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How does the militaria trade work ?
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The most common rout that an item of “Militaria” takes from a private seller to an investor is as follows.
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An item of militaria that we describe as “Item A” is sent off to auction where is guaranteed to be sold on a set day .. The object is “Knocked down ” to a buyer at the hammer price of say $150 / £100
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after about one month the vendor with receive a payment of $100/£75 .. Back on auction day the buyer pays the Hammer price of £150 /£100 plus an additional fee of $45/£30 .
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“Item A” is much more likely to have been acquired by a dealer rather than an end user . “Item A ” will now probably be re offered on Ebay or a specialist website .
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The dealer’s asking price for “Item A ” is likely to be$450/ £300-$550/£400 and if they a patient they will find a collector or even another dealer who believes a greater price can be asked . How could the original seller achieved a better return than the $100/£75?.
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We live in an age where information is at everybody’s fingertips . Had the original seller taken time to research just what specialist websites were asking for items similar to “Item A ” then an email sent to a specialist might have resulted in on offer to buy directly.
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Selling in a general auction is a democratic, transparent option favoured when dealing with diseased estates . Traditionally in less enlightened times the auction provided pleasant surprises. Given that generally people were not enlightened achieving a return of $100/£75 for “Item A ” would have been welcome news .
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Today it is better to first approach then sell to dedicated professionals. At German Dagger Dealers .com we rely entirely from buying directly from people like yourselves . The chances are that we have customers contacting us from abroad on any given day.
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In the area of militaria we are well known in the collecting community. Please call if you wish to learn more about our services .
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+441903-884602
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