What Are the Best Auction Houses to use for liquidating vintage inventory?

Lipstick Girl Vintage

Lipstick Girl Vintage

VFG Member
Hi all! I have about 4,000 square feet of vintage inventory--everything from museum quality gowns, highly collectible Mugler to vintage 80s & 90s t-shirts. I want to liquidate my inventory and retire. Can you all knowledgable folks recommend ethical knowledgable auction houses who would be best to use for such a sale? Auction houses that will give me a fair return on my inventory? My inventory is in Central Virginia--about 1.5 hours from Washington, DC/45 minutes from Charlottesville, VA.

Thank you !
 
Wow, what an amazing collection it sounds like you have! Mugler and other more modern vintage designers tend to do well at Kerry Taylor Auctions, which is in London. All eras, but especially older, seem to be good for Augusta Auctions, in Vermont. Both auction online so there's international bidding. There is quite a bit of overlap as to what they take. Both are members of the VFG.

Are you interested in smaller sales to dealers, or do you want the whole batch to go to one auction house?
 
denisebrain said:
Wow, what an amazing collection it sounds like you have! Mugler and other more modern vintage designers tend to do well at Kerry Taylor Auctions, which is in London. All eras, but especially older, seem to be good for Augusta Auctions, in Vermont. Both auction online so there's international bidding. There is quite a bit of overlap as to what they take. Both are members of the VFG.

Are you interested in smaller sales to dealers, or do you want the whole batch to go to one auction house?
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Thanks so much! I'll look into those two. Although getting all my stuff to London or VT won't be easy. I have talked to EBTH, Denise Ryan (in NH) and a few others but I have a lot of stuff at all different price ranges. I also have some great Malcolm Starr and other heavily sequined items that need some bead repair work. I've been told by some they won't take anything that needs any work. I also got some stuff that had some minor moth damage but is very collectible (like the Malcolm Starr "circus" maxi skirt) and I THINK that those kinds of things should sell even with minor damage. Your thoughts? Anyone's thoughts? Again I'm located in central Virginia--and there's quite a bit of stuff. Oh, lots of Versace, Escada, Feraud, Ungaro, YSL, Parnis, Roehm--you. name it!

I would really like to find someone who will take it all off my hands, and turn the auctions around by the end of this year. That's my dream goal anyway....
 
IMHO. Auction houses will cherry pick, which isn't a bad thing, but they won't take the bulk and you will be left with the rest of it to deal with and no carrots to entice buyers to come look. The alternative is that you offer the entire contents to someone with a shop and use the good pieces as the bait for them to take the whole kit and kaboodle. THINK WHOLESALE - the stuff has to be priced right to go. I have bought a few collections like this in the past and its tricky because basically you want to get top dollar for the best stuff and throw everything else in for free. The payoff is that they do all the work of taking it away. You could offer it here, and other locations where store owners might see your ad. Costume SOciety of America, local antique malls, Kijiji, Facebook marketplace...
 
Vintagiality said:
Maybe you can contact the online auction sites and ask them which one of the auction houses on their platform are near you. I would try Invaluable and Live Auctioneers.
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I've been taking a loot at Live auctioners and Invaluable which seem to be consolidators of other auction houses. But it's probably a good idea to talk to them. Thanks.
 
Jonathan said:
IMHO. Auction houses will cherry pick, which isn't a bad thing, but they won't take the bulk and you will be left with the rest of it to deal with and no carrots to entice buyers to come look. The alternative is that you offer the entire contents to someone with a shop and use the good pieces as the bait for them to take the whole kit and kaboodle. THINK WHOLESALE - the stuff has to be priced right to go. I have bought a few collections like this in the past and its tricky because basically you want to get top dollar for the best stuff and throw everything else in for free. The payoff is that they do all the work of taking it away. You could offer it here, and other locations where store owners might see your ad. Costume SOciety of America, local antique malls, Kijiji, Facebook marketplace...
Click to expand...

Thanks. Yes, there are incredible high end collectible things--and then some just funky 60s 70s stuff, western wear, t-shirts and such that may not have much value
Lipstick Girl Vintage said:
I've been taking a loot at Live auctioners and Invaluable which seem to be consolidators of other auction houses. But it's probably a good idea to talk to them. Thanks.
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taking a look--sorry
 
Jonathan said:
IMHO. Auction houses will cherry pick, which isn't a bad thing, but they won't take the bulk and you will be left with the rest of it to deal with and no carrots to entice buyers to come look. The alternative is that you offer the entire contents to someone with a shop and use the good pieces as the bait for them to take the whole kit and kaboodle. THINK WHOLESALE - the stuff has to be priced right to go. I have bought a few collections like this in the past and its tricky because basically you want to get top dollar for the best stuff and throw everything else in for free. The payoff is that they do all the work of taking it away. You could offer it here, and other locations where store owners might see your ad. Costume SOciety of America, local antique malls, Kijiji, Facebook marketplace...
Click to expand...

I think I need an agent! No local antique malls are gonna take over 100,000 items.
 
I was going to mention Invaluable, as it's a good place to see who sells what - here's what I found by searching 'Malcolm Starr'.

When I closed my vintage shop, I had a couple of auctions but like me, you probably have too much for one auction. My advice is to familiarise yourself with the specialisations of auction houses and maybe send the best stuff to Kerry Taylor or Augusta (especially if it's antique) but if an auctioneer is going to do a one vendor sale, it's helpful to have the good stuff in there as well, to get interest and a larger market - you mention Denise Ryan, they sell lots of well-priced vintage, so are good for turning it over, but the really special pieces will get better prices at a specialist auction house, I think.

I'm about to do a similar process with my stock: I'm going to divide it into categories - charity shop, wholesale lots for other dealers, research material (for my own collection) and two lots for auctioneers; the stand out pieces to go to KT/AA and the rest to sell in lots to a general auctioneer. Auctions have a tolerance for damage, I find, so I wouldn't worry as long as they were wearable.

Nicole
 
Lipstick Girl Vintage said:
Hi all! I have about 4,000 square feet of vintage inventory--everything from museum quality gowns, highly collectible Mugler to vintage 80s & 90s t-shirts. I want to liquidate my inventory and retire. Can you all knowledgable folks recommend ethical knowledgable auction houses who would be best to use for such a sale? Auction houses that will give me a fair return on my inventory? My inventory is in Central Virginia--about 1.5 hours from Washington, DC/45 minutes from Charlottesville, VA.

Thank you !
Click to expand...
Hey!!! I am currently diving into the world of liquidation and estate sales after some time reselling and absolutely falling in love with vintage items! I am a student in the process of becoming a funeral director and after I am licensed I plan to get certified through Asheford institute of antiques. Long story short..... (promotion deleted by forum Admin). I live in Orange County, New York and Virginia is about 5/6 hours from me depending on where you are located. I realize why I write this that this may sound fishy, but I am truly trying to make a name for myself. I realize what a huge need there is for potential retirees’ as well as families dealing with loved ones passing..... (more promotion deleted by Admin). Right now even Instagram and eBay are very popular fantastic ways to list things as vintage in general is trending enormously. If you use Instagram ..... (Contact information deleted by Admin). :)

Post edited by forum admin. VFG members may promote their businesses here. Registered Guests may not promote even theoretical businesses.
 
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Costume Society meets next week in DC. I have bought from Hoboken; he might be interested. He's in NJ.
Hindman would be interested in the better pieces.
 
For high-end costume jewelry, I recommend Ripley Auctions in Indianapolis. More recently, they have added fine jewelry, and have added a couple of auctions that mix high-end costume and fine jewelry. They are very well-organized, and have built up their high-end costume jewelry auctions over the last 10 years. At this point, I'd say they are the toppermost of high-end costume jewelry auctions.
 
Hi! My name is Hannah, I live in RVA -- I would love to come look through what you have if you still have your inventory. I'll send you a DM!
 
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