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

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
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

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.

 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.

• If you have a large quantity  of items to sell ( you may be able to negotiate a favourable rate with the auctioneer)
• If you do not want to put any time or effort into the selling process ( auciton houses will collect and handle all aspects of the sale for you but this can work out quite expensive)
• When you have a very rare and expensive item. One of the larger auction houses may be able to reach rich international clients which you would not have access too. They can also add submit your item to a specialist sale of similar pieces which will attract collectors and higher prices.
• When you have a very large item – The aucion houses can move pieces but do be aware of the charges for this service

When not to sell through an auction house:

• When you need the money quickly . Specialist sales may only be held a few times a year and most only pay out weeks after the sale
• When you want to minimise the total cost of selling. Auction houses charge both you and the buyer a fee on on every lot. This can vary between 10 and 25%  each. This means that the auctioneer can take 50% of the hammer price. There can also be insurance charges, photography fees, lotting fees, removal and storage fees. Ask up front so that you do know what is involved. There can also be charges if you change you mind before the sale once the auctioneer has possession of your goods

How to select an auction house:

This depends on what you are selling but normally I would look relatively locally as transport costs add up however if you have several items do shop around. The big London auction houses only want top quality antiques. Look on the antiquetrade gazette website for a local auctioneer

Preparing to send your goods to auction

The auctioneer should list everything for you and give you a list of lots however pieces can go missing once they are out of your possession so it is wise to have your own check list if there is a lot of stuff

On the sale day:

I often see vendors sitting in the front row of a sale watching their antiques and collectables being sold. They have a list and write down the price each lot brings.  Is this a good idea? Well probably yes if you have the time – the auctioneer may well try a bit harder and you can always bid yourself if you think something is going to cheap. Bidding yourself is a risky strategy as you could win the auction and then you would have to buy the item and pay both the buyers and sellers premium to the auctioneer.

Good luck and see you at the sale

Update 6 January: Heres an exert from an e.mail I have just received about a sale  in London – an example of the fees involved: 

 

 

 

 

Bonhams charges a sellers’ commission of  15% of the hammer price achieved. A colour illustration will be included in the catalogue and on the Bonhams website. This will warrant a small fee to the seller to be discussed in advance. Insurance is charged at 1.5% of the hammer price achieved. Pre-sale estimates will be published in the catalogue and our recommendation is that the low estimate be 20% below retail with a reserve set at 10% below the low estimate. In the event of an item failing to reach its reserve no buying in fee is charged, but you will be charged for photography and insurance. 

The catalogue deadline for this sale is April 20th 2009 by which time your work should be delivered to Bonhams in London. It will be possible to arrange transportation of items from your nearest Bonhams branch: however we would request that you speak to us prior to visiting your local office so that packing and transportation can be discussed.

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!

• - unpack these and examine them careful as soon as possible. If you have bought a large lot just to acquire one special piece this is particularly important as there may be other items of value  in the lot which could be sold on.
• - Keep the receipt from the auciton house . This will help if ever you need to claim on your insurance following theft or damage to your antique.
• - Do not go mad on cleaning up you antique with modern day cleaning materials you can easily spoil it. Leave it until you find the correct way to clean your piece or get a specialist to do this.
• - Enjoy and go out and aquire even more!

The next part of my mini series on bidding at antiques auctions will be the conclusion and include a few special tips on specialist situations