"The biggest plus is McKittrick's considerable talent as a writer. Her sentences bring the people and the objects to life each week."--The Chronicle

Are you tired of trying to figure out how much your things are really worth?

Have you combed through countless flea markets? Waited in more estate sale lines than you care to admit and still end up clueless about how much your Civil War mementos are worth?

Overpriced shops, outdated price guides and pie-in-the-sky appraisals don't seem to be the answer? Is it even possible to come up with the value of your Chinese export porcelain?

If you're looking for simple, straightforward talk and actual prices you've come to the right place. The answer, I think, lies in auction sale results, and you'll find them here.

For the last 18 years I've been covering the live auction market for newspapers and magazines around the country. The power of buying and selling at auction is really very simple.

When the bidding stops and the hammer falls, the value of an item is set. The buyer, not the seller, sets the price. This simple distinction cuts through all the chitchat about what art, antiques and collectibles are really worth.

The bottom line--what is somebody willing to pay you? It's those hammer prices I want to see in evaluating my own things.

In the end, you may not end up batting a thousand, but, you'll come away with a solid sense of what things are worth in the marketplace.

That’s why LiveAuctionTalk spotlights treasures through the lens of the auction camera. The emphasis is on today’s values. Not yesterday’s wishful thinking.

Throw in a good story to boot and you've got LiveAuctionTalk. It's history told through objects.

Plus, nuts-and-bolts collecting information from 130 auction houses. Over 700 free articles available.

Can we really help you? Sign up for the Free Weekly Subscription and decide for yourself...