Pottery prices

I have been looking at prices for West and East German pottery on various sites. THe pricing seems totally arbitrary as to what is considered more valuable. Anyone have any thoughts about this?

as with all modern ceramics the price will fluctuate wildly,the supply and demand at any given time dictates the value of each piece

Dan is absolutely correct. However, whilst not being in a position to speak for other dealers I am happy to explain my pricing methods to you if it's helpful?

My prices are based on a) factory b) designer (if known) c) glaze type & colours d) shape/form and lastly e) size. Condition rarely comes into it because I generally speaking don't sell damaged items.

So if we start with factory - I have a sliding scale I refer to ordered according to which factory the item comes from - with Scheurich at the bottom (cheapest mass produced items) going all the way up to the factories producing the more individual craftsmen made pieces like, for example, Otto Keramik.

If a particularly iconic, sought after designer is involved in the design/making of the piece then again that would likely increase the price.

Next I look at the glaze colours and type - with the brighter and more unusual colours like orange, red, blue and purple at the top and the less exciting more everyday colours like brown, beige, green at the bottom. If the glaze is particularly thick, crusty and crazy then again that would attract a premium.

Shape/form - obviously a more intricate, unusual and striking shape will fetch a premium over the less intricate simpler shapes.

Size - fairly obvious with the larger floorvases commanding higher prices over smaller pieces.

Lastly, by scrutinising the markets regularly one gets a feel for attainable and realistic prices.

All of these factors combined help me to reach what I consider to be fairly accurate pricing. Although I'm sure I've under and overpriced in the past - without having a proven failsafe industry bible to refer to this is to be expected.

One should also remember that higher prices can be reached for the same items in different markets - for example, German sellers sell for much less because of the proliferation of vases there and because the buying public have not (until recently) been particularly enamoured of these pots. Much fewer W & E GP production was exported to America (for example) and so obviously in that market higher prices can be attained.

Lastly, I can of course refer to my sold inventory for prices achieved in the past.

It takes quite a bit of effort and research to price items up for sale if one isn't going to simply copy what other people are doing. I'm happy to take the time and effort to take all these factors into consideration. Perhaps not everyone is inclined to do this or they have their own (different to mine) checklists to refer to. Some will also undoubtedly take the pricing offered in the Miller's guides as gospel when we all know they need to be taken with a sack of salt.

It's still a fairly new and emerging market so there will be some disparity between dealers.

Does that help clarify things for you?

Great Pip, I loved that and I'm not a dealer.

xx

you're welcome!

Thanks for sharing your insights on the current market and pricing.

I think the prices on various web sites around the world are arbitrary mainly because different folks have different opinions of worth /value, etc. I agree with most of what pip said ,however some American sites for example , are asking way way over the top prices for goods that are available on the likes of Ebay , at much lower prices , so Ebay itself is a pretty good indicator of prices as it has a vast audience and prices are reflected pretty much by this,using the usa as an example again, w/g pots might not be as much in abundance there as europe , but the internet is a leveller and the same pots are available to all , rareity and condition are what command the top prices , remember as well otto and scheurich and some others are still producing so a good knowledge when buying is essential , I was buying Roth vases for under a tenner before the fat lava thing happened , not anymore .........