Whether you’re a trophy hunter looking to catalogue your achievements or a collector aiming to keep detailed records, how you keep track of your collection is vital. Choosing the right tools and cataloguing strategies are essential to keep track, organise, and monitor your collection.
According to Oyster, an insurance platform for e-commerce, collection management tools help you manage your trophies or art pieces easier. They also make selling and trading art pieces much easier due to readily available information and easier tracking. Whether you’re collecting fine art, antiques, or other unique collectables, collection management tools provide a streamlined way to catalogue and organise your art.
Despite the availability of tools, however, understanding the process behind collection tracking is equally relevant. In this guide, we will explore various ways to keep track of your collection.
- Proving the Authenticity of A Collectable
- Dealing with the Cycle of Trends
- Updating Collectables' Insurance Policies
Common Challenges in Tracking Art and Rare Items
Monitoring art and rare items can be filled with challenges. Some of these may include keeping accurate documentation about the value of an art piece, maintaining authenticity documents or other records of sale, trying to remember where they are stored, and when or where you acquired it.
In this section, you will find a list of common issues collectors face when trying to track their growing collections.
Proving the Authenticity of A Collectable
Authentication is a significant factor in preserving the integrity of your collection, as stated by a professional appraisal and authentication service —DJR Authentication. It verifies the legitimacy of a piece holding historical, artistic, or monetary value.
Nevertheless, the growing prevalence of forgery in collectable marketplaces is evident, making authentication a critical concern. With that said, it is essential to document each piece, and keep all sale records, receipts, or auction documents on hand to verify the authenticity of the acquisition.
Dealing with the Cycle of Trends
Though some collectables such as classical art can be considered timeless, there are other types of art and collectables that depend on trends. Cyclic trends in collectables describe the recurring pattern of how items gain and eventually lose popularity.
For example, Antique Sage noted in 2020 that individuals born around 1990, now in their early 30s, are often drawn to collectables from their formative years, specifically the mid to late 1990s. Sometimes, even as late as the early 2000’s.
This trend is evident in the rising value of popular video games from that era, such as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, which have appreciated significantly over the past decade.
Cataloguing items with their release date and price is crucial if you wish to capitalise on trends or navigate market downturns. This approach helps you identify trends early, allowing you to invest in items before they peak in popularity.
Updating Collectables' Insurance Policies
Insurance coverage can also be affected changing trends, as appreciation and depreciation of value determine insurance coverage. According to Faster Capital, an accelerator firm, determining the right coverage and appraising a diverse collection can be challenging.
Therefore, it’s importatnt to regularly review and adjust insurance policies to ensure adequate protection, especially for items that may appreciate over time.
Utilising a tool is necessary to keep track of the evolving value of your collection. This includes detailed records with regular updates that help you make informed adjustments to your insurance, ensuring that your coverage protects against potential losses or damages to your collection.
How to Best Keep Track of Your Growing Collection
Cataloguing your collection is a daunting task as it grows exponentially. However, a catalogue streamlines your collection management and makes it easier to track your items' value, condition, and provenance. Here are some best practises on how you can track your collection.
1. Add Collection Details
Adding the primary details of your collection is essential to prevent issues like losses, misidentification, and disputes. Here are the following details to capture:
- Artist Name – The name of the creator or originator of a particular item
- Title – Label or name that identifies a specific piece in your collection
- Type – The medium or category of your collection (e.g., painting, sculpture, antiques)
- Art Style – The style or characteristics of your item (e.g., realism, minimalism, pop art, etc.)
- Purchase Date – The date when you bought or acquired the artwork
- Number of Item/s – Indicates how many pieces you acquired
2. Track Item Location
Now that you’ve catalogued the essential details of each piece, it is crucial to track their locations. As your collection grows, knowing the location of each item will prevent losses and mismanagement.
There are various tools that can help you pin the location of your collectables, whether they are in your home, an apartment, a self-storage unit, or even at another family member’s house. Most importantly, artworks or collectables that are borrowed by oganisations for exhibits or on lease for personal research, etc. should be monitored closely to avoid losses due to misplacement or mistagging.
3. Assess Each Item’s Condition
Start by identifying any signs of wear, tear, or damage. Document these observations alongside other details you've noted above. You can take photographs or make detailed notes as well.
You can also have your collection professionally graded by a third party evaluator or company for a more comprehensive evaluation. Travis Landry, an auctioneer and specialist at Bruneau, stated that grading collectables provides added security regarding the item's authenticity, making it easier to verify that the piece is genuine, unaltered, and free from hidden issues.
Grading can significantly impact the value of a collection, as a higher grade generally corresponds to a higher value.
4. Valuate Your Collectables
Research conducted by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, whose expertise focuses on heritage, described value as a term that can mean different things.
Each item's value is determined by how well it aligns with specific criteria. For example, an item possesses artistic value if it stands out due to its style, design, or connection to a significant artist or art movement. The overall significance of an item or collection is a combination of various values, ranging from historical and artistic to emotional and social relevance.
Given the complexity involved in valuating an item or collection, it is essential to use methods that accurately determine its true worth. Below are some common approaches to assessing the value of your collectables:
Market Research
Scan through recent sales of similar items in auction houses, online marketplaces, and speciality dealers to understand current prices. Pay attention to trends, including how specific types, styles or attributes have fluctuated in value. Consider factors influencing value, such as market demand, rarity, condition, and historical significance.
Consultation with Experts
For rare or high-value items, seek the expertise of appraisers or specialists in the relevant field. These professionals can provide a detailed and informed valuation based on their extensive knowledge and experience, as stated by social publishing platform Medium.
In addition, the Harvard Business Review discovered that consulting with experts is five times more likely to lead to decisions with successful outcomes.
5. Capture a Clear Image of the Item
Taking a photo of your collectables creates a visual record for documentation. Ensure to include close-ups of important details, such as unique features, markings, or any signs of wear.
These details are crucial for assessing the item’s condition and provide valuable evidence for insurance, appraisal, and future reference.
6. Upload Documents
Convert your documents into digital formats by scanning and uploading receipts, certificates of authenticity, or provenance records. Storing a copy online provides easy access to documents as it is available on your phone or other devices.
It also provides a backup as it protects you from the risk of losing, damaging, or misplacing the original physical copies.
You can securely store files by uploading these documents to Google Drive or another cloud storage service.
Alternatively, you can use a collection inventory app to keep all your collectable information and documents organised in one place. This way, you can benefit from both secure storage and a specialised system designed for managing your collection.
7. Record Contact Details
Record the names, phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses of individuals associated with your collection, including your appraisers, dealers, insurance representatives, family, and friends.
Keeping these contact details on hand ensures you can easily reach out for future inquiries, updates, or support related to your collection.
8. Organise Items Into Collections
Organise your collection by grouping similar items based on their type, purpose, or theme. This creates an organised system that simplifies accessing and managing your items collectively. Below is a list of categories you can use to organise your collection.
- Theme - Group items based on common subjects or motifs, such as nature, history, or fantasy
- Type - Classify items according to their broad category, such as art, books, antiques or toys.
- Period - Group items by their historical or cultural period, such as Victorian, 20th century, or ancient
- Condition - Group items according to their state of preservation, such as mint, good, or damaged
- Value - Organise items based on their estimated market value or rarity, such as high-value, mid-range, or low-value
- Artist/Creator - Categorise items by their creator or manufacturer, such as specific artists, designers, or brands
9. Update Your Records Regularly
Make it a habit to review and update your records at a set schedule. Ensure that details are accurate and reflective of any changes in your collection, such as new acquisitions, shifts in price, or alterations in condition.
You can even set email reminders or phone alerts to prompt you in updating information about your collection. Remember, this is crucial to maintain their insurance coverage. If the value of an item appreciates or its condition changes, keeping your records updated will help you adjust your insurance policy accordingly. This minimises the risk of being underinsured or overpaying for coverage.
10. Backup Your Data
Creating copies of your data is relevant to secure a backup in case of unexpected events such as cyberattacks, accidental deletion, or natural disasters.
A security report by IBM reveals that data breaches cost UK businesses an average of £3.4 million. For collectors handling valuable items such as antiques, art, or other high-value pieces, a data breach could result in the loss of critical records, including provenance.
Therefore, securing a backup in the hard drive, a secured collection inventory app, or other safe locations is essential to prevent data loss.
Collection management involves a wide range of responsibilities, from cataloguing collectables to managing them. Utilising a collection inventory app is essential for streamlining these tasks, allowing you to track, organise, and manage your valuable items.
Catalogue Your Art and Other Valuables
Keeping track of your trophy hunting activities involves maintaining detailed records of each hunt, including the title, location, purchase date, price, and other relevant details. Ensure that all information are regularly updated regularly to avoid mismanagement.
Beyond recording, organising collectables is crucial for tracking as it allows you to access and manage items easily.
Utilising a personal collection management app or software simplifies this process by offering a streamlined approach to managing and overseeing your trophies.
Collection Management: Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is there an app to track my art collection?
Yes, there are several collection tracker apps available that allow you to track and manage your art collection. These apps typically offer features like cataloguing your artwork, storing images and documents, tracking the location of each of your collectable, centralising information about their net worth, and generating reports.
2. How do I catalogue my personal art collection?
Start by recording detailed information about every artwork in your collection. This should cover all pertinent details, such as the title of the piece, the artist's name, the medium used, the date of creation, dimensions, and acquisition history. Including photographs of each artwork will also aid in tracking and identification, as attested by as attested by Art Business News.
3. How should I organise my art collection?
According to Art Business News, you can organise your collection by categorising artworks by themes, mediums, artists, or periods. Organising collectables may be simplified by using a collection inventory app which allows you to consolidate and sort your items into categories.
Using MyAssets to Keep Track of Your Collection
Learning how to organise and keep track of your collection can be challenging yet very rewarding. With the right tools and strategies, you can simplify the process and improve collection management.
MyAssets provides a user-friendly software for cataloguing your collection, from tracking titles and artist names to purchase date, valuation, and location
Organise your collection with MyAssets by categorising items into themes, mediums, or other criteria for easy data retrieval.
Interested? Visit MyAssets and sign up for a 14 day free trial to learn more on how MyAssets can help you organise, monitor, and cataglogue your collection.
