Finding Antique Jewelry at Wholesale Prices at Estate Sales

Estate sales are a great way of buying antique jewelry at wholesale prices. In some cases you can find very rare antique pieces at even below wholesale prices at such sales. That being said, there are certain techniques the jewelry buyer has to employ at these events to actually find that priceless heirloom piece for next to nothing. Such things rarely happen by chance and have to be worked at.

Estate sales normally take place when a person dies, usually an older person who lives alone in their own house or apartment. Normally appraisals on items that are to be sold are not done, since appraisals cost money and the people who conducting these sales are usually heirs who want to make a quick buck without having to spend any of their own money. Appraisals are only held if the person who died was particularly wealthy and was known to have a collection of fine artwork, jewelry furniture and so on. On a regular estate sale most items are marked with extremely low prices to encourage a quick sale. By large most estate sales are run in the same manner as garage sales, and the savvy jewelry buyer can walk away with thousands of Dollars worth of antique pieces having paid a few Dollars for them to the unsuspecting heirs.

Items bought from estate sales should always be professionally appraised by a trusted jeweler. It's not always possible to hit the jackpot at estate sales; the 2 Dollar piece you bought sometimes is really only worth 2 Dollars. Occasionally the buyer will hit the jackpot and those times make going to estate sales for antique jewelry more than worth it. Keep in mind that the appraised value of a piece rarely equals its selling price. The sad fact is that most of the time you will be lucky to get half of the appraised value of an item of estate jewelry in the final sale. Even then estate sales are veritable gold mines to a collector with a keen eye.

If the jewelry bought at an estate sale turns out to be relatively worthless, it can still be of use to those who make their own jewelry, as they can be taken apart and used as a source of spare parts. Chains, settings, gems, and other pieces can be removed and reused.

Estate jewelry is classified into three types; vintage, antique and costume jewelry. Antique jewelry is over 100 years old while vintage jewelry is said to be over 30 years old. Costume jewelry refers to a type of vintage jewelry, which was first seen in Europe and in the US after the First World War. Each of these has their collectors and authentic pieces will normally fetch a good price on the open market. It pays to do some research on the different vintages available and what is in favor at the moment before heading out to estate sales. A trained eye can tell the difference between junk and something that is priceless, although many will just buy up everything they can get their hands on during estate sales and hope for the best during appraisals.

For more information on estate jewelry please visit the following sites:
http://www.ehow.com/about_4566047_selling-estate-jewelry.html
http://www.emgemologist.com/Estate_Jewelry/estate_jewelry.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estate_jewelry