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247 posts tagged collecting
How to spot fake sneakers
Metzee does not authenticate. What to ask a seller to show you, and what it means when they will not.
Why handmade costs more, and what you are paying for
The arithmetic of hours, materials and the ones that failed. Written so the factory price stops being the comparison.
Heat and your stock
Vinyl, cards, candles, chocolate, anything with glue. A short list of what a hot month does and what to do first.
Metzee compared with an auction house
Reach, speed and what it costs to try. And the things a room full of people still does better.
How to spot a counterfeit before you bid
Metzee does not authenticate. Five things you can check yourself, live, in under a minute.
How to work out what something is worth before you bid
There is no valuation tool. Four ways to get close, and the number that matters more than any of them.
Why some things sell better live than in a photograph
Because a photograph is chosen and a request is not. Three examples where the difference is the whole sale.
How to judge an item through a camera
What a screen hides, what it exaggerates, and the four requests that fix most of it.
Should I sell a collection as one lot or piece by piece?
Singly earns more and costs more. The test, and the split most people should use.
I inherited a collection — where do I start?
Slowly. The five things to do before you sell anything, in order.
Should I get something graded before selling it?
Only when graded copies of that exact thing demonstrably sell for more. The sum, honestly.
Can I sell ivory, shells or feathers?
Ivory, no. The rest depends on the species, and age is not the exemption people think it is.
Can I sell genuine antiquities?
Old decorative objects, yes. A genuine antiquity is a legal category with real consequences, and this is the one that catches honest sellers.
What is provenance?
Where a thing came from, and the trail that shows it. What counts as evidence and what only looks like it.
What is professional grading?
A third party judges condition, seals the item and puts a number on it. What that buys, and what it does not.
What do NM, VG and the rest mean?
The condition abbreviations collectors use. What each means, and why the same letters mean different things in different categories.
What does deadstock mean?
Unsold old stock, never worn. What it does and does not promise, and the one question to ask.
What is a "lot"?
An auction word for the thing being sold. Metzee does not use it — here is what it says instead.
Collecting furniture and homeware
Start with small objects you can carry home. Furniture is the expensive way to learn.
Building a wardrobe from second-hand womenswear
Keep your own measurements, and always ask what seam allowance is left.
Building a wardrobe from second-hand menswear
Measure one shirt you love. Everything after that is arithmetic.
Learning to buy lots
Bid on what you can see. The discipline is the entire skill.
Starting a collection, whatever you collect
A focus beats a pile. That is the whole of it, and it is harder than it sounds.
Starting a handicraft collection
Buy from makers you can ask. The conversation is most of what you are learning.
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