Do you have an item you would like to sell? Southern Picker is always buying. We are glad you found us! The guide below is a general path that we've used successfully.
INITIAL CONTACT
- Thankfully cameras in smartphones have made it easy to send pictures. Sending photos avoids the time and expense of traveling us. The key to selling is making a good first impression by sending good photos:
- Images need to be clear and crisp. This is best accomplished by taking the photos in good light - even if it means taking your item outside in the sun. The best lighting is a cloudy day but good lighting is essential.
- Be sure to take photos of the front and back. This helps us evaluate the condition & age. Condition & age are the essential in determining a marketable price.
- Include photos of important details such as signatures, dates, labels and damaged areas.
When you send your email, please do not forget to include your name, phone number, and other contact information. Your asking price is not required but if you know your price it should be included.
EXAMINATION AND OFFER
We will review the submission and contact you. If we are interested in buying we will ask for your price. Often sellers do not know the value of their submission and expect us to make an offer. We will happily do so, but this should not be misunderstood to be an appraisal. Any offer reflects what we can afford to pay considering our costs of doing business for reselling. If you are interested in knowing the current market value of your map, you may want to consider appraisal services.
DELIVERY OR PICKUP
If we can come to a mutually agreeable price, I will ask you to assist us coordinating delivery OR we will arrange pickup. We typically pay for the delivery or pickup and will provide instructions according to our agreement. For shipping, we will provide prepaid shipping and insurance. For those who live in or are visiting the east coast area, you can also schedule an appointment to bring the visit us in person.
Some clients request payment in advance before shipping. Unfortunately, this is not possible for the following reasons:
- All offers are tentative until your offering has been examined in person.
- It is very difficult to determine authenticity from photos. We must inspect in person to be certain everything is what we expect.
- There may condition issues that are not apparent from photographs or that did not come up in our conversations.
- There may be unintentional or intentional misrepresentations.
- We are contacted multiple times each day by individuals interested in selling their antiques or historic collections. While most people are honest, as we all know some people are frauds and crooks. As a business, we must make every attempt to protect ourselves from these criminals.
- If you would like to know more about Southern Picker Antiques, please check out our About Us page. We've been buying and selling for 40 years and have been profiled by most major news providers. We've worked hard for our good reputation and we want to earn your business. We are not going to cheat anyone.
FINAL EXAMINATION AND PAYMENT
Once we can inspect it takes about 2 business days to fully evaluate. As soon as we have determined that everything is as anticipated, we will inform you of such and immediately render payment according to our conversations. For certain international deals, we can also pay via direct bank to bank wire transfers. To avoid fraud we do not use Western Union, or other cash sending services. Cash payments are made in person.
FINAL EXAMINATION
Occasionally we will discover that the object we've discussed is not as anticipated or represented. It may have condition issues, be a forgery, or simply not what we expected. In this case, we will generally return the submission to you at our own expense. From time to time, if the issue is related to the condition, we will explain the problem to the seller and may agree to a lower price that will leave room for professional restoration work. If this happens and we cannot come to an agreement, we will complete the return, as above, with our regrets.
