Archive for Auctions
Vintage Jewellery and Accessories Auctions
Posted by: | CommentsI’m a great fan of auctions, not the eBay type but real life auctions and some of you may well have read the beginners guides I have written in the past. I regularly attend auctions and indeed buy most of my antique and vintage jewellery stock that way.
One of the steps I advise is to research when and where auctions are being held well in advance and to study the catalogues. Whilst doing my own research earlier today I came across this auction, I wont be attending but may well be useful .
Vintage Perfume Bottles.
I used to have a large collection of vintage perfume bottles especially the Devon Violets variety. Most of these have now gone to their new homes but if I were still collecting perfume bottles I certainly would want to be attending this perfume bottle auction in Leeds on June 12th. There are over 200 lots so there should be something for most tastes.
Vintage necklace from auction
Do you want to attend vintage and Antique jewellery Auctions too?
You can find Specialist antique Jewellery auctions, I believe Bonhams run them regularly for example. Specialist auctions tend to be pricey so I look for auctions where they have jewellery as part of the main auction. For example Bamfords in Derby always have a nice selection of vintage jewellery for you to choose from. Take a look at your local auction house, there is one in most major towns and you can normally look up the calendar of events on the Internet.
If your going to buy jewellery at auction do give yourself plenty of time in advance to view. The viewing will be crowded and unless you view well in advance you may find yourself struggling to get to see the pieces you are interested int. The auction will start more or less on time even if you have not finished looking. Take along a pen and paper and a 10 x magnifying loupe. you need to be prepared to accurately assess what you are going to buy and jot down notes on the item and how much you are prepared to pay. Don’t worry if you don’t buy anything at the first couple of jewellery auctions you attend. You will soon get the hang of it and snapping up some real bargains.
Vintage Jewellery Wholesale
I’ve been going to a few to many auctions recently and now have wholesale quantities of vintage costume jewellery available at discount prices. There is no gold at all in quantity but there may be a little silver. Mainly the wholesale quantities I have available are necklaces, faux pearls, chains and brooches. These are all vintage and will date circa 1920s through to the last 10 years. Most of it is from the 1950s through 1970s. If you are based in the UK and are interested then please do get in touch. I believe that this jewellery would be most suitable for sale at car boots , markets and antique fairs. You may wish to try a few lots on eBay as well. Most pieces should sell for £3 to £20. I also have some lots suitable for repair, restoration and craft projects. Sorry but the weight of wholesale quantities will make it too expensive to ship outside of the UK.
Auction Party – Want to be on TV?
Posted by: | CommentsITV1′s brand new antiques show, AUCTION PARTY is looking for participants with a passion for beautiful objects and an eye for turning a profit. We are offering participants the opportunity to host their very own auction, from within their own home. Furthermore, participants will be given £500 to go out and, with the help of our antiques expert, gather a collection of items to then sell at their auction. Family, friends and neighbours will be invited to view the lots for sale while sipping on champagne and nibbling on canapés. With a professional auctioneer present to help them through, the auction pieces will be displayed around the participant’s home before going under the hammer. At the end of the day, the cash is counted and (hopefully) profits are revealed!
If you are interested in taking part please do not hesitate to contact us via our phone line - 0207 157 4599 or email – auctionparty@itv.com, clearly stating your name and daytime contact number.
Auction Party
Antiques Auctions catalogue review
Posted by: | CommentsTwo glossy auction catalogues plopped through my letter box this morning. Full colour glossy things for the sort of fine art auction I dont normally bother with ( not much chance of a real bargain here). These have been sent to me by midlands auctioneers in hopes of tempting me to their sales ( not much chance of that either ).
Why dont Gildings and Lock & England just e.mail me with a link to their on-line catalogues? I will take a look if I am interested and it will save you the cost of printing and posting and me the trouble of recycling your publicity.
Anyway, despite my concern over the environmental waste to these glossies I did take a look and found one or two pretties I would buy for myself for keeps if only funds permitted. What would I like? Well Gildings ( Market Harborough)are offering two wonderful seventeenth century carved wooden angels each about 12 inches high. The catalogue estimate (lot 268) are £100 to £150 but I think that is just to draw us in. Have you seen these beautiful ladies. OK, just for fun I may leave a bid of double their top estimate but there is no way they are going to sell at that lowly price.
Lot 72 is a Minton owl teapot dating from 1884 and glazed in a mustard yellow majolica colour, this could have a home my art pottery owl collection Estimated £200 to £300 well not this month I need to buy more stock. The Gildings auction is on September 29 only one day after my birthday so those angels may yet come home with me should my relatives be unusually generous this year.
Lock and England in leamington spa have the usual selection of brown furniture , silver tableware and miscellaneous painting. I did spot a few piece of Newlyn copper on page 42 and for Victorian dump enthusiasts a rare dump with an internal sulphide in the shape of a dog ( est £80 to £120). This aucion is on September 24th
Any one attending either of these aucitons? If so do drop in a comment and let us know how these particular items went,
An Introduction to Selling at Auction
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s a piece written for AntiquesAvenue by Fellows Auctions :
An Introduction to Selling at Auction
So, we are still in a recession and it‘s all a bit disheartening, but there might just be a way for you to make an extra bob or two….
Basically, the economic downturn has meant that there has been a depression of prices across many sectors. Because of this a lot of people think it’s a bad time to sell anything and think they will do better when the market picks up a bit….but who knows when that will be! We have been seeing this in the auction market and as a result there is a shortage of good quality items coming to auction. So, this means the good quality, unusual items are in strong demand because they are so few and far between, and hence they are selling for lots of money!!
But who’s buying I hear you ask….no one has any money! Well actually there is still a significant part of the population who are lucky enough not to be affected by the recession, and still have plenty of disposable income to spend on luxury items. There is also the European market that are not to be forgotten, who are benefiting from the favourable exchange rates and are therefore becoming key buyers in the auction market.
So, I say it’s time to take advantage of the doom and gloom of the recession, because if you have an interesting item to sell you may be very surprised at how well it does at auction.
Examples of items that have sold well….
Victorian silver spirit kettle.
A gentleman's stainless steel Rolex Submariner wrist watch Estimated at £900 - £1,400 Sold for £35,000
An emerald and diamond cluster ring.Estimated at £1,800-£2,500 Sold for £7,100
Why sell at auction….
When selling at auction you have the peace of mind that the item will be valued at the current market value and so you know it won’t go for less than it should. At a well-marketed auction you can expect a wide variety of buyers such as collectors and dealers and there is an increasing interest from foreign buyers who can bid over the internet.
Before you say you don’t have anything, have a dig around as there is usually some valuable stuff in everyone’s house but many people don’t realize it! If you find anything that you think may be antique, collectable or something just a little bit different, why not get it valued? You never know you might be sitting on a little gold mine!
How to sell at an auction….
1. The first step is to get your item valued, this can be done in a number of ways for example by uploading images online, posting the item(s) in the post or by visiting the auction house in person. Most auction houses offer a free valuation service so there is no excuse!
2. Once your requirements have been discussed and you are happy with the estimate and reserve given, your item(s) will be entered into the next appropriate sale. If you don’t already know, the reserve is the minimum sale price the seller is willing to accept. Goods will not be sold below the agreed reserve.
3. You also need to be aware that entries are generally closed about 5 weeks prior to an auction to allow for items to be photographed and catalogued, so make sure you’re organised if there is a particular auction you have your eye on!
4. There will be some charges when putting an item in for auction which will generally include a seller’s commission charge, photography and lot fee.
5. Obviously we hope that your item will sell well at auction, but if it doesn’t sell you then have the option to re-enter your goods into the next appropriate sale. It may be an idea at this stage to lower the reserve in hope for a sale the second time round.
Fellows & Sons are auctioneers and valuers, specialising in
• Jewellery
• Watches
• Furniture
• Silver
Why not give us a call today and speak to one of our specialist advisors on 0121 212 2131
or visit our website www.fellows.co.uk for more information
Northampton has a new auction
Posted by: | CommentsI see that Northampton is to have a new auction following the recent withdrawal of Humberts to their Towcester base. According to a leaflet pushed through my door today : Freehold St Auctions will be held in the Nene Centre, Freehold street. That’s the same place as the old Humberts and previously Harps auctions were held.
The first auction will be on Saturday May 9th at 10.oo and every fortnight after that. Viewing is from mid day till 8.00 on Friday and on the moringin of the sale.
Well I will be popping along for a look at the viewing . I’m really not keep on Saturday auctions so my attendance at the actual event will be dependant on what I find at the viewing. I will report back tomorrow and hopefully have a little information on their commission rates as well.
Northampton needs an auction house
Posted by: | CommentsI see that Humberts are due to close their auction house here in Northampton in April. I am not surprised really as Northamptons only auction house really deteriorated following the take over of Harps by Humberts a couple of years back.
I for one stopped visiting those auction rooms despite them being less than 5 minutes from my home and I am sure many other antique dealers and collectors did the same. As a buyer I found they every last decent item had been sorted out and either moved for sale elsewhere or had an extortionate reserve. Good for the seller? Well not this seller it wasn’t. I regularly placed mixed lots for sale with the former Harps however once Humberts had taken over I found that they sorted and re-arranged my lots into many smaller ones. With their minimum lot fee and commissions they ended up taking over 50% of the hammer price. Down right greedy I thought and have never been back since.
So now Northampton is left without any sort of antiques and collectables auction room. Surely there must be a great business opportunity for the right person. If that’s you do contact me when you are ready to start up as not only do I have a load of mixed lots for you to sell also I will give you lots of publicity here on this antiques blog.
Selling your antiques and collectables at auction
Posted by: | CommentsIn the first part of my guide to selling your antiques and collectables I suggested that each of the different options for selling your precious possessions has its benefits and drawbacks and should be selected for different needs. In part two of the guide I will examine the option of selling through real life auctions and how to select your auctioneer.
Read More→
Antiques Auctions – The final bit
Posted by: | CommentsPart 10 , the last in my series of articles on buying antiques at auction. Here is one more thought you might like answered – do let me know if there are any more 
Can I take my purchase back for a refund?
The quick answer to this question is NO however there is an exception:
- if you notice that the item is not as described in the auction catalogue you might be able to get a refund in a day or two you will need to check the auctioneers terms and conditions. Take care here the auctioneers are pretty careful in describing things for example if they say “Victorian Style” you cannot expect to take it back if you find out it is brand new.
So what can I do about this?
Talk to the auctioneer, he might be willing to see if the under bidder still wants the item however you will not get your full purchase price.
Put it back into the next auction and hope for the best.
Which auctions do you attend Anne? And which are the most profitable?
Now that is something I’m not telling . You will need to put in many many hours ( Years?) of effort to answer that for yourself!
