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We all have a perceived value of something we own. What we think it should be worth is not always
what somebody is willing to pay for it. No place is this more true than with arrowheads.
PLEASE NOTE:
If you own a reference book that is also a price guide for Native American artifacts, don't expect to find a lot of people
who are willing to pay the prices listed in the reference book. Many people have grand ideas that their arrowheads are worth
exactly what it says in the price guides. Some of these books offer inflated artifact values in an effort to sell more books,
and do not give realistic prices in the current market. For those of you who watch the traveling antique shows on television,
and they tell somebody that the chair they pulled down from their attic is worth a million dollars, don't believe it.
Perhaps they have sold similar pieces for the amounts they state, but in the real world, that wealthy collector who is willing
to pay a small fortune for what you are selling is a very rare occurrence. If you have a few hundred arrowheads and expect
me to tell you that they are worth tens of thousands of dollars, I'm afraid you are probably in for a big disappointment.
I look at the contents of the overall collection, and make a reasonable offer based on the current market value. Not on what
a book says they should be worth. In most collections, a very small percentage of the collection hold the majority of the
value. Please keep this in mind when asking for an appraisal.
Online auction sites have pretty much set the standard
for prices on many things. Before the Internet, dealers of artifacts would meet at local shows to buy and sell artifacts.
Sellers would ask a certain price, and buyers could either take it or leave it. Now you can put an artifact online where thousands
of people will have the opportunity to see and bid on it. But those thousands of people will also be able to see and bid on
many other artifacts, some better, some worse than the piece you have for sale. Consequently, what may have sold at an artifact
show for $500 will only get $250 on the Internet, because there are more nice arrowheads available, and competition drives
prices down. But you can still have a very unique artifact that is very uncommon, and worth a lot of money.
If
you want to sell your artifacts, and have an idea of how much you want for them, tell me your price. I will give you my honest
opinion of their value, and let you know what I feel they are worth to me based on the pictures you provide. I will never
offer you a low price for an item worth much more. I will tell you honestly what I feel an item is worth, and will even provide
you links for examples that have recently sold online. Because I will most likely be buying many items from you,
what I offer will be somewhat less that their current market value. If you have an artifact that is worth $500 on the open
market, and if that is the only artifact you are selling, I will probably offer you $400 for it. But if I will be buying
many artifacts from you, I will offer less. Remember that you can always sell them yourself on the Internet if
you have the know-how, and technical expertise. But selling online is a lot of work, it can be very expensive, and
if you don't know what you are doing, you either won't sell your artifacts, or you will let them go for too little.
I primarily buy artifacts for three reasons.
1. For my own personal collection.
2. I give presentations
at local schools about Native Americans and how they lived. I use my collection as visual aids for the children, and I always
give each child their very own arrowhead. Children are very receptive to learning about Native Americans, and are always thrilled
to take home a piece of history that was made thousands of years ago.
3. I donate many artifacts each year
to local schools, and museums.
Yes I do sell some on the Internet, especially if I have too many of one particular
variety, or want to clear out old inventory to make room for new things.
Condition is everything
Every Native American artifact is unique, even if they are the same variety and approximatly
the same age, some just look better than others. Over the last hundred years or so, many arrowhead varieties have been classified
based on age, and general location where they are found. A very common point worth only a few dollars, could be worth many
times more if it was crafted from an uncommon material such as a brightly colored jasper, or translucent agate. Appearance
and symmetry have as much to do with value as the variety and age. As with anything people buy, things
in a more appealing condition will bring a higher price. What may appear to you as a perfect arrowhead may have
flaws that are unappealing to a collector.
Pictured below is a group of four projectile points. Can you tell which
would be worth the most? They are actually all worth close to the same amount. The two in the middle, while in great
condition are very common pieces, and worth around $20 each. The piece on the far right is a little less common, and worth
around $30. The first piece on the left, even though it's missing the tip, is an uncommon variety, and worth around $35,
even in this less than perfect condition. 
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