Antique Price Guide: What Your Old Stuff Is Actually Worth

An estimated $124 trillion in wealth will change hands by 2048, and a lot of that inheritance isn’t cash — it’s stuff.

Boxes in the attic. A dining set nobody wants to move. Your grandmother’s jewelry sitting in a drawer. Maybe you inherited a houseful of old things and have no idea what any of it is worth. Maybe you’re clearing out a parent’s home and wondering whether to donate, sell, or keep.

You’re not alone. The Baby Boomer generation holds the vast majority of that $124 trillion (Cerulli Associates, 2024), and much of it is tied up in physical objects — furniture, art, jewelry, ceramics, silverware. The people inheriting these items often don’t collect antiques and don’t know where to start.

We put together this antique price guide for people like you. Not the dealer, not the lifelong collector. The person staring at a box of old stuff and asking: is any of this worth anything?

Key Takeaways
• The global antiques market is worth $150.2 billion and growing at 4.4% annually (Global Market Insights, 2025).
• Furniture and jewelry account for 70% of all antique sales — check those categories first.
• Always research sold prices, not asking prices. What someone wants and what someone pays are different numbers.
• Online platforms now handle 67% of antique sales. You don’t need to find a local dealer anymore.

How big is the antiques market right now?

The global antiques and collectibles market hit $150.2 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $229.7 billion by 2035 (Global Market Insights, 2025). That’s a 4.4% compound annual growth rate — steady, not speculative. The United States accounts for 36% of global antique sales, making it the largest single market in the world.

Why does this matter to you? Because there are real buyers out there. The antiques market isn’t dying — it’s shifting. Online sales are growing at 18% annually (IBISWorld, 2025), and a new generation of buyers is entering the market for reasons that have nothing to do with nostalgia.

Millennials now represent 32% of antique buyers, driven largely by sustainability — buying old instead of buying new (Kentley Insights, 2025). Collectors over 50 still account for 54% of the market, but the buyer pool is widening. That old dresser in your garage might have more interested buyers today than it did five years ago.

Here’s where the money actually goes:

Furniture dominates. If you’ve inherited a houseful of things, the big wooden pieces are where to focus first — not the knickknacks.

What types of antiques are worth the most?

Furniture comprises 42% of global antique sales, with jewelry following at 28% (Observatory of Economic Complexity, 2025). But “furniture” is a massive category, and most of it isn’t worth what people hope. The difference between a $200 dresser and a $20,000 dresser usually comes down to four things.

Maker and period matter most. A generic Victorian oak sideboard might sell for $300–$800. A signed Gustav Stickley sideboard from the same era? $15,000 and up. Name recognition drives premiums in every category — Tiffany in glass, Chippendale in furniture, Cartier in jewelry.

Mid-century modern is still hot. Pieces by Eames, Knoll, Herman Miller, and Danish makers like Hans Wegner and Arne Jacobsen continue to command strong prices. A genuine Eames lounge chair sells for $4,000–$6,000 on the secondary market. A convincing reproduction sells for $800. Knowing the difference matters.

“Brown furniture” has softened. Heavy Victorian and Edwardian mahogany pieces — the kind that filled dining rooms for a century — have dropped in value over the past decade. Younger buyers don’t want them, and the collectors who did are downsizing. If you’ve got a massive mahogany breakfront, manage your expectations.

Jewelry holds value differently. Gold and gemstone jewelry has an intrinsic material value that furniture doesn’t. Even a plain gold ring has melt value. Signed pieces from houses like Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, or Tiffany & Co. carry significant premiums. Estate jewelry with documented provenance — a receipt, an old photograph of someone wearing it — sells for more than identical pieces without a story.

Don’t overlook the smaller categories either. Art glass (Lalique, Murano, Steuben), vintage watches (Rolex, Omega, Patek Philippe), and quality ceramics (Rookwood, Roseville, Royal Copenhagen) all have active collector markets. The “other” category in the chart above hides some of the most surprising values.

How do you figure out what your antiques are worth?

Sixty-eight percent of antique buyers conduct digital research before purchasing (IBISWorld, 2025). That means the information you need to price your items is largely the same information buyers are already using. Here’s how to access it.

1. Check the marks

Turn it over. Look at the bottom, the back, the underside of drawers. You’re looking for maker’s marks, stamps, labels, signatures, patent numbers, or country-of-origin marks. A single stamp can be the difference between “old plate” and “Meissen porcelain worth $2,000.”

Photograph any marks you find. Resources like Kovels and the Pottery & Porcelain Marks index can help you identify them. For silver, look for hallmarks — small stamped symbols that indicate the maker, silver content, date, and place of assay.

2. Research sold prices, not asking prices

This is the single most important pricing principle. What someone asks for an item tells you nothing. What someone actually paid tells you everything. Here’s where to find sold data:

• eBay sold listings — Filter search results by “Sold Items” to see actual transaction prices. Free.
• LiveAuctioneers — Searchable database of auction results. Free to browse, subscription for full access.
• Invaluable.com — Aggregates results from thousands of auction houses worldwide.
• Heritage Auctions — Publishes all past results for free on their website.
• Worthpoint — Subscription database with 750 million+ sold prices. The most comprehensive, but costs around $30/month.

Search for items as similar to yours as possible. Same maker, same period, same condition. Three to five comparable sold results give you a realistic price range.

3. Use AI identification tools

A newer option: photograph the item and let AI do the initial identification. Apps like Circa can analyze visual features, suggest what the item is, identify the maker or period, and provide a market value range based on recent sales data. It’s not a replacement for an expert appraisal, but it’s a fast way to triage a box of unknowns and figure out which items deserve deeper research.

4. Get a professional appraisal for high-value items

For anything you suspect is worth more than $1,000 — or if you need a valuation for insurance, estate settlement, or tax purposes — hire a certified appraiser. Look for credentials from the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) or the International Society of Appraisers (ISA). Expect to pay $200–$400 per item.

One critical rule: never accept an appraisal from someone who also offers to buy the item. That’s a conflict of interest, and it happens more often than you’d think.

5. Visit a local auction house

Most regional auction houses offer free or low-cost appraisal days where you can bring items in for a quick evaluation. They won’t give you a formal written appraisal, but they’ll tell you if something is worth consigning — and that’s often all you need to know.

The four things that determine an antique’s value

Seventy-eight percent of antique buyers say authenticity certificates influence their purchasing decisions (Strategic Market Research, 2025). That number tells you something important: buyers care about proof. Not just “it looks old” but how old, how rare, how original, and how desirable.

Rarity. How many exist? A one-of-a-kind piece commands attention. But rarity alone isn’t enough. A unique item nobody wants is just unusual, not valuable.

Condition. The great multiplier. A rare piece in excellent condition can be worth ten times the same piece with damage or heavy restoration. Collectors pay premiums for originality — original finish, original hardware, original glass. If you’re tempted to “fix up” an old piece before selling it, don’t. Amateur restoration almost always reduces value.

Provenance. Where has this piece been? A chair is furniture. A chair that sat in a notable architect’s studio is history. Any documentation you have — receipts, old photos, letters mentioning the piece, insurance records — adds value. Don’t throw away the paperwork.

Demand. Markets shift. Mid-century modern furniture that nobody wanted in the 1990s now commands thousands. Heavy Victorian pieces that dominated the market for decades have cooled. What’s valuable today is a function of who’s buying — and that changes with demographics, taste, and culture.

For a deeper look at how these factors interact, read What Makes an Antique Valuable?

Where should you sell your antiques?

Online platforms now account for 67.1% of antique distribution, while auction houses handle 52% of high-value sales (Global Market Insights, 2025). Those numbers might seem contradictory, but they reflect a clear split: everyday antiques sell online, expensive antiques sell at auction.

Here’s how to think about it:

Under $500: Sell online. eBay remains the largest marketplace for antiques and collectibles. Etsy works well for decorative pieces and vintage jewelry. Chairish and 1stDibs cater to higher-end furniture and decor. Facebook Marketplace is good for bulky items you don’t want to ship. Online sales grew 18% last year (IBISWorld, 2025), and the audience keeps expanding.

$500–$5,000: Consider auction. Regional auction houses take a commission (typically 15–25% of the hammer price), but they bring qualified buyers and create competitive bidding that can push prices above what you’d get on a fixed-price listing. The market is fragmented — the top five auction players hold only 12.7% of the market (Global Market Insights, 2025) — which means there’s a regional house near you.

Over $5,000: Major auction houses. Sotheby’s, Christie’s, Heritage Auctions, and Bonhams handle the high end. They offer free pre-sale valuations for items they’re interested in consigning. Commission structures are more favorable at higher price points.

The whole house: Estate sale company. If you’re dealing with an entire household, an estate sale company handles pricing, staging, advertising, and selling everything in a weekend. They typically charge 30–40% commission but save you months of individual listings. Check reviews carefully — quality varies enormously.

For more on the auction process, read Understanding Auction Estimates.

Five pricing mistakes that cost you money

Forty percent of collectors purchase antiques primarily as long-term investments (Strategic Market Research, 2025). But the people selling inherited items aren’t collectors — and they tend to make the same mistakes. Here are the five most expensive ones.

1. Using asking prices as your benchmark. I can’t say this enough: asking prices are fiction. Someone on eBay listing a vase for $5,000 doesn’t mean vases like it sell for $5,000. Check sold prices. Always.

2. Emotional overvaluation. “My grandmother treasured this, so it must be valuable.” Sentimental value and market value are completely different things. A $30 teapot that sat on your grandmother’s shelf for 50 years is still a $30 teapot on the open market. Separating emotion from economics is the hardest part of selling inherited items.

3. Cleaning or restoring before selling. That tarnished silver? Don’t polish it aggressively. That faded patina on the furniture? Leave it. Collectors want original condition, not your version of “fixed up.” Improper cleaning destroys finishes, removes patina that took decades to develop, and can cut an item’s value in half. We’ve seen users bring in furniture they’d stripped and refinished, only to learn the original milk paint finish was the valuable part. For more on this, see our guide on caring for antique furniture.

4. Selling too fast. Grief, urgency, and the desire to just be done with it lead people to accept the first offer. If you’re clearing a house, take photos of everything before moving or discarding anything. A few weeks of research can save you thousands. Items sitting in a box for decades can wait another month.

5. Choosing the wrong selling venue. A $10,000 painting sold at a garage sale. A common Hummel figurine consigned to Christie’s (where the commission eats the entire value). Matching the item to the right venue is half the battle. Use the price thresholds above as a starting guide.

What’s driving antique values in 2026?

The antiques market is projected to grow from $150.2 billion to $229.7 billion over the next decade (Global Market Insights, 2025). Several forces are shaping what’s gaining and losing value right now.

The sustainability buyer. Millennials aren’t buying antiques because they love antiques. They’re buying antiques because they don’t want to buy new mass-produced furniture. Sustainability is the on-ramp, and it’s bringing a generation of buyers who care more about aesthetics and quality than pedigree. That’s good news if you’re selling attractive, functional pieces — even if they’re not from a famous maker.

The online shift. Online platforms now handle two-thirds of antique sales. That means items are more discoverable than ever. A niche collector in Tokyo can find your great-aunt’s Rookwood vase listed in Ohio. The internet has effectively eliminated geographic barriers to the antiques market, and that tends to push prices up for distinctive items.

The brown furniture decline. Heavy, formal furniture from the Victorian and Edwardian periods continues to soften. Dining room sets, china cabinets, and ornate secretary desks that once anchored estates are selling at a fraction of their 1990s values. Smaller living spaces and casual lifestyles are the culprits. If you’ve inherited this type of furniture, sell sooner rather than later — the trend isn’t reversing.

The authentication premium. With 78% of buyers saying authenticity certificates influence their decisions (Strategic Market Research, 2025), documented items sell for more. Any paperwork, provenance, or professional appraisal you can provide directly impacts the price. The market is rewarding proof.

If you’re heading to estate sales with any of this in mind, our guide on What to Look for at an Estate Sale covers how to spot value in the wild.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find out what my antiques are worth for free?

Three free starting points: eBay’s “Sold Items” filter shows real transaction prices, not wishful thinking. LiveAuctioneers and Heritage Auctions both publish searchable databases of past auction results at no cost. For a quick triage, AI apps like Circa can identify items from a photo and pull comparable market data. Save the $200–$400 professional appraisal fee for pieces you believe are worth $5,000 or more.

What antiques are worth the most money right now?

Mid-century modern furniture (Eames, Knoll, Danish makers) commands some of the strongest prices in the current market. Signed art glass from Tiffany or Lalique, estate jewelry from Cartier or Van Cleef & Arpels, and quality vintage watches (Rolex, Patek Philippe) also perform well. Broadly, furniture makes up 42% of global antique sales and jewelry 28% (Observatory of Economic Complexity, 2025). Age alone doesn’t set the price — a pristine 1960s chair often beats a chipped 1860s one.

Should I sell antiques online or at auction?

It depends on the price point. Under $500, online platforms (eBay, Etsy, Chairish, Facebook Marketplace) give you the widest buyer pool — and they now account for 67.1% of all antique sales (Global Market Insights, 2025). Between $500 and $5,000, a regional auction house creates competitive bidding that often pushes past fixed-price listings. Above $5,000, major houses like Sotheby’s or Heritage Auctions bring the serious collectors.

How do I tell if something is a genuine antique or a reproduction?

Look where the maker didn’t expect you to look: the bottom of drawers, the back of frames, inside seams. Genuine antiques show tool marks that vary from stroke to stroke, wear that accumulates in patterns matching actual use, and joinery methods tied to specific eras (hand-cut dovetails pre-1890, square nails pre-1900, pontil marks on hand-blown glass). Fakes tend to be too uniform. Cross-reference any maker’s marks against Kovels and read our deeper guide on how to spot fake antiques.

Is it worth getting a professional antique appraisal?

For estate settlement, insurance claims, or tax deductions, a formal written appraisal is often legally required — not optional. For selling purposes, it’s worth the $200–$400 fee if the item might exceed $1,000. The key is hiring someone credentialed (ASA or ISA certified) and independent. If the appraiser also offers to buy the piece, walk away. That arrangement benefits them, not you.