In our rather interesting times, the question of how to make money on antiques is very relevant. The concept of “antiques” includes many completely different things. This is not only furniture, dishes, weapons and all kinds of archaeological values, but also various pre-war items, badges, buttons, stamps, produced in the 1930s-1940s.
If you are interested in this area, and you understand pre-revolutionary technology and postcards of the last century, then you should think about how to make money on antiques by organizing your own business.
Global Market Prospects
It should be noted that the domestic market occupies a small part in this industry. And if you want to open your own antiques business and earn a lot, then you should focus on the markets of Europe, America and Asia.
In this case, truly endless prospects will open up before you. Of course, to work in the global market, you must speak at least some English. Only after this you will receive an excellent opportunity and prospects, you will be able to make a profit not only as an intermediary and consultant, but also to work as a trusted representative, carrying out the client’s instructions to search for and purchase valuable antiques. In addition, through mediation and consultations you can earn start-up capital to open your own store.
Where to look for antiques
Practice shows that truly valuable items can be found directly from the owners, or through art dealers. Purchasing through the latter is more expensive, but more reliable. It is more profitable to contact the owners directly, who often do not understand the value of the things they own, but dream of getting rid of the junk as quickly as possible. By buying unnecessary things from residents of Khrushchev and Stalin buildings, you can sometimes find amazing and rare antiques. Another option is trips to villages. There, local residents also have valuable and expensive things in their attics and sheds, among other rubbish. A good source for finding “treasures” are flea markets. There, too, you come across rare things that are ready to sell for pennies.
A less reliable, but more interesting way to get rare things is to search for treasure. True, here you need to know what and where to look. But persistent adventurers still come across gold jewelry, rare coins, and many other valuable things. But there is no guarantee that you will come across a truly rare thing. Moreover, even if it is caught, the cost of restoration may exceed the possible income from its sale. Also, don't discount the Internet. There are many forums and communities of collectors, treasure hunters and other lovers of ancient things who are ready to sell or exchange some things.
But the antiques market is unstable and changes every year. Today the most popular are two main categories of things:
- Expensive antiques: paintings by famous artists, jewelry.
- Items from the flea market: artifacts, ancient curiosities.
Today, people are becoming more and more interested in contemporary art, art modernism. Interest in art deco style items continues. A business in antiques must be built taking into account these market trends.
Ways to create a business in antiques
There are several ways to make money on antiques. The first is investing in valuable items and their further resale. In this case, your profit will be approximately 25% per year of the invested amount. You can also get a specialty as an antiques appraiser and work in this direction.
The services of such a specialist are estimated at $100-150 per hour. Many people believe that only those who have an education in museums and art history can deal with antiques, but in reality everything is much simpler. You can complete special courses in antiques and become a professional in this field.
Online auctions for selling antiques
There are many sites open through which you can put anything up for sale. Antiques are one of the most common items. Each country in the post-Soviet space has its own online auction:
- Belarus – Ay.by
- Russia – Meshok.net
- Kazakhstan – Agora.kz
- Ukraine – Bitok.ua
If you find something valuable, it makes sense to put the item up for sale through several auctions at once. Thus, it is possible to catch the maximum cost. Just don’t limit yourself to regional sites; perhaps foreigners will appreciate the antiques. There are even more foreign online auctions
:
- Mbok.jp;
- Auction.co.kr;
- Ricardo.ch;
- Tradera.com;
- Archine.com;
- Huuto.net;
- Ebid.net;
- Auctionfire.com;
- Pirkis.lt;
- Bidderboy.com;
- Emarket.gr.
And these are not all sites; you can easily find their analogues on the Internet. It is also worth adding bulletin boards to online auctions. There are even more of them created, and the most popular is Avito. There are a lot of antiques here, just for fun you can see what other people are selling:
The more sites you use to find a buyer, the faster you will get rid of things you don’t need. Use all the free bulletin boards, just compose them wisely. Be sure to upload a photo and provide a detailed description.
Treasure search
There is another interesting option for how to make money on antiques - treasure hunting. In this case, your profit is determined by the quality and quantity of treasures found. You can look for anything, from copper coins to rare gold jewelry. But you need to understand that not all ancient coins will be valued at a decent amount.
Their value depends on how rare they are. But jewelry and jewelry can bring really good income, but there are nuances here too. The price of such jewelry is set taking into account their condition and the possibility of restoration.
Sales of antiques
Antique art experts recommend selling your finds through special antique auctions on the Internet. Here the cost of rare items can increase many times. In addition, there are forums where treasure hunters, collectors, or simply antique lovers communicate. With their help you can sell or buy antiques but, of course, you need good experience. It should be noted that truly valuable and rare finds are not found often, these are isolated cases.
Advice for those wishing to start this business
- Don't take on everything at once at first.
Choose 2-3 priority areas for yourself. For example, children's and Christmas tree toys. This will make it easier for you - you will quickly learn to distinguish between rare and expensive toys.
- Work with all sources of sales and purchases on the Internet.
Find groups on VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, and Facebook. Find thematic forums and auctions for the sale of antiques. Look for those who sell vintage items on Avito, on city forums and on social networks.
- Build your reputation.
If this is a forum, then follow the sales rules, get a seller rating and never let customers down, even in small things. If you say that you will send the goods today, then ship today or do not promise exactly. Always communicate politely and correctly. If you sell through social networks, collect customer reviews, so you will be more trusted. For example, on my VKontakte page I made myself a separate album with reviews, and, believe me, these reviews are looked at.
- Work to the maximum with customers.
Find out that they still collect them, maybe they need something else. And then, when you have this thing, you can offer it to someone who has already bought from you. Also look at requests from buyers - in groups on social networks these will be albums with the title “Looking, Buying” or similar names.
- Learn, remember, compare, look at the prices of items at auctions.
Here, literally, your knowledge = your money. Study the demand, find out which antique items are being sought after by collectors, and which ones are on sale and are worth selling.
- Separately, it is necessary to say about delivery, post office and its workers.
Since you will be sending items via Russian Post, be sure to include delivery in your payment immediately. On average, it is 150-300 rubles - it depends on the weight of the parcel and the distance to the destination region. Postal boxes are sold at the post office, the price of the smallest is from 50 rubles. But you can save money and not buy postal boxes, but send them in any other boxes without inscriptions, or in boxes wrapped in paper without inscriptions or drawings. I send in boxes and packaging for various things - I simply wrap the box in thick plain paper (mine is old wallpaper on the back side), and stick on the address of the sender and recipient. The post office easily accepts such parcels. Well, another obvious but important piece of advice: maintain good relations with postal workers, they can tell you how to send cheaper or let you skip the line.
- Do not send items cash on delivery.
Why is that? When you send cash on delivery, the buyer may change his mind or spend the money on something else, or find something cheaper and closer. And then no one will pick up your product at the post office - you will end up with an unsold item, a waste of time and money (you will have to pay for the return).
- Don't expect quick results.
The antiques market, on the one hand, is very conservative and slow - you may not be able to sell something for six months or more. And something else, at a high price, will be sold like hotcakes. But in any case, you can always sell the item by reducing its price. Over time, you will develop a flair for those things that “look like hundreds of dollars, but cost tens of thousands.” You will simply have a very good understanding of what is considered an antique or vintage rarity.
Where do they study to become an antique dealer?
One of the organizers of antique courses is. This auction house has an institute of the same name, where you can master the following specialties: “Business valuation in the field of antiques”, “Methodology for determining the value of antiques”. After successfully completing the program, students receive a diploma license to conduct appraisal activities in the field of antiques.
But before you retrain as an antiques specialist, you should take into account that appraiser courses are quite expensive. To take only the initial course, you need to pay $1,100, and more in-depth training in annual courses costs approximately two thousand dollars.
You can study to become an antique dealer immediately after graduating from school; you don’t have to take exams or tests. But mainly this activity is of interest to those who already have an education and want to change their field of activity. The leaders of the institute assure that the basic education of applicants for training does not matter at all. As a rule, courses are designed for people who have previously had nothing to do with their chosen specialty.
Training
For experienced students with diplomas in art history and cultural studies, the auction house offers a more in-depth training program for the specialty “antique appraiser.” In addition to Gelos, a specialty in the field of antiques can be obtained at the educational level.
To take the four-month course and graduate with a degree in Arts and Crafts, you'll pay approximately $230. Also here you can take a two-month course on Soviet art of painting and the history of iconography. Such courses will cost you $600.
Of course, you can take an introductory course in antiques at the International School of Design and learn how to distinguish valuable objects from fakes, but this will not make you a good specialist in this field. You can obtain a certificate of completion of courses in antiques at the Moscow Linguistic Center. By paying a thousand dollars, you can listen to a course of relevant lectures.
Features of the antique business
Of course, you shouldn’t expect that after taking a course in special programs you will immediately become a qualified antique dealer and start earning really serious money. Professionalism in this field is acquired over many years through experience. But nevertheless, with such a specialty you will not be left without work.
You can open your own antique business appraising, buying or selling antiques, or gain much-needed experience in this area in one of the many companies specializing in antiques. Even a beginner specialist can count on a salary of one to two thousand dollars a month, which will quickly recoup the funds spent on education.
And the profit of a professional and experienced antiques appraiser ranges from three hundred to one thousand dollars a week. You can earn approximately $100-$150 per hour for appraising antiques for sale. In addition to income from establishing the value of the goods, the appraiser is entitled to a certain percentage of the transaction concluded through his mediation.
Investment funds and banks
If you wish, you can invest in antiques using investment funds and art banking programs. Employees of these institutions are dealers, consultants, and carry out sales and purchases on behalf of the client. Consultants will recommend what is more profitable to buy now and what is better to exchange in the collection. The advantage of this investment method is that you don’t have to look for antiques or decide where to store them. Dealers will help you make a decision on purchasing an antique item with the subsequent receipt of maximum profitability.
Professionalism, experience and authority
In the antique market, in addition to professional qualities and experience, authority is also of great importance, which is extremely important to acquire during the activity. In the early stages of your business, you will have to work for a small fee, but over time, after you have gained a name and authority in antique circles, you can count on a significant increase in income.
It is worth paying attention to the strict specialization that is observed among antique dealers. For example, a painting specialist will never undertake the assessment of antique furniture, and vice versa. This attitude makes it possible to study the chosen field in more depth and become a truly professional appraiser.
