There are many different types of auction houses and the type of merchandise they sell can vary. The majority of the auction houses will take anything from antiques, collectibles, art, and household items that a client wishes to sell. The items can be vintage, new, slightly used, or genuine antiques. Some clients may have only a few items to sell and some may have an entire household or container they need to move. The auctioneer will catalog the items and display them at the auction site until the sale. In many cases, it may be weeks or even months before the items actually go under the gavel. If you are in a hurry, this option may not be the best avenue for you to clear out your items.
The auctioneer will charge you a commission for selling your merchandise. This typically ranges from 20-35%. The auction may or may not market any specific items before the sale. The better quality items in the higher end auction houses or unique collectibles in a specialty sale can often see the most pre-sale attention. The more interest the auction house can stir will most likely result in more people bidding, which in most cases, drives up the pricing and the auction house’s commission.
My attendance at auctions has been extremely limited the last 20 years due to a lack of desire to keep acquiring more things. My antique appraisal class from Asheford Institute assigned a field trip to go out and attend an antique auction and visit some of the local antique stores or malls. I went to several in the last week. What I learned is that the vast majority of what people are selling as “antiques” or not anything but vintage pieces or items that have passed their day. There is so much stuff out there for sale, it will blow your mind. These items will some day be antique and even may be collectible now, but 80% is just someone else’s junk. Much of the furniture out there that is becoming antique is the Victorian and Art Deco period. I saw some beautiful pieces, but most of them were apparently not selling. Prices in most places were slashed to 50% or more off.
The one place that did seem to be selling their pieces was actually taking these old vintage furniture pieces and modifying them in ways that make them more appealing to the younger shopper. The craze right now seems to be refinishing furniture and accessories in chalk paint to make them 
more rustic or shabby chic. I have to wonder how much of this has been influenced by Joanna Gaines from Waco. She has this “modern meets rustic” country decor that she demonstrates on the HGTV show, “Fixer Upper”.
The auction was even more astonishing in the lack of interest in furniture and most items that were up for sale that night. The auction house had reservation signs on most of the seats, so it appeared the place would be packed. It was not. Most of the seats were empty. There were some deals to be had, if you were looking for the type of items on the block that night. I previewed the items the day before and picked out what I thought were some of the nicer pieces. My assignment was to do my own assessment of the items and write down what I thought was the value. When the items actually sold, I could compare how accurate or not my appraisals were.
I was pretty dead on with what items I thought were the best quality and desirable. Even with that said, the prices were very low. As a buyer, that is great for profit potential. As a seller, that was bad news. The most expensive piece of furniture was actually a pair of early Victorian chairs from the 19th Century. They sold for $250 each. One very important thing that I noticed was the lack of proper identification and presentation of some of the items. I noticed on preview day, three serigraphs that were quite large in size and framed by an artist named Lillian Shao. Since they were a style that appeals to me, I did some research on them and found that several of her pieces were being sold online and in art galleries for $600 (unsigned smaller prints) to over $2000 for signed prints. These prints were custom framed and more than 50″ tall. When the auctioneer had them on the block, he called them “really nice Erte’s” and told a brief story that a lady in Dallas had brought them in to sell at auction in addition to “some others in the back for a future sale”. He mentioned that “she paid a lot of money for them”. Two of them sold for about $495 each and one of them for about $600. I am quite sure that “lady in Dallas” was regretting her decision to sell them at auction (or at least this auction).
Not all auctions will yield such disappointing results, nor is it likely that most of your cherished belongings are going to create a bidding war and sell for above appraisal. Just because you paid $1200 for that sofa 20 years ago, you cannot expect that you can sell it for that now and certainly not more. It is even hard to get charities to take furniture that you want to give them in today’s market.
Be realistic about what you have and whether it is something that is still desirable by the public. Is it something that is now considered a vintage collectible or true antique? Can it be modified to be more appealing to a buyer? Are you willing to take time to find the right buyer? All of these factors will play a big role in its true value today.
P.S. Be sure and check out some of the collectibles for sale on my consignment website, www.collectiblesclearinghouse.com .
