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I am charged with selling the family silver, on behalf of the estate after a death in the family. I know from previous Singletrack discussions that family silver is often next to worthless and just melted down- and I'm prepared for that. Some of it i imagine is quite posh- but I'm still prepared for melting and limited value.
Also in with the stuff are some glassware that I know is in the £1k+ range, and a couple of pictures by people who have some record of selling stuff.
How do I go about finding someone who'll say Auction/Ebay/meltdown in a way that I'm going to feel ok with? Is it an auction house? Someone must have done something similar before.
Advice and pointers most welcome especially if its in West Yorkshire/Lancs/Manchester at a push.
Many thanks
Can't help with any names, but we did the same thing a few years ago. We had a substantial collection of high quality lead crystal glassware. All from so called "names" in the business. Stuff was from 1910 to 1950 ish. We tried and tried and found no buyers, and the local auctioneers just tutted at us. No market existed and we were advised to try Ebay. when we looked on there similar stuff was going for peanuts.
We took it to the charity shop. Hope you have better luck than we did, but you'll need a lot of luck.
What eeeee said.
I’d be half tempted to have a looksee if I were in the market as Silver imo is far more fetching than say gold tat
You could give this lot a call
https://www.morphets.co.uk/valuations
Based in Harrogate
Not used them myself but have a reasonable reputation
( enough for me to consider if I’m in the same position as op )
From having sold off a lot of my dad's stuff recently, research, research, research & sell off the valuable stuff first - basically before you get bored of selling on ebay etc
Some of the best money I received was for my Dad's tools - chisels etc. The dealer who bought it was an elderly woman who was based Harrogate way but had a link to an antiques shop in the arcade in Otley (on the left as you walk up) which is how I contacted her. I have a lovely china tea service that I can't get rid of so can emparthise with your situation. I also put a load of stuff through an auction type place in Guiseley including a some lovely furniture but received a disappointing amount from them.
Why sell it? Seems a shame if not going for much. Does no one want to keep it in the family?
Got something similar going on here - folks are downsizing and a load of stuff is heading my way to get shot of. Years and years of traipsing around model car swapmeets buying Models of Yesteryear - now half of it (200-250ish cars) is sitting in my house waiting for a go on ebay. Trouble is, they're all 2-5 quid each and I remember dad paying way more than that for most of them back in the 80's...
Pretty much as said above. Without meaning to sound harsh, just because someone paid £1k+ for a piece of glassware it doesn't mean that the same piece is still worth that now. Even 'name' pieces often aren't tremendously valuable because of the quantities produced. Do as much research as you can on the items and look in to what type of stuff is selling well at the moment as these things often go in cycles. For example, heavy, dark wood furniture isn't selling at the moment. There are side units, wardrobes etc that were bought for thousands twenty years ago clogging up auction houses up and down the country and selling for less than Ikea flat packs!
Thanks all- lots of useful advice. Just feels like theres no market for it anymore. People don't keep "best" and dont have space to keep it. Thanks for advices- all useful cheers
If you want honest and free advice email me some photos over. My mum and dad have been in the antiques trade for 35 years id say. As honest as the day is long and will be more than happy to have a look for you.
Maybe I'm getting sentimental in my old age - but I would be tempted to keep it, even if you just box it up carefully and put it in the loft.
Seeing something that was obviously so treasured get sold for pennies, or melted down would break my heart and feel like such a waste.
From a completely objective perspective - can one assume that it's not going to drop further in value than it has already? Assuming that you have room in the loft for it.... whats the harm in mothballing it for a decade?
Get on the phone to “Cash in the attic”
and you can be wearing an ill fitting blue fleece in no time at all...
Silverware doesn't take up much room. Store for distribution amongst the grandchildren or great grand children at a later date.
Tell them that it was a treasured possession and it was saved specially for them, and it will be valued forever...