by Judy Gonyeau, managing editor
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Before the Search: Things That Matter
1. Bear two things in mind when using general price guides:
• People selling to dealers (resellers of goods) can expect to get prices below the market value.
• A multitude of factors affect actual prices. These sources can only give you a general sense of an item’s worth.
General sources include: Kovel’s, Miller’s (though not online, the 2024-25 guide is out in book form), Worthpoint; other sites that cover a wide range of vintage and antiques for sale such as RubyLane, eBay, Etsy, 1st Dibs; plus just about every quality auction house (Heritage Auctions, Bonhams, Sotheby’s) if you join their website.
2. Information on appraisals and appraisal services:
An appraisal is a professional evaluation of your item’s market value. This depends on many factors, including the condition of your item, its rarity, and/or the demand for similar items. There are two basic services professional appraisers can offer:
A written appraisal is a report giving an opinion of the value of an item at a given point in time. All appraisals should be compliant with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP).
Appraisers may also provide auction evaluations—verbal opinions of the value of your property—for free. There is often no charge for an auction evaluation and no obligation to consign to the gallery represented by the appraiser, but in general, it is taken in good faith that you are considering selling your property at auction.
The Library also shares links to the Appraisers Association of America, The American Society of Appraisers (https://www.appraisersassociation.org), and The Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (https://www.abaa.org). We also recommend Asheford Institute of Antiques (https://www.asheford.com).
3. Guidelines for searching on Google:
Try a general search when determining what you have. Here are some tips on how to choose good keywords:
• Think about what you’re trying to find and its features
• Choose words that you think will appear on the page that holds the information you are seeking.
• Put yourself in the mindset of the author of those words – Formal? Descriptive?
4. Word order matters:
Use a natural sequence – how would you say it? “Table, 19th century, mahogany, 72”, made by John Doe” or “19th century 72” mahogany table made by John Doe.”
5. Here’s what doesn’t matter (with some exceptions for common special characters):
• Capitalization, like “Antique Glass Libby Drinking Glasses” – try “antique drinking glasses made by Libby”
• Spelling, like “Antiuqe Glass” – at this point in time, computers are programmed to handle multiple spellings of most words so it will search for “Antique Glass” even if it’s not spelled that way.
• Special Characters such as @#$%^&*()=+[]\ – An exception can be made for the occasional ampersand for specific makers like Bing & Grondahl porcelain, or Howard & Sons furniture.
Put Those Tools to Work:
1. Keep it simple! Start by typing the name of a thing, place of origin, or concept/general topic that you’re looking for. Terms such as “antique sewing machine,” “antique German saucer,” and “depression glass.”
2. Add relevant words if you don’t see what you want after doing a simple search. First try: “bowl”; Better: “ceramic bowl;” Best: “orange ceramic bowl German 1950s”
3. Choose descriptive words. The more unique the word is, the more likely you will get relevant results.
Words that are not very descriptive, such as “document,” “website,” “company,” or “info,” are usually not needed. However, if you know better descriptor terms for an item such as “cameo” glass or “primitive” chair, add those in.
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Not ideal: “I need to sell my antiques.”
Not ideal: “where can I sell my stuff”
Better: “antique vendors who buy estates”
5. Use only the important words rather than a full sentence or question.
Not ideal: “places where you can buy antique bowls”
Better: “shops with ceramic antique bowls” or “ceramic antique bowl sellers”
Editor’s Note of Experience:
Feel free to get specific if you have more details on the piece you are looking up and you want as exact a match as possible, such as:
– a maker’s name,
– date created,
– country/state/city of origin,
and what it is made of: glass, wood (what kind?), metal
(silver? Gold? Tin? Bronze?), oil on canvas (or board, if not oils then watercolor? Acrylic? Mixed media? Name of the artist?), and special notes (“Bakelite handle,” “14kt white gold,” “tapered legs,” “missing leather blotter”).
Do this especially if you have exhausted other descriptors.
It doesn’t hurt to try!
How To Get Item-Specific Research Results When On-The-Go
Price tags often give more information on a seller’s items, and can give you hints for what keywords to use. Or, you can conduct a search using questions or adding detailed descriptions to the search line and see what the search brings you.
However, if you are looking for another example of what you are seeing, your best bet may be Google Lens or something similar. This add-on app from Google allows you to take a picture of the item and then send it out into the “Internet-verse” to look for similar images. When taking a picture of an item you’ve spotted, be sure to take it in a way that shows the entire piece without much background – fill the photo with the item only as best you can. Often, you can ask for help from a shopkeeper to move surrounding items so you can take a better picture. You can also enter keywords with the image in a small text box (“1920s,” “dining table,” “mahogany”) to direct the search to specific online resources that have items with those same keywords in their descriptions.
Items will show up from around the world, so an eBay result may be from eBay Denmark vs. eBay U.S. Click on an image if it is a match to yours and any information associated with that picture will pop up.
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