Online appraisers give their views about using eBay prices This article gives a variety of perspectives about utilizing eBay to help determine values of antiques and collectibles; from a number of the online appraisers affiliated with the wiw2u.com website.
they teach you the definition of ‘value’. The value of an item is what an unhurried buyer and a non-distressed seller agree the value is. eBay personifies this principle and is so pervasive across geographical and social borders that it literally defines the de facto ‘value’ of an item listed there. The eBay search of completed items provides important insight into the value of jewelry.”
What’s Hot and What’s Not
Ephemera expert Michael Rice uses eBay as one source of information, partly to see what is selling, but more to see how many (if any) of a particular item are listed. He comments that “If several or more items are listed and all sell around the same price (condition etc. being equal), then this does provide one benchmark towards establishing a value.”
Terry Husk almost always checks the going price on eBay for a lot of the items that he is assigned to appraise. “What it does tell us is whether a particular category is stale or flat,” remarks Terry. “However there are categories that we never consider checking on eBay . Furniture is a good example. It never sells well and there is no point in checking that category out.”
The Foreign Aspect
Jean Lafortune adds his perspective and writes that “eBay is not necessarily a magical venue to sell philatelic material.It was founded by Americans, is based on American attitudes and preferences, geared to Americans, British, Australian, English-Canadians and other primarily English-speaking audiences. This means that material from English-speaking countries, including the British Commonwealth, tends to be more popular. The number of people on eBay who are interested in used stamps from Yemen, specialized philatelic literature from Portugal or a collection from Bolivia are not that numerous. The true specialists of those areas will tend to look to specialized dealers and auction houses for this material and hence the price obtained by such items on eBay may not truly reflect the actual value and scarcity of the material.”
Fine Art and Rare Antiques
Martin Barnes Lorber’s comments relating to the high end Asian art field reveal that “eBay is useful for determining the value of ‘collectables’ like commercial export items and items bought on whim rather than knowledge, but not for anything Asian approaching the serious level.” He goes on to assert that “To determine the value of Asian art that most collectors would consider ‘serious’, one needs to keep track of auctions by Sotheby's and Christie's in New York, London and Hong Kong. Yes, there are constantly updated price guides for certain Asian ‘collectables’ such as Nippon porcelain, but just imagine asking a Nippon collector questions about the influence of Korean ceramics on the Japanese Tea Ceremony, the Chinese influence on enameling designs of 17th century Nabeshima porcelains, or to describe the similarities and differences between early Chinese Yue wares and Japanese Sué wares. The eBay market is completely separate from the market for these serious items. They coexist, yes, but with buyers whose interests and level
