My husband loved to go to auctions & flea markets for years. He always said that he was investing in our "old age". He recently had brain surgery & then a stroke. Well, our "old age" came quicker than I had planned. The doctor & hospital bills are huge, even after insurance. I was told a long time ago that there was a website that could tell you approx the value of items. Does anyone know any of these websites?
I agree, call an auction house. They will often do everything for you, and you pay them a percentage. If you factor in all the time, energy, stress, and effort of finding buyers...that percentage can come back looking pretty small. My MIL used an auction house for her mother's estate. The whole process was so smooth and stress free. Well worth it, for them!!
So sorry to hear about your husband's health problems.
Most of the websites that offer to give you values aren't worth your time because so much depends on condition of the item. A 1888 silver dollar in good condition is worth about $20, but one in mint condition is $400. And what might look like mint condition to you and me isn't to a coin dealer. Similarly, those websites will tell you that a china faced Madame Alexander doll with brown hair from the 1940s is worth anywhere between $5 and $5,000 (because most dolls aren't worth much, but a few are really rare). I tried to use websites to price my late mother-in-law's doll collection, but the prices I found were nothing at all like what the antique stores I visited offered. The stores showed me catalogs and handouts from auctions to justify the prices, so I know that was more legitimate than a website.
If you can find the time, take some of the items to a reputable pawn store or an antiques dealer and see what they'd offer.
I'm sorry for what you are going through.....
sometimes, looking at auction sites like Ebay can help you figure out what people are paying for an item.......
From what I have found there are different sites depending on what you are trying to value.
Personally if I had to liquidate my collectibles I would just contact a local auction house.
C.:
I'm sorry your husband had a stroke. I'm sorry about the doctor bills. I would make payment arrangements with them and still leave yourself enough to live off of. I know it's not optimum but you gotta do something, right?
what items??? there are different websites for different things...
you can get an idea of what they MIGHT be worth on ebay....however..if they are things like stamps (philately) you can go to the post office and buy a book on stamps - or even go to the library and borrow books on items that you have...
Remember - it's only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
Please feel free to send me a Pm and I'll help however I can.
Look up appraisers in your local area. Go to pawn brokers. Redswan.com purchases jewelery. Go to their website, it's really great. I've done that twice and gotten a nice check each time. When you can find a moment, just google it.....furniture appraisals.....painting appraisals.......book appraisals. It'll all come up. Barnes and Noble here in NY has an appraisal dept and buys books.
If you are just looking for general info, there are books available at the library and bookstores that catalog antiques and collectibles. Sometimes it's easier to flip through pages than find things on a website. Just make sure you check the publishing dates in the books to make sure the values are fairly current.
You don't mention what kinds of items. That would be helpful information.
You can always try ebay or other websites to get a very general idea of what items are worth. So much depends on the condition of the item, what you're willing to do to sell the item, and the current market.
It would be best to take them to a local dealer and ask his opinion. Depending on the types of items, you may want to take them to an appraiser.
I would hire an appraiser that specializes in the general type or era... they may have to recommend you to someone else for certain items... WITHOUT the notion of selling. The thing is, the value quoted you will be different if they know you intend to sell, than if you aren't. Call it insurance appraisals when you're contacting people. Ask SPECIFICALLY for the insurance appraisal value AND current market value (they will be different numbers).
Then I would ask them about reputable auction houses, if you were going to sell best time of year, whether it would be better to stay local or ship to ________ (sometimes value reeeally depends on the local, so auctioning in NewYork may be an DO IT! or 'Be really glad you aren't in New York' depending on the current market), etc.
