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Rod’s Corner – What’s Hot and What’s Not – 9/27/2023

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Hi everyone, and welcome to this edition of What’s Hot and What’s Not, a publication of the Steffen Group that helps keep everyone up to date on what items are selling strong in the auction business along with those items that are not selling strong currently.

There continues to be talk about “Live Auctions” and many wonder if those days will return. In the past few months, I have found and attended three live only auctions. Two in Northern and one in Central Indiana. All three were very nice estate type auctions with some excellent antique and collectable offerings. The thing that I noticed though was how few actual bidders were present. Each auction offered roughly 50 bidders. While there may have been a few more present, it was made up of the auction staff and family that were not actively taking part in the bidding process. I must be honest; I absolutely loved the atmosphere and energy of the auctions but as I spent the day observing and bidding, I could not help but think of the money that was lost for the sellers due to the small pool of bidders.

These experiences have confirmed to me the importance and benefit of the Online Auction process in order to achieve the highest possible prices for the sellers. The question that may be running through your mind is “Will the Steffen Group ever do live auctions again?” The answer is that we may do live auctions for our sellers if it is the best decision for them and the circumstance that surrounds their auction needs but right now, we believe that the online auction method of marketing is going to achieve the best results for most sellers.
So let’s get to the part you are all looking forward to as we take a look at what is HOT and what is NOT in the auction business at this time.

Hot

Native American Artifacts: Authentic artifacts have a high level of collectability and therefore, sell strong in the auction market. This can include arrowheads, stones, headdresses, blankets, and many other historical items. One of the key points to remember with all types of artifacts is that if there is documentation as to where they came from it helps to keep the history of the piece

Crocks And Pottery: While there was a day when crocks and pottery of all types were used for everyday purposes such as storage and transport, they are now set aside for decorating our home and are quite collectible. As with most collectibles, the condition is highly important to their value. Other factors with crocks and pottery that have a large impact are size, color, and decoration. The crocks with the blue salt glaze can be quite expensive. The Steffen Group sold a 5-gallon, highly decorated crock jug at auction for $650.

Tin Types: I wanted to mention the importance of tin types. These are the old pictures that were on a tin background and quite rigid. While more than likely, no one knows the people or places in many of the pictures, these antiques are highly sought after. Many collect them to decorate with. One Tin Type recently sold online for over $150.

Farm Related Items: There are a great deal of farm-related items that are collectable. This can include hats, tool cubbie cabinets, work benches, advertising and seed signs, John Deere, International Harvester items, anvils and so much more. Because of this we always encourage people to let us take a look in their barns before they start cleaning them out. I recently saw a DeLaval wall mount wood box with a pretty rusty sign on the front sell for over $1000.

Not

Couches And Soft Furniture: These types of furniture are many times quite soft sellers. There are several reasons for this. Some people wonder if they had pets, did they smoke, was it used daily or infrequently? The other factor that comes into play with this is the color and fabric style. Because these tend to be primary pieces in a rooms décor, buyers are many times quite particular as they approach this type of purchase and as a result will lay off even a quality piece just based upon the color or history.

Dining Room Tables: As our world changes, so have our dining habits. Many new and remodeled homes now have bar seating and smaller breakfast nook dining areas. Many do not even have a dining room. Because of this, the days of needing a nice dining room table and chairs are gone for many families. This, in turn, has led to an overabundance of dining room tables. The double drop leaf dining room tables of the past are super soft sellers. Some that have remained average are the large harvest tables with multiple leaves. That may seem odd, but some do still want the opportunity to have a large table for family get togethers with the convenience of it being much smaller when not needed.

Pictures And Framed Prints: Like couches and soft furniture, pictures are used as statement pieces of décor in a room. Because of this, they many times will sell soft. Many times, I have heard people talking about buying a picture because they were going to repurpose the frame. At auction, we typically try to group two, three or more together to help create active bidding. Now, an exception to this can be signed prints, oil paintings and very old pieces. These pieces will continue to hold their value.

Franklin Mint / Danbury Mint Collectables: Now, I know that these are under the What’s Not Hot category, but I wanted to take a minute to talk about these two collectible makers. They have made a vast amount of almost every type of collectible and some are exceptionally difficult to sell at all. They do have many others that are sought after, very collectible items that can afford very strong prices. I have seen these collectibles in estate auctions where they may not get a bid on some collector plates to where they have sold for over $100 for one item. This is an area that the knowledge of your Auctioneer at The Steffen Group can help you decide what is best to keep and what may be more donatable.

Thank you for reading another edition of What’s Hot and What’s Not but please remember that while these items are both HOT and NOT right now, the market is ever-changing and there are always exceptions. Please reach out to one of the Steffen Group Auctioneers so that we can help guide you to achieving top dollar for your valuable assets.
Reminder: We have a few openings for Higher-End antiques, collectibles, coins, hunting, fishing, and advertising items for our annual Year End Consignment Auction at the Ossian Auction Gallery. Contact us right away to reserve a spot for your items.

Rod’s Corner – What’s Hot and What’s Not – 3/1/2023

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Hi Everyone!  Welcome to this month’s edition of What’s Hot and What’s Not.  A monthly article focused on the auction process along with sharing some of the items that are HOT and NOT HOT in the auction industry as well as some highlights of the auction business.

This month I want to share some of the reasons that, in my opinion, sets the Steffen Group Auction Team apart from the competition.  You may be thinking, oh boy, here comes the we have over 100 combined years in the auction industry on our team line, and while that is certainly important…(and we do exceed that number), I do not believe that years alone make a great auction company.  The first thing that comes to mind for me is integrity.  In a world where a person’s word and a handshake do not mean what they used to, I have only observed a team from the top down that owns their successes as well as mistakes and honors their word.  We also continually self-evaluate our auction process always striving to raise the bar for our clients.  Yet another important piece to our success is that as a team, we are moving forward with new and innovative ways to market each auction that we have the privilege to be a part of.  We recently had two representatives from our team attend a multi-day training for auction marketing in Nashville.  At our year end antique auction at the Ossian Auction Gallery, we had 514 registered bidders from 42 different states and 5 bidders from Canada!  Successful marketing leads to successful auctions!

So let’s get to the part you are all looking forward to as we take a look at what is HOT and what is NOT in the auction business at this time.

Hot

Vintage Jewelry: It is exciting to see younger women and men taking interest in the vintage costume jewelry world.  Many of Mom and Grandma’s old pieces can achieve new life and the pleasure of a younger person as they wear these many times exceptionally decorated pieces with pride.

MCM (Mid-Century Modern): These are items made roughly from the late 1930’s through the mid 1960’s.  They are typically characterized by clean lines, simple shapes and lack of decorative embellishments.  MCM is designs are meant to be functional and long-lasting while still being sculptural and eye appealing.  We recently sold two pieces that the family had considered donating to the “burn pile” on the farm.  One sold for $725.00 and the other for $675.00!!

Pressed Metal Toys: The toy market, while having been strong for a while, is continuing to grow in popularity. This includes, Hubley, Marx, Wyandotte, Ertl, Buddy L, Doepke, Structo and many other makers.  These tend to be trucks, excavators, semi’s, fire truck type toys.  These are quite collectable and even in rough condition are sought after.  Sometimes just for parts to help restore another piece that someone is working on.

Pyrex: Who would have ever dreamed that Pyrex would be so popular!! While some are still actually using them to mix their cookies in, many other are collecting it!  On a side note, I like chocolate chip … and most others if you want to bring by some samples! ? The Primary Color nesting bowls are selling strong as long as they have good color as are the Butterprint and Gooseberry.  If you have the super rare (MCM) Atomic Starburst Turquoise you have hit a home run!! The most recent sale of a 2 quart one of these without the lid was over $500.00!!  On a side note, if you have the clear Pyrex baking dishes, I am sorry.  They are not collectable but still make a great casserole or pie!!

 

Not

Depression Glass: Unfortunately, Grandma’s depression glass is exactly what it says…depressing!  Pink and Amber are especially soft unless it is an exceptionally rare piece. While the blue is still in a soft market, it is doing better than the Pink or Amber.  You may be asking yourself, “what about the Green?”.  It has become very collectable and we will talk about it more in an upcoming discussion about what is HOT.

Avon: Because these items, while unique and meant to be decorative, were massed produced, they are not collectable in today’s world.  I have seen them not get a bid in auctions past.  While everyone enjoys seeing them and the memory that they bring, they do not bring the money that some have hoped for.  Because they were in most households, the market was simply too saturated with product.

Silverplate: The old, metal, made to look like silver, serving trays, plates, coasters and dishes are another super softie!  Unfortunately, they seem to be more marketable as scrap than to a collector at this time.

Beds: So many of the old antique beds have beautiful inlays, scroll work or just amazing wood.  However, most are Three Quarter or Full-Size beds and in today’s world of Queen and King beds, these are not selling well.  Typically, they will go to a person who has a spare bedroom that want to have available for company to spend the night in but want to make sure they do aren’t so comfortable that they want to stay too long!!

As we wrap up another edition of What’s Hot and What’s Not, be sure to remember that while these items are both HOT and NOT right now, the market is ever changing and there are always exceptions.  That is why it is so important to speak to one of the Steffen Group Auctioneers.  They will help guide you to the best possible way to market the items that you have for sale.

Rod’s Corner – What’s Hot and What’s Not – 2/1/2023

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Hi Everyone and welcome to the first edition of “What’s Hot & What’s Not”, a monthly article focused on what things are achieving a premium at auction as well as some of the items that are in their soft market period that almost all antiques and collectables go through.  This month, I want to start out sharing the important role that your Auctioneer with the Steffen Group will play when working with you.

As I have the opportunity to speak with families that may be down-sizing, settling an estate or maybe even just reducing their collections, I frequently find that they have taken it upon themselves to throw out some of the items that they believe are trash and have no value.  We live in an amazing world with the on-line auction platform and are finding that some of those pieces of “trash” can be quite valuable.  So, my first suggestion would be to not throw anything away until after we get a chance to look at it together.

This past year I had two great examples that I will quickly share.  The first party we were selling antiques and collectables for.  A really nice collection of things.  In that collection, I came across a tire pump and luggage rack for a bicycle.  I put those two items together in a lot and thought to myself, “boy, I hope these get a bid”.  At the end of the auction, that lot sold to a customer in Kentucky for $475.00!!  If that would have been a typical live auction, it would have been piled in with some other items and sold for a couple bucks.  In case you were wondering, it was identified by three bidders in three different states as a part from a Schwinn bicycle.

The second auction was a case of an estate liquidation where the family member was quite a collector of many things.  The family handling the estate was overwhelmed and was considering paying a company to come empty the property so that they could sell the house.  Our team was able to get involved and sort through the entire estate setting up an auction with over 1200 lots!  After expenses the family was able to receive a nice check instead of having to write a check to someone to come in and empty the property!

So, now is the time to discuss what is “Hot” and what is “Not” in the auction business:

Hot:

Petroliana Automotive and Farm Signage / Advertising: We can thank TV shows like American Pickers for the huge push in the collectability and high sales of these items.  Wood, porcelain, tin, thermometers, pictures, cardboard, can, pumps, bottles, pretty much anything in this category is selling very strong.  I am personally thankful to have contact with two of the top buyers and sellers of these items in the U.S.

High End Glass: The glass market has been extremely soft for years, but good news, it is starting to return!  To be clear though, the glass that is returning is the more expensive glass, not the clear glass.  Hand painted Fenton, Mosser, Indiana, Rainbow decanters, older hand-blown glass, art glass and swung vases (the big tall 1950’s and 60’s vases) are showing some strong selling prices.

Cast iron: The cast iron skillet pots and griddle market has become quite collectable.  While Griswold, Wapak and several others can easily be identified by their markings, some of the older, more rare pieces, are difficult to properly identify.  This past year, I saw one sell for $2600.00!  Because identification can be a challenge, I have found that selling these on-line is really helpful because most high end collectors can identify the small nuances that make a specific piece of cast iron collectable from the photos.

Vintage Christmas: Shiny Brite Ornaments, Blow Molds, Aluminum Christmas Trees, Color Wheel Lights and Ceramic Christmas Trees are strong sellers year around.  These are no longer just something to sell in the fall as dealers and collectors are always on the lookout for their next great vintage piece for their collection.

 

Not:

Precious Moments: The Precious Moments figurine market is very soft.  While these were the thing to collect in the 1970’s and 80’s, the market is over saturated with these figurines as people that were once great collectors have made the decision to down size.

Beanie Babies: This is a product that flooded the market and because of their mass production, it has driven values down.  While there is the “needle in the haystack” beanie, I find more people find great value in donating them to a hospital, ambulance service, police or fire department to donate to children who are going through a difficult time.

China: The China market is has dropped significantly as our lifestyles have changed.  Many of us can think back to the family dinner with the fine China being used whenever you entertained and certainly for Sunday lunch.  With more open concept homes, the dining room has disappeared resulting in less family’s having the need for China.  Others have just found it much easier to use the worlds newest Fine China (paper plates).  ?

Collector Plates: It used to be very common to visit families with large plate collections with everything on them from animals to tourist attractions.  This is in a down market and is also an item that too many were made which led to a reduction in their value and collectability.  A few years ago I was visiting with a family where the husband told me that his wife told him when they got married to never buy her a flower if he got in trouble but to buy her a collector plate.  I took a good look around the room we were all in and said, boy, you must have been in a lot of trouble over the years!  They had plates everywhere.

One point that I want to make about the items that are not selling their best right now.  There is always an exception.  When I did some research for these items, I came across a beanie that sold in 2015 for over one hundred thousand dollars.  I think we all wish that we had sold that one!

Thanks for taking the time to read the first edition of What’s Hot & What’s Not and I hope that the Steffen Group can be your business partner the next time you have something to sell.