What Makes An Item Valuable?

Families hire estate liquidators for three reasons:

1. To outsource the work of sorting, donating, tagging, and hosting a sale

2. To price items accordingly

3. To sell, sell, sell

We could set up the best estate sale in the world but if we can’t move the inventory, then what was the point. Families hire us to sell their things and to sell them at the appropriate price.

In fact, I often tell families that they don’t need to hire someone to give away their stuff. They could do that themselves. They hire someone who can identify, market, and price items of value.

But how do we actually go about doing that? How do we identify items that are valuable, and what actually makes an item valuable?

How Do We Identify Items That Are Valuable

We research and learn and watch what others are selling. We pour over trends in the market so we can identify pieces that may have value based on style.

And we just have the touch. ;) We’ve been buying and reselling since 2006 and over those years we have trained our eyes to identify pieces of value within our own estate sales but also at other estate sales, thrift stores, etc.

For example, there are accounts that we follow on Instagram and Pinterest that guide us (and others) on identifying items of interest. Some of these accounts are actually selling items of value, in which we begin to learn what is valuable and what is not.

What Makes An Item Valuable

Rarity within the market and trendy-worthiness are the two main factors that lend itself to high value.

Let’s look at some examples shall we:

Pyrex

Pyrex is still highly collectible but not all pieces are highly valuable. The pattern and the item determine the worth when researching Pyrex pieces. Mixing bowls and casserole bowls were made in bulk compared to their chip & dip sets or “promotional” pieces. These rare items in highly sought after patterns will sell for more than a set of mixing bowls in most cases.

China

China makers would have made an abundance of plates and bowls with less emphasis on making platters and servers. Given that there’s not as many of those items available in the secondhand market lends itself to a higher value. The pattern and maker also make a huge difference when determining worth. For example, Herend or Spode are higher value makers than Noritake or other mainstream maker.

Colored Glass

You could have the same pattern made by the same maker in two different colors of glass and see a huge disparity in worth. LE Smith glass maker was notorious for its “Moon & Stars” design. Some glass colors are very affordable while others bring over $50. See the example below.

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