Date: Sat, 13 Feb 1999 07:21:00 -0500

From: Alan Kelchner <quiltfix@mail.jax.bellsouth.net

Xenia had some very good points. The only thing I want to add is this: you cannot compare auction

prices to retail prices, hoping to determinecorrect retail.  Auction prices are based at 1/2

retail (no one wants to pay retail at auction - but then again, I never want to pay retail - I'm

cheap!). But when the auctioneer is deciding what his take of the auction item is, he uses 50% and hopes for much better. Sometimes he gets retail (Roseville pottery seems to get retail prices

here). Sometimes he gets what he thought he would.  And sometimes he gets a rotten price (I've had

this happen to me when consigning - not fun).

At an auction, it depends on who is in the audience, what they are interested in, and how deep are

their pockets. Sometimes if they've got disposable $$ (usually a private person, not a dealer),

they'll pay more. I once fought a bidding war and won, but paid 2-3 times what I expected for the

quilt. At this same auction house, I got a more valuable quilt for half what I expected because no

one wanted a brown quilt. Then there was the 1870's applique sampler top (applique and piecing),

kind of dark and not something an average dealer would want, but I knew what it was.....  Any how,

when it came up, I bid it way up and lost because this couple (dealers) that I hadn't seen before

also knew what it was.

The best fun, tho' is a collectors war. If they have some extra $$, the bidding can go on for ever

(but they're only fun when they're btween to OTHER people!).

If you want to learn pricing, go out and look at every quilt in your area and learn the pricing.

It'll vary, but you need to learn the quilt pricing to be able to determine if the price is fair

on the quilt you want. Once you're comfortable with that, you'l start muttering that "that's a

fair price" and have you shopping companion look at you in complete horror because the tag is over

$1000 "for that old blanket"!

Alan

who's gramma worked at the Hershey factory and thinks you haven't lived until you drive through

Hershey (the town) on a warm spring day with the car windows down so you can inhale the perfume

wafting from the factory while you gaze at the street lamps molded to look like wrapped and

unwrapped kisses ... and it's not far from Lancaster where there's a quilt show in the spring....

Ghirardelli's? Bah! Gimme a good ol' Hershey bar anyday.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 13 Feb 99 11:30:49 -0500

From: Woodford <woodford@ix.netcom.com

The very depressing article for vintage quilt dealers was the Rinker

Report in Warman's Today's Collector, March, 1999, pp. 32-36 . He listed

many quilts and their prices as sold at several auctions, one of them the

Margaret Cavigga auction, which I attended.

I don't agree with him on many statements, but overall have to agree that

the market is pretty soft!

Barbara Woodford

  woodford@ix.netcom.com

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