How to make money on antiques. Where to look for goods and who to sell to

The simplest way make money on antiques - buy something at a low price and then resell it at a higher price, just like in any other business. Easier said than done, of course. For several years now I have been buying antiques at garage sales, flea markets and even on e-bay, subsequently selling the rarities I found there to familiar collectors and antique store owners.

Instructions

• 1 The first step on the path to wealth is education. Knowledge is the key to decent income. Determining the quality and price of a product is the basis of the correct strategy for behavior in the antiques market, since in this matter it is vitally important to distinguish true rarity from fake. Determine the product category that interests you, buy catalogs and books on this topic. The cost of the book will be recouped if you complete good deal, based on the knowledge gained. Attend antique exhibitions, be aware of prices, meet people interested in buying rarities - collectors and antique shop owners. Don’t forget to ask what specific things they are interested in.
• 2 Step two, purchase. Where to buy depends entirely on the type of things you are interested in. Visiting exhibitions, shops, specialized salons and even flea markets can be very profitable. Don’t be afraid to look into private shops - you just have to decide what exactly you will be pleased to work with. One day I bought an antique item in a store and immediately resold it to a businessman I knew who lived literally two steps from the store. In this way I earned several hundred dollars and greatly pleased my friend.
• 3 Keep in mind the names of famous collectors and, in general, all those who, to one degree or another, can buy or sell you valuables. Once you have the product, you can easily find the right person. I can usually fit a thing in 3 or 4 phone calls. Collectors buy antiques at the highest prices, but only pay attention to the rarest and most unusual items. Most of the goods for them are commonplace, which is not worth offering, since they have seen a lot and have a lot in their collection. For the little that interests them, they are ready to pay fabulous sums. Some collectors always buy only the best for their collections, but often make a living from resale. At least half of my clientele are traders like me. Even at exhibitions, they buy my products more actively than ordinary visitors.

Competent antique dealers with a good reputation do not live in poverty - the business is profitable and reliable. Is it possible to master the secrets of the profession and enter the business? Where do they teach the ability to distinguish valuable items from fakes? Where to start and what are the prospects for business in antiques?

Nowadays, almost everyone makes money from antiques. There are two ways to make money on antiques. The first way is to invest money in antiques. The approximate income from such an enterprise is about twenty-five percent per annum.

And the second way to make money on antiques is to work as a professional appraiser. Such a specialist receives about one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars per hour of work.

As it turns out, becoming a professional antique appraiser is not at all difficult. To do this, you don’t have to be a museum worker or an art critic. To become a professional antique appraiser, simply take a course in antiques.

Special courses on teaching antiques are held at an institute specially created for this purpose at the Gelos Auction House. Course participants can independently choose the program in which their training will take place. At the institute, training takes place in the following programs: “Interior Decoration”, “Landscape Design”, “Business Assessment in the Field of Antiques” and “Methodology for Determining the Authenticity of Antiques”.

Upon completion of training in the program “Business Valuation in the Field of Antiques,” the course participant receives a license, according to which he has the right to conduct valuation activities, and is also issued a state diploma. If you decide to change your profession or open a new business, then you should consider that antiques are a most exciting activity, but at the same time incredibly expensive. For example, only one initial course learning antiques will cost you a thousand dollars.

If you decide to take these courses due to a change in your type of activity, a change in profession, then you need to gain real knowledge for work, and not initial training, initial knowledge. Therefore, you need to take a course that lasts whole year and costs one thousand nine hundred dollars.

Before starting courses at Gelos, you do not need to pass any exams, there are no entrance examinations. But during the learning process, be prepared to undergo an interview with the teachers of the institute. The teachers will try to find out the reason for your coming to the courses. There may be only two of them. The first reason is the desire to earn good money.

And the second reason is the search for a life occupation, a professional calling. The head of the Gelos Institute says that most often people who come to antique courses have already received some kind of profession, have work experience, as well as life experience. But having any special education is not necessary.

Study programs in this institute are usually intended for the listener who does not have any knowledge in the field of antiques. But during training, the beginner quickly begins to grasp it and after a while he can easily distinguish the original or the original from the fake. In these courses, the student can hold expensive antiques and unique antiques in his hands.

For those wishing to master the profession of art historian and cultural scientist, the Gelos Institute offers courses in which antiques will be studied in great detail and in depth. But they teach antiques not only at the Gelos Institute; such education can also be obtained at other educational centers. One of such centers is the training center “Knowledge – Prechistenka”. In this training center a series of lectures on decorative and applied arts, which lasts four months, costs two thousand three hundred dollars.

Also at the Knowledge - Prechistenka center, training takes place in other programs, for example, in painting, Soviet art and the history of iconography. Tuition for these programs costs five hundred and ninety dollars. The duration of these courses is two months.

Also at the International Moscow School of Design there is a course related to the antique profession. This course lasts five lessons. This cost is two hundred and seventy dollars. Thanks to these five lessons, you can easily distinguish the original from the fake. But, unfortunately, that's all they can teach you in these courses.

At the Moscow State Linguistic University there is educational programs on antique craft. Such programs are designed for two to two and a half months of training. Their cost is one hundred dollars. After completing these courses, you will receive a certificate stating that you have attended a course of lectures on antiques.

But don’t think that you will immediately become a connoisseur of antiques and receive a huge income. You can only become an expert after many years of practice and work in this field. But one thing is for sure. You will not have problems with employment. Graduates of antique courses do not have such problems, since art galleries and antique shops are always in need of specialists in this field of activity. The costs of the courses will pay off in the very first months after starting work in a new specialty, since an antiques specialist on average receives about a thousand to one and a half thousand dollars per month.

You can build a great career without being on certain place work. That is, in order to increase your income, you just need to earn a name, and not climb the ladder. career ladder. Immediately after you earn a name for yourself, it will begin to work for you and bring you profit.

Professional antique appraisers earn between two hundred and one thousand dollars a week. But the income of such specialists fluctuates, since the amount of profit depends only on the number and size of transactions concluded.

Professionals in this field have strict specialization. For example, if a person is a serious appraiser and evaluates paintings from a certain era, then he will never evaluate furniture from the same era and vice versa. If an antique dealer sells antiques, he receives an additional profit of five to ten percent of the transaction.

The luxury of antiquity seduces each of us. As well as the opportunity to make a profit from the objects of our admiration. But how to make money on antiques? Where to begin? Is it possible to do this online, without interrupting your main job? Today we will look at this issue in detail.

Education

First of all, you should learn to understand the subject with which you plan to make money. There are no teachers without a pedagogical education or a doctor without a medical diploma. In the same way, you cannot work with antiques without having the necessary knowledge. Take special courses in antiques. Keep in mind that the courses come in different directions: general - for those who just want to study something, and in-depth - for people who purposefully came to learn antiques and plan to use this knowledge in the future. There are also different directions training, for example, “landscape design”, “methods of checking an item for authenticity”, etc. The cost of such courses is 1–2 thousand US dollars, depending on the duration and intensity of the classes.

There are other ways to get the education necessary to work with antiques. Art degree or museum worker will also give you enough knowledge to understand the business you are planning to do.

Auctions

Nowadays you can buy absolutely everything at various auctions: from a fashionable fur coat to Marilyn Monroe’s favorite powder compact. Antiques are one of the classic items of such auctions. Today, it is not necessary to attend an ongoing auction, because many issues are resolved over the phone, often anonymously. In addition, more and more auctions are being held online.

There are many “open” sites on the Internet where any user can list their lot and independently set the minimum price. Register on one of them (or several at once) and display your products. With this scheme, your profit will be the total cost of the lot minus various commissions.

Mediation

Another option for making money on antiques via the Internet is mediation. Here it is possible to work in two directions.

The first option is to become a “buffer zone” for antique goods. For example, there is a buyer from Kazakhstan and a seller from Japan. For some reason, the seller does not want to send his goods to Kazakhstan under any pretext. In this case, the buyer turns to an intermediary, who places the order for himself and subsequently forwards it to the future owner.

The second option is to search for the right products. The customer turns to you as an intermediary. He knows what specific item he wants and knows how much he is willing to pay for it. But he doesn’t know where to find this item. Your task is to find the desired item and negotiate with its owner to sell it.

The intermediary receives on average 15% of the transaction value.

Consulting

Many wealthy people want to buy something antique and exquisite. But often they do not know where to turn, which auction or specific seller they can trust, or how to take care of the acquired value in the future. Then people turn to antique consultants who are knowledgeable in all these issues. Such consultants usually walk hand in hand with the customer through all stages of the transaction. They help in choosing an appraiser, in finding an intermediary (or act as intermediaries themselves), and in negotiations. It is not uncommon for such consultants to become permanent employees of novice collectors.

Consulting activities can also be carried out online, without interrupting your main work, for example, using video calling or correspondence.

Fees for private consultations vary as they are directly dependent on your personal agreements with the client.

Own online store

This option is for you if antique business you already have experience and a certain weight. An online store is a business that requires great forces and good connections. Especially if we're talking about about a product such as antiques. Even at the store planning stage you need to know:

• who your suppliers will be;
• will you work with regular suppliers or become an intermediary yourself;
• what specific sector of the antique market do you want to occupy;
• who is your target audience (what segment of the population are you targeting: gender, age, interests);
• how you will attract audience to your store.

It's worth creating a business plan.

If, in addition to the website, you plan to have a real retail outlet, try to get under the government support program for small and medium-sized businesses. To do this, you need to register with the employment center, and then create and defend your business plan.

The site itself appearance also require considerable expenses. It is better to entrust its creation to professionals. After all, an online store should be easy to use for you and easy to use for the buyer. At the same time, it should correspond to your concept as much as possible, and “sell” itself at first sight.

Video

The following video discusses many issues directly related to making money from antiques, for example, is it possible to import and export antiques from the country, what can be purchased at a flea market, and much more:

In order to open an antique store, an entrepreneur must have a number of personal qualities. First of all, you need to feel a craving for museums, then have a critical eye for antiques. Thirdly, it is necessary to understand what “concerned” collectors and settled “majors” want. And fourthly, it is desirable to have favorable starting opportunities.

According to the observations of Ilya Krasnoukhov, a collector and seller of antique porcelain, more than half of the owners of antique salons came to this business gradually and consciously - with the understanding that this is their life’s work.

“Almost half of those I know as owners of antique shops collected stamps and coins as children, exchanged and sold surplus,” says Krasnoukhov. - These people have formed big circle acquaintances whose interests and requests are taken into account by antique dealers. Another third are hereditary experts in this matter, which they learned with their mother’s milk. But it cannot be said that it is impossible for a newcomer to gain a foothold in this market.”

Let's try to figure out how to open antique shop and not go broke selling antiquities. Let us immediately note that this business requires “hellish” patience and cynical pragmatism. Naturally, you can’t do this without luck.

Where to begin? From searching for premises for an antique shop

When opening an antique store, you need to understand that months, or even years, may pass before a given point of sale visitors will appear first, and then buyers. Therefore, the issue of rent during a potentially protracted start may become the most important.

Ideally, it is advisable for a businessman to already have a small room on the ground floor within the city promenade. The fact that you can confine yourself to an extremely small room (up to 15 square meters), and without a utility room, industrial water supply and sewerage (except for the seller’s toilet), significantly reduces the cost of rent even in large entertainment and shopping centers with a lot of human traffic.

“But even a small rent can turn out to be a stone on your neck,” says Alena Shirokova, the owner of an antique salon. “It took me three months before my first customer stopped by.” The businesswoman emphasizes that “the room where it is planned to open an antique store should have a showcase - a large window through which you can look inside, as well as shutters.”

Therefore, at the start, you need to seriously look for just such a premises with a “penny” rent, and also think about an additional source of income that would help to guarantee payment of rent for a long time.

Money issue and business plan

Having solved the rental problem, a businessman needs to think through the financial system of his store. If you go to forums where the topic of selling antiques is discussed, you can see different amounts of money spent at the start - from 300 thousand to 2 million. Someone made a renovation “a la glamor”, someone equipped the interior for Victorian era With wall clock, with paintings in expensive frames and figurines, someone limited himself to an exhibition of antique restored furniture, purchased with their own money for the purpose of resale.

“I was lucky,” says Ilya Krasnoukhov, “I recouped my investment in six months, however, through the parallel sale of modern Chinese vases made in antique style. But I know one seller of antique pianos and grand pianos who turned in “his hard-earned money” only after four years.”

However, there were those who simply hung up a sign “antique store” and in the window listed the rules of trade on the principles of commission trade. That is, I simply began to wait for people who themselves would bring personal antiques for sale. Note that according to the rules of commission trading, which are widespread in antique and second-hand bookstores, the commission agent receives his money only 21 days after the sale of his goods.

The last scheme, although it seems to be the least risky in terms of losses, is also the longest in terms of generating income. Here it is important to build a working system for assessing antiques, which can last up to 30 days. This time can be spent searching for a buyer in your databases. “People often bring their family heirlooms to the commission in the form of paintings, figurines or even carpets, hoping to receive millions for them,” Shirokova shares her experience. “It’s immediately obvious that they are in a difficult situation and need money, so, firstly, you need to be able to tactfully “bring them down to the ground” and, secondly, accurately indicate the price that will find a buyer.”

And most importantly, when drawing up your business plan, you should not rely on step by step tips from the Internet. It would be wiser to get acquainted with the experience of other entrepreneurs working in this field, but it is recommended to think through all the stages yourself. Working capital, rental expenses, unforeseen expenses and income, as experience shows, cannot be accurately planned. Just as no two fingerprints are the same, antique business starts are never the same.

Where to look for goods and who to sell to

So, the abundance of goods in antique stores is formed according to three positions. The first is antiques and antique furniture purchased with working capital. For these purposes, according to various estimates, it is necessary to have at least 800 thousand rubles. The second is souvenirs, dishes, paintings, including tapestry, and even antique furniture. If you look for manufacturers or large networkers, you can buy this product for sale. Third, these are antiques sold according to the rules of consignment sale.

More experienced owners of antique salons and shops working for family contract(the wife is at the store counter, the husband is busy with deliveries), they look for goods on specialized forums, at flea markets, at sales of confiscated items, and so on. In addition, it makes sense to make acquaintances among “concerned” collectors and settled “majors”. And also establish contacts with foreign owners of antique salons. For example, Germans are happy and expensive to buy things taken out of Germany after its surrender in 1945.

Of course, opening an antique store is associated with great risks, but at the same time, this business can bring significant income if the circumstances are successful.

Collecting antiques has always been considered one of the most prestigious and exciting hobbies. And in general, living surrounded by beautiful antiquity is probably wonderful. On the other hand, this hobby has long earned a reputation as one of the most reliable and profitable types of investing your available funds. We decided to figure out whether this is really so and what pitfalls may be encountered on the path of a novice investor. In this difficult undertaking, Anna Sherman and art critic Sergei Sulima came to our aid.

Profitable investment

It is believed that there simply cannot be a safer investment in a well-composed collection of antique items. At the same time, we can now read that antiques have generally become cheaper on the Ukrainian market during the current crisis. “Officially, prices at auction houses fell by 20%,” confirms Sergei Sulima. - But some things have fallen in price by half! But there are also items that have risen in price.”

According to Sergei Sulima, exceptional rare things have become more expensive. Well, if the items are not only exclusive, but also aimed at the world market, then they rise in price, as they say, no matter the weather. This is confirmed by the history of all major economic crises - everything collapses, but exclusive antiques become more expensive. And during periods of economic growth, they rise in price even faster. Such items could be, for example, works famous artists or sculptors of the past. But there is one “but”: they are not cheap to begin with (“For 200 rubles you will not buy a world masterpiece anywhere,” reminds Anna Sherman of sadness).

Creations of the hands of departed masters

The main feature of an antique is contained in its name - from the Latin antiquus, that is, “old”. In order to distinguish simply elderly objects from full-fledged antique aksakals, in different countries age limits are set. In Ukraine, from the point of view of the law (and in the practice of antique dealers), this age is considered to be 50 years. But not everything that you purchase as an antique in our country will be considered as such in most other countries, where they may require the product to be 60 years old. life experience, and 100, or even limit the date of his birth, for example, no later than 1847.

Main. The first criterion is the age of the item.

Criteria

If we “rewind” 50 years from the current year 2016, we will get only 1966. By that time, in the Soviet Union, everything was not being produced on an industrial scale, so it’s hard to call every nail and every bow-legged stool, planed in those years, an antique. Of course, in the UK, where the age of antique products must exceed 100 years, or in the USA, with their creation condition no later than 1830, this is a little easier. But, nevertheless, in addition to age, it would be useful for the subject to have some other evaluation criteria.

For example, the more rare or unique an item is, the more valuable it is as an antique. The so-called serial production is important: it is one thing if something was produced in single copies, and quite another if it came off the assembly line in millions of columns. But serial rarity is sometimes not a hindrance: for example, a certain thing at one time could be produced en masse, but only a few of its representatives have survived to this day.

It is also of great importance how the subject is related to a particular historical era, historical events and even more so - historical characters. Roughly speaking, a stool that has briefly come into contact with a historically important butt (if this past proximity can somehow be proven) acquires special value. Another criterion is artistic value products. If an object, in addition to age, can boast of something based on one or more of the indicated characteristics, then it is definitely an antique. But in practice, it’s even easier to recognize: these are all “junk” items that are coveted by collectors. But what don’t they collect?

Collecting. They collect everything from watches to toilets.

You can't make a mistake, or how to determine value and price

Either you want to buy something antique for your home, or sell a product inherited from your ancestors - in both cases, your chances of losing on the transaction price are quite high. Moreover, now they are much higher than before the crisis. As Sergei Sulima explains, in last years the market has “collapsed”, and there are too few transactions at open auctions to judge what the normal price is. “If you bought for $9 thousand something that cost $10 thousand three years ago, this does not mean that the price is not too high,” says Sergei Sulima. “It is likely that in a private transaction the same item could be taken even for $7 thousand.” When selling, the situation is no simpler. And if earlier it was easy to meet a buyer who wanted to greatly reduce the price for a beginner, now there are even more of them - after all, for many people, real money is now more important than some item. And in general: before talking about the “real” price of an item, you need to “attribute” it, that is, figure out what it is, what era it belongs to, who the author is, who it belonged to, what material value has, for example, in the form of the same precious metals etc.

According to Anna Sherman, one of the ways to determine the value and price of an item is to post its photograph on the professional forum of one of the online auctions: “And seek help from experts who cooperate with the auction,” says Anna Sherman. “As a rule, the regulars there are experts, well-known in their circles. They will try to give a fairly objective assessment so as not to jeopardize their reputation. If the subject is controversial, then on the forum you will see all the arguments for and against. You can also go for advice to some Some antique salon - many provide them for free.

Consultation. An antique salon will help you determine the value and price of an item.

• People. To whom it belonged.
• Author. Famous - more expensive.
• "Gold". Metals and stones.
• era. Connection with history.

Where to go to sell

Before selling anything family heritage, it's worth thinking carefully. “In addition to the market price for which an item can be sold, there is also its cultural and historical value, emotional, family... And perhaps, as a family heirloom, this item is worth much more than the little money that can actually be earned for it.” , says Anna Sherman. There are also purely financial reasons not to rush into selling if possible, but to wait until the market revives and prices rise. But if you have already decided to sell your antiques (or what you consider to be them), then there are enough ways to do this: from bulletin boards on the Internet and flea markets to antique salons and auctions.

The item is accepted for sale after checking the list of stolen items.

Illumination

The easiest way is to advertise on the Internet without leaving your couch. Fortunately, many free websites have sections called “Antiques.” The convenient thing here is that the transaction can be carried out without any formalities. But let's be honest, for the most part there they try to sell all sorts of cheap nonsense, in the company of which serious thing(if you really have one) looks out of place. The more reputable company is on specialized sites, but it’s worth heeding Sergei Sulima’s warning. “This method can be tried.

But in the case of something truly valuable, one must also take into account reverse side medals: there is such a thing as an “exposed object,” says Sergei Sulima. - There is an opinion that if an item has already been exposed, then the interest in it among most antique dealers and investors decreases. Because all those who are involved in this already know about it. Just imagine that I am an antique dealer or auctioneer and I have to show this item to some of my clients. And this client either could have seen it himself somewhere on the Internet, or someone could have shown it to him. That’s why no one wants to do this thing: thousands of people have already seen it.” Approximately the same effect can be produced by completely natural ordinary person going with your item to all the salons - what if somewhere else they offer more?

Rules

According to the current Rules for Trade in Antiques, antiques can be accepted for sale (in a store or at an auction) only after they have been verified in the records of lost and stolen items maintained by internal affairs bodies. To sell through an auction, a preliminary examination of the item will also be required. An agreement is concluded between the auction organizer and the owner of the antiques, according to which the owner instructs the auction organizer to sell antiques belonging to him for a fee, the amount of which is determined as a percentage of the sale price.

Antiques. You can sell it online, in a salon or at auction.

If we want to buy

And again - about disappointment and the collapse of bright hopes. Legends about how something actually very expensive was bought at a flea market for pennies have some relevance to life, but, unfortunately, not to ours. Unless we play the role of that same unlucky seller. The chances of making such a purchase on the Internet are even less than winning big in the lottery. “If a beginner decides to enter the antiques market for the purpose of investing, then it is unlikely that he will find something truly valuable and worthwhile. Since it won’t reach him, he gives out a portion cold water Sergey Sulima. - Either what he buys will turn out to be a fake, or a thing not worth the money which he spent. Because, as before, new person will not be able to independently find something worthy of investment and not make a mistake.”

Market

This is just how this business works: amateurs on both sides (both sellers and buyers) provide professionals with more or less comfortable existence. If it really appears on the market interesting thing, which will definitely increase in price greatly, you can be sure that there will be buyers for it without you. So forget about dreams of super-profitable deals for now and focus on buying something dear to your heart (that can decorate your home) and at the same time not losing money. A good salon will help you with this. If you want not to limit yourself to a single purchase, but to embark on the path of collecting, you will have to work. Choose a direction that interests you, gradually begin to study it in order to understand it. Go to galleries and salons, read literature and consult - at first you will have to rely on the opinion of a trustworthy specialist.

Valuable. A beginner will not be able to find it on his own.