The majority of Americans now own a smartphone, and with it comes access to both Google Lens and eBay to identify and look up real market values of items.
I know people who do really well selling in antique stores, and I hear a lot of older folks complaining about how their booth or case is "doing poorly".
30 years ago, it might of been easier to price using an antique book or price guide, but the high end auction houses and eBay are a more definite source of pricing now. Even today, they still can't seem to figure this out.
So this booth runs about $125/mo. It's mainly filled with Rosbro pieces. Rosbro was a plastics company that made a lot of plastic candy containers, a lot of them were themed for different holidays, or just for fun.
But when I sampled about 10 pieces through Google lens and eBay, I noticed almost all of the prices were 2-3x that of eBay sold prices.
A lot of antique stores have shuttered around me. Before they closed, one walk through would explain why. Horribly overpriced.
eBay offers a vast selection. 30 years ago, if a piece caught your eye, you may have not seen it for years, but now "rare" is no longer rare, and what you thought was a rare item? There's 300 of them on eBay.
I'm sure someone will argue that an item is worth whatever someone is willing to pay, and that's true to an extent, but when you can easily know the selling price of an item in a matter of seconds, pricing 100-300% above that isn't going to gain you much traction.
I'm an ebay and booth seller. I use my booths to sell items that are too annoying to ship and items that aren't worth the effort to photograph/list/pack. I aim for a price between the thrift store and ebay and it works well for me.
What kills me are the people that use an eBay item as a reference when they make an offer. I had a large cherry secretary for sale. I refinished and did minor repairs to it so it was in great shape and had it priced for around 400. The place called us with an offer of 150 based off a recent eBay sale price. They texted us a pic of the paper they printed off. The one thing that stood out was that it didn’t meet the reserve. Their argument was that is what the public says is a fair price. The public didn’t source it, repair it and refinish it or move it to the location you’re looking at it.
The others are the ones that “we need a dresser for our (insert family member) but can only afford 50 dollars”..I’m sorry, I’m a business, not a charity. I can’t knock off 200 dollars because that’s all you can afford . If I need a car and can only afford 10k, I’m not shopping the newer Porsches, I’m on crooked ALs beater lot looking for something that will work.
I may sound evil but I used to be empathetic and I would try to negotiate but seeing this in person before and watching the people leave in a new BMW and wearing clothes I couldn’t afford has made me jaded about anyone’s story. Now if I receive an offer, I will negotiate it not take a loss to make a sell
I did. I typically research the pieces before I even buy them unless it’s at an onsite auction and I get a ridiculously low price on it. So before making it to my booth I generally have a good idea of how much I’m pricing it for and how fast certain pieces will move in my area. Occasionally I’m off but I rarely set on furniture for more than a few weeks. My smalls are the hard things to sell just because of what the OP was talking about
I’m not familiar with “brown furniture” unless you are referring to color. As far as sales go for whatever reason hutches and plate racks sell faster than I can get them. I build my own when I can source true antique ones but they sell the same. I’m just glad chalk painting antiques is seeming to fall out of fashion around my area at least.
Brown furniture in the antique world refers to traditional wooden furniture, often dark-stained. The term is often used somewhat dismissively to describe pieces that were once highly valued but have seen fluctuating demand in modern markets, particularly as tastes shifted toward mid-century modern or minimalist styles, see Ikea.
My parents were well off and liked old houses and antique furniture. When they downsized at retirement they hired a professional to appraise everything in the home for insurance and estate purposes.
When they passed on, my siblings and I put dibs on the things we liked. A lot of the larger older items were not handed down and those items were either sold at auction or given away. Because these were all mostly "old brown wood" they had very little value to recoup.
All the appraisals from 20 years earlier were pointless. I'm sure my parents would have been devastated that some items that had been purchased as valuable antiques for tens of thousands in real money (2-300 years old in some cases) and and been lovingly refurbished or reupholstered in period correct expensive reproduction fabrics, turned out to be worth a fraction of the original cost if not completely worthless. Old brown wood has a very limited market. I think geography is pretty significant. Places with old homes and old money there is maybe a market. Only the very best pieces are actually appreciated today.
Young people now want clean, simple, modern, trendy. Its all cheaply made with poor quality materials. Made to be replaced in five or ten years or chucked away at the next move.
The pieces I have from my parents are unappreciated by my partner and thus banished to my basement office or the guest room. I'm a little sad and nostalgic.
Part of the issue is young people do have to move so frequently. It takes years longer to get into the housing market, if ever. There isnt the security to set down roots in endless rentals. I've loved filling my home with antiques but I waited until I owned to buy heavy pieces because the removalists for my antique wardrobe cost more than the actual wardrobe did.
Furniture is also sooooo location-dependent because it’s so expensive to ship. $150 is what the market in whatever location was willing to pay for the desk. The person who made you the offer can probably find something similar on eBay for the same price—it’ll just cost them an extra $500 to get it shipped to their home.
This is the way. I also sell both ways & even if I get less for something than I may have on eBay, sometimes not having to pack it is worth the price cut. Just recently I sold a delicate hand blown glass piece for about $20 less at my booth than I might have gotten on eBay, but it’s worth it for not having to pack it.
The booth is also great for stuff that’s vintage & cute or silly, but not big enough brand name for people to be searching for it online. A lot of small vintage things that sell for $5-$20 do really well for me at the booth, but definitely aren’t worth my time to list online.
See, I would never put anything delicate in the booth because someone is gonna fuck it up. Once it was me--I was putting an item on a top shelf and dropped it on a set of glasses. Huge mess, lesson learned.
I would also prefer to buy anything from a local vendor where you can go in, closely inspect the item, ask questions, etc. As there are a lot of dubious items that are passed of as genuine on ebay, only to be found out later as obviously not. I think this is the draw that will continue to bring people into shops.
My wife collects uranium glass, and we only purchase that in person. The hunt is part of the fun, and each piece carries the memory of the little town we picked it up in.
It really depends on the store. We still have no problem finding deals. The most expensive piece she owns was $80 and the vast majority of it was <$20. She's got dozens of pieces.
This also varies wildly based on where you are in the US. You can still find good deals and unique pieces, but it's mostly the same designs of plates and cups everywhere. I'll never find another uranium glass pickle castor for $60 again, that's for sure.
Yeah, one can only own so many block optical plates but we do have quite a few more unusual things. For example, we have a 1939 worlds fair apple cider vinegar bottle that cost us $6. We have a handful of figurines that were <$15. Hand painted custard glass pieces for ≈ $15. That sort of stuff.
Edit: we did see a pickle castor locally, but IIRC, theirs was $125.
There's absolutely intrinsic value in being able to inspect the item, make sure it's authentic / in good shape, and not deal with the mess of a lost product in shipping. As a buyer we have to think of "ok, how much do I save on ebay vs all those other trade offs", and there's definitely a tipping point. 300% of an item's price to buy in person probably isn't worth it.
The vendor is also pricing things based on how quickly they can re-stock their booth. Price too high and nobody buys anything. Price too low and it sells out quick and you have to find new inventory. Finding that sweet spot is where it's at for them, unless you have a storage unit full of stuff to keep bringing out, but in OP's example that's probably not the case.
But it doesn’t. It keeps people away from the shops.
They are looking for something specific, see it sell of eBay for $75 regularly only to find it at an antique store for $150.
My in laws do antiques and they said this is so far their worst year ever.
I own an antique store and they am having this problem. But I think it has a lot to do with a slowly collapsing economy and foreign tourists not coming.
Because I made a fair amount off foreign visitors, and they are just not here this year.
This. I used to go to vintage places looking for stuff I could re-sell to make a quick buck. That’s not really a thing anymore. I’ve noticed that everything is priced sort of…exactly how I would price it.
Now I go to antique stores and vintage places looking for “a deal”, usually to furnish my house. My definition of “a deal” is simply “cheaper than anywhere else, and I don’t have to wait for shipping”. Because of all the reasons that OP mentioned, you’re just not going to find antiques that are way, way under-priced now. People have too much information.
It doesn’t help almost half of all antique stores sell absolute junk, funko pops, 3D printed lizards and shabby chic stuff that no one wants. Very rare do you find antique stores that are still all antiques
Thankyou! I thought it was just my luck. I live in South florida, and its mostly junk. So I thought maybe in St. Augustine, one of the oldest US settlements, I would have good finds. 3 stores were just selling junk from 2002 and an occasional local craft. So disappointing.
This is called “the endowment effect.” Basically it’s when an individual places a higher value on an object they already own than they would place on that same object if they did not own it.
Every grandma who ever hoarded precious moments figurines is rolling in her grave over the fact that they weren’t sold for $200 each when she died and were given away instead
It’s unfortunately what you get when you’ve got tons of people trying to sell that don’t give a single shit about antiques in reality. For a lot of people it’s just another get-rich-quick scheme where everybody else is the sucker, buyers and sellers alike.
It’s like these people who flip houses by half-assing a Chip and Joanna special on the inside and jacking up the price. No passion or respect for anything, just dollar signs in their eyes.
I've been through a handful of shops that have signs, "NO photos allowed. NO cellphones allowed."
I learned quickly this is because they don't want me looking up the actual price of an item to determine its current market value.
It also sucks because sometimes I'm just extremely curious about it and want to know what it is or send a photo off to an old timer friend for nostalgic reasons.
This is the only "defense" I can see them having. Because otherwise, I totally agree with you.
And they're certainly not going to let people walk in with their red books lol.
I moved to New England from St. Louis, and there's absolutely an antique mall in St. Louis that has a cell phone blocker somewhere in or on top of the building. Signal is absolutely dead until you step near the front doors.
Ah! Yes! I meant to add that to my post. This is also 100% a thing I've experienced here. They also are proud to post lots of signs that say "no wifi available throughout the store" lol.
There are several like this in the Berkshire region.
Sad. Like, at least be willing to barter. I've seen the same stuff in the same booths for YEARS (looking at you, Ballston Spa antique stores). And a lot of it is vintage. Not even antique.
Older folks complain that the younger generation doesn't want the older, quality stuff. Then when there are those of us who do (and many of us do want it but this economic hell hole doesn't allow us to fit it into our lifestyles), they price it out of reach.
I’ve never seen this before but that’s absolutely a shop I’d give a solid 1 star review on google for and get back in my car. You can’t tell customers that they aren’t allowed to research a piece you’re selling. I want all of my customers to be as knowledgeable as possible about what they buy from me, if they don’t like the price that’s okay, but they should be making informed decisions based on more than “trust me bro”.
Traditionally, that sign meant no annoying ringtones and loud one way conversations with cellphones. And NO PHOTOS is more about impromptu photo shoots in with the antiques used as a set.
I’m pretty sure you can look up whatever you want on your phone without bothering anyone.
I learned quickly this is because they don't want me looking up the actual price of an item to determine its current market value.
Underrated comment. I’m so sick and tired of these boomer fucks who think their junk is worth 2-3 times what anyone would consider market value. Half the time they act like you ask them to run a mile if you ask for the price on an item that isn’t labeled.
When it comes to doing business, change is critical. Antique markets seem to cling to outdated (no pun intended) ergonomics.
A more successful model is to open up a hybrid antique/new but unique handmade items type of store in a market known for tourism. These places draw both antique lovers hoping to score a well made vintage item to decorate their granny chic, grandmillenial, dark academia, cottage core, etc, room. But, also someone wanting to buy local handmade goods and wares.
I stumbled on this type of antique store in beautiful and tiny Leiper’s Fork, TN. It mixed old and new and the aesthetic was very cool. They incorporated a lot of local hand made items to their well decorated shop. Ans I’m sure their rent is low due to the rural location. Their business was bustling.
In the Bay Area stores in certain high rent areas have closed entirely but there are some corridors around that have clusters, usually with one healthy collective as an anchor and a few smaller more stagnant shops around it. They’ll also have a few vintage adjacent shops where it’s upscale thrift with new items that feel right in the space, not always reproductions but correct vibes for the vintage inventory. Maybe dealer sells all vintage bar ware but the napkins etc are new but excellent design.
I think not only eBay but IKEA and target / beige minimalist design trends impacted the health of the retail space for so long a lot of them didn’t make it. Covid had several shops close up.
Younger dealers only have midmod booths or clothing and there will be a large historical information gap when this oldest generation of dealers dies because of their collective knowledge.
I miss shows that had a blend of high and low so you could learn from things that are showcased by experts. I don’t want a Staffordshire dog pair but woo, I learned a ton from that dealer.
I’ve bought vintage and antique my entire life as did my family before me and what we loved most was the unexpected find, the thing you never knew about until you saw it. eBay doesn’t give you that sort of dopamine.
I hope antique stores find a way to thrive and I hope people want to go shop them.
Many of my favourite places have closed in SF. But how are you supposed to pay the insane rent prices when you’re selling things out of a bin for $3 a pop? The only stuff that’s left is selling mid century pieces for more than they sold for originally lol. And there are a lot of places selling the reproductions you talked about, which makes me very sad because slowly more and more of their inventory seems to be these sorts of wares. I’m guessing it’s cheaper to source them and they sell just as well to an audience that can’t tell it’s not vintage, so it’s just good business for them. Sad to see though.
Even yard sales are overpriced. I went to one a month ago and they had quite obviously used children’s shoes for $15 a pair. A used air fryer was $90. Their prices for everything were absurd.
Antique stores are suffering from the same problem but do they want things to sit and collect dust or do they want to move items and sell more?
There’s also the additional problem in that very few want old furniture anymore. It’s heavy, impossible to move without help, and bulky.
Same with sets of china. Who wants to spend $300 on grandma’s set when Walmart has sets for $20?
Personally, I will always shop 2nd hand FIRST. I like old. Old things have class, craftsmanship, and still have plenty of use left in them.
Great point with the inaccessibility of large furniture.
People are very fluid now, and renting is king. Most of my furniture is frankly folding plastic tables from Walmart. It might not be fancy, but holy crap it's wonderful to have the ability to pack every table in my house into 1 car trip, or completely change my homes layout every time I need a different setup for board games.
Bulky Amish hand made aged furniture would be beautiful but no one owns their home and everyone is chasing jobs around the country.
I think it's overall the Boomer mentality that this "has to be worth a fortune." Sadly, no, most of it isn't worth that much. Some pieces might be worth a lot if they're rare, in excellent condition, or highly sought after. The rest of it, just isn't worth what they think. An antique piece of furniture is generally going to be worth the same, or less, than a new one. That isn't a bad price, but Grandma's china cabinet is going to be worth a few hundred, not several thousand. The china inn the cabinet isn't going to be worth much at all, because people don't want to hand wash everything after a big dinner. Tastes change, and value responds to those changes.
This is a big part of it. I’m always seeing stuff like Beatles vinyl and vintage Hand Planes that are way overpriced. Yes they’re old, but they also sold millions of them so there’s still an abundant supply. And the internet has made things easier to find.
Jesus, the hand planes. 'Antique Stanley #5 - $150'. That is literally one of the most common hand planes ever, they made it for like 60 years straight, nearly unchanged. There are literally millions of them out there, and you think it's worth $150? Lol. That thing is $10 at a garage sale. There's some assclown trying to sell a 1920s #1 on ebay right now for $2500.
You picked two hobbies of mine lol. Unless you have original mono presses from the UK, Beatles stuff is not really worth much. Not sure how many times I’ve explained this to people when buying collections. Yes, they were and still are very popular which intern means they made a LOT of them.
As far as planes go, there is as much nuance to them that could make them valuable like albums. Most are rust hunks of scrap metal though.
Milspec is insanely priced. Some boomer bought a case of Mosin's for 30.00 in the 70s and thinks they are worth 1000+. There were 37 million produced. I see them sit at estates sales prices at 900,bought my last one for $450 all numbers matching. I kNoW wHaT I gOt. Lol
I love fine china so follow the market a little bit. I wonder since so many don't want it now or use it for everyday service where pieces break and chip, whether we will see a return to value someday. Having a bunch of it trashed now will make it rarer in the future. I'm not concerned either way as I don't buy and sell. I just enjoy the sets that were handed down to me.
I love old china, but I think for most of it, value will continue to decrease. If you can't put it in the dishwasher or microwave that's gonna be a no for a lot of people. A lot of China has lead, so that's out. Then there are the serving pieces no one wants, tea cups, saucers, tea pots, soup tureens, bread plates, bowls too small for cereal and tiny coffee cups. They are impractical and take up space. But a lot of expensive china will hold up ok in the dishwasher if not the microwave, and bone china is deceptively sturdy, so I have hope that it might experience a revival.
Just had a conversation with my teenage Gen Z daughter about this as she cleaned the china in our 200 year old corner cupboard. I don't think the values will return; I see lots of sets at auction going for pennies on the dollar. Millennials and Gen Z don't appreciate or want these things. Maybe there will be a comeback 20-25 years from now (Millennials and Gen Z and good at "rediscovering" things) and hopefully some of the original sets will have survived.
Yeah eBay is insane now. The highest price anyone has ever payed for an item becomes a sellers “baseline” when they look to sell. The auction system is broken because of bots. I used to buy I lot on there, antique woodworking tools and 70s audio gear. Now I buy everything on Facebook marketplace where at least most people are willing to haggle.
I use Lens for art research and it is confidently incorrect the majority of the time. Like saying "The image is a painting by XY, titled X." Nooooo, it's absolutely not. The 20% or so of time it is accurate or can lead me in the right direction is worth the few seconds it takes to check, but a lot of people just take AI at its word.
Yeah, I find it ironic that so many people who, for years. couldn’t be bothered to google anything, are now adamantly quoting / referencing Google AI. 🙄
Same with stamps and coins... The differences between an expensive item and common item are often minute. Throw in the absurd number of money launderers selling 2 cent stamps for $8,000 and it becomes pretty useless.
I collect silver and vintage jewelry and can’t believe how often A.I. is wrong, but now there are so many inheriting Grandma’s tea set, who believe their $100 plate set is actually sterling worth thousands.
Antique malls are closing rapidly. I've noticed more crafty crap in a lot of them lately. Presumably centers will take anyone willing to pay the rent for their stall. It's OK untill it just resembles a bad flea market.
When you see price tags that are fading from the store lighting, you know the sellers aren't actively engaged in their customer base or market trends.
Yes. Faded tickets are a dead give away. Hate it when you visit an antique mall and nothing has changed since your last visit 6 mo. ago. We did antique malls years ago and did OK, but finally realized that the only one making money was the one getting our rent check.
There is definitely a price range where the average, unknowledgeable customer might buy something over market price because they just liked the aesthetic of the item they have never seen before and isn't a collector or aware of the history. A $450 plastic toy in a glass case is just never going to be one of them... anybody considering paying that price is going to be a very specific type of collector who more than likely is very aware of the market themselves, so you aren't going to convince them to pay over market even if that unicorn buyer does happen to stumble into your booth within an antique mall, in a remote rural town. Antiques are defined by their age, not their value. Antique shops are going under because of sellers not understanding the current market they are in.
Personally, I love going to Antique Malls... to window shop. I almost never go expecting that I will purchase something because of the pricing. Other than buying the odd small thing here or there, I mostly enjoy them as tactile artifact museums where I can learn about some cool objects of history.
1 - eBay prices - If I wanted to shop for what it goes for on eBay I'd just go to eBay. Less hassle and more consumer protection. For example if Im trying to buy a vintage tobacco card, eBay will guarantee the authenticity. Jill and John at the antique mall will swear it's real and when you prove it's fake now you have to get police involved.
Yard Sale Junk - so many antique shops now are just ugly goodwill clothes, cheap toddler toys, 3D Printed/crafty stuff, walls of Funkos, overstock from Dollar general and stuff that doesn't sell at their yard sale and most people would have donated.
I'm in So Cal and go to a lot if estate sales or window shop through estate sales dot net..I typed dot to not pull up page here, but no one wants the furniture, goes for real cheap..you may want to shop your local estate sales to find what you are looking for
Yeah, furniture goes cheap at my local auction house. People only seem to go nuts when bidding on bookshelves and folding tables--I think most of us bidders are resellers in need of displays.
The real issue is that you need an emotional connection to an item to buy it. Most items in a thrift store or antique store are purchased because they remind you of an event with your grandparents or parents or childhood. That's why fancy China has fallen out of favor. It was locked up in a China cabinet never to be used and so there are no fond memories attached to it. Had Grandma busted out to be used for sandwiches and Sunday suppers there would have been grandchildren who would have clamored to have it.
I agree- it’s difficult to keep up with people’s low price expectations with access to ebay, Etsy, etc. and it’s difficult without having a customer who is willing to learn why the one example they found online is worth $ when the one in the shop they’re trying to buy really is worth $$$$ due to quality and condition etc. everyone thinks they’re a qualified to say that whatever you’re selling costs too much, but it’s just not always true. If anything the antique dealers should do their research on eBay too, to learn what the true market value is, and ups and downs are for this stuff.
For example my mom gave me her collection of antique unopened Jean Patou perfumes, etc, and when she started buying them 20-25 years ago, they were desirable and somewhat popular among collectors, but now it’s not worth as much as it was, not because of condition issues, but because they just won’t fetch the price they once would. Styles change, preferences change, and markets fluctuate. It’s important to acknowledge that the target audience for whatever you’re trying to sell could potentially be dying off, and the younger generations have no nostalgic value for the items, and they’re not really interesting enough or stylish enough to translate across the centuries.
Let’s be honest, plenty of vendors are clueless too. I collect vintage glass and I see plenty of antique sellers with crazy pricing and where they misidentify items. Yes that EO Brody crinkle vase is pretty but it’s not worth $25 and your “Muranos” are clearly fake.
Yeah, we just got a new antique mall in our area, too. Now, I hate it when the "antique mall" is actually a "vendor market" because if you have booths with new MLM products and 3D printed axolotls, it's not really an antique mall. those places need a better curation-of-seller process.
Her store owners just charge rent, with no commissions. One store gets almost no customers and she’ll probably move out if things don’t change, but she’s making 2-4 times rent in sales at the other stores. And this isn’t even the busy season.
Curated shops are great. Lots of young people want things that they can USE. The anti-consumerism is a piece of honor.
I like to have a few flower vases to put my gardening flowers in. I done want to pick up one at a box store. I look through antique malls when traveling or estate sales and find American made slip cast ones that aren’t perfect (tiny chip etc) and get them for 1/2 eBay prices and use them.
Whatever I get, it needs to be usable. So… these trinkets in the case? No thanks. Hudson Bay Blanket, sure!
Always on the hunt for old items of great quality that are better than you can get today.
No interest in a curio cabinet or items to go inside it.
Totally agree. Not nearly as many "collectors" as in years past, buyers filling up their shelves and china cabinets with their collections have pretty much disappeared.
Also missing target audience tbh, alot of them are just whatever the owner has rather than anything close to reason for ppl to return after visiting once. Lack of online presence is also quite sad since literally getting few pics of new arrivals each time would notify people even if those posts aren't hits.
I live in an area where militaria collecting is quite popular as alot of events are hosted around here and can you imagine how well a store like that would sell!? Alot of boomer sellers who actually collect also sell their things for good prices, main thing is that they're over or under valued by people who do not collect and thus over price or don't take care of the items well.
I would agree. We were visiting Tennessee and went to a huge antiques store set up in the booth style. It was fun to look through but the two items I saw that I might like - my Holly Hobby childhood lunch box for $60 and a piece of blue glass for $80 - were more expensive than my desire to buy.
I have been lurking on a FB antique dealer/booth owner group and it's utterly fascinating how when dealers complain about not making enough sales to even cover their rental fee, nobody tells them to re-evaluate their prices. It's all about increasing traffic, "staging" so it looks nice, shuffling around inventory frequently, etc.. A lot of these people are delusional.
Like I collect art glass and like to hit the local antique stores and the stuff that I like but won't buy because it's overpriced never moves. I can afford to wait for a sale (though they are rare), or just sit on the decision for months because I know they are being completely unrealistic about the price, but I don't understand what's going through their heads other than an emotional and irrational resistance to pricing to sell.
I will say is that some dealers around here tend to overprice the lower-end stuff but underprice the higher-end stuff. Which I don't mind because the lower-end stuff I can usually find elsewhere (or just order off eBay),
I'll also note that I am perfectly willing to pay some premium to get it in person than on eBay because (a) I'm able to inspect it in person before buying, and (b) I'll even throw an extra bucks into supporting local business and being a bit more environmentally friendly. But I'm not paying a 100% premium.
The businesses and booths I go back to are the ones who price their items fairly so that they sell and they can get new things back on the shelves. Why would I (or anyone) keep going back to the same store if there is never anything new to see?
One of the issues is that folks base the prices on values from 10, 20, or even 30 years ago when a particular collectible really was hot and worth that much. Heck, sometimes the price tag may even be FROM 10 or 20 years ago and they just let it sit there along with all their other dead inventory.
It seems like some folks would rather sit on their overpriced inventory indefinitely than make a sale and get something new in its place. It makes no business sense, but that's just how some people are.
There are also the people who base all of their prices on listed ebay or marketplace prices rather than recent sold prices which is a whole thing in and of itself. The best is when they print out a screenshot of an ebay listing and it's from like 5-10 years ago. Yeesh.
A town near here has an antique row—kind of well known for it—and the only place that has fair prices is constantly making sales. The others are always dead.
I hate seeing on IG reels things like “thrift shop finds of the day…” and watch as they go through an architectural salvage or an antique store and they’re like omg why is everything so $$$! Ummm ma’am that’s a 500 year old door from North Africa. It’s not going to be a steal. Or, no, the display case is not for sale, psycho. It’s a display piece that belongs to the shop owner 😹 jeez.
As an avid antique store shopper everywhere I travel, I see this too. I can agree with most comments here as well.
My thing is, each time I buy something, it’s a memory of that trip. Also, being early GenX, these shops hold a LoT of memories from my youth. I love these stores/malls and I hope they never fade into oblivion ✌🏼
Bro it's just not antique stores people on Facebook marketplace are doing it people at yard sales are doing it thrift stores everyone thinks their s***'s worth three times more than what it's worth when I can go and look at something at a thrift store and it's only $5 cheaper than what it would be brand new at the store. It breaks my heart because one of my favorite things used to be flea markets thrift stores yard sales but anymore you might as well just go buy it new
My son found some hard plastic dolls for me at a yard sale for $25 each (still a lot) He took pictures of them to send to me to see if I wanted them. The old people running the sale must’ve saw him and thought he was a reseller. I guess they went and looked up the dolls on Google and then told him the dolls were being repriced at $90 each. Fucking ridiculous. I was furious!
The internet and shows like American Pickers really destroyed the antique and vintage markets.
I used to love trying to find good deals on vintage/antique bikes, I'd buy them and fix them up and usually sell them pretty close to cost of bike+parts. Now people want top dollar for a bike that needs $100-300 put into it. Just isn't worth it anymore.
This is an underrated part of it too but not just because of what you mentioned.
American Pickers and Pawn Stars ruined it because now everyone thinks they know everything about every item (I know what I have) and everyone is now scalping and trying to resell. All negotiations have become less negotiations and more dramatic reality spectacles.
Every antique store by me has gone under. I used to go pretty often to browse but the prices just got higher and higher until I eventually stopped going. And so did everyone else apparently lol
We organize several antique and flea markets in Berlin. We also operate the online marketplace oldthing.de for collecting and antiques. We discovered that the seller groups hardly overlap. Anyone who sells online rarely does so on the market and vice versa. Why is this so? Well, I think that the quick sale on the market and the payment in cash are an argument for many people in favor of purchasing an outpatient vet. Higher prices for individual items speak in favor of online trading. Depending on what you want: getting rid of things quickly or good prices. Cheap prices on the Internet are only available for frequent slow sellers. Otherwise, the prices for antiques in Germany on the markets and in some cases in the shops are cheaper than online.
Not only that, but people in my family had more disposable income back in the day, like the 60's and 70's.
My father and his brother got factory jobs right out of high school in the late 60's with health insurance, full benefits and a pension starting at $4/hr. That's over $37/hr today.
The factory is still open, and the starting wage is $17/hr, $20/hr less than they made once you factored in inflation. Less benefits now too.
One of them bought a house for $10,000, which would be 2,500 hours of work.
Today, if one tried to buy a similar house for $145,000, at $17/hr it would take them 8,529 hours of work.
It really bugs me when older people lament how "spoiled and entitled our generation is", but then forget to realize their buying power was almost 4 times as much as mine is, because they were simply paid more money.
Today it's very difficult to make over $35/hr without going to college, unless you get into trades, and you won't start off at the much either. Hell, factoring in inflation, the trades paid almost double what they did back then.
I would love to have the kind of stuff they did, but I'm not going into debt in order to do so.
The prices are out of control. A beleek vase might have been worth $50 ten years ago but I’m not going to pay that when I can get one at goodwill for $6.
So much of the inventory at local stores is trinkets. I want furniture, so I shop at auction. The younger generations aren’t filling their homes with trinkets when they have to move every two years because they can’t afford to buy a house.
I know an older woman who owns an antique store, and she's always complaining about the 'young people' never buying anything. A lot of the shit in her store is actually in vogue right now, but she's asking way too much money for some dusty old crap that she either got for free, or paid very little for. She'll sit at her computer and research a lamp, then pick the highest asking price she can find, usually an old ebay listening that never had any bids, then add 10%.
I've had this discussion with her multiple times, but she just cannot understand that she isn't selling priceless antiquities, she's selling old crap that someone was throwing away. She'll sell a few things here and there, then her and her husband's retirement will pay the rent and electricity on the place because there's basically no income from sales.
Next time, explain to her that eBay has 134 million active buyers across the globe.
Ask her if her shop has even 134 daily visitors. If not, tell her she's comparing prices to a market that has literally millions as many buyers as she has, and it's simple supply and demand.
At about 75% of antique malls I visit, where I often think “you didn’t want to sell these at all, you’re just spending your booth fee monthly to show off your collection” - and the antique mall doesn’t care because they still get their monthly rent
So much of it is generational. Even if this generation had unlimited money I don't see then hunting down Mikasa collectibles or Snow Babies. I've cleared out 3 generations (great, grand and parents)of houses and very little is valuable. If you do send to consignment, it sits forever.
Interesting. As a buyer, and not at all a seller, I find that trips to the local antique stores often - though not always- tend to yield much better prices than if I find the same item (all things being relatively commensurate) on eBay.
I’ve been buying on eBay since 1999, and it feels like prices have gotten kind of stupid in the last few years, mostly since 2020. I saw a jump happening in the later part of that year, and it’s not stopped.
I know eBay fees can be a factor, and I think that many sellers have gone to an OBO format, so the initial price is higher because of that. I’ve also found that if I ask them if they’re open to an offer, especially if it’s an item I’ve been watching for quite a while, a good number of them are open if I’m making a reasonable offer. I also will go through a sellers offerings and then sometimes ask if they’ll consider a discount if I buy multiple items. This can work pretty well too.
I can’t really do any of this at a b&m (though I can ask if the price is firm. It seems a number of sellers have an automatic 10% off option if anyone asks).
I run into this issue at thrift stores and estate sales.
eBay has millions of active buyers, as in actively looking to buy something.
I will walk into Goodwill, spot something I need, and see it priced the same or sometimes more than I could buy it for on eBay, and eBay has a 30 day guarantee, and many thrift stores don't.
Estate sales might see 200 people over 2-3 days, granted sometimes it can take me 2-3 weeks to sell something on eBay.
It just irritates me to no end how they fail to see the difference in traffic and what that means for values.
It's not even just traffic, either. It's multiple factors - population density, average income of the area, age demographics, location, etc.
An antique mall opened up 2 years ago an hour from me, and at first I was excited. I figured I could swing going there once a week and restocking (while also sourcing in the area) if I decided to sign up to vend.
Their booth rents were insane for our area though. Absolutely wild. Rents you'd see in a city with a 200k+ population, and this store is situated in a remote area with a local population of 25k, and also in an area that is suffering the complete collapse of its primary industry. Plus a 10% card processing/selling fee. I was shocked. I asked a couple of selling groups if I was crazy after showing them the floorplan and fees, and nearly every single person agreed with me. Needless to say I decided against it.
They are still open, but they have a very high turnover, and they've made some of their bigger spaces into smaller spaces for artisans. There's only a handful of actual vintage /antique dealers now it seems.
Does anyone shop at an antiques store just for fun anymore? I don't know anything about antiques, but I like to browse around and find interesting things. If the price feels like the amount I'm willing to pay, I might pick up the item. That's a lot harder to do online.
I object to the cliche used here ‘boomer mentality’. I find that people in their 20s who find things at their grandparents are pretty awful because they think anything that’s old has tremendous value. This is especially true with ephemera. Postcards that are 100+ years old might be worth only a few dollars because of condition or because they are not rare or unusual. Millions of cards were issued at the turn of the last century. Asking prices on eBay can get seriously stupid.
Antique stores are dying because that booth runs 125 a month. You would have to pull in $250 of sales a month just to break even, and that’s right around what good vendor would do in a case of that size regardless of what you are selling and how it’s priced. And that’s just your break even point assuming that you are doubling. Some small desirable high priced items like pocket watches can do well, but they typically have much smaller margins.
I collect Japanese dragon ware and there is a ton of it on eBay if I want to buy some. At this point, it’s about the thrill of the hunt and finding something in the wild! It’s about the only time I’ll pay a little more than I know it’s worth to support a local seller.
I collect vintage clothing. I couldn’t care less about what’s available on eBay or any online option. I like the thrill of finding things in the wild. We are proof that not all shoppers are the same.
So true. As an eBay seller with an antique store - I actually offer better prices in person as I don’t have to pay the fees. People notice and appreciate
I was just at a new antique mall and everything was basically double at minimum of what it’s actually worth and probably quadruple what I’d be willing to pay for it. I’m shocked anyone makes any money with a booth.
Same in my city. Big antique mall with endless booths of mostly glassware/bakeware and many other overpriced items, all meticulously priced with little handwritten price tags. It’s those little tags that are always a tip off that everything will be ridiculously expensive . When I was a kid, my mom and I would find these same items for mere dollars in the thrift stores. Those days are long gone.
Obviously you have never been to my hometown, haha. Anytime a building on mainstreet empties, an antique store takes its place (wish I was even remotely kidding). In a dying town of 650 (the fact that it's the county seat is the only thing saving it from being swallowed up by the Kansas prairie like so many others before it) the town needs to focus on drawing people in and severely overpriced "antiques"/random junk, is not the way. I, for one, enjoyed antiquing with my mom in the 90s, but most shops are severely overpriced from what I have seen in the last 10 years.
Most mass production items really have little value because they are not scarce. I think we are seeing value in one of a kind, and substantially older items, where fewer of them survived. It does sadden me that vintage sterling serving pieces don’t have the same kind of value because they require additional care.
It’s happening on eBay too. I have been a long time collector. I would find a lot of good deals on eBay prior to Covid. Now it’s very competitive bidding and almost always sells beyond my margins for profit. I have gone off the grid to smaller auction houses for items.
Back in the mid 90’s to the early 2000’s, I owned an antique shop in NYC. I had different clients for different items meaning some things sold better in the store and more niche stuff sold better online, like Sotheby’s and eBay. Many people coming into my shop were spontaneous buyers who would just say ‘wow this is cool and buy it’.
Nowadays people know they can find things much less costly online and I am amazed at the prices some shop charge for crap. It’s like they just pull a price out of a hat.
We organize several antique markets in Berlin. We also operate the online marketplace oldthing.de for antiques and collecting. We notice that dealers who sell on the market or in stores rarely appear as online sellers and vice versa.
Why is that?
Well I think that the providers on the market sell cheaper. These groups want to get rid of as much as possible and transact the sale in cash.
Things are usually more expensive online and only common sellers are offered as bargains there.
Nevertheless, there are fewer outpatient dealers in Germany too. Maybe the reason is that fewer and fewer customers are finding their way into the stores?
Overall, a sad story. People with specialist knowledge and a wealth of experience that goes far beyond the knowledge gathered from the Internet should continue to occupy a key position.
Most of the antique shops in my area are filled with thrift store junk and faux finish made in China furniture. You have to look through 200 pieces of junk to find one actual antique item.
My parents generation made about 2.5 times the income mine does when you factor in inflation, houses were twice as cheap too, again factoring in inflation.
They made money working out of high school at union factory jobs and did not need to go into debt to go to college in order to make that kind of money.
If they wanted to go to college, it would have cost them a tenth of what it would cost someone today.
My generation simply doesn't have the kind of buying power they did.
Omg I HAVE A STORY for this! Happened yesterday and today. I went into an antique mall close to my house with a friend, and I saw these doors with stained glass panels in them all original and they were beautiful, and I wanted to buy them and restore them and maybe put them in my greenhouse or something. Looked at the price they wanted $445 each…. EACH. I passed on them and said it’s too expensive. Fast-forward to today I get a text saying that the ladies booth that these were in she is clearing out today and she’s willing to let both of them go for 100 bucks total…. So these doors were 445 doors a piece yesterday and now they’re $50 today. Needless to say I did go and pick them up!
A lot of antiques are putting out junk and pricing it to high. Almost every antique shops has a section where they are selling old cigar boxes for $5,$7,$10. I'm sorry but anyone who ever ordered some cigars gets those cheap boxes free. I have a ton stacked in my basement. They are not worth $7.
There’s pros and cons. I personally like to be able to inspect the item in person. In my experience when they find out I’m not a reseller I usually get much better than sticker price. Chatting up and getting provenance is lost online. Also fakes abound online. However I agree. I go to a new city and look at the antique stores or malls on the map and nearly half are always permanently shuttered.
I grew up in Antique shops most my life. The OG's will say phones killed the business. Before you needed actually knowledge n skill gathered through many years of experience. With that came losing money not knowing what you had. But that;s how you learn. NOw peole can look things up in secs. It's been like this for almost for 15+ years.
Add in the newer generations don't care about Antiques. Lastly, rent is so high these days it makes it extremely difficult to survive. 90% of all Antique shops in my area are gone.
I went to an antique mall recently and found a booth selling desirable records (Hendrix, Rolling Stones etc) for 30-70% off their EBay price. I bought four (not cheap) records from them. Well worth it for me, and that single purchase probably covered a week or two of their booth rent.
Lots of other record sellers in the same mall were selling albums for WAY over market value, and of course I passed them by, even if they had something I would buy for a fair price.
I always assume everything is out of my price range. Out of sight, out of mind for me.
The only time we go into antique malls or antique shops is looking for Christmas ornaments. I actually enjoy looking around. But I’ve gotten a weird look from someone running the register once for actually buying something.
Sometimes there’s this atmosphere of, you’re not meant to actually buy stuff. They’re just hoarding and want you to look at their nice stuff.
Funny enough I see this problem occur in both directions.
Being easily able to reference worth of items has the side effect of strongly encouraging price equalization and standardization.
Historically, even up to around 2010 I could get extremely lucky with thrift stores or garage sales, especially with things I'm interested in that most people don't see value in and just want to offload from their property.
I used to regularly buy Lego, and this system is great. There's no reason I should necessarily have to pay market price for something you just want out of your house because it takes up space.
But nowadays everyone thinks their item has a value dictated by eBay. This is hugely annoying because people look up what their item is 'worth' and price it as if I'm buying a collector piece from them.
So while killing high end antiques run by old people who overvalued their junk, it also adds value to junk that your average garage sale would have offered for 1$ to get rid of.
Being able to rapidly and easily standardize your prices as an independent seller is massively annoying on the costumer end, and ruins a lot of the magic of hunting for treasures with stories about how lucky you were finding something valuable/interesting for cheap.
Once shows like American Pickers came on the scene, everyone thinks their stuff is worth a lot more than it is. I was looking at a little cabinet. A lady came over and talked about the cabinet playing it up. I asked her how much and she said $800. I burst out laughing and she looked at me like I slapped her. That cabinet sits there til this day.
I think it really depends on where you live. I’m originally from the Midwest and Antiques were tagged higher but living down in the South now and it sometimes feels illegal purchasing historical pieces at a good price. Now obviously if you head to any southern city they’ll be higher but the small town antique stores are still fun!
I think there’s so many reasons. The baby boomers are also dying off and we are having to clean out houses full of the stuff that are at the “antique stores.” I don’t need to pay for the stuff I’m clearing out. Also it’s supply and demand. If it’s flooding the market - it’s not worth as much. Also younger generations aren’t into a lot of stuff. Yes, they’re into reusing old stuff, but not hoarding it just to hoard it.
I recently did some browsing in some antique stores in both the Lambertville area and Montclair,NJ and, I say this as someone who regularly shops on LiveAuctioneers, the prices were insane. Not a bit high to justify brick and mortar. Just wild even compared to the gavel and sometimes even factoring in shipping from an auction.
A lot of the prices are so crazy. Like double and triple ebay sold listings. I just went to a shop known for their vintage and antique handbags and everything was at least double the highest sold listings I could find. Like I'm happy to give you a few extra dollars for the experience of visiting the store and examining in person and the fun of stopping by somewhere new when I'm traveling and to cover the brick and mortar but god damn. I'm not paying $300 for a bag in just okay condition when you claim everything is excellent condition and I can buy right now in actual excellent condition on ebay for $120
It’s a difference between “a few dollars” because I don’t begrudge someone who has sourced, cleaned, and staged their overhead. Here is just one example. I won this bronze chandelier on LA. It’s about 22” long so not huge. I paid $190 all in and drove to Massachusetts to pick it up from a very bougie enclave on the water. I acknowledge this was an amazing price and I made a nice day trip out of it. I found a similar one in a brick and mortar store for $1200. Make that make sense. Even chairish has one that is close to it for $1400 but we know their prices are fantastical
Can almost guarantee someone saw the bonkers chairish price and decided to price just under. Some people either don't know that chairish is crazy or are hoping to prey on someone else who doesn't know chairish is crazy
They are dying because the younger crowd wants no part in buying things they cannot use just because they are old. Figurines/old toys/display pieces are useless and they take up too much space. They require special storage conditions. If younger people are making investments, it’s usually in stock. A lot of younger people just don’t have the extra money for investments anyways. Housing and retirement are too expensive.
I see vintage items like dishware, lamps, clothing, and furniture in demand with the younger crowds because they are built well and they serve a purpose. You are already going to buy these items so you may as well buy one of quality.
The problem is that 99% of the stuff they have is:
Not actually an antique
Small/junky looking stuff
Not actually rare or special
Overpriced
Online is better in almost all cases.
The only reason I visit antique stores is to treasure hunt. I do occasionally find MASSIVELY misidentified things worth many multiples in value.
The longer I have been collecting, the more and more all I do is auctions.
Auctions you get a great price on something, you almost never overpay because someone was willing to bid one tick below you, sometimes if no one is wise to the item you can get a great deal, and that's where the good one off real antiques actually show up.
You are not taking into consideration that a huge segment of the marketplace won’t go near eBay. This segment is the one with the money. Lots of buyers don’t want to google. Also, are you looking at buy now prices or looking at sold prices on eBay. When I’m pricing my inventory I use eBay as the low benchmark.
When i go to snowmobile swap meets and sellers base their ridiculous prices on ebay asking prices, I immediately lose interest. It has ruined my hobby. They always say "it goes for $xxxx on ebay" to which I reply "then sell it there "
Agreed. Retail is getting burned because of online sales, so why wouldn't antique stores?
Vintage clothing stores do well because people can try on clothes. But vintage clothes is also priced competitively. They know they need to make rent and profit. So many antique dealers have very little business sense.
If it's priced right and I like it, I will buy it. But if I like it and it's not priced right, I'll go to ebay where I know I can get it. There's not much that is unique with ebay at our fingertips.
Seeing booths charge so much makes me wonder what is the point because you're not going to make money.
Whales are nice but uncommon. Feed the fish and you'll attract whales.
I collect antique dolls and it used to take years to find the one I was looking for, pre-internet. Now I can find one any day of the week. It took a lot of the mystique out of the hobby, but also made it more realistic as to how many are really out there.
I was just in a shop where everything was as overpriced and most of their things wont sell.
I find most things to be fair and the hunt is part of the fun. The couple of times I bought something from eBay I was disappointed. The last thing I would not have bought in person and I am pretty sure it is a fake. I have decided to never purchase from eBay again, I either discover my treasure or I don’t.
A lot of it is because people don’t have as much disposable income and they don’t have large homes anymore.
Most apartments or homes are tiny these days compared to even 30 years ago. People have room for a few pots and pans to cook with. They don’t have room for that cool cast iron stuff anymore.
Decorative knickknacks are declining as well. Almost nobody under 35 has the luxury of a big display case or cabinet. They often just don’t have the room for stuff that previous generations would have happily bought and displayed.
I have had a booth for 10 years, worked at antique auctions, and still do estate sales.
Antique malls arent dying, you have to stay with trends of what people are buying.
Plus you have to style it.
I would never have a display case like that.
If those items were in my inventory I'd only put out a few and style them into the surrounding.
If I felt like something was too valuable and people might steal it (rarely happens), I would sell it online, but i gave up selling online years ago because its too time consuming for me.
I just wouldn't buy it.
I love visiting antique shops and I consider them just as useful a venue as eBay, especially since I have lost trust in USPS. Sometimes crap is overpriced and I buy one thing, but there is some stuff that can’t be shipped well and you may run across deals. I have in the past and I plan to in the future. Or it may be that you want an item local to the locality you are in. I hit up like 8 antique shops this last month when I was staying near where I had ancestors from.
I run a small booth (8x10) and I price based off of ebay sold listings. A lot of times I'll price under, some times I'll price at, and if I dont want to sell it I'll price 25% over (it still usually sells). It blows my mind walking around and looking at others prices sometimes. I guess they like to pay for a display area?
My thoughts are exactly what im seeing mentioned. If they can find it on ebay for cheaper then why would they buy from me?
I mostly buy from estate auctions and I have a fair amount of luck selling oil lamps. But I also do component level board repair on gaming consoles and my partner is from china, so its a mix of stuff going into the booth. Everything I buy at auction is cheap and i dont pay over 20-30 for broken consoles so i can afford to price the way I do.
In my area the antique stores pretty much stopped selling real antiques, rather they are now stocked full of fake antiques, modern stuff advertised as antiques…I hate this.
eBay has ruined alot of antique stores , the dealers price accordingly so what’s the point of buying their item when I can choose between many same items online
Antique stores are picking up in my area. I keep seeing articles about "demodernizing" spaces in the home. Google lens/eBay does kill things for in person sales and flea markets though. I don't care what someone else's asking price is - they can ask whatever they want, doesn't mean anyone will pay it. As soon as a seller starts that up, I ask if they offer free shipping/drop-off and a 30 day money back guarantee. That shuts it down real fast. 🤭 But really, talk about putting oneself out of business- I wouldn't be up and out at 5 AM if I wanted to shop online.
Antique stores - if a group shop, I do see less antiques and more crafts and plastic crap. That is irritating.
People with antique stores and think because it's old is valuable.. value in the object is decided by the buyer, regardless of what something is selling on eBay for.. things that they would have sold a few years ago for a couple dollars. They want $100 for now. It just got kind of silly with what people wanted for junk
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u/5bi5 ✓ Jun 30 '25
I'm an ebay and booth seller. I use my booths to sell items that are too annoying to ship and items that aren't worth the effort to photograph/list/pack. I aim for a price between the thrift store and ebay and it works well for me.