Unfortunately, there are times when we have all
entered into contracts, which we may not read
thoroughly or understand everything we are
agreeing to. While trust can be a good thing,
you should also ensure you know what the terms
of the agreement entail, whether it is on paper
or just a handshake. In most cases, I always
try to go through my contract with my clients,
so they understand what they are signing. It's
also the reason I go over the buyer terms of the
auction before we start and encourage my buyers
to ask questions.
The following is an email correspondence with a
lady who felt she had been mis-led...
mary brown wrote:
I have just had a horrible experience with an
"estate sale" professional in Edwardsville,
Illinois. I was misslead by this garage sale
guru. No pre sale inventory was done. The
"sale" was conducted as if it was truely a
garage sale. I was told that I would have
a final accounting of the items purchased
and now three weeks later, I can not get
this person to respond to my requests for
the records.
His card says that he is a member of the
antique & appraisors association - Mid-Am.
I can not find this association and was
wondering if you are familiar with them
or could direct me to the appropriate people
that could take action and make sure that
another person does not have the horrible
experience that I have had.
During one of the most stress full times of
my life, I was miss led by a "family friend"
and my family has been VIOLATED.
Please help me.
---
my reply:
I'm not familiar with Mid-Am. An Estate Sale
is basically a garage sale type of event,
which is conducted by a third party on your
behalf. Whether or not they did a "pre-sale
inventory" would only be required if it were
specifically indicated in a contract. However,
they should normally provide an accounting of
all items sold.
As far as the terms of your estate sale, I
hope you had a written contract, as that
would normally determine the time that he
has to complete the accounting.
---
mary brown wrote:
Jim - thank you so much for responding to
me. When an estate sale is held, do you
price items at or near the appraised value?
Here are three examples from my experience:
Seven years ago two copper "horse head"
pictures were appraised at $250 each.
They were sold at the estate sale for
$10 each. At the same time seven years
ago, an antique cupboard was appraised at
$3,000 - estate sale price was $125.
Does this sound right?
---
my reply:
Since I am only responding to the info
you have provided and did not see the
merchandise, it is difficult to determine
whether the appraisals or the price it was
sold for was the "proper" value.
There are various factors that may be used
in an appraisal and they do not always
reflect the actual Market Value. Market
values also fluctuate. Right now, antique
values have diminished considerably compared
to 3-5 years ago. Art is always a difficult
product to sell at market value, as it may
take a long time to find the Buyer that will
pay the price.
An appraisal is one persons "opinion" based
on their particular efforts to determine a
value.... some are more thorough than others
and may have different results, so it is
difficult to determine whether the appraised
value would be considered "fair market value".
Appraisals are often based on data collected
and it depends on the source of the data and
how many comparisons were used to determine
the "current value". Often, an appraiser may
only be able to find one comparable that is
similar to the one he/she is appraising and
will use that value for the appraisal, but
it may not reflect the current Market Value,
as the item used in the appraisal may have
been slightly different and unique and/or
it's condition may have been pristine and
therefor command a higher value than the
one being appraised.
Estate Sales and Auctions are "liquidation"
efforts. I try to educate my clients so
they better understand the sale. With either
form of sale, the price of a single item
should not be looked at, but instead the
client should look at the end result (the
overall amount that the sale brought in),
as an average of all the items sold to
determine if the sale acheived the desired
results. While some items may not bring what
may have been expected, other items may sell
for more than expected, therefor the overall
average value at the end of the sale is what
should be the determining factor for a
successful sale. If there were items that
you would have kept rather than selling for
less than a specific price, that amount
should have been made known prior to the sale.
Given the above statements and from my
experience as an auctioneer, the pictures
probably would not have sold for even half
of the appraised value in this form of sales
event. By the same token, it is not possible
for me to determine if the cupboard was
accurately appraised or if the appraisal
value was a "true market value" for the
item on today's market.
---
mary brown wrote:
Thanks, Jim. I appreciate your help - wish
I had known you last month at this time - I
would have brought the items down to TX and
asked for your help - anyway, I guess you are
right - the end result is what matters -
31 pages of inventory for the post sale were
sent to me today - net value was 11,000.
---
As I said at the beginning, sometimes it
just helps if you know what to expect.
ASK questions BEFORE you enter into any
agreement.
