My son and daughter-in-law await the birth of my first grandchild. The baby will need my son’s old favorite baby blanket, called ‘the ducky blankie.’ That blankie is SOMEWHERE in my massive, overfull $300/month storage locker.
Last Saturday I tried to find it. Which box? Which row? Which stack? I searched the labelled boxes, followed the guide I’d drawn, all to no avail. Due to locker rent increases, I’d moved the locker’s location and shuffled contents three times in 16 months. Each time I downsized.
Today, a client called about an entire 1950’s radio station in his $200/month storage unit. The contents consists of electronics of nerd-collectability and items of historic importance to Santa Barbara. He had NOT visited the storage in three years. “Whaaat am I to DO???” He called to me.
Some things he can sell. He should research what items equivalent his have already SOLD for, not what he THINKS he can get for them. He needs to piece together a narrative, complete with 1950’s photos of the historic electronics IN USE. That way, he’s formed a value basis for a donation or for selling.
Creating a narrative means researching PROVENANCE
Crafting that narrative may actually increase the value. The more evidence and the more importance of the narrative, the more value to the market, especially the historic collector’s market. For example, did a celebrity sing into that old microphone? This research allows him to find appropriate comparable selling prices he can claim as a deduction, if he decides to donate.
I suggest he uses P4a.com, an auction house-reporting site, to find other microphones used by celebrities, and then sold, as a comparable sales price for his value estimate on the IRS 8283 form. Next, of course, needs to find the right museum because he must donate to a museum specific to the type of donation. Then he fills out an IRS 8283 form for a non-cash charitable deduction, the museum signs the form, and he hands that to his accountant to file with his return.
Local solutions for donations
My favorite thrift stores, the first two will pick up:
Most of these take clothing AND furniture.
Fine Art, do you donate or sell?
First research the value. Here are my favorite websites (you may have to pay a fee for using these!):
- ‘Consummated’ selling prices of artwork, NOT the asking prices, P4a.com
- Decorative items and furniture, AskART
- American Artists, Artprice
- European artists and the best all-around for all art, but most expensive for a day fee, Artnet
Once you know the value of your work of art, make a decision. Do you donate or try to sell?
Selling ART
Expect to get half of what a piece like yours has sold for. You must pay auction house and gallery commissions, shipping and restoration charges, sometimes insurance and photography charges. Figure those costs into your decision to donate or sell. You can donate for the selling price; you can NOT usually sell for the researched selling price.
The two biggest obstacles to donating
One is that you DO and WILL remember what you’ve PAID for the item. What you PAID, however, has no relevance to what you can claim as a donation deduction. You need to find at least three actual selling prices, to get a GOOD idea of Fair Market Value for a donation claim to the IRS.
Number two obstacle is the ‘endowment effect!’ You endow an object with YOU-ness. Because you remember HOW and WHEN you obtained the item, you endow the object with symbolic, sentimental content. Symbolism, like a gift from a special someone, does NOT add to the selling price. Sentimentalism, the object as a marker of an event, does NOT add to the value. You must make Market Value surgically CLEAR because that’s the only value that matters.
Great write….fortunately, I moved three times since my early beginnings. With each move I unloaded. All that’s left are my treasures. I’ll let the kids dispose of them however they see fit.
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