Anybody buy antiques?

amy0887

I really want to buy an antique China cabinet in the next few months.  I've looked at a few antique malls but the prices are so varied.  All I know to do is make sure the drawers shut and cabinet doesn't stick.  Does anybody have any advice on what else I should be looking for?

Anniemp86

hmmm... when I'm looking for antiques, I generally scan the paper for estate sales. It's amazing what you can find! dh and I went to one a few weekends ago and got some reed & barton silver for almost nothing, and they also had several really neat antiques for sale.

Lauren80

if or when mi madre sees this...she will have a wealth of info i am sure! she and my father used to be antique dealers (sounds bad huh...LOL), and she knows a good piece when she sees one...

greeneyz7

Lauren sent me your post, I missed it somehow. I see you are looking for a china cabinet...what style/period/wood are you looking for?  Where are you located? I have a good friend in Dothan who might be able to help you find what you're looking for. Estate sales are great if you know what you're looking for, antique auctions are too, but thoroughly check out any piece that you think you may want to bid on prior to the auction, open drawers check hardware etc...set your price in your head and stick with it. So many people get the "fever" when they are at an auction. Check Ebay and you can get a general idea of styles and what things sell for on Ebay. Those prices sometimes are way out of line and sometimes you can find a deal. I sold a museum quality heavily carved oak sideboard that Sotheby's appraised for 3,500 in the 80's for 1,500 a few years ago. I needed to get rid of it so my loss was their gain. Craig's list is also a good place to look and local for sale classifieds are good. Military areas are good places to pick up pieces, sometimes when they have to move they sell excess pieces. My advice is to stay away from painted pieces because you never know what lurks under that paint. Unless you are very patient and good at stripping you will have to pay to have it stripped properly and like I said, you never know what's under the paint. Antique furniture that appears to be black is most likely varnish that has just darkened over the years and it's super easy to strip yourself...you just have to know what wood you want and know that's what the piece is. If you have questions, post them and I'll do the best I can to answer them. If you look in Lauren's bio you will see my favorite style of antique furniture, I prefer oak late 1800's and turn of the century. Her china cabinet, dining room table and many things in her house are things she grew up with in our house. Let me know if I can help further.

amy0887

Thanks guys.

 I'm really not sure what I'm looking for.  I don't know a lot about antiques.  I looked at craigslist but the prices were so varied. I also tried to google search looking for general information on antique furniture, but I didn't have any luck.  I'm not in a big hurry so I have plenty of time to shop around.  I've mostly been looking at antique malls.  I never make it to estate sales early enough.

If I have any more questions, I'll post them.