Is there still an Antiques sector in retail and what is its future?

[deniser]

Is anyone here in the antiques furniture business?
Is this still a viable business sector or has fashion changed so much that antiques are no longer bought and sold? I have heard stories of antiques being sold at a fraction of the price they were originally bought for. What are people doing with unwanted antique and reproduction furniture? Is it being scrapped or being stored for a future date when it may become fashionable again?
Is there an expectation for a resurgence in the future?
Would be interested in anyone's thoughts.

 

[Paul Norman]

I do have some knowledge of this sector, although that knowledge is not very current.

Which is, to some extent, the point. A good friend of mine ran a successful and booming antiques business which had a large retail showroom, and a warehouse.

This sector was shrinking fast, partly because really good stuff was getting harder to source, and partly driven by fashion. Plus, in the 1980's, high premiums would be paid for certain goods. A set of dining chairs from the 1860's, in perfect condition, might make £3k.

But those prices didn't survive the battering of the 1990's, nor does fashion support that unless items are very rare.

There is still a sector. But it functions differently, and prices are massively lower. Unless you can source very rare stuff, and operate in the most elite part of the sector.

 

[The Byre]

Antique furniture is a game you can only play if you have encyclopaedic knowledge and experience of antiques - and you know how and where to buy and how to get those pieces into the fashionable shops and dealers in the main cities of the World.

It has never been out of fashion, though repro, Victorian bric-à-brac and similar quasi-antique stuff can suffer fashion cycles.

 

[Mark T Jones]

In towns like Dorking there are still ‘antiques quarters’ though it is niteable that some are giving themselves over to coffee shops and bric-a-brac (which I think broadly comes under antique.

I guess it will always exist but will become increasingly specialist

 

[Dimo]

A retailer I know told me the antiques market is on its knees! Not sure how true that is but he quoted a lot of instances of quality furniture that no longer has much value compared to a few years ago. I have noticed a couple of charity outfits that specialise in furniture and when I callied in was surprised at how cheap some really good stuff is.

 

[Mr D]

A retailer I know told me the antiques market is on its knees! Not sure how true that is but he quoted a lot of instances of quality furniture that no longer has much value compared to a few years ago. I have noticed a couple of charity outfits that specialise in furniture and when I callied in was surprised at how cheap some really good stuff is.

Charity shops don't always have the expertise to know what they have.
Have used that to get good bargains from time to time, have avoided being ripped off I think.

 

[MOIC]

Antiques were (in the main) purchased by the interested public that appreciated the quality and design of period furniture/products, as well as their ‘money making’ potential that grows with age.

As generations pass, this has been diminished in the main due to current generations not appreciating their quality/designs and investment potential, so this market has centered around antique specialists, which again is a dying breed.

Knowledge is key and as in many other industries, this has not been passed down through generations and accordingly will only survive where knowledge of antiques is understood.

Americans love antiques and especially ‘European & Far East Culture’ pieces are wanted.

Then there is China, with a huge growing money spending public wishing to purchase antiques . . . . .

 

[Mr D]

Then there is China, with a huge growing money spending public wishing to purchase antiques . . . . .

Can get hold of some antique ming vases to sell them, only £200 each. A bargain.
Tongue in cheek there.

 

[MOIC]

Can get hold of some antique ming vases to sell them, only £200 each.

. . . . . Are they the ones the Chinese sold on eBay?

 

[Page]

As generations pass, this has been diminished in the main due to current generations not appreciating their quality/designs and investment potential, so this market has centered around antique specialists, which again is a dying breed.
.

Well this thread suggests to me that there is no investment potential - maybe in the past but not now and so plenty of "investors" have lost out due to falling prices

 

[Alyson Dyer]

Drew Pritchard seems to be doing alright

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Look at the prices of quality items for sale and consider how much they would cost to be made today, probably 4 times the price they are on sale at today

 

[MOIC]

Well this thread suggests to me that there is no investment potential - maybe in the past but not now and so plenty of "investors" have lost out due to falling prices

The vast majority of 'investments' are never guaranteed, they can go up as well as down. A genuine antique will generally appreciate in value, its a case of when the seller wants to sell and to whom.

I imagine many antiques are sold on as they have been handed down from one generation to another and the current holders would prefer the cash (whatever it's current value), rather than admire/use/keep the furniture.

 

[Mr D]

. . . . . Are they the ones the Chinese sold on eBay?

They are the ones sold my Chinese antique dealers in China. To tourists who know a bargain when they see them.

 

[MOIC]

. . . .A fool and his money will soon part.

 

[Mr D]

. . . .A fool and his money will soon part.

Lots of fools around. And their own countrymen will scam them just as easily as foreigners will.
Back in the early days of the web I was told many times by people that its full of scammers, that it won't last, that the government will shut it down due to the problems it causes.
20 odd years on and ….

 

[MOIC]

20 odd years on and ….

Its been cleaned up a lot (it had to), but not to the extent that any country would like.

Heavy fines, business closures and imprisonment are all being enforced more and more as time goes on.

It will be impossible to eradicate it completely.

Unfortunately there are scammers in all parts of the world.

 

[roxanneus]

I think antiques are always of interest and if you have special items you can't go wrong with it.

 

[Ian J]

Is this still a viable business sector or has fashion changed so much that antiques are no longer bought and sold?

It must be of interest to some as BBC have antiques programmes non stop on daytime TV

I get the impression that whilst there is still huge interest in antiques it's not necessarily the same products that were in demand 30 years ago that are in demand now as large and heavy furniture items are nowhere near as popular now as they used to be

 

[Chris Ashdown]

What most would call antiques now days would be made before say 1900 or even 1875 ish, but the legal term is 100 years which brings in the victorian rubbish

 

[Page]

It must be of interest to some as BBC have antiques programmes non stop on daytime TV

I get the impression that whilst there is still huge interest in antiques it's not necessarily the same products that were in demand 30 years ago that are in demand now as large and heavy furniture items are nowhere near as popular now as they used to be

I suspect that is one of the areas that has changed a lot

Old solid bulky not very fexible furniture - compared with what IKEA et all offer

Just checked my much loved old inherited desk and it seems great for pens and paper etc
Loved it and worked at it all the time when a kid

But there are no holes for mains plugs and monitor wires or even space really for a monitor and keyboard and where to put the damn main box

Time and demands change

Houses are usually smaller also - for most of us

 

[axelrich]

Antique furniture is a game you can only play if you have encyclopaedic knowledge and experience of antiques - and you know how and where to buy and how to get those pieces into the fashionable shops and dealers in the main cities of the World.

Yes, one should have adequate knowledge in terms of furniture type and their make year, and more importantly what actually is their worth looking at their current condition.