When we started Paper Moon Moves, we were hopeful about helping our clients sell things they no longer needed. We saw fine furniture, attractive art, and cool collectibles, and we thought: somebody will want to buy this.
But we learned, one client at a time, that there are few things in people’s houses that can be sold for a significant amount of money. There are, generally, only a handful of categories of things with strong re-sale value: silver, gold, jewelry, select art, modern Danish furniture, and couture handbags. This is not to say you can’t sell anything else, but the values of other things will often not be high enough to warrant the time and effort to sell them.
Unfortunately, we find many people believe that they own valuable things. They remember what they paid for something years ago and assume it must be worth the same amount, or more, now. Or they inherited things that there were told had a lot value. Now they’re ready to sell and, sadly, it’s often up to us to tell them the bad news.
If you believe you have things of value, please give your family and heirs the tools to be successful in realizing this value. Don’t just tell them that they will be able to sell your belongings; do some work for them now so they know which things are actually valuable.
One thing you can do is hire an appraiser to assess the value of everything you own. There are general appraisers all over the country who are members of the American Appraisal’s Association, and they are listed on the website. If you describe your belongings to an appraiser, they will give you a quote for the cost to complete an appraisal.
If you hire an appraiser, they will come see everything in person, take photos and notes, and then present you with a written assessment of what they think your things are worth. They will most likely list items with notable value and give an estimate for each item’s value. For things with little-to-no re-sale value, they will include generic notes, like “Household goods in kitchen: no re-sale value.”
The problem with appraisals is that they are based on the market at the point in time of the appraisal. An appraiser is telling you what you could probably sell your things for, if you sold them right then and there. Because markets change so much year to year, you should arrange to have the same appraiser re-assess your belongings every five or ten years.
If you believe you have something of value but do not want to pay for an appraisal, you can, instead, try calling auction houses to discuss your items. If the auctioneers agree there is value, they will give you a rough estimate for how much your things could sell for at auction. Get this in writing and keep it with your will.
There are many auction houses all over the world. Some specialize in particular kinds of things – like books or cars, for example. But many of them are interested in wide ranges of things. Some are very well known, such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s.
Many of our clients expect they can place their things with these well-known houses, but these houses are only an option for a small fraction of sales. They will likely only sell things of quite high value. If you think you have things worth a lot of money, you can start by sending photos to them. If they don’t respond, that is a good indication that your things are not valued high enough to meet their thresholds.
Next, reach out to some of the less well known auction houses in the country and see if they have interest. You will find many listed on the website for the National Auctioneers Association. Even though you aren’t selling your things right now, you are collecting valuable information for your heirs
If you do this research and find that your things are not as valuable as you had hoped or assumed they would be, please don’t take it personally. The value of your furniture and décor is dependent on the whims of the market. If the items are of value, leave the information for your heirs. Do not make them have to do the work once they have inherited the items. And make it clear that items valuable at one moment in time are not necessarily valuable later on.
Most importantly, remember that the sentimental value and joy an item gives you is more important than what it can sell for. Buy things you will love and use, not things that you think will make you rich. It will never show up on an appraisers report, but, then again, sentimental value rarely depreciates.
