I’m currently looking to do a bit of a career pivot. For 20 years I was a self employed antiques and vintage dealer, mainly selling online and through auction. While I was pretty general I did focus on jewellery and I have a lot of experience with the growing market of quality vintage clothing, accessories and textiles. As I was a mainly online seller I had to be up to speed on both established and newly emerging collectors markets.
The trade as a general dealer has become increasingly difficult since covid, and it didn’t help that six years ago I was diagnosed and successfully treated for cancer, meaning I no longer had the stamina to do fairs and markets anymore.
Because of this, I’m looking to move into probate chattels valuations as I’m a very good ‘scanner’ and I have a wide general knowledge but know when to defer to specialists for items such as coins, stamps, horology, militaria and fine art. I’m considering doing an NAVA Propertymark Level 3 in Chattels Auctioneering to get a bit of professional clout and gain the legal knowledge required to deal with deceased estate chattels valuations.
Anyone got any experience in this sector? Not just in valuations themselves, but perhaps as a solicitor dealing with wills and probate?