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- Written by Dr. Lori Verderame Dr. Lori Verderame
As the coronavirus has most of the world staying home, antiques lovers and spring cleaners alike are undertaking projects galore.
If you can’t go to work and you can’t go out and socialize, you can try to improve your living space. People are taking on projects like cleaning out closets, disinfecting children’s toys, organizing attics, and de-cluttering basements.
So, the first question that comes to mind for our newly shut-in society is, “I wonder if this is worth anything?”
If you are reconsidering your surroundings now and taking a new look at your art, antiques, and collectibles around the house, here are some tips.
1. Don’t be overzealous when cleaning aging objects.
2. Art, furniture, and jewelry remain the top three valuables when considering antiques in your home.
3. Video-call appraisals are on the rise now.
If you are wondering what I am doing … I am fielding loads of email questions from folks who have sent me photos of their antiques and collectibles online.
I am spending more time than usual in front of my laptop, smartphone, and desktop devices on Zoom, FaceTime, Skype, and Google conducting video-call appraisals from spring cleaners and collectors around the globe.
Why Video Call?
Many thrifters and antiquers are now looking into their closets, storage units, and basements to review stuff purchased from thrift stores, estate sales, and flea markets instead of shopping for new bargains.
Other homebodies are seeking out objects that were, prior to coronavirus, considered forgotten items or stored family heirlooms.
Before the virus mandated home-stay orders, the need for accurate identification and appraisals was important, but now video-call appraisals are quickly becoming all the more necessary and very popular.
Video-call apps are easy to use and the best way to get accurate and honest information. And you can have your family members from around the country in on the video call without leaving your safe and virus-free home.
Get out your smartphone, take a photo, and send it to me, or book a live, one-on-one video call with me to get guidance about your unwanted items or an appraisal of your cherished art or family heirloom.
In as little as 10 minutes, you can get all the information you need to properly identify your antiques and get it appraised. From there, you can decide to keep it, clean it out, or get it sold online — all from the comfort of your coronavirus-free home.
Video-Call Prep
To prepare, have unpacked objects out on a table or in one room to save time moving around as you chat on the video call.
Don’t unpack items during a video call, as that wastes precious time. That way, all the time you spend during the call is for the exchange of information, asking questions, learning about the markets, and getting appraisals of the retail values your objects.
If you don’t want to video call, sending photos and getting a written report is also an option for those pieces that are worth the cost of the appraisal report. I think it is only right to tell people if their item isn’t worth the appraisal fee before they pay for a report.
We must stay at least 6 feet from each other right now, but we can still interact, and technology is making the world a much closer and kinder place. Be well!
Dr. Lori Verderame is the award-winning Ph.D. antiques appraiser on History channel’s The Curse of Oak Island. Dr. Lori presents her Antiques Appraisal Comedy Show to audiences nationwide and video call appraisals via www.DrLoriV.com and www.YouTube.com/DrLoriV.