Tips for Getting Your Money’s Worth

Buying antiques and collectibles is a different experience than making a regular store purchase. While it can be a pleasurable and rewarding event, it has its own set of rules and can require more care in making a selection. Here are some tips developed after many years of my own mistakes and successes:

1. Read, read, read – Before buying an item, buy a book or two on the subject. Don’t just own them for reference, read them. It’s amazing how much information is available in the many books available on antiques and collectibles. Besides pricing info, the background information can be invaluable.

2. Be Sure You Are Getting What You Expect – Can you tell cut glass from pressed? Is that flow blue plate really flow blue, or just a blue-colored transfer pattern? (In the photo shown here, the plate on the left is flow blue, the other is not.) Unless you know how to identify a type of antique, stay away until you have the knowledge to be sure.

3. Avoid Reproductions – If you are buying something to be old, be sure it is so. This involves careful inspection for signs of age or modern manufacture, and can require knowledge of what reproductions are being made.

4. Examine very carefully for damage and repairs – Don’t assume old items are free of damage. It is easy to get desensitized to damage since modern manufactured goods are so uniformly well made. Examine each piece carefully, in good light, with a magnifier if its small, like most jewelry.

5. If the price is too good, its probably not what you think – A bargain price will often invite a snap decision to buy without the necessary examination. Most sellers are pretty sharp people who know what they have and price it accordingly – getting a “steal” is unlikely. The low price more likely means that there are probably defects or identity problems.

6. Deal with Reputable Dealers – This is perhaps the one tip that transcends all others. A good dealer is hoping for your long term, repeat business and has no intentions of mistreating a buyer for a one-time profit. Reputations are important here – ask other buyers for recommendations. When you find good dealers, stick with them. They are your best ticket to getting your money’s worth!

Printed with permission. West Suburban Living magazine January/February 2006.

All articles, images and information contained here are copyright and reprinted with permission. Any unauthorized reproduction of content or format is a violation of US Copyright and punishable under applicable law.