Antique pocket knife

Although many antiques dealers are engaged in reputable business practices, some are not. Below are three stories based on comments told to me on my Facebook page and/or from emails sent to me through my website from Dr. Lori fans and followers. Become a member of Team Dr. Lori!

These are interesting stories that are frequently not told–so you’ll want to read them below. Plus, use my tips as a guide to help you find a reputable antiques dealer and good deals for antiques. They are out there.

1. Dumpster Dealers

Dumpster

A woman recounted on my Facebook page that she met an antiques dealer that told her that her items were worthless and encouraged her to throw them away in a nearby dumpster. People believe this “worthless” statement and follow the dealer’s advice by tossing items in the dumpster. Then, this woman watched from afar as the antiques dealer removed the valuable items from the dumpster and resold them in his store. Maybe that is why all the valuable items we hear about in the news are often found in a dumpster? Read my blog post about the three most valuable types of antiques.

2. Trash Talking

Also, on my Facebook page, a women tells the story of how she often sells vintage items on eBay. She’ll get two types of messages about her listings from dealers. First, some dealers will try to say that her pieces should sell for twice the asking amount that she has posted, but they will offer her only half that asking price to buy them. When she doesn’t fall for this trick, they harass her by saying she’ll never get her asking price. She proudly claims that buyers always pay her retail asking price for her eBay listings. Read my post explaining what retail, auction, and insurance values really mean.

3. No Inflated Values

After I presented one of my events at a large venue, I got an email from a member of Team Dr. Lori who was nice enough to thank me for providing important appraisal information about her antique that she brought to me. She said that after she left my event she ran into a local antiques dealer and discussed my event. The dealer said that appraised values are inflated. The Team Dr. Lori member told me that it just proves the stories I explain about some antiques resellers. I base all of my appraised values on the retail amounts where similar pieces have sold. Appraised values are based on transactions where I have seen people pay cash, swipe a credit card, or write a check for a particular amount for a similar item–just like a real estate appraisal. Read this blog post outlining why some say appraisal values are high and how that is not true.

Follow me on Facebook and share your own experiences on my social media outlets. I’ll share more helpful antiquing stories in future posts, so be sure to subscribe to my blog. Don’t forget to share this post with your friends. You can all help antiques dealers who are running fine shops and upstanding businesses by exposing those who do not.