How do you find out how much antiques are worth?
There are many ways of finding out how much antiques are worth, depending on what kind of antiques they are some may be easier than others for you to use, but may not be precisely accurate. The first and by far the easiest would be to go to http://www.ebay.com and compare your item to similar items to determine about what it will sell for, because at the end of the day an antique is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
Another way to find out how much your antiques are worth is to take your antiques to a pawn shop or antique store and ask for an appraisal on the items. The antique peddler and pawn shop clerk will usually give you a number less than what it is actually worth because they are hoping to buy it from you for even less than that amount, so this is usually not the most accurate way to find the value of your antiques.
Another way to find the value of an antique, also the most time consuming and costly, is to take the piece to an appraiser for an in depth evaluation and estimate on the value of the piece. To find an appraiser you can talk to a bank manager or an estate attorney to get references for appraisers in your area. These are the best people to talk to about the value of things because their livelihoods depend upon the ability to discern the value of items.
Antique values can also vary greatly based on geography – what’s hot in California (say Mission furniture) and what’s hot in New York (say American Empire furniture), make the value of each completely different based on location – in other words, Mission furniture is likely to be cheaper in New York. Learning, and educating yourself about antiques is probably one of the best ways to understand overall values – there are even some school’s out there such as the Asheford Institute of Antiques or the ISA that teach and offer courses to people about history and valuation of items – these are probably good starting points if you really want to learn the in’s & out’s of antique values..
