"Antiques are 100 years or older".

[quadcitypickers]

I've had a few buyers argue with me that antique is defined as "being made over 100 years ago".

But if you go into any antique store, most items are less than 100 years old.

It's strange how much of a stickler some people are with this 100 year thing, but stores dedicated to antiques are always breaking this rule.

I've seen tons of items from the 80's 90's and 2000's at antique stores.

[nobody*s_perfect]

The word "antique" means nothing if it can be applied to items from 30 or 40 years ago or even more recent.  The 100-year definition is generally accepted by experts, but as your store example indicates, this is certainly not universal.

[pickapaper]

"Antiques" is one of those words that has become generic or at least watered down over the years, and there are a lot of those.

Estate Sales used to actually refer to the belongings of a person who had passed away being sold.  How many "Estate Sales" have you gone to recently that were actual estate sales?  Many are now downsizing sales, moving sales, or even garage sales and junk sales.  

Many years ago, we stopped at a true antique shop and here and there nestled among the antiques were Beanie Babies.  We asked the owner why on earth was he selling BBs in his beautiful store.  His answer was "Hey, they sell so why not?"

I 

[chapeau-noir]

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@quadcitypickers wrote:

I've had a few buyers argue with me that antique is defined as "being made over 100 years ago".

But if you go into any antique store, most items are less than 100 years old.

It's strange how much of a stickler some people are with this 100 year thing, but stores dedicated to antiques are always breaking this rule.

I've seen tons of items from the 80's 90's and 2000's at antique stores.

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In my experience "antique" stores are generally vintage and antique. Not sure why they don't have it on their signage, though. Having just antiques would be tough, though.

[toysaver]

I have a pan listed with a date of 1920 but decided it may not be antique as that is just the date it was patented and not necessarily the date it was made, could have been years or decades later.   

[dhbookds]

Where is the rule that antique stores have to only sell antiques? 

[ittybitnot]

I've had a few buyers argue with me that antique is defined as "being made over 100 years ago".

@quadcitypickers 

That 100 year mark has been a "general guideline" in the industry in the US.  In Europe the age marker for Antique is 400 years.  

People that have brick and mortar stores can sell just about anything they want.  There are no "antique" police.  However, incorrectly labeling something as "antique" that is obviously not, can call into question the integrity of a seller's entire inventory.  Astute buyers know better anyway, and would not purchase an item made in 1940 as an antique.  

[terrycece62]

Antique is technically accepted to be 100yrs or older but if you walk into an antique store you will find items from the 30s ,40s. 50s , 60,    just means in my experience as anything older and collectable.

So in regard to buyers insisting that antique reaching that 100 yr old mark needs to be at this point from 1925 or before

But I agree it just means old and maybe collectable it is now generalized term. 

In other words, expect to find SOME items in this store that are probably 100 yrs old or more

In the 90s and 2000s i lived near a street of antique/vintage stores named" Antique Row in MD. It was a very charming street that even had a tea shop very old fashion nice atmosphere but as I recall the majority of the items displayed were not quite actual antiques but hitting that 40or 50 yr old mark that would tec actually be considered vintage rather than an actual antique

Always scares me a bit because toys I remember from my childhood is being sold in these stores now because i grew up in the 70s   

[mr_lincoln]

@quadcitypickers 

I like the definition of antique: "a collectible object such as a piece of furniture or work of art that has a high value because of its considerable age" 

with "considerable age" being the key point. 

The other point is what the item is ... for example, automobiles can be consider Vintage, Antique or Classic.  One source states:

Vintage: manufactured between 1919 - 1930

Antique: manufactured in 1975 or earlier (45 years or older)

Classic: manufactured in 2000 or earlier (20 years or older)

I am sure there are some good guidelines out there but there is nothing written in stone that covers all items.

[marnotom!]

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@dhbookds wrote:

Where is the rule that antique stores have to only sell antiques? 

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It’s in the same rule book that declares that drugstores only sell drugs.

[fbusoni]

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

@quadcitypickers 

I like the definition of antique: "a collectible object such as a piece of furniture or work of art that has a high value because of its considerable age" 

with "considerable age" being the key point. 

The other point is what the item is ... for example, automobiles can be consider Vintage, Antique or Classic.  One source states:

Vintage: manufactured between 1919 - 1930

Antique: manufactured in 1975 or earlier (45 years or older)

Classic: manufactured in 2000 or earlier (20 years or older)

I am sure there are some good guidelines out there but there is nothing written in stone that covers all items.

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@mr_lincoln 

By those definitions, I fall somewhere in between Vintage and Antique.

Better than pre-historic, I suppose.  

[fbusoni]

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@quadcitypickers wrote:

I've seen tons of items from the 80's 90's and 2000's at antique stores.

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@quadcitypickers 

Out here where I live and throughout much of the USA I suspect, the words "thrift," "charity," "second-hand," and "antique" are used interchangeably to describe stores that sell old stuff that is no longer manufactured.

Antique increasingly has taken on the meaning of "what someone no longer wants." 

There are many words like that which have lost their meaning or whose meaning has been diluted with the passage of time.  

[lux.ra_14]

So, something made in 1925 wasn't an antique last month, but now it is? Good to know. 

Maybe the sticklers can also give us a precise definition of vintage. That one is even more arbitrary, not to mention overused.

[mr_lincoln]

@fbusoni 

HA ha ha!  I am in the group with you!

[fashunu4eeuh]

I can understand their concern. Improper use of descriptors  like “antique” or “vintage” has robbed these useful keywords of their effectiveness.

Awhile back i noticed the trend among some international sellers. They seemed to believe traffic could be improved to their contemporary items when “vintage” or “antique” was included in the titles.

As a buyer, it became an effort in futility for me to search for certain vintage items here, directly related to the overuse and incorrectly applied term. Such keyword spamming hampered my ability to ferret out the actual vintage goods.