It is known
as the worlds largest wholesale market for a reason. Most things there sell for a
fraction of what is typically asked. The simple truth is the best
buyers in most categories never go there or pay any attention to it.
It will work well in certain circumstances, and we occasionally sell
certain things there, but not very often, and would advise against it
for most things.
The local auction is much the same story and sometimes worse for any
number of reasons.
8. How do I receive payment for antiques that I sell you or
you sell for me?
Your choice. We can pay by check, MO, credit card, through Paypal, or another service if you are set up for
that. Which ever way you prefer. Cash is an option as well if we can meet.
9. How long does it take to get paid?
We will pay you promptly upon receipt of the item for outright
purchases or promptly upon sale of your consignment item.
10. I just need general info about my antique. (FREE) Can you help?
In general I am not going to be able to help you with this beyond the information you found on my site
already. If you
found something similar on my page in all likelihood the
information there is all I have about that piece.
In order to
help you with dating your antique I have provided you with a quick and
easy Patent Date Reference
Chart to help you determine the earliest date that your piece
could have been made if it has a patent number somewhere on it.
Due to the volume of
requests we receive for free online appraisals / valuations and further info,
we simply cannot respond individually to most of these general requests for
information.
In almost all instances, I have to do research to determine details
and values for individual antiques I am selling for consignors, and I do not have the time to
do free research on pieces that are not mine or not for sale.
Please refrain from asking for information about things that in all likelihood I know nothing about---the minutia and /
or obscure details about antiques that I have not even seen.
It is not something I can just pop off the top of my head.
11. I sent you an email and never heard back from you---why?
If you contacted me with something we clearly would not be interested
in we will not
respond to save both of us time and space in our mailboxes. I
do not buy ancient artifacts or rugs from Pakistan, nor do I buy "antique" Speed
Queen washers, ranges or electric ironing mangles, water heaters, and other such
things that were left in the basement of the house you just
bought because the scrap or clean-out guy was going to charge
the previous owner or you $100 to get it up the
stairs.
As a courtesy I
try to respond to all sincere and appropriate offers, even if I can
not afford the piece or am not interested in it.
12. When can I expect delivery of the item I ordered?
In general we ship ASAP after payment is made. Depending on the time of year
and our buying / selling trip / show schedule we ship at different times. When we are at home we
have near daily UPS pick-up. We get to the Post Office a couple
times a week. When we are
on the road or on a buying trip next day shipping may not be possible and there may be
a delay, but we will always let you know that at the time
you place your order, and in some situations it may be possible for us
to ship to you from the road.
13. Where do you get your antiques?
Over the last few years most of our better antiques have been
obtained through the internet or from house calls developed
from individuals that have visited this website or that we have met
elsewhere on the Internet.
Over the years our sources for obtaining antiques have evolved and are still changing
even today.
Used to be you could pick good stuff off the side of the road, or
even at the
dump. I did it, and did well, but those days ended 20-30 years ago
for me! From the look of things in most "antique" shops these days it seems
some people still find this approach viable. Those days are long
gone though for anything early, rare and significant.
Some "good stuff" still comes out of garage sales and flea markets, but it
is such a rare occurrence anymore, around here anyway, that we rarely use this
approach. We live over an hour away from anything that might be
called a city, and hate driving 60 miles to look at baby clothes, Tupperware,
and Wal-Mart discards on
Saturday or Sunday mornings.
We used to have a network of pickers and dealers that we visited
across the country who routinely sold us some great stuff, but
for various reasons those days are pretty much over. We
are redeveloping that sort of network today utilizing the internet with a new
group of people, and consignors and the
results are encouraging although not quite as exciting as going out and hunting up
or "finding" antiques.
Occasionally we still buy at auction, or off of eBay, but that
approach has drawbacks, especially when absentee bidding. It
seems you get burned 1/3 of the time with the sellers neglecting to
actually describe their merchandise with their eyes open or a sense of
reality.
When I do use eBay I use a snipe program and so should
you. Here is a link to the one I use:
Win every eBay bid!
You get three free snipes when you sign up, and so
do I. A win-win situation for all.
We still go to antique shows as often as possible and buy a lot of
stuff from other dealers both at shows and privately, but this is
getting tougher and tougher as dealer attendance and the quality of the
merchandise at shows goes down. Not what it use to be by any means!
So that leaves this approach and you as the primary source
these days for quality antiques for us to purchase outright or help sell for
you on
consignment. If you have a great
antique to sell, or a houseful, or collection
of quality antiques or collectible pieces, please contact us---we would love to hear from you!
14. Do you make a lot of money doing this?
No, but I do enjoy it and it keeps me very busy!
Final Thought / Note
Buying Antiques or
Selling Your Antiques or Antique Consignment Sales
The economics of buying and selling antiques dictate that we try to buy
/ sell more expensive items, or large quantities of antiques
typically found in collections or estates, as opposed to buying single
items in say the under $100 price range where the markup is only 30%-50%
or so, or
selling your antiques on consignment with a 20% commision. Even at higher mark-ups the math simply does not
work out with less expensive pieces. Perhaps at 10 cents on the
dollar, but we both know you do not want to sell it at that level, or
the split to be 80 /20 with me on top, and
the truth is I don't like making offers or buying down there.
Let me explain.
The numbers with selling your antiques on consignment,
where I am only taking a small percentage of the sale price works like
this. For instance, you want me to sell your $50.00 tool. At
20% I get $10.00.
That $50.00 tool is nice, collectible, and saleable, but
what with time spent marketing and preparing it to list, overhead costs, fuel costs, show fees, phone fees, time and money spent cleaning, repairing, listing, shipping, and so forth
that $10.00 commission starts looking pretty skimpy unless you have a
100 of those for me to sell for you. In general the
numbers just do not work out selling lower priced pieces individually
on consignment. Do the
math and look at the clock at the same time.
The same numbers and
ratios involved in $1000 pieces or $10,000 collections on the other hand do
make sense. Bottom line is lower
value antiques when bought and sold on an individual basis just do not work after you add up all the expenses
and overhead involved unless in large quantities. I am not greedy, nor do I have to buy things for 10
cents on
the dollar, but at the same time I can not pay you a fair price,
pay shipping once or twice, do all the rest of the work involved in marketing
and selling that antique, and keep
this business going. Make sense?
