Archive for Trading Antiques
Your own antiques Business, Organising Stock, Care and Repair
Posted by: | CommentsYour own antiques business part 4, Organising stock, care and repair.
Stock is at the center of any antiques business. I once knew an old dealer who said that cash in the bank was no use to him at all, having the right stock was far more important. Personally I wouldn’t go that far but you do need lots of stock to have an antiques business. Once you have purchased you need to prepare it for sale which involves:
i) Get it in a fit state to sell ( care and repair)
ii) Organise it so that you know what you have for sale and what you have sold.
To my mind this is one of the most tedious parts of being an antiques dealer but I have learnt the hard way that it is entirely necessary.
Care and Repair of Antiques
Antique Silver Locket with Patina
This may well become a whole series on its own, today I am just going to introduce the subject or care and repair of antiques you wish to re-sell.
Hopefully most of the items you buy for re-sale will be in excellent condition and at the most need a light clean. Nice clean stock will sell better than grubby pieces especially if you are selling on the Internet where dirt looks really bad in photos. Buying damaged goods for re-sale is probably best left for those who intend to go into the restoration business and sorry there is not much I can tell you about this but there are plenty of specialist courses which can help.
So I suggest that you clean but do not restore your antiques for resale. Cleaning means just removing excess dirt not necessarily making it as shiny as possible. You do not want to remove Patina which is often seen as desirable. For example a really black piece of vintage silver jewellery can be given a light clean but if you use silver dip it will look very bright and too new for many collectors. Some materials such as Bronze can actually be ruined by over cleaning.
Do take the time to learn how to clean your antiques properly, water can ruin some pieces but for other antiques such as glass it may be the ideal way to clean.
Learn what restoration and over cleaning of your chosen material looks like and try not to buy these pieces. A practiced eye can spot restoration on ceramics, jewellery, furniture and other antiques.
Once your antique is nice and clean you need to store it properly until you sell it. Damp cellars have ruined plenty of paper goods. Ceramics need not to be knocked or dropped ( I once let a Royal Worcester vase I had paid over £100 for roll out of the back of my van).
Organising Stock
Special care for valuable Ceramics
Over the years hundreds of antiques will pass through your hands. From my years as an eBay dealer I have almost 10,000 feedback and since not every purchaser leaves feedback this gives some idea of the numbers involved if you choose smaller items to sell.
The best way ( and one required by the Tax man I think) is to allocate a sequential number to each item. You could start each year with a letter if the numbers are going to get large. As most of my stock comes from auciton I allocate a number to each invoice and then a sequential number for each item within this. The item number is attaches to each piece of stock.
A word here about sticky labels, in general these are not a good thing to attach to your stock. Sticky labels often leave marks or pull the paint when they are removed. So called peel-able labels tend to peel themselves off and you loose your stock numbers. This also applies to sellotape which I have sometimes seen used to attach a price label. Better are labels with string tags which you can use to tie on. Jewellery and small collectables can go into grip lock bags and a sticky label attached to the bag.
I keep my stock in sequential order so that when piece is sold I can find it easily. Selling on the Internet only these day this works for me but if you sell from a venue where you need to display your antiques a different system will be required. Once you sell the piece remove the stock code label and stick it in your sales book or write down the number. Believe me you will never remember what you have sold after the end of a long day at a busy fair.
Whatever you are selling you will need to find a good way of organising your antiques, labelling them with a sequential number and making sure you can find your stock when you need it. How frustrating for you if a customer is wishing to purchase and item and you have to spend hours searching through boxes to find the piece. Worse still is not to find it at all. Been there, done that, learnt to become more organised!.
Your own antiques business – How to find stock
Posted by: | CommentsPart 3 of Your own antiques Business – How to find stock
This is one of the most important parts on my series on running your own Antiques Business. Finding the right antique stock (and paying the right price for it) is the most difficult skill to acquire when running your own antiques business. If you pay too much for your stock you will not be able to sell it at a profit. If you buy the wrong stock you will find it difficult to sell it at any price. And if you have too few stock items you wont have enough to fill a stall at a fair or antiques center or a website.
I will come to how much you should pay for your stock in the ninth part of this series Money and Profit, this article looks at the venues or where you can buy your antiques.
Buying Etiquette
A good Buy?
If you are a regular viewer of TV shows about antiques they will always encourage you to haggle hard when you buy antiques or vintage. Yes you should be able to get a discount off the ticket price but there are good ways to go about this and ways which you should avoid. This series is to talk about running a long term business not about how to grab a one off bargain. When you can hope for a larger disount is if you buy several items at the same time from the same dealer.
For your business you need to get plenty of stock at a fair price which leaves enough room for a profit for yourself. Don’t expect to pay £5 for items that you can sell for £100 or more very often. If you can double you money you are doing very well . Dealers paying £5 for items may well be just looking to sell them at £10 with the occasional lucky break on top. If you simply go treasure hunting hoping to pay next to nothing for an antique worth thousands you will most likely never buy anything.
Running a long term antiques business involves building rapport with other dealers not trying to know every last penny out of them. Ask for a disount and even ask for a little more if you like but that is enough. If you keep pushing you will get a bad reputation and you will not get the first pick of good stock in the future.
Please, Please do not run down a dealers stock to try and get a better discount. Unless you are trying to sell something to them, Stall holders at fairs do not need to know that your Auntie or Grandma has a bigger or better vase, a more colourful collection of vintage jewellery or a whole house full of wonderful Georgian chairs.
At most venues cash will get you a better discount than paying by cheque and plastic is simply not taken by many. Take your own bags and packaging to car boots, antiques fairs, and auctions – you will be glad you did.
Car Boot Sales & Flea Markets
Many vintage and antique buyers start out buy trawling round car boot sales and flea markets . Bargains can be found but personally I find them too time consuming for the amount of genuine vintage and antique items you can find . Local Car Boot fairs and Markets are normally listed in the local evening paper each week. Arrive as early as you can. Find out what time buyers can get in , ring up the venue in advance and make sure you are there on time. The best bargains go early.
A good strong bag with plenty of plastic carrier bags and lots of small change help you no end at car boot sales. Is there stock on the floor in boxes? A quick check in these can occasionally reveal a little bargain or two. Some antiques dealers trade week after week at the same car boot sale, I find they often have one or two nice little pieces at fair prices and are worth getting to know.
Haggle a little at car boots and flea markets if you like but personally if someone is asking £2 for a brooch I know I can sell for £20 I just say “Thank you” and pay up.
Antique Fairs, Antique Centers and Antique Shops
Bought at auction
Buying at antiques fairs is similar to buying at car boots but you will be looking at higher quality stock – how much higher depends on the particular fair you choose to attend. If you have chosen a specialist area of antiques to deal in you may well be able to pick up some great bargains at antique fairs. I can and I know several other dealers who find them a good source of stock. With antiques fairs I generally find the bigger the better for buying. Look for the large antiques fairs at Lincoln and Newark. If you have never been to one of these I really recommend that every novice antiques dealer makes the effort.
The difference between fairs and shops is that you will normally be dealing with the owner of the stock at a fair however in a shop or antique center you may well be dealing with a sales assistant who will not have the authority to deduct any more than a 10% discount.
At both fairs and shops look carefully at the price ticket. As well as the price you may see some of the following:
T ( followed buy a number) this indicated the amount of discount . For example T 5 means you could get £5 off the price just for asking
NT means No Trade or no discounts allowed.
A/F means either At Fault or As Found. In either case it means that the dealer knows there is damage to the item and is being honest by telling you so and has normally prices the antique accordingly.
Auctions
I love real life auctions, they are my favourite way to buy. Not only can you get stock at a price you can make a fair profit on you can learn a lot about stock and get to know other antique dealers. I have written extensively about buying at auctions - Antiques Auction Guide.
Internet
Buy Jewellery from AntiquesAvenue
For the purpose of buying antiques, collectibles and vintage on the Internet there are just two parts to the Internet. eBay and Everything else.
I have written extensively in the past on buying on eBay so today I will concentrate on the Internet outside of eBay. My favourite way to search for items for sale on the Internet is to use the Google search bar. Type in what you are looking for and hit the enter button. Hopefully you will be presented with a few sites to take a look through. There are two types of site viewable in Google results i) those who have paid to be places on the search results page and ii) those which Google selects for you as being the most relevant to the search term you have entered. The paid for results are shaded in yellow at the top and are in a column down the right hand side. Normally it is best to skip the paid for results and look at those which Google finds to be the most relevant, probably you will too.
For example lets search for Vintage Jewellery . You will find AntiquesAvenue shop very close to the top of the results Google has selected for you. Can you buy antiques and vintage stock for re-sale on the Internet? Well I have lots of trade customers who come back to me regularly to buy stock. If you want to buy quantity I will happily offer you a small discount just as I do for them. Take a look around antiuqesavenue.co.uk select the items you would like to buy and then e.mail me with a list of the titles and I will get back to you with a trade price. Please note you will need to be buying quite a few pieces of antique jewellery or Vintage Jewellery At once as discounts are not available for single item purchases.
Buying Privately
Many antique Dealers enjoy bying privately and get a lot of their stock this way. I have tired this and dont do very well this way and so rarely take up offers to puirchase individual items. When you are offered items you will sometimes find that the potential vendor is not really wanting to sell the items at all , they just want to know how much an antique dealer would be prepared to pay. They will almost certainly turn down your first offer. I also find that they will offer the same items to several dealers to try and see who will pay the best price.
Receipts
Wherever possible try and get a receipt. You will be offered one automatically when you buy at auction and you will get an invoice from eBay. At antiques centers and in shops and from website based shops like antiquesavenue you should always get a receipt automatically as well.
At other venues it is wise to take a receipt book with you or at least a pad of paper and a pen for the vendor to write a receipt on. Where you cant get a receipt you should write one out for yourself;f when you get home. For example at a car boot when you get home list you purchases on a piece of paper writing out how much you paid for each item and put the date and venue on the receipt too.
The receipt serves two purposes, you will need it for your accounts and also it proves who you purchase the stock from It is particularly important when buying stock privately that you obtain a receipt – you dont want to be accused of buying stolen goods do you. If you cant obtain a receipt and are at all in doubt about the origin of the pieces you are buying then I suggest you walk away. I once met a dealer who had been arrested for having a stolen wardrobe in his shop, strange but true.
Wherever you choose to buy your antiques stock - Happy Hunting
Your own Antiques Business ~ Before you start
Posted by: | CommentsOK, You have decided you want to be an antiques dealer. Today I’m going to discuss a few ways into the business and things to think about before you start.
Different Types of Antiques Dealer
One of the attractions of the antiques trade is that you be very flexible with how you run your business. Antiques Dealers can be part time or full time. Trade from their own shop, at Fairs, Car Boots, Antique Centers, on-line or a combination of these. I will discuss each one of these venues in more detail in part 6 of this series. The decision about where to trade is down to the individual however it is influenced by the type of stock you choose to sell
Art Deco Jewellery
Expertise and Specialisation
So what type of stock should you choose to sell as an antiques dealer? Firstly I would say choose to deal in what you are interested in, what you love and what you collect. You are going to spend a lot of time with your stock. To be successful you need to become an expert in your area, you need to have enthusiasm for your items to sell them. This would be quite difficult if you are trying to deal in something which you do not care for.
When I first started I knew that I wanted to spend all day working with beautiful old things but was not sure what to specialise in. I had hear advice from long term dealers to learn about one or two areas and specialises but found it difficult to choose. I bought all kinds of stock from small furniture, textiles, glass, ceramics and even modern collectables. This gave me a great broad grounding which serves me well today however I would probably have been more successful sooner if I had specialised sooner. The choice is yours. Having said that specialisation is the best way to be successful as an antiques dealer there are many thousands of general antiques dealers who will just buy up any stock as long as it is cheap and then pass it on with a small profit. It can be great fun but it requires an awful lot of hard work and long hours to make a living.
When you are choosing your specialisation think about the requirements of the different types of stock. Furniture needs a lot of space and a Van, Ceramics need to be stored and moved careful so they dont break and high end Antique Jewellery requires a lot of capital and very good security. Paper ephemera needs to be kept somewhere damp free – just to give a few examples. On-line trading needs good computer skills and you need to be very organised if you are going to make a living that way . Think about the stock and how you are physically going to handle and store it and the special needs your stock might have.
The type of stock you deal in will also influence where you trade from. The average antiques and collectables fair tends to be full of stalls selling ceramics, glass, Jewellery, textiles and smaller furniture. High end antiques fairs which set up over several days have more furniture as do the larger trade fairs such as the Newark antiques fair. If you are selling small specialist items then the Internet is a good choice as you can reach a far wider international audience.
Specialist Ceramics ?
You need cash to buy stock
I know this is obvious but the amount of money you have to start with will influence the type of stock you can trade in. You can of course raid your own collection for your initial stock or sell off some stuff you have around the house and is no longer required. Most dealers start off with a small investment in stock and gradually build up over time. You can go a car boot sale with just a few pounds in your pocket and hopefully make a small profit on what you buy. Starting so low is going to take a long time to build up enough stock to fill a stall at an antiques fair or an antiques center. It is pointless setting up your own website with less than 100 good items but you can sell just one or two pieces on eBay.
You will also need to invest in a few other things besides stock. Storage boxes and bubble wrap for ceramics and glass. Furniture polish? A trolley and for doing fairs. Display stands and price labels. Personally when I started my biggest investment besides stock was in reference books . Many of the specialist books can cost a lot of money. Starting at about £5 for a cheap reference book you can look to pay up to £50 or £60 each for the better specialist books which you will find invaluable even in these days of free reference on the Internet. Most selling venues will require cash up front too. This applies to setting up a shop, taking a stall at an antiques fair or center , your own website and eBay.
Knowledge and How to get it
To be a good antiques dealer you need knowledge including knowledge about your stock, where to buy and sell that particular type of stock . Its good to know other dealers in your area as well. Much of this knowledge takes years and years to acquire.
How to learn about antiques. There are courses, there are books, there’s the Internet (including this blog). Probably the best source of information is to find a dealer to teach you although you may find that their is a huge reluctance to just give away their hard to acquire secrets of the trade. I know a few people who have started by taking a job as a porter in an auciton house, that could be looked upon as an apprenticeship. For some the route into antiques dealing is via a fine arts degree for others its working in an antiques center. I started by doing a little trading and attending lots of courses. Next week I intend to write a specialist article on how to acquire the knowledge about vintage jewellery including courses, books and websites.
For general antiques courses you can look for evening classes locally. I went to an antiques evening class one night per week for about 6 years when I lived in Nottingham. Look in your local area . I also took a correspondence course in antiques and also undertook professional training to become a qualified jeweller.
The books you buy will to some extent depend upon your area of specialism but here are a few good general antiques reference works.
Millers price guides both the antiques price guide and the collectables ones. The values quotes are often a bit wide of the mark but they are great for just looking at objects which have been identified. Eric Knowles wrote a great beginners book called Discovering Antiques, I think this costs less than £10.
If you are looking at dealing in ceramics I suggest you invest in a marks book. Goddens is the best for British Pottery and Porcelain marks. For Precious metals and Jewellery you need a hallmark book such as Bradburys Book of Hallmarks.
Websites.
Clearly I am going to recommend www.antiquesavenue.com as a source of information. eBay can be great for finding the price an items actually sold for by using the completed item price search. I use Google a lot both to search out specialist websites and to look up individual items. For example type in Vintage Jewellery and you will find antiquesavenue quite high up . Type in “antiques blog” or “vintage jewellery blog” and up comes this site.
Want to talk to Antiques Dealers on-line. Both Facebook and Twitter have active antiques communities. You can find me on face book as Anne Haile and on Twitter as AntiquesAvenue. On both social networking sites you can find other dealers who are looking to learn and to share knowledge. On twitter try following #antiques and on facebook look for groups / pages with antiques in the title. This equally applies to specialist areas just replace Antiques with the specialist of your choice.
Networking
As mentioned above you can now find other antiques dealers and enthusiasts on line. Those you meet in real life may well prove to be more useful and can become great sources of stock and knowledge. You can get to know other dealers by trading with them regularly, its easy to start up a conversation with a dealer if you have just bought something from them at a quiet antique fair. Hang around at real life auctions week after week and you will start to see familiar faces and get to know folks in the trade.
A big Mistake
I have known many people make one fatal mistake when starting in the antiques trade. They do not put their business on a legal footing. Trading on the black market is not the way to go if you want to grow your business. By setting yourself up as a proper business you can grow, failure to do so means that you stay very small. You can only take cash if you dont have a bank account for cheques or paypal payments and only taking cash can be very limiting. If you are selling items for more than a few pounds you need to be able to write out a receipt if you are asked to.
Talk to the tax man and trading implications for you. Learn how to do business accounts or get an accountant if necessary. I have seen so many traders who can only stick at the lowest levels of this wonderful business because they live in fear of the tax man.
That’s a few pointers before you start your career as an antiques dealer. Next week I will be talking about finding stock and about how to learn antique and vintage jewellery.
Your own Antiques Business
Posted by: | CommentsDo you love antiques, vintage or retro and like to be involved with it full time? Would you like to quit the rat race or make a little money on the side? Many dream of setting up their own antiques business selling either real antiques, or vintage / retro pieces, I certainly did. These days I find myself regularly asked about becoming an antiques dealer. How do you give up the day job and trade in old stuff all day? Well now I’ve decided to let you in on a few secrets about the trade and how to deal in antiques gleaned over many years in the business.
Antiques are technically over 100 years with vintage and retro being newer but not new. For the purposes of this series of articles I will talk about antiques and the antique trade but everything here is equally applicable to selling antique, vintage and retro items unless I specifically say otherwise.
Why is the antiques business different?
The Antiques business is difficult to learn and find advice on. Stock is more difficult to obtain than simply nipping into your local wholesaler or ordering over the Internet from China. Have you noticed how most antiques dealers do not go straight from school or university into the trade?Unless you are lucky enough to have an antiques dealer for a parent it is most likely that you will have had a long career before hand. Most of the suggestions and advice given here apply no matter which branch of the antiques or vintage trade interests you. You may wish to be a general dealer, Specialise in furniture , pottery , glass, Victorian Antiques or like me in antique and vintage jewellery.
There are one or two books on the antiques trade but not many, there is no given career path. Antiques Dealer is not a job you can find a vacancy advertised very often and the trade does have a slightly doggy reputation to be overcome.
How to start your own Antiques Business
Over the coming weeks I’m going to cover all aspects of starting and running your own antiques business including:
Things to consider before starting , the different types of dealer and specialising
Finding Stock
Organising Stock and Care and Repair
Selling Stock.
Car Boot Sales / Flea Markets. Real life Auctions, Antiques Fairs and Antique Centers. Ebay and your own Website
Packing and Posting Antiques
Keeping Records
Money and Profit
Networking and why other dealers are important
You many notice that I have not included running your own physical shop. This is because its the one way of selling antiques I haven’t tried. If any reader with relevant experience wants to write a blog entry for me on this topic I will be happy to publish it here.
Anne’s Story
So you might be asking what qualifies me to write about becoming an antiques dealer and why I would want to do this . Let me tell you more.
Once upon a time in the last century I had what I now call a proper job. Actually in the overall scheme of the world it was a glittering career in corporate IT. I had huge responsibility for money and people and spend much of my time travelling all over Europe, living on expenses and earning a huge salary that many years later I can only dream of. Sounds glamorous and exciting? Yes I had the Corporate executive job title and perks in household name companies you will all have heard of but I wasn’t happy. I spent my weeks slaving at work and my weekends spending the salary to compensate myself for having to be miserable during the week. Sound familiar? I know there are thousands of you out there just the same.
By my early 30′s I began to realise that earning as much as I possibly could was not going to make me happy, the glittering career is not everything. I felt that it was all pointless and that I needed to get out. My hobby was antiques ( I had been fascinated by old and interesting stuff since I was about 8 years old) and antiques was what I wanted to do.
Now as I mentioned earlier becoming an antiques dealer is not something you can go on a course for or where there is a defined career path. This is something that I had to work out for myself and it took me about 12 more years before I was in the position to resign my career and make the full time leap of faith into antiques. During those 12 years I spent nearly all of my spare time working towards becoming a full time antique dealer
This series of articles will be based on the experiences of those 12 years and in the 10 years since I finally did move full time into antiques. I’m going to tell about what worked for me and what didn’t. Where I made money and where I lost it. Where time was well spent and how to waste months for no progress. You may wonder why I’m telling all this. Am I not creating my own competition? Maybe but one thing about my competition is that they are vital for my business. We need each other which is why I have dedicated a chapter to networking.
I hope you find something of interest here and if you too are thinking of entering the antiques trade do leave a comment and tell how you are getting on.
Vintage is not a designer brand
Posted by: | CommentsToday I’m having a rant, not done that on here for a while but some Internet sellers are beginning to annoy me and what much worse they are misleading customers. Have you noticed how words like “Vintage”, “Antique” and “Victorian” are used by many Internet sellers of fashion items these days? Actually I believe that many of them are breaking the trades descriptions act along the way. Hopefully this article will help those looking for genuine vintage or antique to avoid buying new by mistake.
Vintage may be popular but it is not something you can buy wholesale from China, stock up on to a website and sell hundreds of one item. One of the major points about antique, vintage and Victorian is that they are not making them any more. You have to search out pieces and the pieces you find are almost unique.
This guide can also be applied to other terms including Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Georgian and even Retro.
What Vintage is not:
Vintage is not brand new, you cannot buy it wholesale over the interenet from China. It rarely comes all clean and nicely packed. Two pieces are rarely alike .
“Vintage ” ( and Antique, Victorian etc etc) is not a designer brand. You cannot get someone to make you vintage if it is new then it is no more vintage than black is white. On the other hand you can come across some brands which are vintage eg can no longer be bough as new.
Vintage necklace
What is vintage :
What is vintage is a great topic for debate. To my mind it should be at least 25 years old, I accept that others would say 20 or 40 years but I am sure that all genuine vintage dealers and collectors would agree it has to have some age to be vintage. In general an item has not become vintage until it is no longer available as new in the shops in its current form.
Due to its age Vintage ( Antique, Victorian etc) also has other interesting features, its style and method of manufacture is of the past. The pieces are pre-owned and many have signs of age or wear. This is not necessarily damage and some signs of age can be most desirable such as metal acquiring a nice patina. Vintage pottery may be decorated in colours which cannot be re0created today due to the toxicity of the processes involved.
Vintage is Green
Unlike most new stuff, buying vintage is green. You are re- using, re-cycling, spending a lower carbon footprint or whatever the latest term is. Much new stuff these days comes from the other side of the world and a far greater percentage of vintage and antique items were made in this country or closer to home.
How to spot real vintage on the Internet
Many items which are described as vintage or antique on the Internet are actually new. Here’s a few tips for spotting real vintage and antique items on the Internet.
- How many of an item does the vendor offer for sale? If they have more than one then it is likely that the item is new. Occasionally it is possible to have more than one item but it doesn’t happen very often. For example there are over 1200 pieces for sale on AntiquesAvenue.co.uk. I have a few duplicates but this would be way less than 1% of my stock.
- How is it described? Vintage style or vintage inspired are most probably new. Does the site actually give an age for the item? Most vintage sellers will give some indication of how old the piece if, if not ask before you buy.
- Is the website specialised? Good Vintage and Antique sellers tend to specialise in vintage and antique items and have very little new or modern stuff on the website.
- Google Shopping. It is a requirement of putting your items into Google shopping that you state is a piece is New, Used or Refurbished. Many many items described as vintage actually say new as the condition in Google shopping so you can check here.
- Look at the photograph? Is it highly professional? Us vintage and antique sellers have to take a picture of every item we sell and because it is used for just the one sale it is not economical to get a professional photographs taken. We cannot get stock photographs from our suppliers and so many of us have photographs which are taken by amateurs
- Is there a comment about condition in the listing of the piece? If so then it is more likely to be a genuine vintage or antique item. Sellers of new dont comment on condition normally.
Buying Vintage Style
My aim here has been to educate those interested in buying genuine vintage or antique so that they do not fall for buying new by mistake. Should you prefer to buy vintage style but new items then do look out for items described as “Vintage Style” or “Vintage Inspired”.
Happy Hunting Anne x
Vintage Jewellery Picture Gallery
Posted by: | CommentsLooking for Vintage Jewellery? Have you ever seen the picture galleries on Google for AntiquesAvenue’s Jewellery? Every week I add all my available stock and you can view my items as a picture gallery rather than looking through the shop.
To access the picture galleries you can just go to Google and type what you are looking for into the search box. For example type ” Vintage Jewellery” and hit enter and then select the “Shopping” option from the top menu. You will then see a whole array of different items including lot of new jewellery, books and Jewellery stands. However on the left hand side is a menu headed any shop and you should see AntiquesAvenue listed their. Click on AntiquesAvenue and you will see all my items listed as Vintage Jewellery.
You can of course repeat this search with terms such as Antique Jewellery, Glass Necklaces, Silver Charms , Art Deco Jewellery , blue brooches or any other term which suits your requirements. Here are a few I have created for you
I hope you find this tip useful
Anne
Vintage Jewellery and Accessories Auctions
Posted by: | CommentsI’m a great fan of auctions, not the eBay type but real life auctions and some of you may well have read the beginners guides I have written in the past. I regularly attend auctions and indeed buy most of my antique and vintage jewellery stock that way.
One of the steps I advise is to research when and where auctions are being held well in advance and to study the catalogues. Whilst doing my own research earlier today I came across this auction, I wont be attending but may well be useful .
Vintage Perfume Bottles.
I used to have a large collection of vintage perfume bottles especially the Devon Violets variety. Most of these have now gone to their new homes but if I were still collecting perfume bottles I certainly would want to be attending this perfume bottle auction in Leeds on June 12th. There are over 200 lots so there should be something for most tastes.
Vintage necklace from auction
Do you want to attend vintage and Antique jewellery Auctions too?
You can find Specialist antique Jewellery auctions, I believe Bonhams run them regularly for example. Specialist auctions tend to be pricey so I look for auctions where they have jewellery as part of the main auction. For example Bamfords in Derby always have a nice selection of vintage jewellery for you to choose from. Take a look at your local auction house, there is one in most major towns and you can normally look up the calendar of events on the Internet.
If your going to buy jewellery at auction do give yourself plenty of time in advance to view. The viewing will be crowded and unless you view well in advance you may find yourself struggling to get to see the pieces you are interested int. The auction will start more or less on time even if you have not finished looking. Take along a pen and paper and a 10 x magnifying loupe. you need to be prepared to accurately assess what you are going to buy and jot down notes on the item and how much you are prepared to pay. Don’t worry if you don’t buy anything at the first couple of jewellery auctions you attend. You will soon get the hang of it and snapping up some real bargains.
Vintage Jewellery Wholesale
I’ve been going to a few to many auctions recently and now have wholesale quantities of vintage costume jewellery available at discount prices. There is no gold at all in quantity but there may be a little silver. Mainly the wholesale quantities I have available are necklaces, faux pearls, chains and brooches. These are all vintage and will date circa 1920s through to the last 10 years. Most of it is from the 1950s through 1970s. If you are based in the UK and are interested then please do get in touch. I believe that this jewellery would be most suitable for sale at car boots , markets and antique fairs. You may wish to try a few lots on eBay as well. Most pieces should sell for £3 to £20. I also have some lots suitable for repair, restoration and craft projects. Sorry but the weight of wholesale quantities will make it too expensive to ship outside of the UK.
Where to sell Vintage Jewellery and Antique Jewellery
Posted by: | CommentsDo you want to sell your vintage jewellery? Every day I receive several e.mails offering to sell me vintage jewellery . Since I never buy privately I have put together a comprehensive guide to selling your unwanted jewels . Over the coming weeks I will examine how and where to sell in more detail, how to value your jewellery and how much to expect. For today here is an introductory guide to places you can sell you pieces
There are several ways to sell your old jewellery and each way has its merits and drawbacks. You will need to balance the amount of effort and cost you put in against the reward for each way and choose which suits you best. As with most things in life you will find that, as a general rule, the way which requires the most time, cost and effort will bring in the most money and the quickest easiest way to sell will bring you the least.
First Steps
If you just want a quick sale with no effort you can skip this step and go straight to where to sell. Before choosing where to sell your vintage jewellery take a few minutes to consider:
1 . Do you know what it is and how old? What is it made of ?
If you don’t know what you’ve got then either research to find out or avoid eBay, antique fairs and your own website.
2. How much time and money do you want to put into selling it?
Little time and money then sell via a real life auciton house or for scrap or to a high street jewellery. Find a good dealer or internet site takes time. Selling through eBay or at a fair takes time and money
3. What condition is the piece of jewellery in?
If less than excellent condition then go for scrapping it ( if gold) or take to your local auction house. It is unlikely to be worthwhile having the jewellery repaired just for the purposes of selling it.
Where to sell your Vintage Jewellery
These are in order of ease of selling
Sell your gold for scrap.
Effort required : Very low, £’s gained very low, costs very low
When to use: I would only consider this for broken pieces
Where: There are shops and stalls in every high street buying gold for cash and a little research on the internet will bring up several to choose from.
Advantages: Quick and easy for cash
Drawbacks: Only buying gold. You will get a lot less than your jewellery is worth unless it is in poor condition.
The high street Jeweller.
Effort required very low, £’s gained low, costs very low
When to use: You have quality Antique Jewellery, hallmarked gold and silver jewellery in good condition and want the money quickly.
Where: Your local high street, look for independent jewellers not major chains
Advantages: Quick for cash, you should get more than scrap price for nice jewellery.
Drawbacks , only buying gold and silver
NB, you will probably need proof of identity when selling to a high street jewellery
Real life auction.
Effort required very low, £’s gained low to high, cost high
When to use: When you are in no hurry for the money, you have little time,
Where: There is an auction house in most major towns. Find yours on the Internet or in the phone book.
Drawbacks: The price you gain is uncertain and depends on the buyers on the day however you can set a minimum reserve. Costs can be high
Advantages: A good auctioneer will spot something of high value and help ensure the highest price is realised.
The private Jewellery Dealer.
Effort required medium, £’s gained low to medium, costs very low
When to use: You have a specialist collection eg named costume jewellery
Where: Private Jewellery dealers can be found selling at antique fairs and antiques centers.
Drawbacks, finding the right dealer to sell to may take time and effort
Advantages: If you have a specialist collection to sell to a specialist dealer you may get a very good price
An Internet Vintage Jewellery website.
Effort required low to medium, £’s gained low to medium, cost low
When to use: You have a specialist collection eg named costume jewellery
Where: Research in your favourite Internet search engine. Some jewellery sites advertise that they buy jewellery.
Drawbacks, you are going to have to trust the website as you will have to post out your jewellery before receiving any money.
Advantages: If you have a specialist collection to sell to a specialist dealer you may get a very good price
Car Boot Sale
Effort required medium, £’s gained low, cost low
When to use: You have a lot of costume jewellery which is quite new or broken.
Where: Check in your local evening paper
Drawbacks: You have to get up early and stand in a field for the morning . You will need to keep the prices low
Advantages: Quick cash , you can sell a lot if your prices are low.
eBay.
Effort required medium to high, £’s gained low to high, cost medium
When to use: You just have few pieces in good condition to sell, you know what they are and have plenty of time
Drawbacks, takes some PC knowledge. You need good photos of your items and will need to post them out. Costs can be quite high
Advantages: You can set a minimum price for your item, quicker to get your money than real life auction
Antiques and collectables fairs.
Effort required high, £’s gained medium, cost high
When to use: You have plenty of time, you know what you have to sell and you enjoy talking to people.
Where: You usually need to book in advance. Look on the antiques trade gazette website or in your local paper for details of where antiques fairs are held
Drawbacks, you need a lot of jewellery to consider taking a stall at an antiques fair. You pay in advance with no guarantee of a sale. You need to set the price of your jewellery. early morning start and long day
Advantages: This can be the start of a small jewellery business or a great hobby.
Your own website.
Effort required very high, £’s gained medium to high, cost medium to high
When to use: When you want to sell Jewellery for a living or a serious hobby.
Where: You need to set up your own shopping cart I use and recommend EKM but there are others. Research on the Internet
Drawbacks, takes a lot of effort and time before you start selling anything. May be months before your first sale . You need good PC knowledge, good photos and need to fix the price of your jewellery. Each piece sold needs to be posted out. Up front costs high
Advantages: If selling high volumes then costs can be lower per piece than selling on eBay or at real life auction.
