Does anyone have any tips and tricks for looking for and buying antiques, including furniture?
Go to auctions, not antique shops. Get there in time for the preview, when you can inspect the goods up close. Take notes on which items interest you, and, after you’ve sat through at least one full auction at that particular house and have a feel for the price range different types of items go for, make some mental limits on how much you’re willing to pay. It’s easy to get carried away in a bidding war if you haven’t set a per-item budget. Plan to stay until the end, when everybody is tired, the crowd has thinned, and items are going for a song. And if your first foray yields an auction house where the average starting bid is $500+, keep looking. There’s bound to be a mid-range and a low-range auction house in the area, as well. Also: Yard sales in wealthy suburbs or small cities, in the spring. Morbid as it is, old people tend to hang on through winter then die at first thaw. Rich families will usually take the best of the haul and yard sale the rest.
Forgot to add my personal golden rule – “an antique is only worth what someone will pay for it.” I’ve seen tons of pieces get blown out of proportion because of fads or some weird appraisal system that has age trump everything else. (To be fair, sheer antiquity is what makes some pieces desirable.) Additionally, I’ve seen other pieces sit in shops for decades because there is no market. I buy my antiques strictly for enjoyment & that is what governs my purchases. I turn my back on a lot of stuff when I can’t get the price in my range. If you are a collector or looking to extensively furnish you place, rarity, practicality, and/or convenience will be a factor. If you’re planning to buy for investment/resale, you have a rather uncertain future ahead of you.
