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AuctionBytes: If a regular person, who isn't an antiques expert, goes to one of your auctions, can you give me some tips on what they should be looking for?
Boccelli: We always try to tell people that when you want something, buy it because you like it and you want to live with it. Never buy anything for an investment purpose, because inevitably, you're going to lose your shirt. If you like the piece and want to live with the piece, then buy it. Buy it for the aesthetic quality of it.
Always go to the previews. Always preview the items. There are 300 plus lots in every sale, we don't even know the condition of every single piece, because it's just impossible to know it.
On furniture, make sure that the piece that you're looking at, if you're not able to restore something yourself, that it's in good shape to begin with, because restoration is extremely expensive now.
With porcelain and glass, condition is very important for resale value, which is why you'll tend to see that even the best porcelain, if it's damaged-the prices realized on it are much lower than it would be if it were in mint shape. And that's pretty standard across the board.
AuctionBytes: We've actually discovered that with eBay. If it's chipped, they don't want it.
Boccelli: They don't want it, yes. There are people that will buy it and then restore and & sell it as perfect. That's another thing you have to watch for. So it's very important to view the item, and feel it, handle it and look for any kind of problem that it might have.
AuctionBytes: So how would you recognize a bargain at an auction?
Boccelli: A bargain? There are always bargains at every auction. From a resale point of view, from a customer's, or mine?
AuctionBytes: From a customer's point of view.
Boccelli: I think that a bargain is,... To me, a bargain is always something that you want, that you're willing to spend x amount of dollars for, but you get it for less. Because really, as a lay person going to an auction, what is the value of something? It's all so intrinsic, it's like, what you're willing to pay is really what the value is. I don't think that that's a question that anybody can answer but the person that's buying the item.
I've had retail customers that will come up to me say, what do you think this is going to bring at auction? And I'll say, well, it should bring $600 to $800, and it brings $1,200 because they and somebody else in the audience wanted it. So then that is what that piece is worth, because two people wanted it and they were willing to pay that amount for it.
From a resale point of view, it probably wasn't a good purchase. But you know, I do it myself. If I want something I buy it, and I don't care what I have to pay for it, up to a point.
AuctionBytes: What happens to the things that don't sell at auction?
Boccelli: Sometimes it's just that nobody wanted the item that night, and we will put it into another upcoming sale if we think that it will sell in an auction. If we don't feel like it will sell in an auction, we just tend to put it in the garage and bring it to venues like Brimfield. And then, if it doesn't sell there, we'll send it to a secondary auction company and just cut our losses.
AuctionBytes: have you ever purchased anything on an online auction site or sold anything?
Boccelli: No. We're starting to consider it. Out of one house, we got this grouping of Byers Carolers. Do you know what those are? They're these little things that are made out of papier mache or something. They're very collectible. But they're not something that we sell or would do well in auction. So we've been considering, all right, is it time to hook up to eBay or one of the services, and sell these little things over the Net?
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