You need to assemble a Collectibles Research Library

A research library to help identify and determine the value of collectibles is an absolute necessity for a dealer. The more you know the better your chances are of finding items to sell and knowing what to sell them for. If you go to your local book store or surf websites such as amazon or even ebay you will find hundreds of different books related to hobbies, collectibles and antiques. Some will cover a wide variety of areas without much detail besides categories, while others will cover either a particular manufacturer like McCoy, Fenton or Roseville. Others will cover a specific area of collecting like Coins, Stamps, Coke memorabilia, Depression glass...and the list seems to go on forever which it does since people collect just about anything. If it gets popular enough sooner or later they're publishing a reference and price guide book about it. You'll also notice at the book store that these books aren't cheap and I've learned from experience you don't find them very often at yard sales or used book stores because people just don't part with them easily and if they do they are scooped up very quickly when found second hand.

So where do you start? When I began going to sales I carried a softcover reference book that concentrated on ceramics and art pottery because I was a collector of Hull Pottery and at that time I was looking for items in that specific area of collecting. This book along with my Hull Pottery reference book were helpful of course but I soon realized that with all the goodies I was finding I wasn't going to limit myself to just ceramics. I soon bought a book on depression glass which was also helpful in identifying the major patterns that were popular with collectors. As time went on I kept adding to my reference library whenever I felt I needed a more detailed knowledge in a particular area of collecting. When I began to sell some of my "treasures" on Ebay I soon saw that I needed to know a lot more. At this point I knew I couldn't afford to buy the books I needed so I headed to my local library and checked out books on collectibles. 5 years ago the selection was rather limited and most of the books were 20 years or older. Luckily the the items I was learning to identify were even older so the books were still very helpful for reference and identification. Then I turned to the web for fill in the pieces and also get a better idea of what current values were. One of the best places to go for identifying and pricing was of course Ebay. I spent hours surfing around looking at listings and checking out auction results and found that one search led to another area of interest and I accumulated a tremendous amount of knowledge reading info the descriptions of auctions from dealers who had a far better knowledge of what they were selling then I had. This still is a valuable source of info for me.

You can also find several websites that are helpful identifying sterling silver and pottery marks. You just have to think of yourself as a detective and take the evidence and clues you have and dig for the answers. Sometimes I hit a dead end and I just store the item away and often find in a search to identify another piece I run across a clue that leads me where I need to go to identify the earlier piece. Places like Replacements Ltd are great for identifying china, silver and crystal patterns although the pictures are often small and hard to work with. But hey it's free. Digging for info can be fascinating at times and totally frustrating at other times but you just have to keep at it. It will pay off well in the end with better sale prices. The more you can tell a potential buyer about an auction item the greater the chance is that you'll get a great price for your auction......but that's another post for the future.

So if I was to make up a list of what kind of reference books should make up the core of your research library I would recommend:

• A general guide to Antiques and collectibles that will list by category and manufacturer
• a guide to identifying sterling silver patterns and manufacturers marks
• Guide to crystal stemware patterns. Replacements LTD sells one that is excellent.
• Pottery and porcelain manufacturers marks both US and foreign
• Pattern glassware identification guide
• Depression glass and elegant glass patterns
• China manufacturers and dish patterns
• How to do books on selling your items on Ebay, online or in antique booths
• A detailed map of your county to save time finding the location of sales.

After you've gotten these and can identify items from the basic categories of collectibles you can then get books that go into more detail on individual manufacturers and areas of collectibles. It helps to concentrate on the areas that you either have experience in either from having collected them yourself or chose areas that interest you personally. You may decide to specialize in a certain area of collectibles for resale which many dealers do. I personally will buy anything I think I can sell at a handsome profit whether it be tools to Waterford Crystal. In my experience I have sold items that were so bizarre that the average dealer wouldn't touch but the money I made always justified it.

Hope this has been helpful and I always appreciate your input since I'm always eager to learn more. Collectibles and selling for profit on Ebay or elsewhere is a huge universe and there's always something new to learn.