Investors out searching for deals in estate auctions and other vintage items in antique and second hand shops must know the real from the fake. How is this learned? From years of experience and from guidebooks and learning how to search for identification marks and other clues to paintings, antique furniture, dishes and ornaments and old books.
Vintage mid-century enthusiasts have put together a few suggestions for beginners. They tell you to be prepared and be knowledgeable before you set out to invest, to search online and get acquainted with online sites designed to show where the best can be bought. From these those interested will learn the value of vintage items. You won’t necessarily be buying, but you will learn how things are priced and what is valuable and what to keep your eye on. 1stdibs will show you where to find what you are looking for in today’s market. Knowing this will help you keep a perspective when pricing items or when deciding when or when not to buy.
It makes no difference if your sights will be adjusted to something much lower, but before you can find a real treasure for practically nothing, you must know it is genuine and is quality. That somehow has a way of adding to the appearance of some items that the average person might pass over as ugly or useless.
Learn where the best auction sites are online. They suggest five modern auction houses: Wright; Treadway/Toomey Auctions; Sollow Rago Auctions; Los Angeles Modern Auctions; five Modern Auction Houses; Phillips de Pury & Company. These can be found online and Shelterrific has the addresses listed for researcher’s convenience.
It’s also good to know the time an antique of something old was in vogue, or was manufactured. Each year something new is usually the rage and maybe it will remain out of sight and out of mind for several years, or even centuries and then suddenly everyone wants it. Investors will need to know that, otherwise they’ll pass up good bargains.
Shelterrific, the online site just mentioned is an excellent place to learn about various facets of collecting, fixing, cleaning, collecting, and various other things collectors and investors of home items will need to know. Antiques and Fine Arts is a bimonthly magazine for “buyers and sellers of antiques and art.” Any serious collector will need to know where to find the information when it is needed. By becoming acquainted with the various art objects and other values mentioned or showcased in this magazine, one can gradually build up a knowledge base of pertinent information.
Serious collectors may even be interested in collecting all the magazines they can find about antiques. Some are now out of print, but the information they contain could be valuable in deciding whether or not something found in an old attic is a real value or not. And finally, to get serious and learn all about antiques a list of books all about collecting and antiques:
“Recognizing and Refinishing Antiques for Pleasure and Profit, by Bob Brooke; How to Start a Home-based Antiques Business, by Bob Brooke; Know Your Antiques, by Ralph & Terry Kovel; The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Buying and Selling Antiques, by Emyl Jenkins; The Vision of Frank Lloyd Wright, by Thomas A. Heinz; The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Milk Glass, by Betty Newbound; World’s Fair Collectibles, by Howard M. Rossen; Cincinnati Art-Carved Furniture and Interiors; Edited by Jennifer H. Howe; The ABCs of Collecting Online, by Ray Boileau; Kovel’s Guide to Selling Your Antiques and Collectibles, by Ralph and Terry Kovel.”
Before an investor can be sure of getting his money back out of a purchase, they will need guidance and plenty of experience, but most of all they need to be passionate about their work. And most importantly they will need to know where to find information. With that at their fingertips, flipping through books and magazines, researching online, in time they can invest with confidence while at the same time enjoying the experience.