Make Money with Antiques and Collectibles

Make Money with Antiques and Collectibles

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Many people make money with Antiques and collectibles. Look around your house, your parents house, your grandparents house. Is the furniture valuable to any one besides them? Would you be able to tell if it was?

Many City streets and other places are littered with furniture put out to await the garbage truck-some of it is comfortable and good looking. Is it worth money too?

Making money with antiques does not mean buying anything that looks old because it doesn't mean that it is valuable or is even an antique. It does mean the act of carefully examining, recognizing, choosing pieces in good condition, authentically at least 50 to 100 years old, and of a style currently (or potentially) favored by other collector investors.

Making money with antiques is facing prices rising dramatically in the past few decades: since the supply is obviously limited to what already exists, increasing demand from new people investing in furniture and related items (paper-weights, vases, quilts and many others) has made prices leap all over. An old oak table that might have gone for $35 in an obscure refinishing shop less than 10 years would bring $150 or more.

Pick a period to concentrate on, one in which prices have not already skyrocketed, as they have, for example, in French furniture of Louis XIV, XV and XVI. Though French antique furniture is considered the best in quality and appreciation, only the museums and J. Paul Getty 'yesterday' and Bill Gates 'nowadays' could afford to buy any pieces. American furniture, especially of the Federal period(1830-1850) is considered by some a likely candidate for above average gains, as is the somewhat more expensive Chippendale (about 1755-1790).

The art of making money with antiques involves identifying what sells. English furniture is more expensive than American-made furniture, even of the same styles, because the European market prefers it, and therefore more customers are bidding up the prices. Remember, however, that not everything that's old is valuable enough to make money for you.Don't let some friendly antique store owner talk you into buying that mahogany, ornately-carved huge commode--there's plenty of Victorian furniture like this around, but it's not considered artistic, beautiful or truly antique, and its resale market is therefore quite poor. And after all, you may want to sit on your couch from time to time, but to make money, resale considerations must come first!

Auctions are fun--and profitable! Making money in Auctions is still the best place to find antiques at reasonable prices. Some auctions are advertised in local newspapers.

Many stores, small and large, hold their own auctions, which the store-owners will be delighted to give you details about. Since these stores often cluster in neighborhoods or on single streets. Find out the locations near you, walk around the furniture, ask about prices and styles, and then get a few books devoted to the period you think might be the most profitable to begin collecting within. If you want to learn how to make money in an auction itself, go early for the preview.

Examine pieces that you're interested in before the bidding begins. Open drawers, look under table tops for cracks, check the sturdiness of chairs...there are no returns, refunds or exchanges at auctions. Make the right decisions first!

Caution !!

Beware the overpopular find of yesterday! Too many people chasing too few things does cause prices to rise--but it also brings in a lot of junk from people's attics. For example, a warehouse-store in Connecticut that had beautiful unwanted furnishings in 1970 for low prices had become a high-priced stable worthless bric-a-brac by 1977. You could make money with antiques by selling any that you possess to stores like these, but be cautious in whay you buy from them!

Make Money with Antiques and Collectibles

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