WHAT: A vintage brass telescope that sold for $938 in a Great Estates auction at Rago earlier this year illustrates the good buys available at special auctions. The numbered telescope sold above estimate no doubt because it is Bausch & Lomb, and because it is aesthetically pleasing. A similar brass scope, not by B&L and with a less attractive tripod, sold for $500.
MORE: Rago Arts and Auctions, a house known for top tier 20th century/modernism sales, calls their dedicated sales Great Estates. Other houses use terms such as Marketplace, Popular Jewelry (for a specialty sale) and the like. Haute houses are likely to offer lesser goods in separate online sales. Sometimes, blockbuster sales have tiers within the sale. When Christieβs sold property from Joan Rivers, top dollar goods sold in house; the rest was posted online.
SMART COLLECTORS KNOW: Acknowledging that not all goods consigned for sale are Grade A, many auction houses have dedicated sales for second-tier merchandise.
HOT TIP: Do not expect everything at a second-tier auction to sell cheap. Depending on the merchandise, results can go to five figures or more. With auction catalogs online, any interested buyer worldwide can bid by phone or computer.
BOTTOM LINE: Such sales are a great way to find a variety of items. The sale with the telescope featured everything from circa 1770 Worcester pierced bowls to French bronzes, oil paintings, 18th century English clocks and complete sets of TOS American sterling flatware. As always, the key to capturing a bargain is knowing when to stop bidding.
