Ornae is offering commission or first/best prices on items readers help us identify. Simply put, the first person who provides verifiable identification of an item in these pages will receive 20% commission on the sale price or may buy the item heavily discounted.

By verifiable, I mean at least one library reference by author, title, and page # in a published reference book, or two or more web links to authoritative sites. The books or sites have to provide enough information about the item, including pictures, descriptions, possible provenance, history, current sales, etc, to reasonably identify it, and provide leads to further research.

The simplest way to provide the information is to simply put it in a comment on the item’s page here. If you’d like to correspond privately about one of these items, you should first leave a hint in the comment tool, then immediately use the Contact link to send us email.

If your information allows us to reasonably identify and value an item, you have right of first refusal to buy the item for 65% of the average of recent sales of like items at estate auctions and public sales. Or you may simply collect your commission via PayPal, once the item is auctioned and paid for.

Since we sell as ornae on Amazon and tarrintoo on eBay and Half, it’s fairly easy to keep track of any commissions you might be owed.

Why do we think this will work? Auctions reflect the marketplace best when there are enough knowledgeable bidders. The best way to bring knowledgeable bidders to any particular auction is by accurate description. While often a lucky collector or dealer will find the “nice old vintage green plate”, a listing like “Imperial Glass’ Twisted Optic, Green Luncheon plate, manufactured 1927-1930”, will bring more interested and knowledgeable bidders.

For the dealer or collector, this is an opportunity to profit from their unique knowledge with little effort or risk. At Ornae we actually love to do this kind of research, but realize that it isn’t very cost-effective. Better to let an expert answer the question in two minutes, than spend a morning trying to generate the right search phrase.