Reston-based WorthPoint Corp. is setting out to reach antique collectors near and far with a Web site that catalogs every antique item ever manufactured.
“It’s so hard to find information on what stuff is and how much it’s worth and how to get it into an auction house,” said Will Seippel, founder and chief executive officer of WorthPoint Corporation. The Web site went live in July, and a new version appeared in November.
More than 250 domestic auction houses have listed their databases so far, and the company hopes to expand internationally, with a potential deal in China under consideration. Seippel’s goal is to have at least 2,000 to 3,000 houses in the database in a year. Right now, the database has about 2 million items and is growing by about 500,000 each month.
In the next two years, Seippel wants to connect the financial and antique worlds by creating indices of antique categories that would allow people to count their wealth in an antique as part of their overall portfolios. “Why should that be worth less than shares in a corporation?” he asked. Seippel estimates the antiques and fine arts industry is worth more than $50 billion. In total, about $3 million has been committed for the company, and there is a possibility of an additional $10 million from an interested investor. The site also has a social networking aspect with communities people can join, where they can post pictures and videos of their items. Some auction houses are starting to list future items that they will sell, and by the end of the year, individuals will be able to post items they would like to sell. WorthPoint won’t make any money off of the transactions, Seippel said.
Currently, the site is free, but in the near future, full access will cost $30 per year. The site will sustain itself from advertisements, which will start to appear around February. The Web traffic is increasing, and the unique visitor count will be around 10,000 in December, Seippel said.
Visitors can, for a fee, ask a “Worthologist” expert to appraise their items. For $2.95, a customer can receive general information about the worth of an item or collection, and for $14.95, a more detailed profile with the history, origins, time frame and other information.
WorthPoint “adds more of a hub experience for the antique community” said Pat Young, marketing director with Fontaine’s Auction Gallery in Pittsfield, Mass., which posts their items on the site. Young has seen other sites that offer some of the features, but nothing that has all of the components WorthPoint offers.
