eBay

Anonymous · ‎06-17-2013

I know the mid-century retro furniture,lamps are anything else I should be stocking my shelves with?

flanagan-laneantiques · ‎06-17-2013

if you are talking about mid 20th century furniture and decorative arts, they are NOT antiques. As for your question, what's hot in antiques, I don't think there IS anything that's "hot" except high end Chinese stuff.

pentiques · ‎06-17-2013

I agree there seems to be interest in nice old Chinese and Japanese items. I think the rest depends on where you are selling.

Internet sales seem to be good for,

1. old unusual books

2. antique clothing

3. vintage, high end, famous maker clothing

4. early photos

5. early photo cases

6. unusual early primitive, rugs, and other textiles

B&M sales

1. no furniture except mid century, light wood, streamlined look

2. costume jewelry is good

3. right now big,"make a statement" garden items

4. old cheap cast iron pans, tools,

5. after the above nothing is hot, it is crap shoot

verybrad · ‎06-17-2013

The market is really down and prices are depressed across almost all categories. The one bright spot of Chinese antiques tends to be overseas rather than here so I am not sure that stocking your shelves with Chinese antiques for local consumption will gain you much. MCM goods, while not antique, seem to be holding their own. Arts and Crafts period furniture and decorative arts, now just becoming antiques, seem to be waning from their strong showing just previously. Primitives still have some interest in the heartland. My best advice is to carry a mixture of goods and keep prices as low as possible for run of the mill items. Carry the exceptional at higher prices but don't be surprised if it becomes window dressing for the shop, with some pieces selling now and then. Carry some distressed painted furniture at reasonable prices if your market has interest. Your market may be different than mine so you really need to guage what is happening locally despite national trends. For example, I am in downstate Illinois and find we are a few years behind Chicago and that Chicago is a few years behind either coast.

_____________________________________________________________

Be sure to look your gift horse in the mouth when receiving help.

milestoneks · ‎06-17-2013

I think I'll give up on the fine stuff and start selling baby clothes and Tupperware. Seems to be bring more of late......:^O

“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” ~~Albert Pike, Freemason

spirit-of-shiloh · ‎06-17-2013

I gather the only things that are HOT sellers right now are high end antiques and exquisite jewelry selling for pennies on the dollar. :_|:_|:_|

spirit-of-shiloh · ‎06-17-2013

I should have finished my post with................that's the only way most folks will part with their money 😞

orbrial · ‎06-17-2013

I don't really "do" antiques per se. But my sense is that right now, ebay sales are very slow. I am afraid to auction much. Could be just me but that is the impression I get.

My home spun idea is it isnt hot enough outside yet to drive everyone indoors.

I did find out by accident that Bausch and Lomb Binoculars draw a LOT of interest. Whereas other binoculars seem to draw near none. Thats just a snapshot impression. However if you see a pair of Baush and Lomb binoculars made in USA get them. You can blame me if it doesn't end well. The sales I go to binoculars are $10 or $20. If they are B&L get them. I had hundreds of views on mine and upwards of 40 watchers and lots of bids. Weheras for everything else I was wondering if my computer was even on.

XXXV

My customers like me. Can ebay say that?

flanagan-laneantiques · ‎06-17-2013

lol shiloh, yea, you're right, I hate to say. I don't know what the high end market is like right now, (my stuff is really not high end compared to the "real" high end) I'm in the low-middle market, which is pretty slow right now though we ARE holding on for the moment.

I suspect that the top end of the market is strong, as it always is. People with lots of money will always have lots of money, sigh....

flanagan-laneantiques · ‎06-17-2013

here's a thought, and a question for all you boardies.

the thought is, what is going to happen down the road to the antiques market. It seems there are some big global changes coming very soon. World economics plays a big part in our business and there are some pretty scary things going on right now. I have also seen a slow decline in the antiques market since the late 1990's. Is this a long term dead end for the trade?

I know most of you have some great items that you either bought for yourself, collected, or just stashed away. I have some of those kinds of things too. With the antiques market in a slump and possibly never coming back, do you sell and unload? or do you stash and wait?

My gut says to stash and wait but I tend to be the collector type so naturally I want to keep everything. 😛

orbrial · ‎06-17-2013

About world market trends, the USA is in some trouble in my view because we have shipped our manufacturing operations, almost entirely, to our "global trade partners" the Chinese. This is catching up to us. And it will get worse.

However the long term personal wealth trend for the western world has been upwards for several hundred years running.

All of which is no help for your question 🙂

I know nothing about antiques to speak of. But I learned a lesson about collectable anything way back when I was into coins. Here is the lesson.

When everyone has money, collectables go up and up. When everyone needs money, they go down and down. Do not invest in collectables of any sort as a hedge against hard times. Because you will be looking to sell it at the very worst time.

So to invest successfully in collectables, you must sell, when you and nearly everyone else, doesn't need the money. That is kind of hard to do unless you are ruthless and serious and unemotional about it.

XXXV

My customers like me. Can ebay say that?

flanagan-laneantiques · ‎06-17-2013

About world market trends, the USA is in some trouble in my view because we have shipped our manufacturing operations, almost entirely, to our "global trade partners" the Chinese. This is catching up to us. And it will get worse.

However the long term personal wealth trend for the western world has been upwards for several hundred years running.

All of which is no help for your question 🙂

I know nothing about antiques to speak of. But I learned a lesson about collectable anything way back when I was into coins. Here is the lesson.

When everyone has money, collectables go up and up. When everyone needs money, they go down and down. Do not invest in collectables of any sort as a hedge against hard times. Because you will be looking to sell it at the very worst time.

So to invest successfully in collectables, you must sell, when you and nearly everyone else, doesn't need the money. That is kind of hard to do unless you are ruthless and serious and unemotional about it.

what you say is true. This is one of the reasons I am not 'giving away' my best stuff just to move it. Investing in anything antique as a hedge against hard times is a bad idea. Investing as a hedge against inflation is another story. As long as the price of your collectible or antique appreciates at a higher rate than inflation, you are OK. Other factors also play a role, not just inflation. Supply and demand are just as important, if not more so. The supply of good antique pieces will always go down, it's the nature of the beast. The demand is not so easy to predict. therein lies the rub. If I could predict the demand, say 20 years from now........:-)