Make the Most of your Online Antiques Appraisal
An online antiques appraisal, called an auction evaluation, is the quickest and easiest way to get an expert appraiser’s opinion. Best of all, a Skinner online auction evaluation is free of charge.
5 Tips for your Online Antiques Evaluation
Submit an Online Auction Evaluation Form
Please submit just one item at a time for evaluation using the online auction evaluation form. Read about getting an evaluation for a large collection or estate.
These five tips will help you get the most out of your online evaluation:
1. Good Pictures
Pictures really are worth a thousand words – especially when they’re in focus. The better your image, the more information an expert appraiser will have to help them determine value. For the best results, use good lighting and include a photo that shows the entire item.
2. Additional Information
Once you’ve taken a picture of the whole item, well lit and in focus, don’t stop there! Let us know about additional information that may help us evaluate your item, and feel free to include additional images.
- Artist or maker
- Medium or material
- Dimensions in inches
- Identifying marks or signatures
- Country of origin
- Period and style
- Number of items in a set or service
3. Submit the Online Form
Click the “submit” button only once. There will be a slight delay as your images are uploaded. Once complete you will see an on-screen confirmation letting you know that the form has been received by our team.
The form is designed for the upload of up to several images or items and has a 15 MB limit. For larger groups of images, we suggest contacting our Appraisal & Auction Services team at 508.970.3299 so that they can assist you with the process, or using a service such as WeTranfer or Dropbox shared with sell@skinnerinc.com.
4. Consignment Deadlines
Skinner’s twenty specialty departments hold auctions on a rotating schedule. Even if you’ve missed one consignment deadline, another auction will be coming soon. In fact, consigning well in advance of an auction date gives the auction house the necessary time it takes to research, catalog, photograph, advertise, market, and promote your pieces to buyers.
5. Hearing from Us
We read every message, and if your property is a good fit for a Skinner auction and the value exceeds our minimum lot level, we will respond within three to four weeks with an opinion of the value of your item. This auction estimate is based on expert knowledge of the current market and comparisons to similar items that have sold recently. The response will include “next steps” for consigning with Skinner.