Desperately seeking advice on putting a value on a large vintage collection.

S

StillPlayingDress-Up

Registered Guest
I read Hollis's Down & Dirty guide to Care and Cleaning. In the `04 workshop, it stated the recommendations of how to document & inventory what you have. I understand for insurance purposes amongst my own needed knowledge, individual photos and detailed documentation should be had for my entire inventory. I plan on completing that task, when all of the items are accessible in the near future. Until that time, I’d really appreciate your help…

HERE'S THE QUESTION &/or PROBLEM: I have 10% with me and the other 90% is in my storage, in my home town, over 250 miles away. Do note that great care went into packing everything before it went into storage. My storage unit is 10x20 and all of my vintage garments, hats & jewelry are on the bottom, in containers, all the way in the back. On top and in front of them is 90% of my belongings and most of my furniture. :icon_wall: Since my business location/destination will be a state away, I was waiting to get one large U-haul and move EVERYTHING at once, when I am business ready, DILEMMA: I need to have a good guesstimate of the value of what I have, as to what I'm contributing to the start-up of the business and its urgency is now! Over the last 15 years, I've been collecting pieces from rummage sales, estate sales, flea markets and stores. I have never really paid attention to its label, but more to its condition, uniqueness and how much it screamed a certain style or time period. Until I can actually reach it, I'm desperately seeking help! I don't know if just by its age, if I can attach a rough dollar amount to it. My collection dates back from the early 1900s up to the 1980s. Depending on the type of clothing article (shirt, dress, pants, one piece jumper, etc.) and combining that with its approximate age or period date could I come up with a rough value for it? Also, I have even less of a clue when it comes to my ethnic pieces.

LITTLE BACKGROUND HISTORY: I have a background in musical theatre & have a lot of thespian friends. Most gatherings over the years consisted of dressing up... whether it be a themed party, a murder mystery dinner or just to go out - all sharing the same style.
I'm in the process of opening my own business, branching off the creative side and passion I've had for theatre. It will be a costume rental and sale business, but to make it year round - it will incorporate costumes into party planning. Whether it be theme parties, murder mystery dinner parties (an alternative to entertaining in the home), to children's birthday parties (princess tea b'day parties). My market will also include local schools, churches & theaters by providing them with authentic or replicated pieces to accurately fit their needed time period or style.
Any advice, suggestions or help will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so very much - for any assistance,
:help: Jennifer
 
Hi and welcome to the VFG!

I'm still a bit unclear about the purpose of putting a $ value on your stock. Is it for insurance purposes? For going into a partnership with someone else who is making their own contributions?

If you have kept a list of the items who packed up so you know how many pieces you have from each decade and what they were (dress, coat, top etc) you could probably do a rough average value. For example, if I know I have ten 40s skirt suits, I can figure an average retail value per suit, knowing some will be higher value, some lower. Ten beaded flapper dresses will obviously have a higher average value than ten mod 60s dresses.

I would worry that the condition you remember them in when you packed them up may not match their current condition. Sometimes bad things happen in storage. A unit springs a leak, a wool item had un-noticed moths that spread, mice set up a home in a corner and prospered, previously subtle stains can become obvious and permanent... it's so hard to know.
 
sorry ,but i dont think you can put a value on them by what you have said... its like saying ' how long is a piece of string'

also just because something is old doesnt mean it has a huge value either..

can you sit down with a cuppa and try and think how much you paid for things?

when i started my business, i put my vintage collection as part of my start-up costs...... but it wasnt what it was valued at, or what potentially i could get for it, i put down how much i had paid for it......as i could not remember every piece i had bought 20 years earlier:puzzled: i just gave an approx amount that i had paid...

sorry i cant be more helpfull,
 
I would only be comfortable doing an actual physical inventory in valuing a collection.

As Maggie mentioned, even though properly packed, there are a myriad of ways that inventory can be effected ~ sometimes being stored in plastic bins, and being exposed to either cold or heat, mystery stains can appear that may not have been visible before. Old silk can shatter; there are really so many possibilites for unknown damages to occur.

A proper, correct inventory would be the only true way to assess your value.
 
Agree with the other ladies.

Every year I do a stocktake for my business - the shop is easy because everything is ticketed so we just go through it all. Working out the value of what's in my stockroom is harder because everything is boxed. Sure, I know roughly what's there but without seeing every individual piece, I can't get a real value.

So I go through one box and do a rough value (on cost, not retail - these are not shop ready, they need to be washed, ironed and mended) and then times that by the number of boxes I have (they're conveniently all the same size). Each box has a sign that tells what is in it, so I adjust the cost according to that - eg mens suits are worth more than '60s tops but there will be more of the tops in the box.

It's no exact science, but without going through every box it's about as close as I can get to a value.

I agree with the others though - if you need to know a proper valuation for insurance or whatever, you need to go through and inspect them all.

Nicole
 
Well, there are two schools of thought. I am confused as to whether you are trying to value them for insurance purposes, to insure them from damage in the major move they will have to take to get to you, or you are considering them "starting capital" for the business. Typically, when someone has cash as a starting capital from their own funds or borrowed, it is designated as such, so that when it is given back if it ever is, it is not recorded as income to the person who gave it. As far as I understand, you can't really claim "items" that way. But i am not an accountant.

Is this an online business or a brick and mortar situation? If online, I would consider the new business like an estate sale business in the sense that the business is selling vintage clothing. The startup costs etc involve phone bills, packing tape, website, etc. When you sell an item already in your possession, you write on the spreadsheet acquisition cost of $0 and then you sell it. Whatever is left after all fees are paid, shipping is done, etc, goes into the pot. if the pot gets to be a certain amount consistently, maybe you will draw a salary of X per week or month. You file business and personal taxes separately. And as you go along and spot some treasure, you use the business money to buy it --- and sell it. And at that time, you put the price you paid for the item in the spreadsheet.

Maybe other people in business have other ways of going about it, but I would imagine that the idea of considering your collection a "donation" to the business really doesn't fly for tax benefit if that is what you are gunning for. If you are using the terminology because you are writing a business plan, I would include actual starting capital.

maybe i am totally misunderstanding and not making sense - but I think if anyone appraises it and you use that value for the purposes of establishing a business, you are going to - on paper - start off deep in the whole because wholesale value typically isn't assessed.
 
• Maggie – 1st thanks for the welcome, I’ve already enjoyed browsing throughout this site and am amazed at the wealth of information it provides.
The purpose of putting a dollar amount value on my collection is to prove my contribution. I have somebody interested in financially backing the business. I’ve been advised, whether it’s an individual or a small business loan, I need to make it more apparent what I’m contributing. I’m only able to put forth a small dollar amount and I need to show that I’m contributing over 25% of the needed start-up costs & first year overhead in monetary value. I did a seasonal form of this business back in 2001 and have continued to buy product for what I knew would be a future business. It’s a lot easier putting a dollar amount on everything else I’ve accumulated, including clothing racks, hat racks, fixtures, mannequins, cash register…etc, than the lot of vintage clothing and accessories I’ve accumulated.
• I do have a pretty accurate list of what’s been stored, but only in broad terms. For example: blue & orange flowered halter - maxi dress (small), men’s tan w/brown stripe down sides - 50’s bowling shirt (large), child’s light blue coat ( reminiscent of what JKF jr. wore saluting his Father ‘63)
Yes, was hoping I could look at the item, the age (year) and multiply it by a rough retail value. Knowing it could be little high or little low, but averaging. If it's not a big name label... where do I go to get a rough idea of its value?

* Cooltrikerchick – I understand that just because it’s old, that it doesn’t translate to having a huge value. I do believe many of the items have a higher value than what I paid for them though. I’ve paid under $10 for some & under $5 for many more. I’ve been offered over the years 10X my investment, on various items… which also causes me to believe that their worth is more than what I paid. My mother taught me at a young age how to watch for sales, barter & make a deal. You could buy a piece of green Depression glass at St. Vincent de Paul for a $1.00. At an antique store the same piece might be $28.00 & even higher at an antique store that specializes in dishes or glassware. Most of my purchases, the person pricing isn’t paying attention or doesn’t care and puts the same price on a pair of used Walmart sweat pants, as they would a 1950’s Bolero Jacket.
• I’m not including this value as start-up costs, but instead as start-up assets. I’m only including what I still need to purchase and beginning overhead under my start-up costs.

• Mary - I agree 100% that I need to do an actual physical inventory… and I plan to, as soon as I can get to it all and have a space to spread it out and start dressing up mannequins.
As for how it was stored… I trust that it’ll come out the same way it went in. My storage unit is temperature regulated so no large fluctuations in hot to cold temperatures. I didn’t use the acid free boxes, but was on the right track by lining all of the large plastic totes with a white cotton sheets and putting the acid free tissue in when I need to fold. Tried storing most everything as flat as possible.


I thank you for your input... I know my request is very different than the rest and am kind of asking how to dig a deep hole with only a teaspoon.

Jennifer
 
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