It’s important to understand where antiques originate. Many antique buyers make the mistake of misunderstanding the process by which antique items are found. Many collectors and dealers waste valuable time searching in places where they believe that these items are in great abundance. But a true understanding of where antiques originate seems to have eluded many well-meaning antique dealers and collectors.
It’s Elementary Watson!
If you want to find fresh-to-the-market antiques and collectibles, you need to go where they are in great abundance, and where they originate! Antiques do not originate at auctions, or at flea markets, or at antique shows. Antiques originate in people’s homes. This is a fundamental truth for 99% of all antiques that you will ever see.
Another truth that many people overlook.
The other simple fact, is that most antiques that you are most likely to get a great deal on reside in the homes of people who are older. Young people do not, as a general rule have antiques in the abundance that older people do. Why? Because older people came from a generation that saved everything, and you will find that a majority of the time they have kept it all! From the 1950s toys in the closet to the old toaster that was just too good to throw away, older folks still have most everything they ever owned.
Knowing these two fundamental truths about where antiques originate, begs a big question. Knowing that antiques originate in people’s homes, and that antiques are most likely to reside in older people’s homes, where will you be attempting to spend a majority of your prime time? It took me years to understand the following principles.
1. To get more antique inventory….. you just have to see more antiques.
2. To see more antiques, you must look at more household accumulations on a consistent basis.
3. To find the good stuff, you simply must get into more people’s homes where the antiques originate.
Knowing and understanding these principles will put you light years ahead of your competition! Believe me, I know antique dealers and collectors, and most of them find their antiques through one of only 5 methods. They find them through garage / estate sales, auctions, “goodwill” type stores, flea markets and “pickers”.
Knowing and understanding the above principles will help you to focus on where you will find the most antiques…in people’s homes.
If you want to be incredibly successful, you have to go where the antiques originate. It’s time to focus on that and only that! That focus will take you farther than you ever thought possible!
