Do We Buy Used Native American Jewelry?

Hello Paula,

I have a lot of very old Native American jewelry, in these difficult economic times I feel I might need to sell some of them even though it breaks my heart. I would not ever have thought I would contact someone about these. I also have a huge collection of baskets, carvings, and original artist's drawings & paintings. The jewelry is: one very large turquoise stone bracelet over 150 years old, a necklace on string that has large chunks of turquoise separated by black tubes of a stone the turquoise gets smaller as it gets closer to your neck, handmade silver beads held together with old silver chain, many other sets of Indian jewelry, rings, and bracelets from the 1960- to 1979ish times. Are you interested in the newer pieces from the 60-late 70's? Thank you for your time. J

I am passionate about Native American jewelry and would love to find a new home for some of the items you wish to sell. We generally do not purchase baskets, pottery, or artwork. But, we do purchase Native American fetish carvings and Native American jewelry for our Internet Vintage Shop. Please read this entire article to understand a little bit more about older Native American jewelry and our buying process.

What Do I Do with My Wife’s Jewelry? - We are often contacted by people who either have inherited a relative's collection or who have been collectors themselves and need to downsize. In both cases, often a person's perception of the value of an item or a collection is influenced by their emotions and what they "feel"� something is worth. In the case of a widower dispersing his wife's jewelry, it is easy to see that there could be emotional attachment to the pieces. And if a collector has certain memories associated with a piece, that piece is worth more to that person because of the emotional element.

Factors that Affect Value of Native American Jewelry - Like other goods, Native American jewelry value is based on certain criteria. These include:

• Authenticity
• Documentation
• Hallmarks
• The artist’s reputation
• The scarcity of the artist’s work
• The age of the piece
• The quality of workmanship
• The condition (see specifics below)
• The weight of sterling silver and gold used
• The quality and size of the stones used
• The overall aesthetics of the piece.

Patina, the tarnish that forms on sterling silver, is not a problem, in fact, to many collectors it is an asset. So before you sell vintage pieces or get them appraised, do not clean them up !

Cracks, broken stones, missing stones, loose stones, misshapen bracelets, missing fasteners and bent pieces are a different story ­ they all decrease the value of the piece. Repair of vintage Native American jewelry is an art. To replace a stone in an inlay bracelet or a squash blossom necklace from the 1940s and have it "blend" is difficult to do. As we appraise a damaged piece, we have to factor in whether it CAN be repaired and the repair costs.

Before you offer a piece for sale, inspect it carefully with a magnifying glass for missing pieces, cracks, chips, and other defects. In the majority of lots we have purchased, although all might be said to be in undamaged condition, there are always a few pieces that have one piece of inlay missing or a couple of broken or replaced stones in a turquoise necklace or other such things. We assume they were just missed by the seller but the fact that they are damaged usually means that we value them very low or at zero when making an offer.

Establishing Value -

Read this article to help you establish RETAIL value of your items. We purchase at wholesale.

"How to Determine the Value of your Item using eBay SOLD Feature"

Quite often a seller will contact us after they have taken the collection to a pawn shop or a precious metals buyer and learned that the only offer they will get there is scrap price (the value of the meltdown of sterling silver and gold) for their collection. They are heartbroken at the thought of seeing such fine and cherished work destroyed. In some cases like that we come to the rescue and find good homes for pieces in the collection!

In other cases, a seller will take their items to a knowledgeable person and learn that what they thought was sterling silver is not. Or that the items were made in Mexico or Asia and although they have a Native American look, they are not authentic Native American Made. Even if the seller does his or her homework, and in good faith sends what he thinks is a Native American collection, when we receive it, 20% of the items are either not authentic Native American made or have some damage that decreases their value. Those items usually go into our Bargain Barn which is like a garage sale on the internet ­a place where things go where the origin is unknown or the item is in rough shape.

Have you ever watched Pawn Stars? Rick Harrison will call in an expert and that expert will authenticate a piece and give it a value in front of the seller. "You have a nice XYZ here and in a collectors auction, it could go for $2000" so then Rick will turn to the customer and ask, "So what do you want for it?" and the seller says "How about $2000?" Then we get Rick's endearing laugh and he says, "How about $500?"

Don't expect to get retail or close to it when you sell a collection or even a single piece. It just doesn't work that way. As Mike Wolfe often says on American Pickers, "There has to be some meat left on the bone" for us to handle the piece and find a buyer.

Basic Guidelines

• We buy only Native American made jewelry.
• We do not purchase costume jewelry, Native American style jewelry or southwest style jewelry that is not Native American made. Just because it looks "Indian" doesn't mean it was made by a Native American artist.
• We do not purchase imported jewelry that copies Native American style.
• We do not purchase jewelry made in Mexico.
• We do not purchase Native American rugs, pottery, or paintings.
• We do not do appraisals for estates or insurance purposes.
• We do not make offers based on photos.
• We evaluate items and collections that are sent to us following the process outlined below. That is how we arrive at an offer.

The Buying and Selling Process

In a nutshell, here is how the process goes:

A. Send us an email to . In the subject line of the email type this (it is important to type this correctly so that the email goes to the right place):

SELLING JEWELRY - Your Full Name

In the body of the e-mail, briefly list the Native American jewelry that you want to sell. We are much more likely to buy lots, groups or entire collections rather than single pieces.

Helpful details include:

• Hallmarks
• Sizes of bracelets or rings
• Weights

DO NOT SEND UNSOLICITED PHOTOS - the email will go to SPAM and we will not see it.

B. If your collection sounds interesting, we will ask for one or two group photos and your asking price. If you send more than a few photos, your e-mail could go to spam. When establishing your asking price, refer to the article above and remember, we purchase at wholesale, not retail prices.
What is a group photo? It is simply laying 20-30 items, for example, out on a table and taking one photo showing the entire group.

Attach the group photos to the email rather than inserting them into the email. Make sure each photo has a different name. If you send 4 photos that have the same name (such as image.jpg) Paula will only be able to see one of them. Please do not send each photo in a separate e-mail - that could also send your e-mails to spam.

C. When you send requested photos and your asking price, repeat the subject line in you email:

SELLING JEWELRY - Your Full Name

D. If the items look like something that would be of interest to us and are within our budget, follow this procedure:

1. The seller ships to us at their expense via US Post Office:
   
   - the collection, carefully wrapped and insured
   - a list of the contents enclosed, signed and dated stating "I am the owner of this collection and I have the legal authority to sell it."
   
   "I am often asked the best way to send items to us. We suggest Priority Mail with insurance and signature confirmation." Paula
   
   Ship to:
        Horsekeeping LLC
        PO Box 140
        Livermore CO 80536
   
   Do not send any jewelry without contacting us first – read this article.
   
   
2. Upon arrival, we closely inspect each item, research the documentation or hallmarks, and assign a value to each piece.
   
   
3. We make an offer on the collection.
   
   
4. If the offer is accepted, we pay promptly via PayPal or check, your choice.
   
   Note that if you choose payment by PayPal, depending upon the type of PayPal account you have, PayPal might deduct a fee from your payment in order for you to receive the money.
   
   
5. If the offer would be rejected, we would ship the lot back to the seller, insured and at the seller’s expense.

Because of the above detailed process and the fact that we offer fair prices, in all the years we have been doing this, we have come to an agreement with all but one seller ­ we have only had to return one collection. As they say: a win-win situation.

Customer Comments

"Received the second payment and the transaction is done and the necklace is yours. Thank you again for your help, honesty and fairness in working with me." - Deb

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