Does Anyone Go To Their Local Auction House?

Hi Guys

Does anyone go to their local auction house to buy antiques? I just took a trip down to an evening sale at mine, just to check it out, I didn't buy anything though. I got there about half way through the sale, so the more interesting antiques had gone and it was just the more boring furniture being sold.

 

I've attended many and made some nice money. The secret is to look for the things that can't just be googled and found on ebay, in that everyone knows the price. Also, get a sense of what kind of buyers are there. For example, I like to buy records when the auction is mostly antiques as it means it's likely there are fewer record dealers there.

Brown furniture as it's known is not worth getting into, although chairs can make you some nice cash.

What made you go and what were you hoping to get out of it?

Oh, and be careful of the adrenaline rush of bidding, write down your top bid in front of you and stick to it, it's very easy to get caught up in the moment!

 

I go to them on a regular basis.

I run a house clearance business, so we quite often sell, and very occasionally buy from them. No 2 are the same, so go to different ones. They way they work, the auctioneer and the buyers make each one unique. Each one have their own commission rates and buying rules.

We have some local ones that are full of (how can I put this nicely)........ rubbish, a couple of fine art posh snobby places, and some run of the mill good laugh ones. Each one is different, so go to a few and see what you get

We're planning on starting our own in the near future.

 

It can be attributed to watching too many episodes of those antiques/auctions programmes on TV. It was a fact finding mission to see what kind of things are being sold and what the prices were like.

 

Sounds interesting Spider - let me know if you want to buy houseclearance org uk

Accelerator - that's how I go into it too, though they actually get it the wrong way round on Bargain Hunt, people buy at auctions and sell at fairs rather then the other way that they have on the show. Grab a couple of small pieces that take your eye and go from there, if you have a passion for an area eg vinyl, books, etc than hone in on stuff you know about.

 

I've got a garage full of vinyl - used to do record fairs / mail order record selling. Do bulk lots sell for pennies at these kinds of auctions?

Stephen.

 

Have you tried eBay? If the vinyl was collectable enough for record fairs / mail order, you have a ready market there.

 

Depends on what you are selling Brassneck - Beatles and 70s rock (led Zep, king crimson) go for decent money, 80s and 90s (generally) goes for naff all. There are specialist vinyl auctions you can use where you are more likely to have more buyers. Or PM me what you have and I might take them off your hands

 

That's the problem most of it was new wave / indie. I sold thousands on eBay back in the day but listing them one by one now for the odd pound or two would be a waste of time.

I used to sell via various auctions. I think they are all going to end up in oxfam.

Stephen

 

Some indie still sells well, The Smiths, Oasis, Stone Roses and Cud all go for good money, esp if the vinyl is in good order, if it's your more standard Midway Still, Senselessthings type, then yeah, not worth much

 

Believe I may have contacted previously, but never heard anything back. PM if you want

We've spoken to many dealers, collectors and others interested in these other the years.
The general rule we now follow, is that anything original, and from the 60's 70's AND charted in the top 20, is next to worthless. Reason being is that back then artists had to sell so many to get into the top 20, and so many are still around that anyone who wants one, has got one. So sell as bulk via Gumtree, or dealer.

However, get the early / special releases / rarer, these are worth more. Always get these checked.

Compilations, westerns, max bygraves, top pop of '74, music of some army band and the choir of some church sing lonny donegan are all totally worthless, and should be used as frisbee practice, before being disposed of.