Featured How is the antiques market these days?

I remember that first Estate Sale where I was told to take a number-35 yrs ago ? Before then it'd just been for rock concerts and such.

 

I stopped being an antique purist around the time pottery market collapsed. I did very well with 1930s-1950s American made pottery, then moved into studio pottery which does well if you have the right maker. Picking was good for studio pottery for awhile... Now I mostly sell "vintage" which is really retired 1970s-2010ish new designs from upscale makers in Christmas and Dollhouse category. Occasional, I sell genuine antiques (that I think I can resell) and when I can find them. I had a primitives lot about year ago and they sold well. My Asian stuff doesn't fly off the shelves, but it sells. Sterling sits, probably because I refuse to sell it for scrap. If it comes to that I will scrap it myself. There is hope for the pottery though! My 28 yr old daughter loves the bright pottery of the Bauer and Fiesta era and has reclaimed my collection. She proudly displays it in her place. My 30 year daughter, really likes earthy studio pottery and 1970s furniture.

 

I find that we have less garage sales here than we ever had in the past. There are estate sales to go to, but unfortunately in some areas, there is NO parking at all, so where can one park? I have to cross that off my list.

There are other estate sales with parking but I guess I am getting older and waiting an hour or more to get in is not as joyful as it used to be. Many of the regulars around here (the buyers) are simply gone. I used to know so many on the line but now almost none.

And some estate sales have jacked up their prices so much, there is no way to make a profit at all. A friend of mine went to a sale and they wanted $50 for a vintage box of Christmas Ornies. I used to pay about $5 for a box. She left empty handed.

I agree that many are buying mostly to decorate. I don't think they care if it is old or not. It suits their motif.

I honestly can say, I don't know what is hot item to sell. I know cookbooks still sell but mostly in the fall and at holiday time. Other vintage kitchenware also still sells. I think that is because today's kitchen ware is generally cwap to buy new.

As Etsy has gotten crazier by the day, I am not going to sales as I was because I don't want to bring more merch into my place. And then have to deal with the lunatics on etsy.

 

I went to an estate sale on Friday morning, because a) I had to be in good shape tonight and b) there were zero tag sales listed anyway. There were two finally up this morning, but neither would have dragged me out of bed. The estate sale was well out of my normal range, but it's so dead locally off I went. Got there over an hour early and still didn't get #1, because a lot of others were also out looking. One guy came from further away than I did for the same reason.

It's been dry as a bone here. The on-line estate auctions pitch anything interesting and just sell the nicest pieces, generally. Meanwhile I'm betting a lot of really good money lands in the landfill.

 

The selection and prices of vintage items seem pretty good on Etsy, although I’ve noticed that many sellers don’t want to bargain at all.

It seems that there is more room to negotiate on eBay. Is that correct?

The antique dealers I’ve seen in the Los Angeles area haven’t realized that the pottery market is not what it used to be. It seems that they put the price tags on in the 1980s and left them there…I have been trying to buy more vintage pottery, especially garden pottery, because the big retailers sell so much stuff from China. I’d rather buy what was created here, but the dealers aren’t negotiating.

 

I've had Ebay & Etsy sellers offer 20 & 30% discounts sometimes.It depends on how old the listing is & the quantity of the sellers merch.I frequently find items online (auctions & reg listings) cheaper than local shops,and of course the quality selection in most thrift & charity shops has become minuscule.

 

In germany, many antique dealers closed over the last couple years. An awful lot of things sat for years in the shops, especially pottery, furniture, figurines,...the amount of antiques collectors seem to decline, too. The demand for very rare and high quality antiques still seems to be unbroken, though. The remaining collectors seem to rally around these pieces more than ever.

 

As many here have said-'The Best of the Best will always be in demand'.Now how you afford 'The Best...' is up to you and your trust fund.
The 'Best' has always been expensive,whether in 1960 or 2023 dollars-except there were more sleepers 50 years ago.

 

I‘ve been in Bamberg lately and there are some very fine antique stores. One renowned store hasn’t anything below 1000€ I think, with the most expensive things (Roentgen, Faberge….) for 100.000‘s and more. This segment seems to be crisis-proof compared to the average antique store.

 

We don't have any antique stores here anymore. All closed up years ago.

 

Seems the best stuff is making it to on-line or auction sales these days. My recent foray into antique stores resulted in me buying nothing. There was very little good merchandise and, what little there was, was overpriced. My interests are pretty narrow when shopping retail but I know enough about all categories to see the offerings were sub-par.

 

I didn't even walk into the local Ill Will today. Too low of a chance of finding anything good. They send anything worth buying to online auction and leave the crumbs for the locals. Could have grabbed some stuff at the pawn shop, but the odds were too low of getting my money back out. Antique stores here are either closing or closed, except for one or two that are good generalists who carry higher end items and are run by people who also do Brimfield etc.

One place I used to go has "all jewelry 50% off"...except that she wants to close down and isn't buying new stock, and a lot of it was double where it should have been to begin with. Everything I'd want is already gone or still full price.

THis is why I still go to rummage sales and estate sales. The odds are better.

 

a nearby antique store is closing cuz the owner is ill.
been there for well over 40 years....at least.
Everything must go....

You guys would luv it !!!

I went back today for a large costume cross festooned with white and red diamond cut crystals....... but it was gone.

still picked up an antique / vintage double switchblade pocket knife & nail file.....and an ivory thingamajig with rude little sharp blades in it....
I'll post on the finds thread and my blade thread..

 

Seems like most of the really unique items have migrated to online venues.

 

There are still shops (at least in Germany) that have beautiful and unique items. The problem is, they often have no idea about todays market value and aren’t familiar with eb*y or et*y. The last time I saw very nice pieces, they were ridiculously overpriced. I liked a piece for about 1000€, which I found highly overpriced. So I intensively searched ebay for a similar (slightly inferior in quality and condition) piece and scored it for only 100€ including shipping costs. I don’t have a problem to pay a bit over market value, if it’s a great shop and a nice owner. Of course they have to take more than online-only shops or private sellers. They have bills to pay and families. But the 1000€ piece would probably sell for less than 300€. And I‘m not willing to pay that much of a premium. Many items were probably bought years / decades ago in a different market. As a seller, you have to keep that in mind. Or your things will sit.

 

They have gotten particularly bad and have raised prices to boot. Thrift stores are my main stomping ground so still stop in somewhat regularly but, have to admit, I skip it way more than I used to. It is on one of my regular routes and I just drive right by sometimes.

My best find this year did come from the Goodwill. It was a Weller Hudson vase that slipped through. I am also finding some small bits of sterling of late. The staff at both local Goodwills has been in turmoil with people quitting and the inability to hire. I assume this is why the sterling is getting out right now. Otherwise, haven't seen any there in several years. As bad as it is on most days, the small finds on odd days keep me coming back.

 

All the local Goodwills have become large 'Superstores',generally well staffed.The smaller remote GW's used to miss a lot of good items,some smaller towns may still have these 'mom & pop' GW's.

 

There's a big GoodWill not far from here. Went there once and spent $0.00. Total waste of my time. The local one never has a full parking lot, although they used to be hoppin' when they actually sold stuff worth buying locally. I do far better in a small charity shop in what's literally the worst part of the city next door. It's a soup kitchen smack on the railroad tracks with homeless and druggies etc in the area. I try not to get change back when I go there.

 

I have booths in 3 malls, all three having vintage, upcycled and crafts as well as specialty food items (maple syrup, maple syrup popcorn and maple snack mix YUM!) All 3 do very well and I do well on my booths there. There are others that I'm told do well but don't offer the things I want in a mall. The one that is furthest from home is 85 miles away but I do better there by far than either of the others. My best friend and I have so much fun building our displays and sharing our finds. A couple of times a year we go about 2 hours away to a mall in an enormous old power company building, all cinder blocks, adjacent to the railroad and a river, 3 huge floors full of "stuff". She and her husband and I, and sometimes their adult son go in my big van and spend the day shopping. By the time we go to dinner the van is chock full. There have been times there have been items riding on laps on the way home! We always plan our trip for the first day of "Customer Appreciation Week" the first full week of every month. Everything not marked "firm" is 20% off. Unbelievable fun, tremendous buys. I usually spend $400-$600. They spend more than I do but Jim buys sports memorabilia and vintage toys. I think I'm getting too old for it though. I'm wiped out for a day or 2 after a trip like that.
Linda