In the last year we sent a few pieces of Victorian jewelry to Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in Chicago, a Maison Charles 1950s French cocktail table to Rago in New Jersey, and most notably, two original Gary Larson Far Side car- toons to Heritage that sold for $27,000. Auctions are an integral part of the re-sell market. Whether you have a rural estate or a long lost Benton, an auction might be a good
a distant third, Heritage Auctions. Sotheby’s and Christie’s conduct auc- tion sales in excess of $5 billion dollars per year each and are the most exclusive in terms of what they will accept. They spe- cialize in significant works of art and it is common for them to sell pieces in the multiple millions. We know of an estate sale com- pany that couldn’t even get a return email from Chris- tie’s for a vase valued at over
can be a good fit for these houses. Two great local high end auction houses in Kansas City are KC Auction Co, and Dirk Soulis Auctions. Both companies have a sterling reputation in the KC market and we have enjoyed working with them in the past. NOTABLE, REGIONAL AUCTION HOUSES Often with storied histories, these regional powerhouses will sell between $15 and $100 million in goods each year. Over time many have become known as specialists in certain areas like Wright in Chicago for notable 20th century design (wright20.com), Neal’s in New Orleans for pottery (nealauction. com), and Rago in New Jersey for arts and crafts (ragoarts.com). If you have a notable piece, it is worth spending time looking for an auction house that focuses on that type of item and has the right buyers. These auction houses usually accept items valued at several thousand dollars and up. NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL AUCTION HOUSES The giants of the auction house world include both Sotheby’s, and Christie’s and at
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fit for you. Happy Bidding.
$10,000. Heritage, with total auctions around the $1 billion per year mark, is best known for selling coins, comics, and website domains. While less choosy than its New York brethren, Heritage still has a threshold of $1,000 per item with a minimum lot size of $3,000. We occasionally have notable items in our sales that can’t realize their market value in an estate sale format. On the client’s behalf we will broker these items to a regional or national auction house where they can get the attention, buyers, and price that they deserve.
Michael and James Fry are brothers and the owners of Brown Button Estate Sales.
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9 vintagekc summer 2016
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