Practical antique collecting means taking a step-by-step approach to acquiring antiques instead of buying randomly on impulse. The steps involved are similar whether you’re collecting antique furniture, silverware, or books, and if you follow a few basic guidelines it will make your antiquarian endeavors more affordable, profitable, stress-free, and fun. Here is a guide to some of the most practical principles to follow when collecting antiques.

1. Choose What to Collect

Start off by reading some collector’s guides and publications and talking to some experts to narrow down what you want to collect. This will help you research your market and plan your shopping. It will also keep you from spending too much before you have a sense of your niche.

Kovels’ Antiques & Collectibles Price Guide 2011: America’s Most Authoritative Antiques Annual! (Kovels’ Antiques and Collectibles Price Guide)

What kind of things can you collect? If you look around your house, any of the items you use every day for furniture, cooking, eating, decoration, and recreation has a collectible antique counterpart. Here are some broad categories of antique collectibles:

• Furniture
• Pottery, Enamels, Carved Wood, and Wicker Antiques
• Porcelain, Glassware, and Silver
• Brass, Bronze, Pewter, Iron, and Steel
• Jade, Ivory, Quartz, and Semi-Precious Stones
• Jewelry and Accessories
• Clothing, Fur, and Footwear
• Beadwork, Fabrics, Embroidery, Lace, Tapestries, Rugs, and Carpets
• Clocks, Watches, Music Boxes, Instruments, and Players
• Paintings, Sculptures, and Books
• Dolls, Toys, and Puzzles
• Automobiles, Machinery, Gadgets, and Equipment
• Miniatures

Each of these categories can be narrowed down by variables such as geography, time period, materials, and manufacturers. For instance, you might choose to focus on 18th-century American furniture.

When you first start collecting, pick a niche that’s broad enough to hold your interest, but narrow enough to stay within your price range. As you learn more about your niche, you can refine your collecting to focus on specific items.

2. Research How to Store and Maintain Your Antiques

How will you store and maintain the antiques you collect? Many types of antiques require specific storage and maintenance methods to preserve their condition and value. For instance, light and humidity can damage books, so antique books must be stored under special conditions. Each type of antique will have its own proper storage and maintenance procedures, which may include cleaning procedures for certain antiques. Knowing these in advance will help you plan where to store your collection, as well as give you an idea how much you’ll need to spend on any special storage or cleaning materials.

3. Decide Where to Store Your Collection

Knowing how to store your antiques will help you decide where to store your collection. Storage conditions like light, heat, humidity, and dust are one consideration.

Space is another. Large antiques like furniture naturally require sufficient space. Even smaller collectibles like silverware can take up significant room after you acquire enough of them, especially when the size of storage containers is added in.

You’ll also probably want to choose a space which is accessible enough for you to enjoy viewing your collection. Some people spend a lot on antiques only to pack them away in a storage space where they never get to enjoy them. Planning ahead can help you select a spot which lets you enjoy viewing your antiques and showing them off to others.

Finally, since your antiques will be valuable, you might also want to review the security of the spot you select, and install any appropriate security precautions.

4. Learn How Your Items in Your Antique Category Are Classified

When you plan how to store your antiques, it will help you organize them if you learn about how antiques in your collectible category are classified. This will also help you with learning how the prices of antiques in your niche are determined, enabling you to make more informed buying and selling decisions.

Each antique category has its own classification method. Generally speaking, these are based on considerations such as:

• Geographic origin
• Time period
• Style
• Materials
• Manufacturer, artist, or publisher

5. Understand How Your Antique Category Is Graded

When it comes to the price of buying and selling antiques, one of the vital things you need to know is how antiques in your category are graded. Antiques and collectibles in most categories are graded on a scale that ranges from poor at the bottom to mint at the top. Each category has its own grading specifics. In general, these are determined by examining each major part of the item against a checklist of potential defects, such as:

• Discoloration from light exposure
• Deterioration from moisture or rust
• Physical damage like scratches, tears, cracks, chips, or missing parts
• Loosening of binding materials or strain near binding materials
• Visible evidence of repairs
• Condition of original packaging, where applicable

Knowing what to look for will help you know how to evaluate the condition of an antique, which will help you determine its price.

6. Learn How Your Antique Category Is Priced

Prices of antiques and collectibles drop in a progressive sequence as you descend down the scale from mint to lower grades. You can find the current market value for a particular item of interest in mint condition and other conditions by consulting a current price guide, asking a dealer, or checking what items are selling for in classified ads.

When you use price guides, realize that the prices you see are based on what collectors are paying to dealers. Dealers themselves pay considerably less when purchasing items. Dealers function as wholesalers and must turn a profit while still covering their overhead expenses, so they cannot afford to buy at market price and then sell at the same price. Dealers typically pay one third of market price or less. However, they tend to pay closer to market value for higher-priced items, where they can still see a high profit margin even if they pay more.

7. Set a Budget

With some sense of current market values, you can set a budget. As a beginning antique collector, it’s a good idea to start with a small budget and buy lower-priced items until you get a feel for the art of buying and selling antiques, and a better idea what niches most interest you. Then as your expertise grows you can increase your budget.

8. Find Where to Shop for Your Antiques

Armed with knowledge of what you’re looking for and what you can expect to pay, you can start shopping for your antiques. Places to shop include:

• Online and real-time auctions
• Classified ads in antiquarian and collector publications
• Antique stores
• Antique shows and collector shows
• Garage sales
• Estate sales
• Flea markets

When shopping at antique stores and shows, be prepared to pay in cash.

9. Know How to Negotiate

To spend less and make more when buying and selling antiques, it is essential to know how to negotiate. Here are a few fundamental tips:

• Plan your purchases to avoid impulse buying. However do be prepared when you spot a genuine bargain, and leave room for this in your budget.
• When buying at auction, decide on your maximum bid ahead of time, and start low. If you’re following an online auction, keep a close eye on bids coming in before the deadline.
• When shopping through ads, stores, shows, and sales, try offering a lower price instead of taking the listed price at face value.
• When buying at shows, you stand a better chance of getting a deal if you wait until near the end of the show, after demand has dropped and dealers are seeking to dump unsold merchandise before going home.

10. Know How to Sell Your Collection

Just as there are some strategies that help with buying antiques, there are also some things you do to get a better price when selling your collection. Here are a couple tips:

• You stand a better chance of getting market value if you go directly to other collectors through auctions, ads, and shows instead of selling to dealers. However, this does take more work than letting a professional dealer handle it. It comes down to a judgment call as to whether the extra money you’ll make selling it yourself is worth the additional time. You may find it expedient to sell your most valuable items yourself and let dealers handle other items.
• When selling to dealers, you will get a better price if you either offer your most collectible items separately from other items, or offer them as an incentive to get a slightly higher price on a bundle of lower-priced items.

You should know how to sell your collection even if you aren’t planning to sell it. An emergency may come up where you need money, or your loved ones may need to dispose of your collection as part of your estate. If you take care of your antiques, chances are they’ll be along longer than you!

Worthy Resources

American Antiquarian Society
Antiques & Collectibles National Association
Society of Antiquaries of London
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland
Antique Collectors’ Club
Antique Collecting Magazine
Prices4Antiques
GoAntiques

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