Question and Advice, Opinions, Ideas

[Rick]

We all will face this someday, I think.

You want to liquidate your collection of all the interesting swords etc etc that you have collected over the years.

What would be the best way to accomplish this task with minimal loss to your investment?

[fernando]

Long time i have instructed my wife & daughter to get help from a local honest friend who is acquainted and respected by local auctioners.

[Rick]

That's probably the way to go, Fernando.
Still, the auction house will demand its pound of flesh.
It can't be avoided in such situations.

[Lee]

The "trick" is, of course, dispersing a collection with minimum "loss to ... investment."

If the retiring collector is still in a condition to and of a mind to manage the sale, then by doing a lot of the work in posting for and fulfilling on-line sales or renting a table at shows, a maximum low retail return can likely be achieved (though maybe not in inflation adjusted terms.) The problem with this approach is that it is a lot of work. Anyone who has done this realizes that the dealers very often earn their mark-ups.

Collectors are often shocked when they go to sell and receive a "wholesale" offer from dealers that they have dealt with over the years. Expect an offer for about 50% (or less) of retail! It takes a good while to disperse a collection and the dealer's working capital is tied up until the items have found a new home.

An auction will likely want 25% of hammer price from the seller, but they are going to collect another 20% or so from the buyer and all but the uninitiated will have factored the total price into their maximum bid.

Some specialist dealers may accept items to sell on consignment for a lesser percentage of the selling price - the retiring collector will then have to wait to get paid, but is spared the uncertainty of an item doing poorly on the day of an auction.

My personal attitude has been to tell potential heirs to take what they want when the day comes because they like or have memories of the thing and to find an honest auctioneer to clear out the bulk. Sudden horror - "What if I miss something that is really valuable and you have not left me a detailed inventory with prices?!" My reply: "That is not my problem - I'll be dead after all - and such is the life cycle of antiques and the chance of an eureka is what I'll have bestowed upon future owners."

[Kmaddock]

I have two children a boy and a girl
My daughter is getting my wife's jewellery and she gets to pick her first 2 choices my son gets his first choice after that and the remainder goes to my daughter.
Inverse is happening to my collection.

Who wins out financially probably my son but don't say that to my wife ;-) I have no inventory or prices paid on anything


If I decide to disperse while still alive I would sell at auction, I don't think i would like to watch the auction though as for some items I would probably want to kick myself for selling so cheap but some items would sell well so it would probably equalise out.

Thanks for the question though maybe i should catalogue but my number one item would not be the most valuable! and that's the way i think collecting should be.

Keep well

Ken

[gp]

Originally Posted by Kmaddock

I have no inventory or prices paid on anything

.... but my number one item would not be the most valuable! and that's the way i think collecting should be.

Keep well

Ken

same here ( no inventory list ) although I am thinking of advising my family to contact a subject matter expert ( like my friend Detlef for Indonesian ones) to sell them. At least I trust his integrity based on past experiences.

The same for my Congolese ones; I know a very good lad from Belgium.

My main collection (Bosnian, Balkan and Ottoman ones), I would advise to go to a German and Austrian auction house ( as they are sold there quite often and against decent prices).
Might give a basic price indication (80% of the average purchase price).

As for valuable: my most precious one is rather cheap from a commercial perspective : a bayonet for a US carbine my late father used being a Dutch Storm Trooper Free Forces in 1944 joining the US 9th Army after the Battle of the Bulge and 1945 after a basic training in Enfield UK going to Malakka and Indonesia against the Japanese forces.
Its condition is from a collector's perspective poor to reasonable:it has quite some damage caused by "battle experience" but this personal part makes it my most valuable one and will remain in the family; either my daughter or her cousin.

But beforeI'll have to "go"... I shall try to sell them myself, not giving my family the burdon of the hustle selling them and perhaps losing too much money and nerves if they did well or not...

have a nice day! ☼

Gunar

[fernando]

Originally Posted by Rick

That's probably the way to go, Fernando.
Still, the auction house will demand its pound of flesh.
It can't be avoided in such situations.

Well, by local auctioners i mean real local auctioners, three of them, 25 miles away from home. No public transports involved. Besides, their commission is not so high. In any case, since a while back, i am thinning out my little collection, by means of direct sale, so that there will be no fortune to rip apart in the end.

[Kmaddock]

I still have Lew's collection pinned in my favourites, I regret not having had the chance to purchase anything when it was being broken it up as I was not a member of this great forum back then.

It was a nice way to disperse his items all across the world giving something back to his family

I never corresponded with the man but he seemed to have been a great asset to the group.

Regards
Ken

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by Kmaddock

I never corresponded with the man but he seemed to have been a great asset to the group.

Indeed, Lew have had a great eye for nice blades and generous by sharing his knowledge, miss him!