As auctioneers, we are often told that something is old and therefore valuable. For instance, “This belonged to my great-grandmother … so it must be valuable.” What’s our answer? Maybe, but maybe not.
What drives value is supply and demand. Given this item (possibly) belonged to your great-grandmother, there is a low supply. However, that’s only one half of the equation. What is the demand? With low supply and low demand, there’s not much value.
We’ve studied demand regarding what people are looking to buy at auction — and if it’s sentimental in nature, typically buyers are looking for property they were exposed to between the ages of 6-13 years: https://mikebrandlyauctioneer.wordpress.com/2015/08/10/what-some-collectors-cant-find-buyers/.
If there’s demand, age indeed helps with supply in that over time there is less and less of any so-called particular collectible. Yet, over time, we’ve seen interest wain in these same “older” collectibles as typical collectors aged 45-60 or so don’t relate to those aged items.
“But won’t someone want it because it’s so old?” Not necessarily. What we “want” is deeply embedded in what we were exposed to (and were surrounded by) as children. We grow up often looking to relive our childhoods in a sense, and not our father’s or mother’s childhood.
Often, auctioneers see this situation: The seller is 84 years old, therefore considering items popular 75 (+/-) years ago very valuable. Typical buyers at this same time are looking for items popular 40 (+/-) years newer and don’t relate to collectibles commonplace 75 years ago.
I told a seller the other day that her [item] was old and rare, so we were good with the supply side of the equation. Then I broke the news to her, as demand for that [item] was equally rare. What she thought would be worth maybe $500 sold for $2. But some good news, a 42-year-old audio receiver she almost threw away sold for $750.
Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, CAI, CAS, AARE has been an auctioneer and certified appraiser for over 30 years. His company’s auctions are located at Mike Brandly, Auctioneer, Brandly Real Estate & Auction, and formerly at Goodwill Columbus Car Auction. He serves as Distinguished Faculty at Hondros College, Executive Director of The Ohio Auction School, and an Instructor at the National Auction Association’s Designation Academy and Western College of Auctioneering. He has served as faculty at the Certified Auctioneers Institute held at Indiana University and is approved by The Supreme Court of Ohio for attorney education.
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