A split screen, on the left a photograph of a bearded man in glasses wearing a baseball cap and on the right a graphic saying'The Keys Guild' Charles Tinsley, ISA Collectibles Advisor Coach & Instructor
Episode 193 – What is a collectible with Guest Charles Tinsley

Episode 393 – How a Clutter-Free Home Strengthens Relationships – A Valentine’s special
Episode 392 – The clutter advice I'd give my 30-year-old self
Have you ever wondered if you have anything in your home that could be valuable? Or have you been collecting something your whole life and because of the sentiment attached you think it might be worth a lot of money? In today’s podcast we are talking to Charles Tinsley of The Keys Guild about collectibles.
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Transcript of this podcast episode
[00:00:00] Ingrid: Have you ever wondered if you have anything in your home that could be valuable? Or have you been collecting something your whole life and because of the sentiment attached to it, you think it might be worth a lot of money? In today's podcast, we are talking to Charles Tinsley of the Keys Guild about collectibles.

[00:00:20] Now today I am very excited to chat to Charles Tinsley from The Keys Guild, and we'll talk about what that is later. But for now, welcome Charles and thank you for being here. 

[00:00:31] Charles: Oh, it's my pleasure. I'm excited about the opportunity to, to talk to you and I guess our cousins across the sea. 

[00:00:37] Ingrid: Yes. Well, we've had a, a lovely chat before we started, uh, recording this podcast, having with Charles, and I've just been so excited that Lesley found you and because we were doing some research ourselves about collect couples, because we did a podcast about collections and Les then came across you and went, ah, We need to talk to Charles.

[00:00:57] He sounds interesting. We need to invite him on the podcast, so I'm delighted that you're here. 

[00:01:02] Charles: Oh, like I said, my pleasure. Uh, I hope I am interesting. I'll certainly try. 

[00:01:07] Ingrid: Well, Charles, so much to talk about. Let's start at the beginning. What is a collectible? 

[00:01:15] Charles: Well, that's a big question. It's a great question.

[00:01:17] You know, uh, all of the things that we, you know, in the classic sense, uh, conversationally would be the, you know, the art and coins, stamps, vintage jewelry, musical instruments, those, those are pretty classic. In a professional sense for me as a collectibles advisor or professional, I generally have to open that up to anything that someone has acquired and held onto for whatever reason they've decided to.

[00:01:45] So for me, collectibles or simply anything that someone owns or possesses and has had for quite some time, so, so we have to approach it in that regard. 

[00:01:54] Ingrid: I find it fascinating because I agree. The first thing, when I think about collectibles, I do think about paintings and, and, and a, a, a secret Van Gogh painting that's in somebody's loft, or like a classic car or a Stradivari violin.

[00:02:10] But the world collectible covers a lot of ground, doesn't it? It's always a little bit in the eye of the beholder as well, isn't it? 

[00:02:19] Charles: Absolutely. Uh, I, I've, I'm always looking for those exact items you just mentioned. I, I haven't found 'em yet, but, but, uh, but still that we, we have to deal with the things that real people have and.

[00:02:33] Real lives, and that's not those things. So, mm-hmm. So it's, uh, but still very interesting. 

[00:02:38] Ingrid: Yeah. I, I think also probably things like watches and silverware. I mean, we're, we're going to do a deep dive into lots of things today, uh, because I'm very, very fascinated and the more I started preparing this podcast, the more questions that, so I'll sent you a whole list of questions, didn't I?

[00:02:54] So let's get through. So first, let, let talk about toys a little bit because I did see on your website the key skills I. Toys mentioned as well, and I know there are people with a whole cupboard full of Barbie dolls, or my mom kept my Lego from the seventies. I'm thinking maybe about a train set that somebody built when they were young and they held onto it.

[00:03:20] Beanie babies. Are these things considered collectibles as well? 

[00:03:25] Charles: They are, and you, we have to remember that collectors, which are the ones that are establishing the values for any collectible, um, they constantly evolve and change as, as we do. So as you see the millennials, and we'll talk about the millennials all the time, they have a, just a constant effect.

[00:03:44] They're at that age now, uh, 26 to 41 years old that they're making better income, and most generations in this age range begin investing their money in collectibles. And they generally collect the things from their childhood. So those toys that you would, you would mention 'em to be well, where those, the toys.

[00:04:04] That the millennials were playing with, uh, not Barbies and, uh, not some Legos. Yeah. More advanced, you know, prepackaged Legos. But, so it's the items of the, the, that generation's childhood. That would be the toys that we would have to look at. 

[00:04:18] Ingrid: Hmm. So is that then things like. Early electronics and like the early Nintendos and things like that and the game game consoles.

[00:04:27] And is that considered now collectible? I mean in when we were I've thrown it all away, Charles. Is that a mistake? 

[00:04:35] Charles: Oh, well make, maybe not. We'll say no for sure. This to make you feel better. The, uh, there was a, uh, a Pokemon card sold, uh, this last year in, uh, Large major auction house for $365,000 and very close to that was a Nintendo 64, uh, super Mario Brothers game.

[00:04:57] The cartridge itself sold for over one and half million. Wow. Now, uh, that, that gives you an idea of, of where that's going. Of course, it makes everybody terrified about the Pokemon cards that they tossed. Uh, but today's baseball trading card, uh, is actually more of a Pokemon card or things similar to that.

[00:05:17] Ingrid: Right? Interesting. So is a collectible always valuable? 

[00:05:23] Charles: Well, no. No. And this is something we've been experiencing. I speak with obviously a lot more knowledge of the US market, but yeah, collectibles for quite some time have been on the decline. If it's a common collectible, a lot of it in the market, um, it's, it's going to be struggling.

[00:05:41] It's got a lot of competition. There's a lot of. Places to buy collectibles online. Mm-hmm. So, uh, so that's not good news and it's not going to change where there's just been a complete change in the way people look at stuff in general. Mm-hmm. However, if you have something that is truly rare, That's different because it's rare to find something rare these days, and the true rarities in collectibles are worth more today than they've ever been because it's so hard to find something.

[00:06:11] Ingrid: Right. Right. Okay, this is another question I prepared, but how do you know it's rare? 

[00:06:19] Charles: Well, usually the value will, will be a good indication if you, if you do a little research on some of the common tools that we can look up things and you're trying to figure, well, why is mine or why is this one worth more than all the rest?

[00:06:33] Well, the first thing is usually. That's the, the number one, um, value point. You can, uh, look into, uh, experts, auction houses, uh, collectors and dealers. They'll help you identify things that are rare. But with the internet today, we have access to. All the knowledge we need to be able to, to really have a good idea of what we have and, and what it's worth.

[00:07:00] Ingrid: Yeah. Yeah. So, Charles, how come, how come that you know so much about collectibles? Tell me a little bit about your background story. How did you end up being where you are now? 

[00:07:12] Charles: Well, many years ago, uh, my expertise and specialty is diamonds, gemstones, jewelry. Watches, uh, Sterling and I had, uh, large offices in, um, in Texas up in, in my area.

[00:07:26] Um, but as I helped my clients with these specialties of mine, I, I constantly had clients saying, well, look, that's wonderful. Thanks for helping with those. I've got this painting or I've got this collection of things. Can you help me there? So I began to seek out experts, uh, in all the areas that I had client needs.

[00:07:46] Uh, uh, one thing I figured out very early on, I, I could not become an expert on everything, so I kind of became somewhat of a expert on experts so that I could help people. And that just changed everything for me because, Everyone has something or some things they need help with. And, and, uh, that, that really opened up a, you know, a, a huge need and opportunity for me to help people with all things.

[00:08:08] Mm-hmm. 

[00:08:09] Ingrid: And you have had a lot of training and accreditation and things, haven't you? 

[00:08:15] Charles: I, I have, I've always tried to give as much knowledge as I can. I, I have, uh, appraiser credentials. I have I s a, uh, appraisal credentials, international Society of Appraisers. I have usap, uh, credentials, which are the uniform standards for.

[00:08:31] Appraisal practice that's for government rules. I don't actually do appraisals for people. I needed access to that knowledge and community and resources. The only actual appraisals I do are for, uh, our government, for the F B I and, uh, our d e A. When they seize things from the bad guys, they, they need someone to authenticate it and value it.

[00:08:53] So I enjoy doing that, but, uh, but I don't actually offer it as a service. I just, uh, I just use the knowledge. Right, 

[00:09:01] Ingrid: right, right. So you, you kind of went from silver and, and, and diamonds and jewelry and that kind of thing, and you thought, There is so much more out there. And your clients, you kind of came into your clients for that kind of job, but then they started asking you all these other questions, realizing the field was so big, and then you kind of thought, okay, I need to make sure that I get good contacts and I can give my clients the good, like go to this guy for this or this lady for that, or, and you kind of became a bit of a, a, a guy who knew everybody.

[00:09:32] Charles: Well, absolutely. Like I said, becoming an expert on experts was the smartest thing I ever did. Trying not to, to be the guy that knows it all. No one knows it all. Yeah. And, uh, I think my clients and the people I help, uh, appreciate the fact that I'm really clear on the limitations of my own knowledge. So, bringing in, uh, we, we love Antiques Roadshow experts.

[00:09:52] I work with a number of Antiques Roadshow experts, so you can imagine how thrilled my client is when we have a, you know, someone from the show actually comment on their item. Yeah. 

[00:10:02] Ingrid: Yeah. So, and of course amazing to hear that you, you work for the F B I, the D I D E A, that that, I find that fascinating. But I think maybe Charles, I've watched a bit too many crime shows, but I'm like, Ooh, this sounds very interesting.

[00:10:14] But do you do that on Zoom or do you actually have to go to like the F B I offices to have a look at these items? 

[00:10:20] Charles: Well, we go into their offices because. There's no, uh, there's no mistaking gang jewelry here with the, the, the jewelry we encounter are huge, uh, uh, medallions and chains and diamonds that just scream.

[00:10:37] I'm a drug dealer, so, so it's, it's rather unusual stuff you would never see anywhere, anywhere else. And a lot of very high-end watches, of course, they, they enjoy their watches. 

[00:10:46] Ingrid: Of course, of course. Interesting. So, That kind of, you've, you've accumulated all this knowledge and then you set up the keys Guild.

[00:10:54] We're going to talk about that a little bit later, but let me go back then a step. So you said the collectibles have changed. So can I then, uh, ask you, are collectibles different now that they were in the past? Because, I mean, my parents were not collecting baseball cards or Pokemon cards, but they were collecting.

[00:11:15] Lateral figurines and my mom had a couple of Swarovski crystal things and she loves her Crystal. That was her thing. But it's changed, hasn't it? Those things are not interesting anymore for people. 

[00:11:29] Charles: Well, there's just too much of it, as we see a lot of people saying, look, I realize now it's clear my kids don't want it.

[00:11:36] Yeah. Um, and we're hearing a lot about less is more, uh, you know, less space, tiny homes, all these things. So more people are being thoughtful about that and considering living in a right size type. Well, when that happens, you have to get rid of things. You can't take it all with you. Our markets now are flooded with the Aros and the China and the crystal and all these classic things that, that we, that these generations have had for so long, and they did tend to have a lot of the same stuff that maybe attribute to advertising.

[00:12:09] I'm not sure, but, but there is a ton of the same material, all of this old ornate darkwood furniture. The older style art, the old master style, with that very overnight frames, any of these things, if it looks antique, it has a real problem. And so, so the values are going to continue to decline. Uh, they're going to be continued resistance and the entities that serve that industry, in, in our case, the estate sell companies, the, the resale shops, even the donation spots are getting picky.

[00:12:41] They just can't take in the massive material. 

[00:12:44] Ingrid: Okay, so basically what was once a collectible and everybody loved it and everybody started buying it, there's now so much of it, and the people who own these types of things are all either downsizing or going into care or passing away, and now the market is being flooded with these items and actually the value has gone down.

[00:13:07] Charles: Well, absolutely. And one more thing that is, is fueling this for us, is that our real estate market is super strong. Mm-hmm. So, so, so many people are taking advantage of the high value of their home, selling their homes, and they're not allowing the stuff to slow 'em down. In other words, Waiting till they can figure out how to get top dollar for their items is a mistake.

[00:13:30] Houses are selling in days now. Mm-hmm. So they, they can't wait to do an estate sale, so they just financially have to make the decision, this stuff's got to go. Even if I donated to give it away, it has to go because I got to get rid of this house. And so that's added to it as well. 

[00:13:45] Ingrid: Yeah. Yeah. People who do have, 'cause that kind of a bit of a tangent, but I was just thinking if you do have a lot of collectibles in your house, whatever that may be, and if it is valuable, I'm sure that has an impact on insurance as well.

[00:14:00] Because if you've got big collections of stuff, you probably have to make sure that you have an extra insurance on your house because if it's, especially if it's, it's very 

[00:14:09] Charles: valuable. It's a great question, and of course everyone has to, uh, make those decisions with their financial advisor and their insurance agents.

[00:14:17] The problem is that if you're going to, um, insure something, you have to appraise it. Yeah. And that gets extremely costly, and it's a mistake sometimes. Today when I, well, it's, I'll tell you, it happens to where I encounter clients who went ahead and got it appraised. They had this perception, it was high value.

[00:14:35] They, they did get it appraised. The value is not something that's realistic in the market, and so it just creates more problems for people if you truly have something that, uh, has a, a high value to it, uh, and, um, is important in any way it's worth considering. Appraising, generally speaking, I don't suggest appraising most items.

[00:14:56] It's a, it's a number that would only come into play in the case of a loss or possibly a, uh, trust type settlement. 

[00:15:04] Ingrid: Right. Right. Okay. Interesting. So have you seen a change then in the market over the years? I mean, you've been doing this for, I think 17, 18 years. Mm-hmm. Have you seen a change in the market over the time that you've been doing this?

[00:15:19] Charles: Well, uh, fortunately for me, I got, it was already heading the wrong direction when I got into the bigger range of collectibles. So, I work with so many experts that lament just sit around lamenting the good old days when all these things were wonderful, prized and valuable. Since it's always been bad for me, uh, I don't, I don't have that experience now.

[00:15:39] It has continued to get worse. Uh, so that's a change that we've watched continue to happen. Watching what the millennials are buying are things that we're beginning to see some, some change in values of the things from their youth. So yeah, there's this constant change. Uh, we are, we are also seeing things become obsolete that have been around for a long time.

[00:16:00] Formal dining in the, in the US uh, is, is almost obsolete. The people, matter of fact, a lot of the homes don't even have the formal dining room available. Yeah. So all things related to that furniture, crystal China sterling, it's just, it's just a dead. Collectible here. Uh, so that's an example of something that has really become dramatic, uh, in, in the collectibles market.

[00:16:25] Ingrid: That's interesting because I think I hadn't realized it that much, but I think Covid has had a big impact on that as well, because people had to kind of, Rearrange their houses because we suddenly, we were all, so many of us were working from home and, and indeed formally empty rooms or un underused rooms were being turned into desks and offices.

[00:16:46] But I think it's true. I think it's also, I. Just a sign of the times that we eat and socialize completely different now, and this indeed this formal dining of of, of having people over and having them sit at the table and with all the, the nice stuff out. It, it, it's, it's, it's, it's disappearing, isn't it?

[00:17:04] Charles: Well, it is a, a millennial would say, I'd much rather use the little red plastic cups, paper plates, spend no time preparing the good stuff or cleaning afterwards. They spend all that saved time. Interacting, building memories, uh, enjoying the, the relationships and the times. So, so yeah, it's, uh, you, you know that millennials take a lot of, lot of heat around here and, uh, but they, there must be a reason that they approach stuff like they do.

[00:17:31] It's a very world friendly view and, uh, so I think we must have needed, Uh, to rethink stuff and hanging onto everything we ever bought for our entire life is probably not a very good idea. Yeah. So, 

[00:17:46] Ingrid: yeah, it, I think the way they feel about items has a, has an incredible effect on, on the value of collectibles, doesn't it?

[00:17:54] Charles: Well, it does. And you mentioned space in people's homes. I, I'd have to tell you that. This may be unique to the, to the us but there's so much wasted space. And one of the things that we have learned through, uh, some different studies that we've encountered is that the average, uh, American family or couple uses about 40% of the space in their home.

[00:18:15] The rest becomes more just climate. Controlled storage. And the problem is, is it's the things that people have in their home, in their rooms that are ab actually blocking or prohibiting the use of the room, such as the formal dining is a great example. Maybe a gym, you know, putting a bunch of gym equipment in a room.

[00:18:34] Sounds great for, for a month, but then for the rest of your life, you never go in that room. You're being blocked by the items that are in there. So, so rethinking what's in rooms that you're not using now, uh, is very important for people to do and reconsider how other items in there could make that room much more enjoyable and usable.

[00:18:56] Ingrid: Brilliant. Well, let's take a quick break and let's talk some more after the break.

[00:19:01] Hi everyone. Welcome back. We are continuing our chats to Charles Tinsley from the Keys Guild about collectibles and we were talking about space before the break and how the space is really changing in people's homes and how important it is not to just use your house as a storage facility, but actually use it for living.

[00:19:21] But Charles, now people are, people all over the world are listening and they're like, okay, I need to declutter some of this stuff. If people think they have a collectible, What do they do? Where do they go? Do they, do they go to an auction house or do they call an appraiser? Do they go to eBay? What, what?

[00:19:41] What's the first step? They've got something in their house to think this might be worth something. What do you do? 

[00:19:47] Charles: Well, don't call an appraiser. I don't want you to spend money, uh, upfront doing this. An auction house might be a good thing, but you may run into the limitations of the auction house. They may not work with everything.

[00:19:58] Yeah. If you have a collectible that you think may have some value In today's world, we have so much knowledge and uh, information available on the internet, and I would say eBay is one of the best tools people can use. Now as a an ex auction owner, we used to kind of frown on eBay as the every man's auction, but.

[00:20:18] eBay has more statistics historically speaking on every collectible there is than any other single source. It's available free to to anyone. So if you have that yaro of pensive clown and you, and you're curious, well, I've got that thing. What's it worth? If you do a search on eBay, it'll come up and you'll see a lot of information about what people are asking.

[00:20:41] And uh, honestly, what people are asking is not realistic. But the good news is, is on eBay on any item you search on the left side of their, their screen, you can scroll down and find. Completed listings. And if you click that, it refreshes the screen. And now these are all past auctions, very recent. And you have three things that you'll see.

[00:21:03] You'll see a, a lot of things that didn't sell. The numbers are in black. You'll see items that were sold on a buy it. Now those are usually stores. That's not exactly the comps that, that the average person would find, but you'll find auction results. And in all auction results, there'll be multiple bids on it.

[00:21:22] You'll start seeing a real consistency in what a pensive clown yaro is really selling for today. And so anyone can become somewhat ex expert if they start getting comfortable using these completed. Listing resources on eBay. Mm-hmm. And I'd be shocked if you have something in your home that's not on eBay.

[00:21:42] Okay. So that's a great tool. There's others, I'll just mention like Live Auctioneers, uh, which represents auction houses, uh, internationally, large and small. And they have the ability for you to check on com, uh, historic sales, and that gives you an idea of what a community might get for your items. So it's.

[00:22:02] Piece of information, but, uh, very easy to use. And these are free to to anyone. 

[00:22:07] Ingrid: Okay. And if I have a whole collection of, uh, yaro uh, ornaments, is it better than to just sell 'em off one by one or is it interesting to also look at someone who's offering like a whole kind of bulk of them, like 35, that have been collected over 30 years because you got one on your birthday for Christmas?

[00:22:29] Is it advisable to have a look at that? 

[00:22:32] Charles: It always has to do with what your goal is. One of the things that is a big factor when it comes to you individually selling your items is time. Yeah. So obviously if you could sell 'em all at once and take a, uh, a reduction in the, in the overall value, then you've saved a ton of time and, and hard.

[00:22:49] You could sell 'em one piece at a time, uh, on eBay, which would probably get you the most money. But you have to pack it, you have to photograph it, you have to deal with people sitting. So, so it can be frustrating, but you would just pick your path. I was on an episode of Hoarders, which is a big show here in the us uh, and the client had, uh, hoarded department 56 Christmas ceramic Village pieces.

[00:23:15] Thousands and thousands. Uh, the, there was no doubt that selling them individually would give them the greatest return. No one would ever be able to get these all sold individually, and yet putting 'em all out in the market at the exact same time would flood the market with this item. So there's just so many different aspects to it, but time is valuable and I always encourage people, don't kill yourself.

[00:23:40] Trying to squeeze every penny out of something. Pick the path to get you a fair return in the least amount of time. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I, I'd like to say one more thing about that, if you don't mind. Yeah. Yeah. If you're a family member that is responsible now for someone else's item, something that's been passed down, uh, that is a huge load.

[00:23:58] It's a huge responsibility, and I have a message to my clients and people all the time. We have this sense that we, that someone's looking down on us, judging every decision we make, and we just work ourselves to death. Uh, trying to, to figure out how to get top dollar for all these items. And I think it's important to remember, even in that scenario, pick the most reasonable path to get a fair return.

[00:24:23] Put a lot of value in the fact that someone else will enjoy it as it becomes part of someone else's journey. And just know that our families, that would be. Don't you waste a minute of mo of emotion or good living or life trying to squeeze everything outta that, it means nothing to me now. So it's just really important because I see so many people weighed down with this burden of needing to, to accomplish something they simply can't, uh, on when it comes to stuff, and they shouldn't.

[00:24:51] Ingrid: Yeah. Uh, you couldn't have said a true word, Charles. That's absolutely true, and we see that all the time. We talk about it a lot in the Declutter Hub. We hear it from working with clients, with, from our members and our membership. So thank you for for saying that because I think it is such an important message that people need to hear because they do feel that if things get passed down to the generations, they feel a huge responsibility to.

[00:25:16] Keeping that stuff because it belong to somebody else, even if it's far too big for their house or far too old or falling apart, or they don't even have the sentiment attached to it, but they feel responsible for the item. And it's, I think if you can. Think about that in a, in a sensible way. And in, if you can go, you know what, this, this item does not serve me in my life.

[00:25:40] That doesn't mean that I have to throw it away if it, if it, you know, but let's not wait for the perfect moment and all, all stars and all planets aligning for me to let it go and get the most money out of it. Because you also have to constantly think, do I want the space or do I want the stuff? 

[00:25:58] Charles: Oh, absolutely.

[00:25:59] And you know, it's a big deal. It's one of the biggest things that we, we all have to deal with in collectibles is, is that emotional attachment and the misperception of value and, uh, and struggling with, uh, well what do you do if you can't get the value that you think it might be worth it? It's a big challenge.

[00:26:16] Ingrid: Hmm. And I think you've also, um, when we were speaking before, you mentioned something that I found quite interesting is that, A lot of this collectibles and stuff really hold people up from moving on. Don't, don't they? Because they get bogged down with the stuff. 

[00:26:32] Charles: Well, they, they just absolutely do, you know, um, again, I don't under, I don't know what drives people in different parts of the world to have this attachment to things.

[00:26:41] Uh, in our country, there's an awful lot of information that would indicate that our depression, that we had, uh, many, many years ago. Changed the way people looked at, if they ever got hold of something again, they would never let it go and they would cherish it. And families, up until very recent generations, uh, would fight over the stuff that would be passed down.

[00:27:01] It would, if it was a family that had trouble, it would just split 'em up. Uh, and then you have today it's the off. It'd say, you're not going to make me take that. Uh, it's, it's opposite. So, so I just don't know if we finally, this, this. You know that that depression effect is just not there anymore. And, and, uh, so, uh, but you know, I have some of it, the people in my generation, I'm 61, uh, and my parents' generation and grandparents' generation, there is this unusual, unnatural attachment to the stuff.

[00:27:37] That just makes it terribly hard to get rid of it. It's probably more of a psychological thing than I, than I could ever explain or, or 

[00:27:43] Ingrid: understand. Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely true. I think for us it was probably the war, the, the, the second World war, uh, parents who had to, you know, grandparents who had to work so hard to rebuild, make, do and mend that had nothing.

[00:27:55] So everything that had needed to be fixed and treasured and, and, and, and made into something else because there was still a couple of good parts of a jacket left. You can make something else from it. So I think you really, really see that. And it's, it's different now because things are much cheaper. But on the other hand, I think what you see now is a whole movement to more sustainability and the environment.

[00:28:16] And it fluctuates, doesn't it? I think throughout, throughout the century just, and different generations have different things they find important. 

[00:28:27] Charles: Well, absolutely. That this generation out now is teaching us. We have one live. Uh, spend your time enjoying it. Spend your time making memories, enjoying the process of making memories.

[00:28:39] And, uh, don't look back and regret, you know, the, you know, the more stuff that you buy and keep and hang on to the bigger house. You have to have the, the, uh, more just a constant cycle of money and working and. Keeping it and fretting about it, cleaning it. So I, I just, uh, I just am all about getting people comfortably separated from their stuff.

[00:29:03] And, uh, I can tell you I have, uh, elderly clients all the time that once we. Get them moved on to that next stage. And they, they fretted so much and worried about this thing and that, and then I would ask them, uh, how, how are you feeling about that experience? What, what about that thing? They'll be like, what thing?

[00:29:19] Oh, oh, oh, right. That's right. I was worried about that thing, wasn't I, uh, it is so natural to be, uh, uh, to remove that load, to lighten our load that, uh, it, it just makes sense. Mm-hmm. 

[00:29:30] Ingrid: Now you've seen your, the demand for your. Expertise grow over the years, haven't you? So what did you decide? You decided to set up the Keys Guild, didn't you?

[00:29:42] So can you tell us a little bit more about that? 

[00:29:45] Charles: Well, I'll tell you that. Um, first of all, I realized that what the way I was handling collectibles once I, I had an auction house. Once I shut it down and went private and began to advocate for my clients to where I no longer had a horse in the race, I, I, uh, did not represent any single solution, which meant every solution was available to my client.

[00:30:04] And, uh, that's unique. And so coming at collectibles as an advocate for our clients, uh, was so unique. I couldn't find anyone else doing it. Uh, I decided that I needed to get more people access to, to these types of, of, uh, I call it collectibles advisor. Mm-hmm. And we're, we are creating, uh, a new industry specialty.

[00:30:26] I. Called collectibles advising and to approach it from that perspective of, of not representing a solution, uh, not, uh, being encumbered by relationships with this auction house or this estate sale company, but whatever's in the best interest of the client. I created the Keys Guild. So that I can have a source for people to join and, and, and become collectibles advisors, have access to the course material where I teach them about all the different areas and that they need to know and give them access to experts that want to work with Keys Guild members and want access to the treasures they're finding.

[00:31:02] Uh, and then just this mastermind type community. So is my way of getting collectibles advisors. In all markets so that all people have access to that type of representation. 

[00:31:12] Ingrid: Wow. Now, I'm sure, I mean, as a professional organiser, I'm thinking we are in people's homes and people ask us all the time like, wow, do you think you know, what is this worth?

[00:31:23] Is this a collectible? Should I declutter it? And that normally comes when you work longer term with clients and not just. You know, trying to tidy up their clothes or their, um, unless they've got a lot of vintage items, that's different. Right. But if you do that kitchen cupboard, like the Tupperware, you know, that's the start of normally a declutter.

[00:31:41] But once you start to work with clients longer, then you come to the more harder items like the collectibles. So I'm sure that in, in the US because that's where you are currently. There must be loads of professional organisers and I know a lot of you are listening as well. So thank you for being here.

[00:31:56] So maybe if you're in the US and you think to yourself, this sounds really fascinating, I would love to be a collectibles advisor. Definitely go and check out the key guilds, um, that Charles has set up because it may be something that you can offer your clients as a service because you are an independent person.

[00:32:12] And I think that's what a lot of the people that we work with really love is that we are. Not, we are independent to everybody and we are just there for your benefit and wellbeing. So, um, if you are a professional organiser, interested, check it out. I will put Charles's details in the show notes, his website, Facebook, Instagram and everything.

[00:32:31] Or if you think to yourself, I want to know a bit more about these collectibles, I'm going to follow Charles on Instagram. You can, I'll put it in the show notes. So Charles. One final question then for you, over all the years that you've been doing this, what is the most interesting or most valuable item that you have found or seen yourself?

[00:32:54] Charles: It's two different answers. The most valuable thing I ever, uh, worked with and, and encountered was a diamond for, fortunately, that's my expertise, thank goodness. But it was a nine carat diamond that had been gifted to a, uh, a nonprofit. They didn't know what to do with it. Nobody could get it sold because it was just, Too valuable.

[00:33:12] But, uh, we sold it for 465,000. So as a thing, that was simply the largest single item that I've, I've sold so far. Mm-hmm. I would say the most interesting thing was, um, a shrunken head. I had a, I came across a client that had in come across a shrunken head, and that was terribly challenging. Uh, most large auction houses won't sell.

[00:33:33] Human parts, uh, especially heads, understandably so. Uh, working in the oddities world of collectibles and the unique personalities that would spend a lot of money on a shrunken head was fascinating. Gory, but fascinating. So I've seen wonderful things, uh, and I, and I, I just always, uh, am hungry to see something.

[00:33:54] I haven't seen before and I really enjoy those, those strange things. But I would say that that shrunken head is, uh, certainly I can send you a picture of it. It's great. 

[00:34:03] Ingrid: You know what, I think that's one of the reasons why I love my job so much as well. I mean, over the years, of course, it's the people that you work with that are amazing, but I.

[00:34:11] We have the privilege of coming into people's homes and, and, and, and working with them. And I think it's so special. And I found some interesting things as well, including a gold bar in a laundry basket. I mean, I wanted to move a, I wanted to move a laundry basket, and I thought, why is this so heavy enough?

[00:34:30] Found this tiny little brisket or brick of gold in the.

[00:34:39] Charles: I'd have to echo on what you've just said, and I say it all the time. Uh, the most fascinating to that point thing that I encounter constantly are the people themselves. Whenever you interact with people and then have the honor of seeing their, the things that they've acquired that, that, that, that are personal to them, that their pictures and their history, you have this wonderful story and you realize people are fascinated, uh, as they older.

[00:35:04] It's hard to see. How interesting and how fascinating their lives were. But, but collectibles can give you a little view into the person. And so, uh, people are, are wonderfully fascinating. 

[00:35:16] Ingrid: Yeah. Well, thank you so much Charles, for being on this podcast. Listeners, if you have any questions, uh, put them, you know, put in a, an, uh, comment under, uh, under this podcast on our website, declutter.com.

[00:35:29] Find this episode, put a comment in. Um, Follow Charles on the on his socials. We'd love to know what you think about this podcast, and we hope it was helpful to kind of get your own head around the items that you have in your home and what are you going to do with them long term. Are you actually enjoying them now or are they a burden for you?

[00:35:49] And do you need to actually start thinking about, do I need to maybe, Sell a few of these items. Am I realistic with about what the current value is? Or, or, or am I over inflating the price in my head because it's so special and important to me? Well, maybe it's something that you then better keep if it's really that important to you.

[00:36:08] But if the collection is very large and it's holding you from moving on in your life, downsizing, upsizing. Going to another country, it doesn't matter what it is, then it's time to, to, to have a, a good look at, at, at, at what you have and what you could possibly do with it. So thank you Charles. I really appreciate your time, your expertise, and um, thank you for being here.

[00:36:32] Charles: Well, listen, thanks for having me. It's been a real honor, and, and I'm, and I'm happy to answer any questions that any of your listeners may have about items that you're just curious about. I enjoy, uh, trying to build as many of those inquiries as I can, and like I said, it's just a real honor to get to speak to you and, uh, the people that followed you.

[00:36:48] So thank you. 

[00:36:49] Ingrid: Thank you so much. Now, listeners, next week, ha, this is a good one. We're talking about keeping things for best. It's like links. It's links, keeping things for best. Should you hold onto them or not, or should you just use them. Really nice conversation between me and Lesley. So thanks for being here this week and listening to this podcast.

[00:37:11] We appreciate you so much listening in week after week, and we'll see you soon.
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