Great Values Found at Local Auction Houses

Jacob Greenleaf, painting (1887-1968) Painting is offered at 31 Gallery.

Before I left on my trip earlier this month, a friend called to tell me about an auction in Massachusetts. I agreed to take a look at what they were offering. I honestly wasn’t that excited to so this; I had packing on my mind. I took a look at the offerings on their site anyway, mostly out of courtesy to my friend. But, surprise surprise. There were at least 12 paintings that caught my interest. I ended up leaving bids on 6 of them.

While I was away, I became the owner of 2, one of which is by Jacob Greenleaf, whose work we already own. I have since talked to the owner of Blackwood-March Auction in MA, and we have agreed to keep in touch.

I have found that Local auctions seem to be the most profitable place for me to buy good art. They have every bit in quality that the major houses have, and this is where we can profit.

First, there’s less competition. Maybe it’s because the advertising might not equal that of the major houses. Or, perhaps people just don’t pay as much for items because they figure the quality is less than they might find at one of the major houses. I don’t truly know the motivation behind each person placing great items in local auction houses, but consider this my very educated guess. I do know this, however: High quality items very often turn up at local auction houses because, the truth is, people would rather deal with people they know, not to mention the cost to them is usually less. There is also the intimidation factor many people feel when dealing with Christie’s or Sotheby’s. I’ve experienced it firsthand.

The best way to take advantage of this phenomenon, is to make a listing of all the auction houses within 75 miles of your home. Call each one of them and ask to be put in their database. This will allow these houses to contact you whenever they have an auction. Doing this will give you plenty of time to prepare for your visit to preview, or to decide upon which of their offerings you might want to leave absentee bids after you view their fliers or catalogs.

When you view the auction houses’ offerings, don’t limit yourself to just one type of item. I often find the best items in the sale weren’t the ones I thought I’d be buying. My intentions might have been to buy a painting, but after I studied the offerings, I discovered a Meissen figurine, for example. If this is an auction where most of the people in attendance would rather have stoneware instead of a Meissen, I might just pick up that bargain I was looking for.

I’m telling you, aside from having entree into private homes, these local houses could end up being your greatest asset.

You might be seeing and hearing all bad news on TV and radio, but don’t believe it all. The antique and fine art business is well and healthy!

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Local Auction House Treasures

This Charles Bragg original oil paintinge is offered on eBay for $9000.00.

A little rest is a good thing, and it can do amazing things. I certainly rested enough on my Smokey Mountain vacation, and as you all know by now, I was eager to get back into the swing of things again. So, yesterday I went to our local auction house to pick up a couple of checks I had waiting for me there. One check was for a group of Depression Glass pieces I sold for the 31 Group’s Race to the Million Dollars, and the other was for a painting I sold that I hadn’t paid anything for.

The Depression Glass cost the group $70, and as I said, the painting cost me nothing. I wasn’t expecting any great shakes from their sale, in fact, the checks had been sitting at the auction house waiting for me to pick up for several weeks. You can imagine my surprise when I opened the envelope and a check for $175 for the Depression Glass was staring me in the face. I flipped to the next check and could barely contain myself. $750 dollars for a painting that cost me nothing.

If these results had been someone’s first step in the 31 Steps to Your Millions in Antiques & Collectibles program, they would’ve been off to a great start.

When you have very little expectations and something like this happens, the adrenalin rush can't be measured. However, this isn't where this story ends. I previewed the items for the auction scheduled for later that night, and I came up with my list of items I’d bid on. And bid I did!

I ended up purchasing a cowboy water color for $150 and four Bing and Bonadal figurines for $25. And, what a gift followed when I was able to buy two wonderful Indiana Dunes paintings by Glen Bastian for $600. I was just getting started. Then came the large oil on board by Alexander for $45. Only $45! And then, maybe the best buy of the night were two oils by the well listed artist, Charles Bragg for $350. I finished off this buying spree with very large print by Le Be Dang and a print by Leroy Nieman from the 1972 Olympics; very appropriate, don’t you think?

Our total investment was $1645, but what could this return to us? I figure the return will be a minimum of $5,000 and very possibly quite a bit more. Not bad for a Tuesday night. I got talk with all my friends who were there, share stories with them, and I learn a lot from asking questions while I’m there. What a fun and exciting way to make money this is!

You will be able to follow the sales of these items on the 31 gang’s inventory sheet. I promise that the 31 gang hasn't forgotten about the race, and our new webmaster, Jeremy, is preparing the webpage so Cindy and I can update it ourselves as things sell. We may not be in the lead, and if you are ahead of us, you’ll know we are close behind. Have you started your race yet? What Step are you up to?I know of many of you who have been working the steps have had some amazing results. So, if you haven’t sent in your gains to us, send us an e-mail and share your stories.

Just a simple small local auction with very little expectation, but look what happened. And the same thing can happen for you if you get out there. What I sold got me revved up, and what I bought will keep me excited for weeks. So come, join us and have some fun. And profit from it, too.
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