Part 1 of AntiquesAvenue’s guide to selling your Antiques and Collectables

Before you actually sell your precious possessions a little thought and effort can reap great financial rewards in the final price you can obtain. There are several routes to selling available which will be discussed in the next parts of this guide, the route you choose will depend upon :

1.  How many items you have to sell ( one? A collection? a whole house full) 
2.  How much time you have to spend on the selling process and researching / cleaning your items
3.  Your own personal take on Risk 
4. How quickly you need the proceeds of the sale
5. Your knowledge of the market place and the internet
6. Do you need receipts for any reason such as probate?
7. Are you prepared to put money into the selling process before your items sell?

1. How many items do you have to sell?  One piece can be fun to take time over, a collection is possible but if you have a house full of stuff it is unlikely that you are going to be able to spend much time on each individual item.

2. Time spent on an item can mean ££££’s. If you research your pieces and know what similar things have sold for recently.  The more time and effort you put into selling the more financial rewards you are likely to reap ( see part 7 of this series on how much to expect from the sale). it might be worth spending time cleaning up items but take care that you dont over do this – over cleaning can ruin a valuable antique . Certainly give silver a light polish – wash glass ware carefully by hand, clean the dust from furniture. Take the time to learn how to clean your piece correctly . Personally I dont think it work having restoration work done on ceramics just for sale .

3. Some routes to selling are riskier than others – take a piece to your local auction house and you are almost certain to get paid but how can you avoid it being sold for next to nothing ? Sell it on eBay, but how can you avoid fraud? And what fees are involved?

4. How quickly do you need the cash?  Some routes to sale are quicker than paying out than others. If you need money quickly you may need to go to a local antique dealer and sell it for cash but you might get more elsewhere if you can wait longer.

5. Your knowledge will help a lot here – do you have the skills to sell on ebay? Are you a member of a collectors club or know specialist dealers where you might get the best price possible?

6. If you need a full set of receipts for selling a house full of possessions for probate it is probably best not to take it all to a car boot sale. You local auction house will provide the necessary paperwork and you can get receipts for any payment via paypal.

7. You can always advertise an item for sale in your local paper or a specialist magazine but this will cost you money up front . 

The next parts of my selling guide will go through each of the available types of sale and say where they are good and where they should be avoided. Hopefully I can help you sell your pieces with a greater amount of confidence and success. And before you ask – I do not normally buy items from private individuals and really dont want to be offered pieces directly.