How do people make a profit? Antique dealers etc

Please forgive me for my very elementary question, but how exactly do people make profit from buying and selling antiques? I know my old boss made a great deal of money buying and selling Asian art, but I can't quite understand how.

I obviously understand a good deal of knowledge is required to know what is valuable and what is not, but surely the original seller (with the power of the internet) is able to determine the accurate price of the item they are selling?

I can understand turning big profits before the advent of the internet, but today anyone can become an expert on the particular time they wish to sell. Therefore would it not be hard to buy something and then sell it on for a worthwhile profit?

Thanks

EDIT
Cant figure out to delete the typo in title.

 

Just watch "American Pickers" - be a cheapskate buyer then sell for at least double what you ripped off the uninformed seller!!

 

Poor example. They pay more than what items are worth and maker their money from A&E.

 

Are you kidding me?
That's why they buy signs for 50 and sell for 500!!

 

They loose money on every sale but make it up in volume.

Debora

 

Plus I've seen Mike and Frank at Biker so called "Flea Markets" - they only were nice when the cameras were on!! Frank is pretty cool but that Mike dude is an asshole!!

 

Everyone I've talked to that ran into them said the exact opposite.

 

HUH? They lose money on EVERY sale - but make it up in volume?? Wouldn't that be "Loosing on every sale?" and on every sale volume?

 

Cracks me up - name them!

 

Oh Boys...........get a room !

 

@ Danton.......there's a lot that goes into being a successful dealer...in any area.
Time and knowledge and experience.....don't come from looking at google...and never will.

One of the keys though, is to make your money when you BUY !
It simply means....know what you're buying and get it well below what you know you can sell it at.....

Another key...is BOOKS......remember them.
If you hang here long enough....you'll be amazed by all the great help our members supply to those looking for help on their item , after saying.." I looked all over the web , and couldn't find another one like it.....& couldn't find any information on it.....so it must be rare...right ? "

Many of our top line experts , rely on libraries they have built up over years of careful buying and selling , & the info in those volumes will never be available on the web !!!

And there's much more to it..................

 

Komo has some good advice. And many thanks goes to all the great guys and gals on here who lend their experience to us.

 

Komo makes a good point.......I was told a long time ago by a dealer that you make your money when you BUY the item.

Also when I'm buying something I'm not familiar with, I never spend more then I'm willing to lose.

Learn the signs of good quality workmanship. Be it glass, pottery, jewelry or furniture. Good quality always stands out.

Someone in a recent post here also mentioned something to the effect of .......buy glass from a pottery dealer, and pottery from a glass dealer. In short, always take a second look at the items a dealer has that don't fit into what appears to be their main focus of interest.

Don't scoff at the power of dumb luck! I have bought a few things for a song that turned out to be surprisingly valuable. One item I was going to put in a garage sale, until somebody in the group here spotted it and told me what it was. I sold it for several hundred dollars. I'll see if I can find the thread.


Found it!
https://www.antiquers.com/threads/art-glass-vase-help-longshot.586/

 

Buy low, sell high

 

I started dealing in antiques online back in September of 2015. It's a very tricky thing to get into.

The problem is that you're buying and selling things which people don't NEED. You're buying and selling things that you HOPE people WANT. And that is a lot harder.

To be able to make a profit selling antiques, the first thing obviously is to know your antiques, and to see how much particular antiques sell for, either in the local market, or online around the world. The only way to do that is to do a LOT OF RESEARCH. That can be anything from reading eBay listings, looking at the websites of other dealers, visiting flea-markets or going to antiques shops.

The second thing is knowing what's quality, and what's trash. No matter how cheap you buy it - trash is trash, and people don't pay money for that.

The third thing is knowing your antiques. Knowing what it is, when, where and how it was made, and stuff like that. If you don't know what you're selling, then people aren't going to be confident buying from you. You need to know WHAT the item is and how to sell it, and how to make it appeal to other people.

Fourth thing is sourcing quality goods at low prices. This can sometimes be done at flea-markets, other antiques shops, or charity/thrift-shops. Or you can risk it at an auction-house. Buy a box-lot of junk - sell off the nice stuff at a good profit, and then sell off the cheap stuff at a lower profit. The risk with this is that you might be stuck with loads of cheap stuff you can't sell.

That's the basics, really.

 

A lot of people just don't care. There is a dealer down the street from me. She buys by the lot. Turns everything quickly at low prices. She sells mostly to dealers, because her prices are low and she doesn't want to take the time to look things up.

A lot of people often don't know what they are selling. They go to the sales, buy a pretty piece and mark it double what they paid and are happy.

 

I have only rarely been able to buy for profit from a dealer and never from a collector.

I find that dead people don't value their lifetime collection as highly when they are in a hole.

When grandpa died, grandma paid someone to haul away all his 'junk'. I'm sure they cleared $10K on it with no problem.

 

It is difficult for most people to know a lot about all or even many different types of antiques. I've known a number of people who made good and sometimes huge money by learning one field or type of Antiques very well. They know what to pay for most items in their chosen field so they can make money when they sell it. If you choose a field in which you have some interest, you will have an advantage as learning about it will be fun for you. However if you choose a field where the world record price is $200.00, making money will be tough. I attended a railroadiana show once long ago and it was a little like that.

 

Thank you for the amazing replies.

As I said in another thread, I worked for an auction house for a short while straight out of College. That was enough to cement a love for antiques and art. I'm glad people are taking the time to help me with the basics!

 

I have some high quality porcelain and paintings that I picked up for next to nothing. I estimate to have over 1k worth of stock, that I paid less that 300 for. It's just getting shot of it and making a profit that I'm finding hard. I cant buy more until I sell this. Maybe try dealers ect?

I also think my biggest love will always be oil paintings, porcelain, and antique firearms.