posted on August 11, 2004 09:02:18 AM
Ok, first of all, don't give me a hard time. This is the very first time I have done this. Some of you know that I am helping out a friend by helping her with an estate sale. I have researched and prices all the china. Now onto the silver. I found alot of sterling and plate and some just marked with marks. (Those I think I can figure out as to what they are. I DO have books here) I think I am going to have to guess with the crystal. Crystal and silver are not my areas of expertise.
How do you price the silver? What would you do? Any thoughts minus the critizism are greatly appreciated. (Sorry for the spelling, was up all night researching)
posted on August 11, 2004 10:26:51 AM
That is difficult to do as most young married couples don't want the hassle in cleaning it, but there is some silver that is really good and doesn't replacements.com sell silver? Check the names in the back. Reed & Barton, Towle. etc are a couple that come to mind.
What I think you have to do is go with your gut feeling on silver. I think it is a hard sell.
Good Luck with the estate sale. Fun to go to but I think they are a lot of work.
posted on August 11, 2004 10:35:55 AM
Libra, How I am finding this out! -I asked them to clear out everything they were NOT going to sell. TOO MUCH! Lots of garbage everywhere. It wouldn't be so bad but the darn house is about 20 miles away from me. I did most of the research last night up until the wee hours. Kind of fun. Too bad the stuff isn't mine. My son also helped out researching marks etc in books. He's really getting into it. (He's in jr high) We have 2 days left to get ready. I'll be leaving the house soon for another round. This time I will be armed with stickers.
I checked ebay and even sterling doesn't go for much unless it is marked with a well known name. Too bad.
Hey, does anyone know where to purchase those little tags with string on them to use on jewelry ? Too late to use them now but I know I'll need them in the future.
I've gotten the tags at Pat Catans. I think Office Max or any one of the office supply stores also carry them.
Cheryl
. . .if you still try to defend the infamies and horrors perpetrated by that Antichrist- I really believe he is Antichrist- I will have nothing more to do with you and you are no longer my friend.. . - War and Peace, Tolstoy
posted on August 11, 2004 11:34:13 AM
I have sold sterling silver flatware on consignment and some does very well depending on pattern. Hollow ware doesn't do as well, but again depends on pattern and what the piece is. Even some of the silver plate does well if it is a popular pattern. At the estate sales here I have seen sterling flatware priced at $2000 and it sells. What makes it hard to price is finding the pattern, which is a pain sometimes because it is so time consuming if you have to do it on replacements.com.
Don't blame yourself if you miss pricing a few thing as high as they should be. A guy I do consignments for goes to all the sales around here and always finds something the "experts" missed. He found a sterling ranger belt buckle set for $3 and was worth around $500. The people here who do the sales have been doing them for years and own antique stores so they should know their stuff but you can't get it all right. Some go online to ebay and price things so ebayers can't buy them since they are priced at the closing prices but guess that's the way it goes.
I bet you will do a great job and have fun too. Be sure to post how things go!
posted on August 11, 2004 04:29:15 PM
Once you have one sale under your belt the next one will be easier. Now after you have had that experience are you going to keep it up?
