How to Value My Antiques?

How to Value My Antiques?
By William George

Many of us have collected all sorts of things for years without ever thinking of their value. Or been left items by family members in a last will and testament. Many of the things are too good or precious to throw away but still end up gathering dust in our attic space. Most people would be happy to sell their antiques and collectables if they knew they were getting a fair price for them, but how does the untrained eye value antiques. Well there are a few ways to get your antiques valued, some cost money and some are free. The first way is to take your antiques to an auction house. The in-house experts will view your items and research where needs be and give you a price that they would be happy to put the item into their auction for. This can cost a fair bit, but if you put your items in their auction then they might offer the service for free. Remember the more popular the auction house the higher the fee but there is a good reason for this as they tend to have much more advertising and attract many more buyers to their auctions.

The second way is a lot cheaper but takes a bit more time, you can take your items to antique fairs and speak to the antique dealers on their stand. I would recommend you go to one of the larger antique fairs such as the Newark antique fair so you can get more than one opinion. But remember the stall holders are trade so will be looking to make a small profit on your item, however they will usually offer you quick cash no hassle sale for your item. If you have lots of items it is always a good idea to buy a pitch at a fair that way you can reach lots of buyers for very little money.

The third way brings us right into the 21st century. You can now take a picture of your antique or collectable upload it to your computer and send it to a website. The website will then come back within 48 hours with a valuation. This service is great but they don't have to sell the items so don't get the blame for prices not reaching the estimated figures. And it can get expensive if you have a number of things to value.

I hope this has helped those of you wondering how to value granny's china and that stamp collection in the attic. For a list of UK antique fairs dates visit the IACF website organisers of Newark antiques fair.

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