My first Auction

[ironlord1963]

   Hello finally got off my duff and went to my first Antique Auction, they say this is where the real knowledge is, Well have learned a thing or two.  I have a couple of question about some items I Acquired.  First I did what I read to do sort of, went early and inspected the things I may be intrested in.
Say these two Pitchers labeled as Staffordshire and Mason jugs mid-victorian, Figured these were a bit out of my range and ignored them.  Come time for the hammer to fall the price was cheap, well basically got them both for $50.00.  Am I good or what  , until I went to pick them up, one has a major crack and the other minor, So much for being good  .

1st.  I have found out the red one is called Red Willow made by Mason, appears to be the age,  It does have a small repair on the item, but overall it is good.  I need to find a fair friend value for this piece, cause a good friend really wants it.  What I am looking for is a price to not loss money and yet get most of the value off it, backed off a little for a friend.

2nd  the really cracked one, they called Staffordshire, I look for marking and all I can find is 2 slashes, how did the auction house determine this?
and of course Title and value of this broken piece would be nice too.

I did get a couple more items so all in all It was a wonderful experience and will go every month now, just to see how many broken antiques I can get for cheap     

[ironlord1963]

Whoops sorry forgot the pics 

[ironlord1963]

Here is the  Stafforshire

[cogar]

Hello finally got off my duff and went to my first Antique Auction, ……. and will go every month now, ……

And I’ll betcha you will soon be checking the local papers and Trader’s Guide for on-site Estate Sales, auctions and Garage Sales. And on Friday and/or Saturday you will be driving around looking for Garage Sale signs once you figure out those are where one can find the “sleepers”.     

Ironlord, if you are going to be into the buying and selling of collectibles, I suggest that if you are contemplating the purchase of an item, never be asking “what is it worth”, …. but be asking yourself  “how much can I sell it for”. Set a price and then try not to exceed it when the bidding or the bartering commences. Remember, you will be bidding against a few who want the item to keep for themselves and they will oftentimes pay more for it than it is worth to you.

[ironlord1963]

   Oh yea already have been to the garage sells and thrift store, Lady friend is who got me caught up in all this.  I have lots of stuff that I thought may be a sleeper, but still they set upon my shelf.  I have a online store that is just filling up with my attempts to find that snoozing antique at least, Ebay has been a little help, but just enough to get this hobby to pay for itself sort of.  I just went to the Auction to maybe get a couple of nice pieces that may yield a bit more then just 2 bucks in profit.
   I have read lots of books all telling me what to do and say and act, but sometimes just still have to experience it.  I should of check out everything, not just what I thought I would buy.  Then of course I will only buy it if I like it, I may just get stuck with it, i.e. these two pitchers.   

[Tim]

I believe I would sell them to my friend at my cost or there bouts. I don't believe you'll get much more elsewhere. Most generally, damage really affects the value of a piece. There are exceptions depending on the damage. One of the first rules in buying is to set a monetary value on the piece through knowledge/research, etc., then buy what you like.

[D&b antiques]

to be Honest. I wound'nt want to pay' $ 45.00 Dollars apiece for them.

[ironlord1963]

   Yea I agree with the sell at cost.  This was a rookie mistake.  First inspect everything even if I don't think I was going to bid, the first clue should of been that only two of us was bidding the other persons dropped at 40 dollars, being the fool I had to push it up once more.  The red willow is in good shape though, no cracks only one small repaired area.   Actually I only paid 50 dollars for both not apiece, so it was 25.00 a piece.  As for the really cracked one well that will sit upon my shelf and look good at a distance, and be a reminder to inspect.
   It was not a great loss I did get a few other items that should prove to be worth it at least, but I thought I would just share my rookie mistake and see what I should value the red willow at for sell to a friend.  If I do cost then that would be $25.00, that kinda seem a bit low for this piece, for it is still in very good shape.  Thought about $50.00 for the red willow this would at least recover my mistake, I will give it some more thought and if any more advise is posted I will take that into consideration.  Thanks for the help so far. 
 

[Tim]

He who states he has not made a mistake has never tried anything new. We have all made that error, especially in starting out. It is a learning experience and unavoidable. If you can recover your loss on one of your first ventures, your doing better than most.

Another course to take is offering it for $37.50. That way you may still have your friendship........

[D&b antiques]

$50.00 Dollars for both I could live with that.

[KC]

I would venture to say that we have all been there and done that!  Eagerness gets us into trouble sometimes.  As long as it is recoverable and we look back later and grin....that is what counts.

the 2 for $50 isn't so bad! 

If you sell them to your friend and cut even that is even a good thing!  As long as they are happy with the purchases....cracks with character!

[ironlord1963]

Yea I think I will give her a deal, been looking more on Ebay and you can get some cheap pieces of Red Willow Porcelain from Mason's in the 20 and 30 dollar range.  I think I see many items going really cheap now, people seem to be dumping a lot of treasures right now.  Still would like to know how the Auction house determined the other jug as being Staffordshire, with only two little marks on it.

[railman44]

EBay taught me the items I thought would garner lots of bids and sell at a decent profit don't and the items I thought were a waste of time sold easily.  Very difficult, at least for me, to view an item with total objectivity with no personal feelings.  I guess that's the main reason I'm not in the business of selling antique or vintage items...

[cogar]

He who states he has not made a mistake has never tried anything new.

Right on, Tim. As they say, education is expensive. In my early days, a friend who would bring me thing to sell for 50%, brought me an octagon Cocoa Cola neon wall clock in fairly good shape. I dusted it off, hung it on the wall and after 4 or 5 months and no one interested in it, I put it along with some other junk in a local Saturday night auction. I think it sold for $23 and I was happy. Then a few months later I ordered a Cocoa Cola Collectibles book from Paducah, KY, ……. and guess what was pictured on the front cover?   

[carolisme]

I've been buying and selling for many years and still get stuck with a crack or flaw I missed in my enthusiasm for the piece and the potential value of my find.
Never, ever buy a broken, chipped or cracked or in anyway flawed piece unless you, yourself alone, are madly in love with it.  Not unless you are sure of the rarity, the true value and have a buyer looking for such an item, buy anything that isn't perfect, even then it may end up yours for a lifetime.
The value of any antique piece is only what somebody is willing to pay for it, and that does leave many variables in the possibility of a good price for your purchase.
Enjoy the hunt- it's very addictive, just don't forget there is a lot of "fools gold" out there too!