Best Antique Evaluation Websites

We listed our picks of the best sites for researching the value of your antiques, fine art, collectibles, and jewelry. If you are not an expert in this field it is very difficult to get realistic prices for your items. If you visit 10 websites you will likely get 10 drastically different prices. In this tutorial, get actionable insights into the basics of online antiques research, including tips on navigating retail sites, understanding pricing differences, and utilizing popular auction sites like eBay for an accurate valuation.

Best Antique Evaluation Websites

List of research sites:

1. Ask Art

2. Artnet

3. Live Auctioneers

4. Worthpoint

5. Marks4antiques

6. eBay

Ask Art

Askart is one of my favorite most used sites for researching fine art. It is best used for original pieces of art including paintings, bronzes and sculptures. You can look up artist by last name. Included in the listing is where the artist is from and the years he was active.

Visit Askart.com

Pricing

$279.95 / Month

$25.95 / Month

$14.95 / Month

Pros

Easy to Access

Askart website is easy to navigate on a desktop as well as phone and ipad.

Acces to Bio

Has a bio about the artist with info on life and style of works .

Check for Authenticity

Examples of signatures included with membership. They import to compare to make sure your piece has an authentic signature.

List of Auctions

Has list of auction results as well as any works coming to auction in the future. Very good to know in order to see if too many pieces are coming to auction the market is saturated. Too little could mean not enough interest.

Original Works

Predominantly original works so not much limited editions.

Unlimited Searches

Unlimited searches included- important because some competitors only have a limited number allowed before charging extra money.

Cons

Limited Editions

Not good for limited editions or lithographs.

Mostly High End

Mostly high-end auctions so many smaller houses will not be listed.

Limited Furniture

Artwork including paintings and sculptures included, but very little furniture items unless highly listed artist.

Artnet

Artnet is a great site for researching fine and decorative art. This site is well known for finding data on limited edition pieces as well as originals. You can look up artist by last name. Included in the listing is where the artist is from and the years he was active.

Price varies depending on how many searches you will need:

The one most commonly used is the individual rollover- 10 searches up to 1000 auction results $42.50 a month. You can get a day pass for $32.50 and have 5 searches and up to 500 auction results. For decorative art they charge $34 a month or $350 a year for unlimited searches.

Visit Artnet.com

Pricing

$42.50 / Month

Up to 10 searches

Up to 1000 auction results

$32.50 / Month

Receive day pass

Up to 5 searches

Up to 500 auction results.

$34.00 / Month
$350.00 / Year

Decorative Art

Unlimited Searches

Pros

Great for Research

Very good site for researching prints, multiples and photographs.

Easy to Navigate

Easy to navigate on desktop.

Extensive Search

Many different ways to refine your search to get similar works to what you are looking for.

News Updates

Great news section about current events and trends.

Cons

Hard to Navigate

Not as easy to navigate on iPhone or tablet. No links to actual auctions makes it harder to check rest of items at auction.

Price Structure

Price structure is a bit complicated. You get a certain amount of artist searches, but if you want over 100 results from the artist you need to use another search.

Artist Information

Not as much artist info as other sites may give.

Live Auctioneers

Liveauctioneers is a site that is great for getting auction results on a variety of items. The site covers every category you can think of including artwork, jewelry, Asian antiques, coins, silver, books and much more.

Visit Liveauctioneers.com

Pricing

FREE

To do research (requires registration by email)

Pros

Easy to Navigate

Easy to navigate on desktop and has an easy to use app for phone and tablet.

Broad Coverage

Covers nearly all categories of items.

Results for Big and Small

Has auction results for large and small auction houses around the world.

Search Features

Unlimited free searches. Multiple ways to refine search including price and time.

Additional Features

Besides researching, the platform is generally used to bid on items directly. Includes link to auction to see all items in auction.

It's Free

Get information for free.

Cons

Limited Results

Does not include some of the larger auction houses.

Results Accuracy

Some of the smaller auction houses might not have all the correct auction result info.

Currency Support

Some auction results are in a foreign currency that does not have a converter.

Worthpoint

Worthpoint is a website that offers auction results as well as research assistance including marks and a library of book references. The information included covers all subjects including artwork, jewelry, Asian antiques, coins, silver, books and much more.

Visit site Worthpoint.com

Pricing

$23.99 / Month
199.99 / Year

Includes Price Guide access

See their website for more info

$22.99 / Month
256.99 / Year

Marks and library

Up to 500 auction results.

$39.99 / Month
$439.99 / Year

Includes Price Guide access

Marks and library

Pros

eBay Results

eBay as one of the auction results

iGavel Auctions

Includes iGavel which is not used in many other price databases

Try for Free

Has a try for free option

Rich Seletion

Covers artwork and just about everything else

Expanding Offerings

Expanding with more options and tools every month

Cons

eBay Option Relilability

eBay as a resource is not always reliable with results

Not Mobile Optimized

Better on desktop then tablet or phone

Listings Lack Details

Some of the descriptions on listings are not very extensive

Marks4antiques

Marks4antiques is a site that is used when you are beginning to do research and don’t know what your items is. The site has great examples of marks for antiques, ceramics, jewelry and silver. If you are trying to figure out a piece that has a mark on it, but no name, this site is perfect.

Visit site Marks4antiques.com

Pricing

$12.95 / Month

Antiques

$9.95 / Month

Ceramics

$14.95 / Month

Jewelry and Silver

$29.95 / Month

Antiques

Ceramics

Jewelry and Silver

Pros

Extensive List

Very extensive list of item marks

Search Options

Different ways of looking up including name or company or type of mark

Contantly Updating

Always adding more marks to the list

Cons

Values4antiques Section

The values4antiques section is not detailed enough yet

Still Need Other Sites

You will likely need another site to get better auction results

eBay

eBay is a well-known site that is used for buying and selling anything and everything you can imagine. eBay really changed the game in the resale industry. You can use this site free of charge. Many people use this site to see past results in order to get price information.

Visit site eBay.com

see article for best way to research eBay

Pros

Easy to Use

Very easy to use on phone, tablet or desktop

Pricing

Free to use

Extensive items

Extensive list of items

Suggestive Search

Spelling correction to help correct search

A Lot of Sellers

More professional sellers including auctions added all the time

Cons

Can Be Misleading

Results can be misleading (see eBay research page for ways to get accurate info)

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