This page presents important information regarding how our Antique Tiffany Lamp Brokerage Services are conducted, guidelines to follow when contacting us regarding a lamp in your possession, as well as important information for anyone attempting to sell an antique Tiffany Lamp. We ask that you please read it in its entirety prior to contacting us about your lamp(s).
We work in much the same way as a real estate agency. There's a simple, straightforward, written contract stating that you (the client or seller), have agreed to work exclusively with us (the broker or agent) for a certain pre-determined period of time. That's the professional way, and the way in which your lamp will sell more quickly and in our experience, for the best price.
You may think that "shopping" your antique Tiffany Studios lamp "around" is a way for you to ensure you're getting the best possible price for it. Unfortunately, that's simply not true. In this business, if you "shop around," you run the very serious risk of over exposure, which will have the exact opposite effect.
We earn our living from buyer paid commissions for brokering high quality antique Tiffany Studios lamps on behalf of our client sellers. Therefore, we will only provide a specific appraisal, authentication, pricing information or a complete evaluation on any Tiffany Studios lamp, if we have been contracted to serve as your exclusive broker for that lamp. We are however, willing to tell you from the photos you send us if your lamp appears to be authentic, and provide a broad price range of what we feel it might sell for through us. We hope you can appreciate and understand our position on this.
If you wish to retain us to broker your Tiffany lamp in a professional, discreet and private manner, we will be very happy to work with and for you. We've built a very loyal base of buyers and sellers nationally, who trust us and who depend on our expertise, discretion, confidentiality and integrity. We intend to maintain their trust. We want to be sure anyone considering using our services is clear from the beginning about what we feel to be very reasonable, common sense, professional "ground rules." | 
Tiffany "Belted" Dogwood Shade
Table Lamp |
The largest costs to the seller-owner when selling at auction, through a broker, or gallery are the "fees and commissions" they must pay to the broker/agent for selling their item(s). These fees can easily amount to between 20-30% of the sale price for an item. We take a slightly different approach.
We decided that since all buyers would have to pay a commission if they bought at any major auction house, or indirectly pay more if they bought from a consignment gallery, we might as well charge them a "finder's fee" commission and put none of the costs or commissions onto the seller-owner.
We don't make as much per item as we would if we were getting a standard 20-30% fee from the seller, but we make up for it in quantity of sales by maintaining an established list of eager collectors/buyers interested in the quality of antique Tiffany Studios lamps we broker. We can afford to do this because we keep our overhead low. We don't have an extravagant gallery or showroom, complete with the accompanying high rent, advertising, and utilities costs to meet monthly.
What we do have is the experience, wherewithal, and a long-standing reputation....
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If you agree with our exclusive agency policy and like the sound of the buyer paying all the fees, the next step is to contact us. We provide a simple Tiffany Lamp Assessment Form for you to complete. As part of the assessment process, you'll also be asked to send us, good quality, digital images of the lamp you're inquiring about. Examples of the types of photos we'll need, can be found on our Tiffany Lamp Examples page. As soon as we receive all the required information from you, you can expect to hear back from us within 24 hours.
Once we have agreed to broker an item and entered into a contract to act as your agent, we'll work as quickly as possible to accurately and realistically research, authenticate, price, discreetly promote and sell your lamp. We work long days, usually seven days a week, to do what it takes on your behalf.
We keep all aspects of the promotion and sale of your lamp private and very "selective." We'll always keep your identity and location completely confidential, unless it's necessary for the in-person inspection and sale of your lamp. Even then we will only provide your information after we have your full consent.
Generally, we sell most lamps we agree to broker within 30 days. Some lamps, if they're "ready to sell" immediately, can be sold in 7-10 business days. Naturally, there are exceptions—these are however, in the minority. Auction houses can take months before they even have an "appropriate" sale, and then the owner can sometimes wait quite awhile before they're paid (assuming the lamp sells). Our clients are paid within 10 business days from the time we receive the funds for the sale. Owners/sellers working with us are paid with "guaranteed funds," such as a cashier's check or bank "wire transfer," unless they wish to be paid in another manner. | 
Tiffany "Peony" Pattern
Shaded Floor Lamp |
So, why is "Over Exposure" so bad, and how can it hurt you? If you've already shown or offered your antique Tiffany lamp to other brokers, dealers or collectors, (by phone, at "online auctions," via email or otherwise) in the United States or in Europe, hundreds if not thousands of people have then seen it or heard about it. The world for fine antiques and collectible pieces is actually very "small." Collectors, brokers, experts, museum curators, auction house employees, dealers, and restoration people, talk with each other frequently about pieces they saw or heard about from someone. This can seriously hurt any efforts to get the best possible price for your lamp or even sell it at all. If a lamp has been "shopped around" various places for many months or years, it probably will not sell, unless it is at a "liquidation price." Please keep that in mind.
To summarize, overexposure of a lamp, is simply not wise when one is trying to sell a high quality antique.
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