Worth Anything? Three Ways for Finding Out the Market Value of Your Antiques

A few months ago, I received from my father, as a “pre-inheritance” gift, a pair of antique vases that I love. He said they were very valuable antiques. This raised the question: Do I need to get them insured? The first step in determining whether to buy additional insurance for an antique is to get an appraisal, a knowledgeable expert’s opinion on the item’s current market value.

Frankly, I don’t really need to get an appraisal of these vases, because if they get stolen, well, c’est la guerre. Besides, I don’t intend to sell them anytime soon. However, I do want to know the “ballpark” worth figure because if they are sellable for a lot of money, the vases do become not-particularly-fluid financial resource for dire emergencies.

The first question is: Are they really antiques? My mother, was, um, often creative about the source of her antiques. For example, I grew up sleeping in a mahogany cannonball bed that was quite beautiful. When people would admire it, she would present it as an antique that had been in the family for generations, or as coming around the Horn on a clipper ship or as being bought at an estate sale by her grandmother in the South. There were many variations on the story.

The kicker is that, at 10 years old, I was *in* the thrift store with her when she bought it for 10 dollars, covered in ugly black paint, and I distinctly remember her thrill of discovery as the paint came off, and the rich red mahogany emerged in refinishing. I realize only now, as an adult, that her creative presentation of the history of the bed was related to deep shame over buying a bed in a thrift store. The bed wasn’t an antique at all in the early 1960’s when she bought it, a heavy 1930’s bed, but now, wonderfully refinished and decades later, it is very vintage and has ended up being worth quite a bit.

Nevertheless, I retain a healthy skepticism about anything presented from my family as “antique” or “worth a lot”. I turned to online research and developed my plan for getting a realistic appraisal of the value of my vases. The first thing I learned is not to bother taking them into an antique store and asking the owner “What’s it worth?” because there is a tiny conflict of interest – as a buyer and seller of antiques, the owner’s only rational response can be “What do you want for it?”. So here's my plan:

Step 1: Check completed listings on EBay. I did this, and found nothing even remotely resembling my items. For some people though, this works like a charm to get that ballpark estimate of market value. Find identical items, take the higest price paid and the lowest, note differences in quality that may account for differences in price and figure your item lies somewhere in between.

Step 2: Get a “consignment appraisal”. This is an appraisal that an auction house gives you as a very general estimate of what they think they can get for your item at auction. Their conflict of interest is different from an antique seller, because they get a percentage of any sale, so their evaluations are a little more realistic. These kinds of appraisals can’t be used for insurance purposes but are useful as a “go- no go” assessment of whether to pursue appraisal further. I found Bonham and Butterfield's, a very reputable auction house that does consignment appraisals for free. You take excellent digital photos of the item, fill out a complete description, and send them the photos and an online form. By and by, you will get a consignment appraisal back. These appraisals can't be used for insurance purposes, or even considered accurate, but they reflect a general value possibility.

Step 3: My plan is that if the consignment appraisal suggests the vases are maybe worth more than say, 500 dollars, the next step is to get someone, without any conflicts of interest, to appraise them in person. One of the best and cheapest ways to do this is by going to an “appraisal day event”. Through the Antiques Roadshow Appraisers page, I found an auction house in Boston, Skinner Inc., that has appraisal events, where for 10 bucks an item, 3 items for $25, the experts will appraise your item and give you a more accurate idea of what it is worth. Another really fun way of doing this is to participate in an Antiques Roadshow event, which is a TV show that is all about antiques, values, and appraisal. Get your items appraised and maybe be on TV! To get tickets to their 2007 events click here. None of their tapings are near me, but I think it would be a blast to do it.That's my plan. I am photographing the vases today and sending them for a consignment appraisal. More will be revealed, in the fullness of time.