Consigning with Us
Why should you consider listing with Maple Leaf Auctions? When selling individual pieces or entire collections you have some choices. You can sell the items yourself online – through a service like Ebay. You can consign your items to an auction house that will sell them in a live sale. Or you can pay someone to sell your items for you - both online and through a catalogued sale at the same time. This is what we do at Maple Leaf Auctions. Here is what we have to offer.
Online Sales
Online buying and selling is the future of antique collecting. In the few short years that the Internet has been around it has totally transformed the antiques collecting world. When you sell your collectibles online you put them in a marketplace that is not bounded by geography. This is especially important when you are selling something that has an international market. Collectors all over the world can see and bid on your pieces. No live auction can compete in this regard. Online sales will almost always realize you a better price.
Photos
When you sell online – photos are very important because potential buyers will not usually have an opportunity to see the items you have for sale in person. Taking good photos is not easy. It is challenging to get the lighting just right. You also want to pay particular attention to the composition of the shot. Most live auction houses do not take any pictures, or if they do, they take only a few samples to promote your sale. All online sellers take photos but some are better than others. At Maple Leaf Auctions we take professional pictures that show your collectibles off in the best possible way. We also provide copies of these pictures to our consignors – so you have a photo record of your sales.
Descriptions
At live auctions, descriptions have to be kept to a bare minimum because of time constraints. Even high quality items will generally only get a very short and perfunctory description when they are put up on the auction block. There is very little “selling” at live sales. Similarly, most online sellers provide only the simplest descriptions because they don't take time to write. At Maple Leaf Auctions, we take the time to sell your pieces. We are salesmen. We do not merely describe your items – we sell them. That takes some skill in writing and it takes time. There is no auction service that can compare with us in this regard.
Research
Most live auction houses are run by generalists – people who know a bit about a lot of things. They do not take time to research the things they are selling. The same applies for most online sellers. Research takes time and most auction houses simply will not make the investment. At Maple Leaf Auctions we appreciate the value research can add. We work with our consignors to understand what we are selling. We also conduct independent research. This allows us to write better descriptions which translates into higher prices realized for our consignors,
Promotion
If you consign with a live auction house, your sale is more than likely going to be promoted in a single paper where your items will be advertised in a block text list without photos. This is hardly promotion. The same applies to most online sellers. Sellers who use Ebay have no opportunity for promotion. Auctions can be scheduled to run for a maximum of ten days. At Maple Leaf Auctions we maintain our own website through which we do advance promotion. We will create pages to specifically promote your pieces. We like to promote our sales months in advance. We maintain contact lists and let potential buyers know well in advance when there are sales coming that we think might interest them. This gives collectors an opportunity to become aware of your sale and to ask questions. This translates into higher prices realized. Maple Leaf Auctions promotes its sales through the Upper Canadian Magazine – Canada’s foremost antiques digest. Our advertising is high quality and unparalleled in the business. We promote our auctions at antique shows with professionally laid out flyers.
Callbacks
At lives sales the auction is done when the last bid is placed. There is no opportunity for reflection. Ebay auctions end at a predetermined time. At Maple Leaf Auctions we use call backs to maximize profits. If an item is selling for more than $500, we offer a call back service. This means we call back interested parties and encourage them to up their bid. This is where the salesmanship comes into play. We have found that the prices of items in call back can increase by 25% or more. The benefit for you is a higher return on your investment.
Experience
Phil Culhane has been collecting since 1976 when his first ginger beer collection started coming together. He has published bottle and stoneware-related books and magazines regularly since 1992, and has run absentee auctions since 1994. Scott Wallace has been collecting, dealing and auctioning a wide range of Canadian antiques for over 20 years, including: stoneware and redware, decoys, tins, advertising, lighting, clocks and furniture. We are collectors who understand both the financial and the emotional investment that antiques represent.
Relationship
We believe in developing a relationship with our sellers and our buyers. We engage our sellers in the auctioning process. We want to leverage your knowledge and experience. We value your opinions. We want you to have a positive selling experience. Likewise, we cultivate relationships with our buyers. We run our business with integrity. Sellers and buyers alike know they can trust us to describe pieces accurately and provide sound impartial advice.