Q: Should I sell a collection of antiques together, or break it up and sell the items separately?
A: It all depends on value. Auction houses often group items together, known in the trade as a ‘job lot’. A collection of silver-plated flatware, say; a stack of transfer-printed Victorian kitchenware; or a stash of antiques reference books. It’s just not worth their time to catalogue items individually. Dealers love job lots: the lot can be broken up, and the pieces sold on individually for a decent profit.
Recently, I bought a job lot of silhouettes from a local auction house. At the bottom of the tatty cardboard box – not mentioned in the catalogue – was a framed and signed caricature by Arthur Rackham (the famous Edwardian book illustrator), if tiny and a little bit stained. A few months later, I consigned the drawing to a specialist rare book auctioneer in London, where it sold for £450 (hammer) – well over the price I paid for the original lot.
But as a rough rule of thumb, if you’re selling antiques online, it’s worth taking the time to sell your items individually – especially if you make the effort to do proper research. That’s how to get the highest prices. Recently, I inherited a collection of 2,000 hardback books, many dating from the 1960s. I’ve kept the best ones back for myself, and I’m now selling off the remainder, one by one, on eBay.
It’s been a great deal of work. However, I’ve been surprised by some of the prices achieved, especially for the more obscure first editions on niche subjects – even if the original owner had the habit of writing his name and date on the title page, which can put off pernickety collectors.
On the other hand, if you’re lucky enough to own a significant antique collection on a specific theme, and an auction house judges it important enough to merit its own catalogue, then the curated ‘single-owner sale’ is the way forward. The items are catalogued individually – often with detailed descriptions and academic notes – and marketed as a rare opportunity for buyers to acquire artefacts from a one-off collection. Single-owner sales create a buzz, attracting collectors worldwide, which, of course, drives prices upwards. And as collectors can bid online in real time, single-owner sales (especially for distinguished collections based on niche themes) can sell incredibly well at auction.
There’s always the option of selling a collection privately, but it’s a tricky prospect. It might take a very long time to find a willing buyer, and although there is the advantage of an instant sale, a private buyer will expect a discount. You also have the very real problem of a realistic valuation – often an unknown quantity. Sell your collection through an auction house, and there is at least the knowledge that your prized collection has sold at market value.
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