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Quote:If you're looking to sell off some of those back issues of Sports Illustrated, your vast postcard collection, or your Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford political pins, eBay and similar sites make good options. But if you've inherited Aunt Wilma's collection of art pottery and Uncle Fred's stash of antique Hubley cast-iron trucks, cars, and wagons, think twice about where you offer them. You might be better off consigning your items to a specialty auctioneer — unless, of course, you're extremely knowledgeable about what you're selling, and you understand the jargon of a particular market, and you have the time to write smooth descriptions that will convince bidders to bite, and you're pretty good with a digital camera…and on it goes.

To maximize the sale of Aunt Wilma's collection, houses such as Rago Auctions of Lambertville, N.J. and Cincinnati Art Galleries of Cincinnati stand a better chance of matching your art pottery with qualified buyers. And toy specialists, for example, Noel Barrett Auctions of Carversville, Pa., and Bertoia Auctions of Vineland, N.J., will forge a more direct path to the right owners for your Hubley treasures.

"If you don't know what you have, or how to describe it, or how to photograph it, you're at the mercy of the buyers on eBay," said J. Michael Flanigan, a longtime Baltimore-based antiques dealer who specializes in furniture. "As a buyer, I tend to limit my spending to a certain amount; beyond that figure, I'm afraid to buy. I've found that I can't always trust the seller's description or knowledge. When you can't rely on the seller, it keeps the price down."...