I am an antique dealer thinking of writing a book as well as a youtube channel to promote it/give out information on buying selling antiques and collectables. This includes everything from Pokemon Cards, Nintendos, firearms, gold, art, comics, antique coins and more. I have 15+ years experience in buying and selling and think I could write something that would have some sort of value. The youtube channel would be more for advertising and would not need to make money, though it could bring people in.
Any advice would be appreciated, I can also give out information on collectables, answer questions/ appraise your items and more. I have some wild stories about finding treasure.
1. Do you have a physical location or online only? 2. Where do you go to find inventory?
Jason Carter
>tell us a wild story user
Ok
>Offered antique collection when very young, still learning about dealing and negotiating >House in the middle of the woods >Go into cursed, dimly lit basement >dogcrap, guns, german daggers on ground >all sorts of crazy things rotting on the floor, pets creeping around >buy suitcase full of WW2 medals and badges >most are worthless, some rares in there >find one of 10 known examples of german badge, so rare that part of the badge has never been photoed >realize there are people that will fly out of country instantly to buy the rare one they need >sell it and use funds for car
>1. Do you have a physical location or online only?
We do trade shows, up to 30 at peak but dramatically reduced due to covid as well as the shows themselves slowing down in sales due to everyone putting "the good stuff" online. We also do online auctions (various ones, these pay off but it depends on your specialty and region.) If I was to open a store I would want at least 500k worth of product to be warehoused, as stores run out of inventory and end up losing money without understanding economy of scale. Its actually better to buy the building, rent it out for some time while building stock and then testing it out. Many stores I know have suffered or closed in current market- everyone is online now. Had a website previously to link to auctions/ebay/tradeshows, but getting it off the ground was a huge effort. It did pay off with one major deal, which came 8 years after the website was built.
>2. Where do you go to find inventory?
Impossible to ask this question as it would lead to market evaporating due to supply vanishing instantly, but also complicated finding product. Pretty much any area is run by a loose "guild" or group of dealers/resellers/collectors that will go to every garage sale, flea market, antique store, thrift store as well as advertise on facebook or other marketplaces. So you are competing with groups that will "harvest" all the video games, or coins for example, then immediately sell them online for maximum value.
There are very few areas that produce antiques to resell consistently, so you have to advertise. If you do find an area with lots of antiques or re-sellable items, it will be depleted very quickly as there are identical dealers looking for the same thing.
Of course, this means that having consistent product for customers can be an issue without capital/storage, as you never really have a stable supplier/suppliers
I hope that was helpful, let me know if you need anything else.
The image I posted is of a graded Nintendo NES game that is on ebay for $2000000. There was since 2012-2015 a massive push to hoard/purchase/resell Nintendo and vintage games, then grading came in and fucked everything. Someone had a sealed NES Little Mermaid game and it sold for $1500.
There is still lots of money to be made, but there are many harvesters looking for margin as opposed to before.
Does your website have all the collectables you have for sale, and could I get a link?
Also, what should my first steps be? I live in a rural small town in California and work full time. Should I be on the lookout for estate sales at old farmhouses?
Andrew Jenkins
>Does your website have all the collectables you have for sale, and could I get a link?
No, website was taken down awhile ago though will be rebuilt completely in 2 years when I have some time. Ironically, all the advertising we used went to other dealers trying to buy our stock and display items to resell themselves. It paid itself off with one deal, but it was very lucky we found that deal. Without a huge inventory to consistently restock you will find all your good items gone and customers will be upset as you scramble to replace the items that sold (which are rare and hard to find.)
>what should my first steps be? I live in a rural small town in California and work full time.
The good news is you work full time, so in a way you have already won in regards to stability. Use some spare cash and spare time on weekends to advertise looking for estates, collectables and items you can resell on craigslist/facebook marketplace and trade shows. Go to a tradeshow and watch what sells and try to get a good feel for what moves. Look at the people running around looking for a specific thing, ask what they want and try to find those items. Your local market will be different than another area in your state, your state will have a different market than another state etc. Online is a good way to learn about what moves world wide.
It will take some time to do this as a hobby, if you get very good at it you can reduce your main job but that would be something that takes years and you need a complete understanding of it first.
Estate sales at farmhouses are great, but there will be huge competition for things like metal coke signs, vintage art, mid century modern furniture etc. You would need to get in there very early or even before the sale.
Living in California means you have lots of people in the state, so more stuff to buy, but also more competition. Huge shows there so a great way to learn quickly, find out what tradeshows are near you.
Any chance I can make it on a museum quality artillery Luger or a antique colt revolver?
Evan Myers
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Wyatt Perry
Thanks for the time and responses.
Austin Evans
>Any chance I can make it on a museum quality artillery Luger or a antique colt revolver?
Do you have a artillery Luger/ antique colt revolver? There is a huge market for ww1/ww2 german firearms in the United States, but the serial number/variation/maker etc matters, as does condition etc (so if it is museum quality then yes.)
Colt revolvers are an entirely different species than German War era guns, Colt is worshiped so if yours is the right year/number/condition etc then it can be worth a great amount.
If anyone else has any questions, feel free to ask- same with items for appraisal (with or without photos), story time or general advice I am here to help
>Be 2008 >Video game market hasn't exploded yet >Go to smalltown thrift store >get GIVEN 30+ boxed Nintendo games >sell for something like $150, at the time amazing >current value 14 years later would be $1500-2000 >watch people run around trying to find the same thing today >people don't realize youtube, AVGN and other modifying factors changed the demand for product
Is it profitable to go to other countries/continents to search for inventory?
Nolan Parker
>Is it profitable to go to other countries/continents to search for inventory?
Great question, it depends on economy of scale and other costs associated with transport.
It used to be that you could go to a remote location in your own country and find cheap stock in a rural area, but shows like American Pickers and the internet changed that. Going overseas can mean giant profits but again, cost for transportation, fuel, other expenses eat into that. Furthermore, you have to do groundwork first.
I visited Asia and there were lots of cheaper products you could sell to American collectors (vintage shirts, records, toys, video games etc) if you got a cargo container or several huge shipments. But you need to know your market. Also, they have internet too. During the pandemic Filipino's were live auctioning action figures on Facebook marketplace in Manila and were getting good money for items. It was depressing
>people don't realize youtube, AVGN and other modifying factors changed the demand for product Are you a shill or are you not aware of the FACTOR that pushed game prices up recently? youtube.com/watch?v=rvLFEh7V18A
Ian Morris
Do antique firearms tend to sell for more as individual units, or as part of a themed collection (like a collection from one manufacturer, or something they all have in common)?
Robert Adams
>Are you a shill or are you not aware of the FACTOR that pushed game prices up recently?
I've seen this video, its great and pretty much describes the last few years in panic buying to grade video games, as well as the corruption of WATA and how the same guys that wrecked the graded card market in the 1990's were the same guys that deal with games.
However, there was a huge push before this to invest/speculate, with most of the games being ungraded. When prices were going up and people started fighting for them (there have been cases of actual violence over acquiring games) most people were still not grading the sealed or boxed ones. It was only later when the grading process exploded to the level of comic grading, which is another awful story of speculation. Not shilling just bored, interested in learning about how to write a useful book as well as help answer questions here on antiques.
>Do antique firearms tend to sell for more as individual units, or as part of a themed collection (like a collection from one manufacturer, or something they all have in common)?
Very good question. If you have a "Western themed" auction for example with a selection of Colts, Winchesters and other antiques related to the West you should get higher prices (this also depends on area, how market is doing etc.) Selling a collection can be hard if it isn't auctioned off as people/dealers want bulk deals, or only want one piece. If you have an important collection of rare items it would be a good idea to find a reputable auction house that knows how to advertise and work with them (learn percentages they take, how they advertise, how many auctions they have per year etc.) Also a complete collection is different than a near complete one, as it may attract a higher end buyer that wants to save all the work.
