News-Antique.com - Jan 16,2012 - ATLANTA, Jan. 16, 2012 -- WorthPoint Corporation, the global leader for value and reference data on all things collectible, continues to fulfill its commitment on becoming an indispensable resource for its subscribers. Now they can access WorthPoint Marks™ for detailed information on distinguishing makers’ marks that have material implications on item identification, uniqueness and authenticity. In addition, they can obtain supplementary reference material from the WorthPoint Digital Library™, which contains topical e-content covering a wide spectrum of history and background on specialty items.
The Marks offering features a database with more than 40,000 marks and hallmarks across metals, ceramics, glass and other categories — enabling users to research information about an item’s maker both within the system and through links to additional data about the manufacturer and the item.
“The Marks service will grow steadily over time as we have developed an efficient process to acquire and integrate marks images as well as data,” said Will Seippel, CEO and founder of WorthPoint. “Future plans include visual recognition-based searches – a first in the industry – that will make WorthPoint the undisputed leading resource for marks information as well as value data.”
The WorthPoint Digital Library provides materials on a wide range of collecting topics — everything from restoring and cleaning items to hiring an estate sale service to seeking insurance advice, plus detailed item history and more. Content from leading publishers, including approximately 130 antiques and collectibles titles from F+W Media, can be selected and placed on subscribers’ virtual reference shelves for further reading or research. They also have the ability to highlight passages, add notes, mark items and purchase printed editions.
Initially, the new WorthPoint Marks and WorthPoint Digital Library will be offered as standalone services at http://www.MarksandLibrary.com and will be integrated with the main WorthPoint® site at a later date. “We would have preferred these services be integrated with WorthPoint.com right now,” Seippel said. “But our subscribers told us they wanted access to them immediately and are willing to wait for integration.
The WorthPoint offerings are available on a subscription basis, starting at $12.99 per month for WorthPoint Marks and $14.99 per month for WorthPoint Digital Library or $21.98 for both. A free trial is available so everyone can try before they buy, and a discounted subscription is provided to existing WorthPoint subscribers. These new offerings are a direct result of market feedback from WorthPoint community polls, as well as informal customer response to previous WorthPoint services. The Marks database is anticipated to be especially popular as it ranked #1 in a WorthPoint new product survey.
“It is extremely gratifying to give subscribers what they need to be successful collectors and dealers,” said Jeff Schultz, WorthPoint’s Chief Product Officer. “The Marks/Digital Library is a very strong complement to our other services and furthers our commitment toward providing additional tools that deliver empowering information.“
Seippel added, “Our subscribers want integrated data that provides insight not only for valuation purposes but also to verify identification, authenticity and origin, just like
