What we are building, and what we are learning

Buying handicrafts in a live auction

Ask who made it and where. Then ask whether the piece you are bidding on is the piece you get.

Describing the condition of electronics

Working, untested or for parts — then the screen, the battery, the ports and what has been replaced.

How to sell handicrafts on Metzee

Name the technique, name the region, name yourself. The work is the story and the story is the price.

Describing the condition of antiques

Original, repaired, restored, married. Four words that decide what the object actually is.

Buying electronics in a live auction

Ask them to boot it, and ask whether it has been signed out. The second question saves more sales.

How to sell electronics on Metzee

Power it on, show what is included, and sign out of every account before it leaves the house.

Buying antiques in a live auction

Ask for the underside and the back. The front was made to be looked at; the back tells the truth.

How to sell antiques and vintage decor on Metzee

Say what you know, say how you know it, and say what has been done to the piece since.

How sports cards are graded

Four areas, a ten-point scale, and the difference between a grade and a guess.

Buying sports cards in a live auction

Ask for the back, the corners and the card held still under side light. Then decide.

How to sell sports cards on Metzee

Centring, corners, edges and surface. Show those four and you have described the card.

Describing the condition of bags and accessories

Corners, hardware, lining, shape, smell. Five headings, and nothing hides between them.

Buying bags and accessories in a live auction

Ask for the corners, the zip working, and the inside turned out. Then ask where it came from.

How to sell bags and accessories on Metzee

Corners, hardware and the inside. Those three decide the price, and all three are camera work.

Describing the condition of jewellery and watches

Say what is worn, what is missing, what has been repaired, and what you have not tested.

Buying jewellery and watches in a live auction

Ask for the scale, the hallmark and the second hand. Three requests that cover most of the risk.

How to sell jewellery and watches on Metzee

Weight, purity and the hallmark for gold. For a watch, whether it runs and what has been replaced.

Describing the condition of cricket memorabilia

Condition and provenance are two separate statements. Collapsing them into one is where this goes wrong.

How comic condition is described

The 0.5-to-10 scale, page quality, and why restoration must always be declared.

Buying cricket memorabilia in a live auction

Ask how they know. The answer, not the item, is what you are really bidding on.

How to sell cricket memorabilia on Metzee

Three words decide the price — worn, issued or replica — and the fourth is how you know.

Buying comics in a live auction

Ask for the spine edge-on, the indicia and the page colour. Three requests that settle most of it.

Describing the condition of film posters

Paper grades on what has happened to it, and every repair is part of the description.

How to sell comics on Metzee

Spine, staples, pages and the indicia. Show all four and the room can price it.