Featured 4 Myths the General Public Believes about Antiques

1) Second hand?

How many of you have heard "I think my parents got this in 1962, so that's how old it is!" and "The house this came from is a hundred years old, so this item has got to be the same age!"
This works both ways.

2) Not quite antique yet

This is one of my favorites. To some people, everything they've had for more than 10 years suddenly becomes antique. Everything they've inherited is usually always antique as well... and valuable.

3) Investing

Common misconception is that value always increases with time. A 1930's tea set bought in the 80's may not bring in more than it did back then. The overall age of an item also doesn't solely determine its value.

4) Pricing

A whole lot of people think there's such a thing as a universal pricing system for antiques, where a certain item has an exact value written in stone and that value will be the same everywhere at all times. One seller may value an item at $150, while another one sells a similar one for $1200. Auction prices are also unstable and often influenced by endless factors.

 

Number 4 reminds me of an email I received recently telling me how I had badly underpriced 9 items of a figurine collection. I thanked him politely but left the prices unchanged.

Nearly a week after lisfing I have sold just 1 of the 9.

A while ago I received a similar message re some T G Green items I had listed.

In both cases they were collectors who had paid much more than I was charging, and would not or could not comprehend that values had fallen.

We price what we think the market will pay based on research of actual sales, not an out of date book or purchase amount!

 

Then in that case they should be snatching them up from you and reselling them to make a big profit!

 

Precisely!!

 

The one that kills me is the fact that so many people look at ebay completed sales and base their values on that ! Never mind the item sold for that price in 2007!

 

Ebay completed sales are a very useful source.

Normally only fairly recent completions are available, so old data is hidden.

It will inform you if there are a glut of sellers vs buyers and vice versa.

You can get a feel for the range of prices achieved and whether BIN or auction is better.

There are plenty of other sources of price info, but Ebay is of real use.

 

I have one to add:

Just because you saw something similar to your item on Antiques Roadshow, it does not mean your item is anywhere near worth what you saw.

My father had a simple block sharpening stone he gave to me to sell. He was convinced it was worth thousands and thousands of dollars because he had seen one similar on AR.

I didn't see the one on Antiques Roadshow, but I assume it was worth so much because it was attributed to a particular maker and that maker was very much sought after.

There are thousands of old sharpening stones out there that are worth very little, which I proved to him when his sold for a whopping $20.

 

#2.

How many times have people posted here or on the antique boards "Antique Whatsit". They are very insistent that the item is antique, but how do they know that when they don't even know what it is?!?

 

i love this forum and have learnt so much. TQ!!
i am still trying to convince my family that most of the old stuff in the house is just that ..... OLD STUFF

 

tie.dye.cat, when you say old "sharpening stones" are you referring to a "whetstone"?

My daddy used a "whetstone" for sharpening "something" at least once a week. He kept it in pristine condition (as a child I used to love watching him "oil" that old whetstone which, I believe, had belonged his father).

 

MYTH #5
If trying to sell an item to an antique dealer, you will not get what the dealer has it priced at.

I cannot tell you how many times people will come into the store to sell things and think that I am going to pay them what I am selling the item for.

 

Myth #6: Many people think that older is better and that age is the determining factor in pricing. This is quite untrue since there are many older items that are not worth much of anything and just because it is old doesn't mean that anybody wants to buy it.

 

Yes, a whetstone. The one my father had even had the original box with the maker's name on it, so it was easy enough to research.

I don't know if my father ever used it or if it came from his father in law. My dad was into building things and working with his hands, but I don't recall seeing him use it.

 

Don't forget those who go to a store and say: "I had this up for sale on ebay before I came here and had it priced it at $___ so I want to get that much for it!"

 

Ah, another thing my father was convinced was going to make him a millionaire was this:



It's a collapsible wood bookstand (this is just a stock photo). He was sure this was handmade by someone 200 years ago and would sell for big $$$. Sigh.

 

I've heard SO MANY of these things, I could fill a book...

1). If it's old, it's valuable!

Who the hell told you that? I could show you LOADS of old crap which isn't worth anything.

2). It's rare, so it's valuable!

Again...nope. Just because it's rare doesn't mean diddlesquat.

3). My fountain pen has a gold nib. So it's worth a lot of money, right!?

My car has wheels. So it must be worth a lot of money, right?

4). Restoring antiques destroys their value!

That depends. How badly did you screw up the restoration? I hope you realise a lot - a LOT - of antiques - are only here because somebody bothered to try and restore them PROPERLY. If they didn't, you'd be looking at a pile of crap.

5). It's in 'original condition' and therefore it's more valuable!

So it came out of the factory looking like this? Because...that's what 'original condition' means...

---- ---- ---- ----

This last one isn't a myth, just something that drives me nuts. But people who insist they have something - when it's quite obvious that it isn't what they think it is. Like the lady I saw online once (this is about 2-3 years ago now) who swore up and down that this...



...was a very rare silver coin-case.

When I tried politely to tell her that it was a vesta-case, she EXPLODED asking me who the hell I was and then I got the whole "I"VE BEEN DOING ANTIQUES DEALING FOR 30 YEARS..." etc etc spiel.

Oh. Good! Good, good, good. In that case, you should recognise a silver vesta-case when you see one.

Some people make me despair...

 

...has a sister named "museum quality"

 

And a second-cousin named 'Fully Restored'.

 

Also sometimes called "painstakingly restored"

Another common one you hear sometimes:
"My brother's spouse's mother told me once this item is rare and worth a lot when I described it on the phone. Her father sold antiques back in the day!"

 

But the spellbinding, splendiferous, totally wonderful result of all this ignorant flummery is........



..........you get the chance to buy some wonderful antiques at a price that makes you smile quietly.


So don't knock it too much