Apropos, a reader asked how I go about researching an item. “You must be good at googling,” she said. Although I am, this kind of analysis entails:
- knowledge of WHAT the object is
- how old
- condition
- its place in the oeuvre
- materials of which it’s made
…and many other ‘value characteristics.’
The narrower the search, the more pertinent the results. And what I always look for is the price PAID for an object, not the offered price.
DANGERS OF USING eBay FOR RESEARCH
The rule of thumb when researching an object is NOT to use eBay for a seller’s OFFERED price. DO use sites that report on SELLING/SOLD prices. The sites I cover here report SOLD items only.
BOOKS
If you research rare books, the best site is AbeBooks.com. They don’t charge for searching what a book like yours is OFFERED FOR. But remember, with rare books, the edition, and the condition are key, so this takes EXPERTISE. It takes a bibliophile YEARS to learn to value rare books.
OBJET d’ART
For researching decorative objects, porcelain, toys, glass, tableware, kitchen things, Native American objects, Persian rugs, and almost all types of art NOT classified as fine art, try Prices4Antiques.
You can pay for a 24-hour subscription for $15.95 or have access for 15 days for $32.95. I love this site because it’s a compendium of prices actually PAID at a cross section of American auction houses. In addition, you’ll FIND little thumbnail pictures of the items disclosed. This site works great for neophytes who cannot describe an item in WORDS needed for a Google search. The site offers categories of TYPES of objects and breaks each type down as you work TOGETHER towards your INDIVIDUAL object.
Beginners can also find valuation help on P4a.com. And to try it, without committing to a payment, go to ‘database search’ to get a sample of HOW the site works and the photos included.
FINE ART
A GREAT site for FINE ART is artnet.com. Go to ‘Price Database,’ and you can get five searches for $32.50. Expensive, but once you see how helpful the site can be you might feel tempted to move up to a 30-day subscription for 10 searches. The artist’s name search engine is wonderful because it offers many options for name spellings!
Remember this site is for fine art, including prints, sculpture, and photography as well.
MULTIPLE PIECES OF FINE ART
If you have many pieces of art or sculpture to research, for example if you’re closing down Mom’s house, check out ArtPrice.com. This French database doesn’t offer ‘day passes’ but a year of searches costs $238.50. I recommend this site if you plan on an estate sale for which you will spend months in research.
ArtPrice also offers tools to help SELL a work of art and allows collectors to see upcoming auctions for a specific artist. The site is easier to use than Artnet, but experts generally find Artnet slightly more comprehensive because it reports on more auctions, generally, for one artist.
Artnet and ArtPrice hail from EUROPE and are European centric in regards to artists listed. If your interests run to the sales of AMERICAN artists, try askART.com. You can get 24-hour full access for $14.95 or a great plan for a month for $25.95. You’ll notice on one side of this page a sample of their data results.
On askART, you’ll see large and clear photos of paintings and sculpture. You’ll be able to read the artist’s signatures in those photos. However, askART deals only with American Fine Art. And askART has a VERY helpful checklist for newbies to art market research, which covers the most essential value considerations, such as:
- Is the art an original (what is an original?)
- Who is the artist?
- What is the size, subject, and date?
- What about sculpture? What about condition?
- What exactly is provenance (this really matters!)
- What kind of FACTS would a buyer be interested in knowing to support the ‘price tag’ you put on a work of art?
Try these invaluable starter questions. And happy researching!
You will never use seller sites like eBay again, once you understand the importance of knowing the SOLD prices of a similar object to the ONE you want to research. For more hints, or for help, if you don’t want to do all that work yourself, please email me at elizabethappraisals@gmail.com.