Submitted by Mike on Wed, 09/20/2017 - 11:00pm
We've mentioned before that Native American primitives are highly collectible... knowing the tribe of origin and approximate age increases value immensely as there are so many non-authentic 'souvenir' and 'in the style of' pieces on the market.
Submitted by Mike on Sat, 09/16/2017 - 11:22pm
Old quality textiles can have surprising value. This was yet another Asian collectible from our last big haul that sold on eBay and is going back to China where it originally came from.
Submitted by Mike on Sat, 09/16/2017 - 11:18pm
These were another couple pieces that we threw in the pile on a clean-out job. They've been sitting on our back shelf for months but someone in Canada finally came along and gave them a new home. Any kind of quality figures of animals will eventually sell at the right price.
Submitted by Mike on Sat, 09/16/2017 - 11:13pm
Most collectors are not spending big money on premium pieces but everyone has a budget for low to moderate value items which are our bread and butter as these are the things that we usually get for next to nothing on our treasure hunts. Our senior associate Gerardo actually noticed this on our last pick and it sold in just a day or two whereas I would have left it for the dump. Making $40 appear out of thin air is what keeps us in the green!
Submitted by Mike on Wed, 09/13/2017 - 12:14am
For thousands of years, people have been collecting shells so it's no surprise they have a following. We're currently sorting a massive collection and have learned that size, color, and knowing where it was found determines the value. I'm glad to finally post something that wasn't man made that had value! Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork.
Submitted by Mike on Mon, 09/11/2017 - 12:13am
Not worth a fortune but again, old military related items always sell quickly and for a fair price. When a car in front of me at a drive-thru is ordering special off the menu I sometimes daydream I had a cannon on my hood and could hit a button ....BOOM
Submitted by Mike on Mon, 09/11/2017 - 12:05am
Yet another unusual old lamp quickly sold at a fair price
Submitted by Mike on Mon, 09/11/2017 - 12:02am
Decorators know that 'mid century modern' pieces are all the rage right now and the market values are over-inflated by sites like First Dibs. Occasionally we find pieces like this in people's basements that were taken off the wall 30 years ago and in this case, we lucked out with a nice sale.
Submitted by Mike on Sun, 09/10/2017 - 11:57pm
This is what un-polished jade looks like. This piece is most likely hundreds of years old but without some kind of documentation most casual collectors just don't want to take a chance paying big prices for things like this. Although honestly, the market for ancient relics is 'soft' and even if this piece did have provenance the sale price would only have been marginally higher.
Submitted by Mike on Sun, 09/10/2017 - 5:52pm
Just another lighting sale. This piece was only about 25 years old but believe it or not the original price was around $5,000. The company only makes lighting and market's themselves as making functional art. The quality was noticeably superior even to the untrained eye but second hand, it was only worth a fraction of retail.
