Dealing in Antiques

If you pay a visit to eBay, you will be amazed at the number of things on auction on this online marketplace. There is virtually nothing that cannot be sold. What is even more amazing is the fact that people will buy almost anything. Thousands of people make their living on eBay by just looking for things to buy and later auctioning them for much higher prices. A case is told of one antique dealer who bought a carving of a bird for only $2 after discovering that the carving could fetch more a few dollars more. To her surprise, the carving eventually went for over $2,000. The antique proved to be more valuable than the initial price it was being sold for.

An antique dealer who is knowledgeable in spotting original antiques from replica ones has a lot of potential to make thousands of dollars. Many places can searched for original antique pieces. Car boot sales, house clearances, jumble sales; the list goes on and on. You just have to know where to look for these collectibles and spot what will fetch a good price. There are many antiques out there that can earn you a good living. Whether continental, American or French furniture and carvings, the demand for these items is huge.

Before you begin looking for antiques as an antique dealer, sit down and make a list of the items on demand. For example, the value of Dresden Porcelain today is huge and these pieces can fetch you good deals. Other pieces include silver pieces, diamond pieces and other precious metals. The trick is to learn to look for certain marks or some identifying curves that will help you to determine what will sell and what will not. While this may not be easy for a novice antique dealer, it is however possible to learn the art with patience. There are even books that promise one a wealth of information on how to spot and differentiate between the different antiques. Some of these books can help you out as a beginning antique dealer and they can save you from making mistakes or losing a lot of money in replica pieces.

In any case, if you showcase your pieces on an auction like eBay, you are likely to get some good leads that could see you making profitable deals in no time. The potential is there, you just have to know where to look.