Real life auctions part 5 – Research what you’ve viewed

Having viewed the auction in advance you now have the opportunity to carry out further research into items you have seen but want to know more about.

Perhaps you have reference books in the car or have mobile Internet access from you phone so that you can carry out research whilst away  from home?  If you have time there are several sources of good information available:

- Fellow collectors or collectors clubs

Handy for a quick call but other collectors may be seeking out the same items as you and might not always give out the correct information. Be careful what you say to them or you will end up competing for the same items at the auction.

- Reference books and Price Guides

Price guides normally do not give a good indication of what you can expect to  pay at auction. Some have items very overpriced.

- The Internet – the best way to research current values( in my opinion):

• - eBay – use the completed item search and click the price column to sort in price order.
• - Google – take a look at the Google shopping to see fixed prices of items for sale around the Internet
• - Antiques Trade Gazette website – has a large database of prices antiques have reached at auciton over the past few years
• - Specialist websites – Ideal for seeing what Antiques Dealers are charging , normally you can expect to pay less than this at auction

The purpose of this research is to further refine your highest bid price on the items you have viewed at the auction. Here is an example of a piece I bought at auction after researching it. This round tile does not have manufactured markings however I have many reference works on Tiles and was able to find this exact item in a book and determine that it is a mid 19th century Tile Plaque made in Poole.

Early Poole Tile bought at auction