<p>I’m thinking of downsizing and auctioning off some fine antique furniture and china. Does anyone have any experience with Christie’s, Sotheby’s etc? We are in the Boston area and also looking at Skinners.</p>
<p>I used to work at an auction house in NYC, and have also bought and sold through various houses. First, email good quality photos and descriptions to them and see if a)they’re interested and b)what their estimates are. If they’re interested in the furniture they’ll often send someone from the local office to your house to examine it.</p>
<p>Second, find out about their commission rates - probably S&C will be the same, but Skinner might be less. Then I would call some reputable antique dealers in the area and see what they offer you. Auction can be a wonderful way to sell, but sometimes a dealer will give you just as good a price with much less hassle.</p>
<p>If you do decide to go to auction, figure out what’s the least you’d take for each item (taking the commission into account), and set that as a reserve price. Then be prepared to get your things back (often with fees attached) if they don’t meet the reserve. Make sure to read the fine print on any contract you’re thinking of signing - there are often extra fees for photography and the like. If you have truly superb pieces, or a large collection, you can sometimes negotiate the fees and even the commission rate.</p>
<p>Lady I knew years ago went through Sotheby’s for auction purposes when she downsized from huge northern home with 3 attics to small southern condo. Her main advice was make sure the auction is in a large city to get the audience for your items.
She had quite a few pieces in her new condo that she had kept. Her new condo didn’t lend itself to antiques very well and her main concern at the time was that her relatives knew which things in her apartment had real value. If the value of items isn’t known to others it would be easy for them to garage sale them especially when they look out of place in a home.</p>
<p>depends on the value of the furniture, S & C may not be the best place to sell lower priced items as their clients are geared for top of the line items. Maybe Doyle in New York or Friedman(spell?) in Phily?</p>
<p>Yes, it really depends on how valuable your things are - that’s why you send the photos and descriptions first, and any auction house will be quick to tell you if they’re not interested. They turn down a <em>lot</em>. If S or C aren’t interested, Skinner is a very good house, with the added benefit for the OP of lower transportation costs than sending things to NY.</p>
<p>(And it’s Freeman’s in Philadelphia.)</p>
<p>sold “stuff”(non-funiture) in both s & c, they tended to cherry picking high end and bundle up lower priced items and it is not good for the seller.</p>
<p>I know a friend in New England with an antique business. I can ask her for suggestions for you. She goes to auctions all NE but does some private buying too. She also has a store.</p>
<p>Thanks for the step-by-step approach, Booklady. I was going to call Skinners to have them visit, but now will do the photos & descriptions route first, with Skinners, Sotheby’s & Christie’s. Antique dealers in Boston area; I’d greatly appreciate some recommendations too.</p>
<p>The Freemans’ website is terrific; really attractive and easy to navigate.</p>
<p>Pls let us know what have you decide and the outcome.</p>
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<p>Depending on what the items are, it isn’t always necessary to be in a large city. There are smaller, regular auctions of antiques in several smaller towns and rural areas on the east coast whose audiences are filled with dealers of fine antiques.</p>
<p>limeymum, I agree that you need to be VERY careful about the costs of doing this via auction. The houses make their money on both buyer and seller commissions, additional charges for photographs, etc. And yes, they often will cherry pick and unless you have an amazing and well-known collection, it is almost a certainty that you will get some of your merchandise back afterwards. A reputable dealer is a usually a better way to go. I have a family member who has been in the fine antiques business for decades and can ask them for a Boston area contact. Will PM you after I speak to them. If you by some coincidental chance happen to be in Vermont next weekend, there is an excellent show at the Okemo ski lodge in Ludlow, with several well-respected dealers.</p>
<p>[Northeast</a> Auctions](<a href=“http://northeastauctions.com/index.php]Northeast”>http://northeastauctions.com/index.php)</p>
<p>limeymum, this is who my family member recommended. Ron Bourgeault is knowledgable, honest, and very well-respected in the business. In New England, this is where you want to go if you have fine antiques to be auctioned.</p>
<p>Northeast Auctions is now on my list. I hope to photograph items this weekend and send them off. On the opposite side, I went to an auction last weekend and bought a couple of items; how’s that for down-sizing!</p>
<p>^^^ Start a collection of “smaller” stuff, instead of furniture… You have not got rid of the auction bug out of you.</p>
<p>I sold everything I had in 1990 except tool books, but I dive back right into it. After inactivity for almost 15 years, I am finally selling everything again, without the books…^^</p>
<p>Had a painful experience with larger houses, they just don’t care if the item value is below their lotting standards.</p>
<p>I don’t know if it still works the same now…or not, but…</p>
<p>It used to be that there were some extra costs associated with using an auction house in addition to the commission. Make sure you ask whether there are any costs other than the commission–whether you or the auction house pays to ship the stuff to the auction, to store it until the auction, to insure it once it leaves your home, the cost of printing the catalog, etc. If you set a “reserve” for an item and it doesn’t sell, who pays to ship the item back to you?</p>
<p>Unless your collection is well known in the field and the house WANTS your business, setting reserves is going to set more restrictions to the acceptance. OP is shopping for an auction house, if she, a new customer, tries to set reserves, the house will refuse most of her offering but only the top few pieces that they know the reserves will be met or that item is going to enhance that sale.</p>
<p>Commissions, lotting/photo charges, shipping charge and computer charge are all negotiable, if the collection is worth having. In my field, the standard commission is 10% seller and 10% buyer(much higher in C or S). Since my collection is substantial, I have negotiated a commission of 4% seller. Also,they are more than willing to travel half a globe to pick it up.</p>
<p>I remember the good old days of 10%. The standard buyer’s commission at the larger auction houses is now 25%, up to $100K or so (this amount varies depending on the house) and then it decreases. I’m not sure what the standard seller’s commission is these days, but it’s bound to be similar.</p>
<p>As for setting reserves, yes you do run the risk of them not being interested, but unless you also want to run the risk of having things sell for very little, you’re wise to do it. The reserve should be a reasonable one, of course, and not sky-high.</p>
<p>Ok, then why not sell it to “pawn star”, if that is real thing.^^</p>
<p>Well I guess if the item is $1 Million or above, the only way to sell it is via auction.</p>
<p>Friends recently auctioned some fabulous antique items that just didn’t fit in their new home. Their advise to a bunch of us…auctions are good for the auction house and the buyers. They are not particularly good for the sellers. They were in a time crunch and the auction house (one named here) agreed to auction their items. But at the end of the day,…they would have done better selling on consignment at a reputable antique dealer.</p>
<p>The problem that people will face with that plan, Thumper, is that most reputable antique dealers do not take items on consignment. And even if you could find one who does, it could be months before the items are sold.</p>