Whether you collect antiques as an investment or you just enjoy buying antiques to decorate your home, finding the best places to buy these treasures – and buy them at cheap prices – can sometimes be difficult. In this post we’re going to share where you can go treasure hunting…
If you live on the West Coast of the U.S. coming across true antiques (anything that is at least 100 years old) is rare because there is more history on the East Coast. If you do fancy yourself a road trip and want to take an antiquing vacation, check out Fodors’ list of the 10 best antiquing towns. You’ll notice on the list that all the towns are located either in the Mid West or East Coast.
Sometimes the best deals on antiques can be found via word of mouth. Do an Internet search to see if there are any networking groups in your area. You could also join sites like iAntique.com and participate in their forums or shop the classified section.
Going this route takes some patience and persistence because finding quality antiques doesn’t happen every day. If you go to sales in retirement communities, there’s more of chance to come across older items. Scour the classified ads on a weekly basis or sign up to to receive notifications from sites like GarageSaleFinder.com.
The best time to attend flea markets is first thing in the morning when they open. You’ll be there before everything gets picked through. It’s also good to establish a rapport with sellers and give them your phone number so you can get first dibs before anything even goes up for sale.
An online estate sale auction is basically an estate sale and online auction combined into one. Instead of spending time and gas money traveling around town going from estate sale to estate sale, the nice thing about online auctions is that you can shop from the comfort of your home.
Here at Cal Auctions we hold a monthly estate sale where we have a preview day in our San Diego warehouse so you can inspect items before placing a bid. Our online estate sale auctions consist of collectibles, all types of vintage items, and antiques. We also have partners across the country who often have antique-related auction events as well.
Where are your favorite places to shop for antiques? Share your thoughts by sending us a Tweet!
