Live Auction Houses Welcome Beginners

[jeffrey]

Major live auction houses (including well known names such as Christie's, Sotheby's, Bonhams & Butterfields and Skinner ) are increasingly courting beginners by holding "lower-priced, multicategory sales that offer newcomers an opportunity to get their feet wet by bidding on art, antiques, housewares and memorabilia that may start as low as $100" according to money.cnn.com




Like online auctions, the deals come with knowing an item's value and not getting carried away in a bidding war. With discipline and a bit of homework, you can get quality antiques at deep discounts:

A few recent examples from the West Coast auction house Bonhams & Butterfields: A pair of 1930s leather-and-sycamore armchairs from France, appraised at $1,000 to $1,500, left the building for $825; a vintage 18K gold Patek Philippe wristwatch with a retail value of $18,000 sold for $7,050; an entire dining room's worth of 19th-century Gothic furniture -- eight chairs, a table, a side cabinet, a buffet, a side table and a wall cabinet -- sold for $8,225 (estimated retail value: $20,000); and a 1986 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur -- a cream puff and a near classic, valued at $35,000 -- drove off for $23,800, roughly the price of a Kia minivan. In 10 years, you'll still be able to sell the Rolls. The Kia? Good luck...