Where to find valuable antiques where owners are unaware of the value?

Places that are selling items left behind in storage rooms. The seller is usually just wanting the items out of there so he can rent the storage area.

 

Yes, but most storage places only contain junk that the owner just wanted out of sight and had no room for....
pig in a poke !!

 

LOL!

 

I found buying things out of their natural habitat is good. Modern art at antique and general auctions is usually a steal. A £500 limited Banksy for £40. Bulk buys too.

In essence though, nobody is trying to not know what they have so you seem to be doing the best you can. Bargains are EVERYWHERE but not EVERYONE has the knowledge to see them so that the best thing you can find for free, knowledge.

 

Church sales are always a good hunting ground for some things too. Unless someone like one of us is around to price stuff, bargains will slip through. You do have to get there early and line up however, since the real steals tend to fly out the door in the first hour.

 

Hi,
The church I joined in the 1970s had a sale every year. Before I joined i got so many bargains there. The year I joined they had 4 Tiffany single shades for sale for 250 dollars each. One elderly lady sold them for 25 cents each. I almost had a stroke. One lady used to be one of the first people in the door. She would fill five or six bags of stuff and then set there for hours and drink coffee. About 12 noon I asked her if she want to check out, she said "No not until 3PM when everything goes to half price." The church would be lucky to make 200 dollars for the day. They thought it was wonderful. The next year I was elected to run the sale. That year they made 3 thousand dollars. Just a few changes you paid for articles BEFORE you went to the refreshment area. The elderly ladies all helped pack the stuff and talked to the visitors. Everyone had a wonderful time and all the missing expensive items where accounted for. There were a lot of wonderful items that sold for pennies to bring bargain hunters in. I did not know a lot about jewelry but all of it sold for a couple of dollars instead of 10 and 25 cents.
greg

 

Buy low, sell high has always been the mantra of retailers. I get a lot of stuff for free or for peanuts because people are getting rid of it. I don't mind making a profit. I don't think I could knowingly rip off someone who was selling because they desperately needed money. I often get a box lot of stuff with good things that I don't want. I sell them cheap to get rid of them because I know I can make my profit on the one or two good items in the lot.