How often does this happen?

Hello folks,

I was at an estate auction a few months ago that had a nice selection of antiques and collectables but was poorly advertised and wasn't well attended with the exception of some regular auction goers and a few small dealers. I saw the Rookwood Pottery compote shown in the linked listing and decided to bid up to $200 since although it was a really nice piece it had a defect, a barely noticeable hairline crack on the base. Ultimately I didn't even get a chance to bid and it hammered for $350 plus buyers premium to an antique dealer that I've seen a few times before and generally has good taste in quality antiques.

I thought that was the end of the story until it popped up in an online auction site's catalog earlier this month. I was shocked since the online auction house doesn't have a great record in art pottery sales -- some pieces sell well but others sell very low. As you can see it sold for much less than what it realized in the first auction. I was wondering how often this happened -- Antique dealers/pickers buying at auction only to send their winnings off to another auction (assumedly with regular commission fees in place and without reserve) and then have the item hammer for much less in the second auction than the dealer paid initially?

Here is the second listing .....
https://www.ebth.com/items/3720457-rookwood-pottery-compote-with-dolphin-base

Can't make much money with that business model. Your thoughts please?

 

I don't know

But well, according to my understanding, except for the super-high-end-side, auction prices are generally much lower than store prices or even flea market prices but auction prices are also completely unpredictable sometimes. I've seen identical 18th century chairs go for 70$ or 300$ in auction (in the same auction house, within a year) while the antique store price was 450-500$.

The whole price side of antiques is weird and multi-complicated and there's no logic, just good and bad luck. That's increasingly my opinion.

Every time I think some item has a solid price, it's being proven wrong when literally every dealer, store, auction house and private person have their own prices and all of them think theirs is the most accurate. I really dislike this subject, probably after yapping about it too much with a local store owner.

 

If it happens often , that dealer would shy away from repeating that error.

 

You say it was cracked. Was that known at the first auction?
If not, maybe after buying it the dealer discovered the crack and just wanted to get as much of their money back as possible.

 

I am sure it happens more times than 99.9999% of the dealers will admit.

About a year ago a lady bought a painting at 1 auction house in town just to consign it to a higher end one. She made less than $100.00 after seller's premium & their fee for their catalog. Now that might not seem too bad until you know she had invested over 4K. To me that is not enough profit for tying up that much of your capital for a couple of months. In the end the only people who came out winners were the original seller & the auction houses.

Peggy

 

I noticed the crack at the first auction but I'm not sure if the buyer did. The auctioneer didn't mention any defects. Perhaps the dealer tried to place the compote with one of their clients and they rejected it due to the crack.

 

True. Probably not what she had in mind.
However, I can't put 4K in the bank and make $100, and the stock market is too risky. At least she made a profit. That's why I don't mind an item sitting on the shelf waiting for the higher price.

 

True. Probably not what she had in mind.
However, I can't put 4K in the bank and make $100, and the stock market is too risky. At least she made a profit. That's why I don't mind an item sitting on the shelf waiting for the higher price.

You are probably correct about this one. I almost wish my bank would do away with the interest bearing checking accounts. It is definitely more hassle than it is worth to keep track of those few cents every month.

Peggy

 

With the so called interest rates the way they are now, it's almost as useful to keep the money in the First Bank of Mattress.

 

the way they are now,

You mean the way they've been...for years and years and years...now !!!!!

No one minded when interest rates were 16% and credit card rates were 18%.....it seemed like fair business........but now .....well.......PHOOEY !!!

 

Plain old passbooks have interest rates lower than inflation. They want people to save money, but that's a disincentive.

 

If the dealer was biddingon several items he may have missed the damage. If he was bidding on one item he has no real excuse.

When we buy (usually lots with many items) we will need to look at hundreds of items and take a view on condition. Occasionally a defect is worse than remembered and we will move on the item, usually at a profit but occasionally at a loss as no-one wants to have a constant reminder of a mistake.

Sometimes we will buy in bulk at one auction house and relot, usually with homogenous items, and sell at a different house. A good way of making a profit with little effort.

 

There is no incentive now to invest money in a savings account except for essential rainy day money.

I think that many posters here, if given 1, 000 dollars, would be able to buy and sell over a year and make a goodly profit that dwarfed what could be gained from putting money in the bank!

 

Quite true. Or buy and hold antique precious metal jewelry, if it can be gotten at close to melt. The modern stuff will never be worth much more, but they're not making any more 1870s Archaeological Revival or 1810s Berlin Iron ... which isn't precious metal, but you don't want to see the prices.