Blog

Old cast iron pieces with good subject matter always make for a nice sale

Yet another light we sold. When selling things on eBay, we are held accountable to the Nth degree which can be very frustrating. I gave the buyer a discount on this piece but then he complained about a blemish and wanted an additional discount. Over the years we've had a number of people abuse our accountability and at a certain point, I just have to ask myself: Is it worth $dollars to ruin my flawless reputation and will usually just give someone a credit or refund even if it's really not fair. 

Vintage pottery - especially decorator plates - can be a really hard sell as the market has dried up. Shipping fragile stuff is a lot of work and risk too but we're here for just such a task. 

Another old light we sold. This sat on my shelf for months before I got around to posting it as I wasn't sure if it would sell and shipping stuff like this is a pain. Again, anything old Chinese right now seems to be pretty hot. It pays to visit museums and learn fancy terms like 'famille verte' to help get items seen by the educated buyers.

Most old books are a dime a dozen but we do try to look at everything we find. This book, originally published in 1898, told a flawless prediction of the Titanic disaster of 1912 - 14 years later. The work was re-issued at that time and is still worth $100 but a first printing would sell for $500 or more. 

As you know I like to share all the lighting sales we make. We were hired to do a clean-out job for an abandoned house and I totally took the time to strip this off the ceiling. Well worth the effort!

Tis the season! Remember true vintage Halloween stuff sells pretty well!

We actually found this in someone's trash as the next of kin was cleaning out the family estate. Would you throw away $600?!

I generally don't post furniture sales here as most pieces simply aren't exceptional. This set retailed around $12,000  in 1994 and ONLY because of the name brand AND condition was I able to get such a wonderful second hand price and it took MONTHS of waiting to get it. MOST old brown furniture simply doesn't hold value. 

These shades were not attached to any lamps but I probably would have split them just the same as shipping shades with the lamps is a nightmare. Once again - Mid century stuff AND vintage lighting - these sold very fast on eBay

Yet another light we sold - we should change our name to Curiosity lighting or something...

Just sharing another vintage light we sold

Having some basic knowledge as to what things are collectible coupled with Internet research can yield some great results. Knowing that old chess sets can be desirable, plus recognizing this heavily stylized pattern, and comping it based on the name brand told us that it was valuable. So instead of throwing it up for an eBay auction, we sat and waited for the right buyer to come along who recognized the value and paid a fair price. 

The market for 'old stuff' is not what it used to be and some pieces just aren't in demand. I knew this big hundred year old basket would have been desirable ten plus years ago but without a name brand I was taking a chance on it.

We really do find and try to rescue the most obscure things when we downsize a home. I am not above stripping vintage lights or fixtures if I think someone will want them and it keeps them out of the dump. 

Old signage of almost any type or anything that has to do with transportation is usually a good seller. These were local pieces but the buyer was in NV - so we shipped them From Here to there :)

Not only was it about 100 years old - but where can you buy a US mailbox?! Collectors want to buy things that can't be found just anywhere and we love bringing them to the market.

It is such a pleasure to handle premium collections of things we just don't find on a typical house call. When it comes to selling off a collection of any given type of item, in order to get that 'top dollar' price, you have to sell one item to one buyer at a time and that's where we come in and do just that. I could not find a single comp value on this piece but I knew it was special and would go to a good home for a great price.

In order to get items sold quickly, we have to be willing to ship them to the buyers. With big heavy items, that cost cuts in to what a potential shopper is willing to pay. I wrote on the box 'Yes, it actually is a boat anchor'

Even in less than perfect condition, there are always buyers for vintage toys!

When it comes to jewelry, the name brand is a big resale factor as people collect pieces based on vintage designers. This piece was only about $3 worth of silver but it might as well have been gold!

This piece was made circa 1883! It would have been worth more had it been complete but we love saving old toys and there are always buyers for them

Contemporary sports memorabilia has really gone down in value in the past decade and only pieces that are truly vintage or have some kind of authentication will have a market.

We've talked before about how fickle the market is on Chinese antiques and now that China is such a wealthy country, their citizens are trying to reclaim 'lost treasures' pawned off by their ancestors. One piece could be worth nothing while another similar piece might be worth a fortune but without some kind of documentation from an authority on the subject, pieces like this could be anyone's guess on value.

Vintage advertising and toys of almost any type bring good money. We had to wait a couple months for the right buyer to come along to pay our price - but we got it