Released on: November 11, 2007, 1:08 am

Press Release Author: Marks4Antiques.com

Industry: Internet & Online

Press Release Summary: Quick and easy identification using Marks4Antiques.com can
help sellers correctly identify an antique, bringing higher prices and faster sales
to sellers.

Press Release Body: San Francisco, California - November 9, 2007 - Just imagine how
ecstatic Marla Stickland was when the tarnished and dusty little Huilier (Cruet Set)
she picked up for a mere $10 at a neighborhood garage sale, turned out to be an
important antique. She had no idea that such a dull looking item, when cleaned
revealed a maker\'s mark and a bunch of other symbols that once deciphered by
Marks4Antiques.com, turned into a sale of $850.

Not only were these marks totally nonsensical to her at the time, but they were
dispersed throughout the piece. They were interspersed at various parts of the
underside, and looked like initials with a flower, a woman\'s head, a bearded man\'s
face and other strange looking ciphers. The first thing Marla thought was to use
Google and search for all these symbols. But how do you even begin describing all
these little images using words and terms, most of which can only be communicated
using convoluted and long sentences? She was stuck.

After spending countless frustrating hours On-line, but driven by her intuition that
there must be a story in these silver marks, she stumbled upon Marks4Antiques.com.
She knew that her cruet set was made mostly of silver, so she thought \"if I could at
least identify the silver marks, I may have a starting point for more research...\".
She was right!

Marks4Antiques.com displays all antiques marks in shape categories. So, if a mark
looks like a ship, then all marks that look like a ship or a boat, are displayed on
one page. If a mark looks like a crown, all marks that look like a crown are listed
on one page. The same with animals, flowers, crests, letters and a number of other
shape categories. This pictorial method makes it easy to find antiques marks by
just looking at images and comparing them.

Well, lo and behold, there they were! All of her marks were listed in their shape
categories for silver marks and Marla was able to quickly determine that her $10
Huilier was actually made in France during the early 18th century and specifically
signed by one of the most sought after silversmiths of that era, Paul De Lamerie ca
1713 - 1732.

Furthermore, the other silver symbols were the .950 Sterling Silver mark for France
during that period and another mark was like a \"stamp of approval\" by the
Association of Silver & Gold Smiths of Paris, France. Marla sold this cleaned up
and now identified Huilier for $850. What a find!!

\"We get a lot of similar success stories from many of our members\" said Lisa Marion
of Marks4Antiques.com. \"Most of our members are online sellers, antiques dealers or
appraisers. We also have several reputable auction houses that constantly use our
databases of antiques marks, whether it is for ceramics marks or silver & jewelry
marks, because they know that identifying and describing items accurately, increases
their chance of attaining higher prices during a sale\".

Based on statistics of over 5,000 items sold on eBay and other online venues, it has
been determined that items listed with the correct attribution and identity, sold
for prices that were at least 60% higher and sold 4 times faster than items that
were only generically described. This is partly because most online users search
for items by name. In most cases, they know what they want and look for a specific
maker. For this reason, items that include their actual origin or maker in the
title or description, come up on these searches more prominently and consistently
fetch more money.

For example, a \"Flow Blue Plate\" may bring $20 - $60 on eBay, if lucky. Yet a
\"Minton Flow Blue Plate ca 1860s\" will probably sell for at least $50 - $100 and
perhaps more. It will also come up near the top during a search for a buyer that is
specifically looking for a Minton Flow Blue plate. \"I know it makes sense\" Lisa
Marion from Marks4Antiques.com continued, \"but you\'d be surprised how many times we
look on eBay and items that are clearly marked and easily identifiable, sell for a
mere fraction of what they are worth because the seller did not attribute the item
to a specific maker. This may be a great bargain for those that have the time to
look through every listing in a certain category, but it is certainly not fair to
the Sellers\".

Accredited media interested in discussing this topic in more detail are encouraged
to schedule an interview by sending their request to Contact@Marks4Antiques.com or
visit their Web site at Marks4Antique.com

About Marks4Antiques.com
Marks4Antiques.com was created to help Collectors and Dealers to research Antiques &
Collectibles. The successful launch of Marks4Ceramics.com in 2004 was quickly
followed by Marks4Silver.com in 2006 and then Values4Antiques.com this year. All
websites were designed for use online in order to accommodate the growing number of
mobile Antiques and Collectibles Dealers that roam the country to different Auctions
or Shows and those that sell or buy online (eBay etc). Subscribing to any of the
websites provides easy and fast pictorial methods of identifying and self-appraising
items. An active member can also contact the experts of each website for personal
assistance when a mark is not already in the database at no additional cost. To
facilitate an unbiased Antiques Research & Evaluation environment, no Trade (buying
or selling) of items is allowed through these sites as they are totally dedicated to
Research. All staff are avid Collectors, Appraisers and professional Dealers. The
company is owned and operated in the State of California, USA


Web Site: http://www.Marks4Antique.com

Contact Details: Lisa Marion
Marks4Antiques.com
Email - Contact@marks4antiques.com
San Francisco, California