Guide to Antiques and Collectibles

Buying and selling antiques and collectibles online can increase customer satisfaction and sales

By Rachel Davy, Writer/Editor

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Learn the value of the antiques and collectibles you plan to sell

Unless you're an appraiser or have knowledge about the current value price of the vintage antiques you plan to buy or sell, having a source of that kind of information will be invaluable to you, your business and your clients.

I recommend: Artfact offers an online auction catalog and price database where you can find out things such as the value, the history and even the location of items you are interested in purchasing. You can use this site to find hard-to-locate items to fulfill customer needs. Kovels.com offers a collectors price guide search where you can enter the name of an item to find out its value. You can either sort items by price or alphabetically.

Find rare antiques and collectible dealers' items through online antique dealers

Having a listing of online stores that details dealers of rare antiques and collectible shops is a great way to build your business. Not only can you use these listings to find rare items, but you can also put up your own listings so you can sell items as well.

I recommend: Go to GoAntiques to find listings for more than 20,000 online dealers worldwide. You can also list your business with the site so that other dealers and customers can find items at your store. JosephMarc has listings of rare antiques and collectible dealers and shops where you can browse everything from music and instruments to primitive antique art.

Search government and police auctions to find antique collectibles at budget prices

You don't always have to pay a lot of money to find quality antiques. Some of the best resources for finding these items are government and police auctions where you can find everything from seized goods to valuable antique art and collectible hobbies.

I recommend: Register with GovernmentAuctions.org to find listings of government auctions by state, as well as online government auctions where you can search for items. Sign up at PoliceAuctions.com to bid on items online that start as low as $1, or do a search for antique and collectible items and bid on them that way.

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Register your business at various online websites to not only increase sales but also to become acquainted with antique dealers from around the world.