Be Weary of those Antique Dealers By Larry Koon

Have you ever went to all the trouble bringing all your antiques & collectibiles down  out of the attic.. and ending up carrying  them right  back up, , not  finding anyone willing to pay you even a third of what the  item is actually worth .
 

Remember, an antique or collectibile is only worth what a buyer is actualy  willing to pay,  to get top dollar for your item  it must be up for bid amongst  hundreds of buyers around the country,

for instance, you have  an  elvis record worth hundreds of dollars,  that was  first released  in the  early
50s that elvis never sang a note on, which  was an interview record by tv  guide magazine .

you dont call a local antiques dealer to try and sell it, , you dont even try to get hold of an  elvis  collector , and you dont consign it to a local auction house who sells everything from appliances to furniture, with  25 to 30 buyers bidding on it ,  you would be glad to get 20.00 after all the auction fees, you can just imagine what a valuable painting such as mona lisa would bring at a local auction house .with 25 to 30buyers bidding on it,  

So where do i sell the record? you consign it to an auction house that specializes in the sale of old records, they have a mailing list of thousands of buyers  around the country that buy old records, these are buyers that they contact on an upcoming   auction , and are  very much willing to out bid another collector,

once your item sells, that is exactly what your item is worth,  their is no fortune teller, no dealer, not even an antiques  appraiser  or an  antiques newspaper columnist today . such as myself can tell you what your item is worth, 
we can give you an esimate what it might bring at auction or what it last brought at auction nothing else, for example a american bisque cookie jar produced in williamstown ,w,va sold recently for 5..500 this same cookie jar ever selling for that price again is a question? next time around it could go for less or more, depends on what a buyer is willing to pay ,by outbidding another buyer,

when i first got into antiques , i wasnt so much in wanting to know what every thing is worth,  everyday these prices  change,  what i wanted to know is where to sell these items for what they list for in price guides, today their is over 300 specialized auction houses around the country , who have set worlds record on selling  items from A to Z,   such as books, records, posters, pottery glass,  postcards, comic books, old stamps, coins and hundreds of other items, i was first to write the book i n2 000 on  specialized auction markets, titled North American Auction Markets , which i update every year,

The next time you have a garage sale, and a   man or woman  pulls up in your driveway,usualy before anyone else gets there,  and most likely  driving a better car than you, and everything you have in your sale  is not worth a plug nickel, but still willing to take it off your hands for a low price, be weary,they love meeting someone like you that hasnt the slighest idea in this world  what your  items are worth, these people are called dealers, and they love to prey on people just like you, its their job, their way of  living ,