How to Determine the Value of Vintage and Antique Items
Plus, how context clues helped uncover a trove of fake Basquiat paintings
Orlando, Florida isn’t exactly known as a hotbed of neoexpressionist art — so collectors were somewhat surprised when the Orlando Museum of Art was the first facility to display a trove of never-before-seen paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat. Some two dozen of the late artist’s works were hung for the museum’s“Heroes & Monsters” exhibition, which opened in January 2022.
At first glance, the pieces looked like classic Basquiats — they included a lot of the tropes the artist used throughout his career, like crowns and airplanes. And some were painted on pieces of scavenged cardboard, which was typical of Basquiat. But a closer look at that cardboard and you’d see a FedEx typeface that the company didn’t begin using until 1994 — six years after Basquiat died.
The paintings were fakes (painted by an auctioneer who claimed he had found them in an old storage unit) and, in June 2022, the FBI raided the museum and seized them. It’s a wild story and the Orlando Museum of Art is now suing the people behind the exhibition (including the museum’s own former director, who allegedly tried to profit off of the eventual sale of the forged paintings).
Aside from, “What’s your favorite thrift store?” the question I am undoubtedly asked the most is: “How do you know what an item is or what it’s worth?”
One of the ways is to use context clues, as the FBI did with the FedEx boxes in the “Basquiat” exhibit. But I have other tips, too.
So I thought I would outline my method for determining value. I hope this will be helpful. A caveat, of course: value is subjective. Just because something sells for $2,000 on 1stDibs doesn’t mean it will sell for $2,000 via Facebook Marketplace in Athens, Georgia. BUT learning value is about more than just pricing for re-sale. It’s interesting knowing where your items come from — who made them, and why, and where. Knowing that an item is valuable can also help you determine if it’s a worthy buy. Obviously, if you can deduce a thrifted vintage couch is going for $5,000 on the secondary market, you know it will last you longer and be better-made than one that was $100 from a big-box store.
Below, I’ve detailed the steps I take to determine what something is and who made it and how much it might be worth.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, I would love to know from you: What would you like to see more of in this newsletter? I try to be very thoughtful with the content I put forth here but I also want to make sure it’s what you want. So what would you like more of — How to Thrift the Look (we could also explore thrifting the look of films and tv shows!), City Guides (and if so, where specifically?), round-ups of things I’ve purchased and why?
I have also toyed with the idea of doing a live video chat workshop on thrifting, as Substack has recently rolled out that function. We could explore my method, I could touch on some of the tips from my book, and I could share some of my best finds ever. And you all could ask questions in real time. Would anyone be interested in that? Click the button below to leave a comment and let me know.
Now on to the good stuff: How to determine a thrifted or vintage item’s value.