Fenton Art Glass

The Fenton Art Glass Comapny has been providing us with stunning pieces of art glass for many many years. This guide has been written to guide eBay buyers to make excellent decisions when making a purchase.

*Some of the basic questions buyers need to ask are discussed herin. You should get answers to these questions from a seller if the answers to the questions are not in the description.

Lets us start with some basics

1)  Dimensions of a piece. The size of the piece can effect the price greatly. Often Fenton makes like items in different sizes. This is especially true of Fenton animals. They come in a large variety of sizes.Larger pieces command a higher price. Example of this are the Fenton Stylized cats. Those came in several sizes. The larger ones are worth more. 

2) The color of the glass. Lets face it. Some colors are in much more higher demand than others and carry a premium price tag to go with them. Some items made in Carnival Glass, Rosaline or Burmese glass are highly sought after but are expensive. Always comparison shop these items. TIP: It may be a good idea to make an offer on an item during the last few hours of bidding if no one has placed a bid on the item. Sellers may bite if the offer is reasonable! Saving you some money on the cost of the item.

3) Limited editions. Fenton often produces many limited edition items, secrete sale items that do not appear in their catalogs and are only sold in the "back room" at the shows they have. Other items like Platinum Series items, Golden Treasures items are always increasing in value. So it is a good idea to grab them when you spot them! Again, the price should be good!

4) How to spot a good price. Well that is just a matter of opinion on what a good price is. However, lets break it down a bit to help you make a good decision. A good price starts with knowing what Fenton sold the item for to begin with, this applies to newly created items last 5 years or so.For older items I would turn to glass collecting price guides.

a: Original Selling Price: Often Fenton pieces go up in value and level off for a time only to go up once again as time goes on. For recently made pieces of glass from Fenton it may be wise to get some of their older catalogs to see what the actual selling price of a piece was when it was issued. This is a formidable bargaining tool ! A good sale price is one that is at or just below the original retail. A fantastic sale price is one that is at least 1/3rd  to 1/2 off the original retail sale price!

b: Seconds. I am of the opinion that people should avoid buying seconds, that is just an opinion. Fenton often marks seconds with an "X" on the bottom. Seconds are pieces that didn't turn out quite right. The color is bad, irridization is poor, doesn't stand right, number of different reasons why Fenton labeled them seconds. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS ASK IF AN ITEM IS SECONDS! Seconds sell for far less because of the defects in them during the manufacturing process. If you are not statisfied with the answer you get. Do Not Buy It! Keep in mind this question. Why did Fenton, the maker, mark it seconds? Why does Fenton sell them for less? Answer! THEY ARE FAR LESS VALUABLE!

c: Age & Condition! Age & Condition is very important when considering the price you are looking at from a seller. This is where a glass collectors price guide and history book can be very very useful. I urge you to buy one at your local bookstore. Price guides are called guides for a reason! They are "guides" to what a piece is worth. The prices in them are not carved in stone. If a seller is asking full value for an item. It better be in mint condition free of chips, cracks, scratches or the like. Defects like those can severly effect the value of a piece. Buyers always need to ask to re-affirm what is meant in the sellers description. If your answer from the seller is vague, incomplete or answers you with another question. Ask again, or avoid buying the piece.

 EXAMPLES: Sellers describes the condition as: " Item is in perfect pristine condition free of any chips cracks or the like." You should be asking the seller this question. Does it have any scratches on the surface? Scratches do effect the value of some pieces like a cake plate.  Sellers describes the item "It has a small flea bite on the lip of the creamer." You should ask the seller what they consider a "flea bite" (size wise). On a creamer, this is devestating to the value whereas on a figural piece like a cat, it may not effect value very much at all depending on where it is. I cannot emphasise enough YOUR RIGHT TO ASK QUESTIONS! Great sellers will give detailed responses.

5:Fenton QVC Pieces: Often we see on eBay items from QVC's Fenton shows. Some are highly sought after, some are not. The prices on QVC shows are often very good to start with. However, on eBay they should be much better because Fenton makes thousands of them! Although many of them are made for QVC "only" pieces they still make thousands of them so they are not really so limited edition items. People selling these items should reflect on why they are here selling it to begin with. Either they purchased the items on closeout or are selling their personal collection. You should expect better than QVC pricing on these items to start with. But if it is a rarer item that is highly sought after, expect a bidding war. TIP: Jump in at the last few hours of bidding and keep a close watch on the item till auctions end. Decide ahead of time of how high you want to go so you do not end up spending more than what you are willing to pay for it. Sometimes you just have to let it go sometime a few more dollars than what you initially planned to spend bidding will win it for you!  

6: In the Box New with Papers: Some items from Fenton come with papers such as Certifcates, care instructions etc. Although not terribly important to have. It may give you a clue as to how the piece was cared for by the person selling it. It is always nice to have these papers, but it doesn't effect the value of the piece you are considering very much at all. Generally, collectors like to have the original box it came in with all the paper work for history sake.

7: Reproductions: This is a dicey area to discuss so I am going to stick my neck out anyhow. This is my opinion. Lets say for instance. Fenton produced an item back in the 1920's then again in the year 2000. Is the year 2000 piece a reproduction? I am of the opinion it is NOT a reproduction for a couple of reasons. I would rather use the word re-issue. When I discuss a reproduction item. It would only apply to items that are in the same color as the original was made in. Examples of a re-issued item would be: Fenton owns a mold that Frank Fenton developed. Origanlly the item was made in Ruby Carnival back in the 1920's. Today Fenton releases the same item from the same mold in lets say Vaseline Glass. Is it a repro? The answer would have to be NO! Unless the same color was made at some earlier time in history. If it is a new color for the piece, the piece is new, but not a reproduction. Reproductions are an attempt to reproduce an item exactly as it was made in the past. Re-issues are items from old molds in new colors that have never been produced before for that item. I would consider the item to be a new creation rather than a reproduction. So should you the reader.

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