Any luck selling to antique dealers?

[hudsonhacker]

I have managed to amass a lot of nice pieces over the last few months, but being in Canada, EBAY really is not a good outlet to sell the items. We do have Craigslist and Kijiji, but there are so many ads on those sites that it is really an inefficient way (okay, impossible) to use as a sales channel.

Is there any point in approaching Antique stores? There are probably over a hundred of them in Montreal, and I was wondering if it is worth my time to approach some of these stores to see if they would be interested in purchasing any of my items. Has anyone had any success doing this?

[mart]

That would depend on the dealer !! Many shop owners will purchase quality glassware readily but have no interest in primitives !! Also you cannot expect a dealer to pay you retail price so what are you expecting in profit ?? Dealers normally will not pay over 50% of the retail selling price (and its usually less than that) and I am not talking about book value !!  I am talking about what they can expect to sell the item for in todays market.  If you think its as easy as the TV shows make it look,,,better think again !!  Check out the site listed in antique talk a while back !! Its a nice well designed site that I am going to try !! It doesn`t have much traffic now but maybe if we can get enough going it might !! Not sure but I think its more of a set price type !!

[cogar]

hudsonhacker, you can make a lot of money being a "picker", ...... especially given the fact there are "over a hundred Antique Stores in Montreal".

A "picker" to an Antique Store is like a Distributor is to a Grocery Store.

Owners of Antique Stores are always interested in buying things ... but you have to remember their "overhead" is much higher than yours.

Thus, to be a money making "picker" you will have to cease with amassing a lot of pieces just because you think they are nice ...... and start buying things that you can sell to a Dealer with a profit for you .... at a price that the Dealer can also make a profit.

Once you learn what type of items each Dealer prefers and how much they will pay for an item ....... then you know almost exactly the maximum you can pay for said item before you purchase it.

Distributors don't price their items according to how much a Retailer is selling them for ........ and a "picker" can't be pricing their items based on what they think an Antique Dealer can or will sell said items for.     

[mart]

Just because you are in Canada, you do not have to sell there !! You can sell in the US !! I have purchased a few items from Canada and sold a few and shipping is not bad either way !!  Just put it in your ebay listing that way !!

[hudsonhacker]

Just because you are in Canada, you do not have to sell there !! You can sell in the US !! I have purchased a few items from Canada and sold a few and shipping is not bad either way !!  Just put it in your ebay listing that way !!

Shipping via Canada Post (comes to the US via USPS) is pretty reasonable; I guess if I mention shipping charges explicitly in the listing it could work.

I have been talking to a couple of dealers, and they seem receptive to working on consignment, while taking a fair cut, so that might be the way I go.

[mart]

Many shops here do take consignments !! They have a better turnover without the investment although they make less per item !! Might be a way to go !!