Dealing In Antiques

Since the debut of the traveling antique shows on television, a lot of people have turned to buying and selling antiques. Some do it as a hobby, while others work at making it a business. The market fluctuates, making one item more popular than another at various times. If you're thinking about trying your hand at this, it's important to study the market and learn how to make it profitable for you.

One of the best ways to establish yourself as a buyer and seller of antiques is to find an item of that is unusual and can be used as a niche market for you. If you have found desirable items that are relatively easy for you to purchase, you can become the "expert" in that particular field. The best way to prepare yourself for your expert status is to find out as much information about the category of antiques as you possible can.

Some up-and-coming antique items that are becoming more and more popular among collectors can be found at opposite sides of the country. Some of these antiques can be found in New England and date from the time of 1790 to 1860, finding heavy influence from Anglo sources. These New England antiques include hutch tables, highboys, blanket chests, and pewter cupboards. If you are able to obtain any of these antique items from New England you are sure to have a winner when it comes to an antique sale. You may find some of these pieces from New England so beautiful that you may want to keep a piece or two for your own private collection of antiques.

On a completely different note, antiques from the West, particularly Texas, are becoming highly sought after. Much of the home items found in Texas during the 1870s to 1900 reflected the German heritage of many of the Texas pioneers. Items such as wardrobes and tables, even rawhide chairs, are highly prized by collectors. Texas antiques are easy to identify by their use of native Texas woods, such as heart pine. The dovetailing on drawers can also be a telling feature of Texas antiques. Look for items where the dovetailing looks hand rendered, not the uniformity and perfection of machined dovetails. Antiques with dovetails will appear rough, hand made, and slightly irregular.

To be successful in the antiques business, you have to establishing an inventory of the items that are both highly desirable and within your abilities to easily procure. You want to have the items on hand that collectors are searching for, so that you become known as the great source, offering reliability and ease when adding to a collection.

By: Fani Dakar

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Fani Stevens is the webmaster for Fani Antiques, the web's premier resource for information about Antiques. For more articles on Antiques visit: www.faniantiques.com/articles
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