Antiques are held in high regard for many reasons. It could be that the items have a sentimental value, elicit a certain degree of excitement, or they present a potential for you to earn a lot of money.
That is, as long as you find the right buyer.
When you need to find antiques buyers online, it is always wise to learn about the possible websites to sell your antiques. This way, you can get the best price for your valuables.
If you have antiques you’re looking to sell, below is a list of places where you can sell your antiques.
Etsy
Etsy is a popular online site for selling antiques. It is a niche marketplace where you can easily find antique buyers due to its massive reach and diverse inventory. Selling antiques at Etsy requires that the items be over 20 years old. You pay a listing fee of $0.20, a transaction fee, plus a payment processing fee. When you make a sale through Etsy’s Offsite Ads, you will have to pay the 15% offsite ads fee. Visit their website for the full details on fees.
Bonanza
Bonanza is another online marketplace where you can sell your antiques. Signing up is easy and there are no listing fees. On average, the fee per sale is 3.5%. If the amount is over $500, you pay a flat fee of 1.5%. You also need to pay any portion of the shipping that exceeds $10. If you want to drive extra buyers to your items, use Bonanza Advertising. Fees range from 9% to 30% of the amount that the buyer paid to you for the item sold. Start selling your antiques at Bonanza by setting up a booth free of charge, listing your items, and then activating your booth so buyers can find you. All your listings remain active until the items are sold, reserved or deleted.
OfferUp
OfferUp is an online mobile-driven app you can use to find local antiques buyers. OfferUp does not charge for listing or selling antiques. Once you post your items, the selling process begins. If you wish to find an antiques buyer faster, you can enrol in the Promote Plus feature for a fee and your listing will show up high on a buyers’ feed or in search results, giving your listing an average of 14x more views per day. When you make a sale, the cost of shipping is either a minimum of $1.99 or $12.99 of the sale price.
Ruby Lane
Ruby Lane is an excellent place to find antiques buyers online, especially because it specializes in vintage items. Setting up shop at Ruby Lane is free and there are no listing fees as well. You will be required to maintain a minimum of 10 items for sale each month. The minimum monthly fee for a shop is $25, but if you add at least 15 items during the month, you get a $25 rebate. During your shop’s first month, you won’t be charged a maintenance fee. There’s also a service fee of 9.9% based on purchase order total, and is capped at $250.
ArtFire
ArtFire is another suitable place to find antiques buyers. While it’s an online shop for handmade goods and crafts supplies, it also caters to vintage items. ArtFire has three shop options that you can choose from:
- Standard Shop. It costs is $9.99 a month, with up to 250 active items, a sales service fee of 14.75%, and a listing fee of $0.23.
- Popular Shop. It’s $29.99 a month, with up to 1,000 active items, a sales service fee of 12.75%, and free listing.
- Featured Shop. It charges $49.99 a month, with up to 2,500 active items, and no listing fees.
Each plan includes access to the ArtFire Marketplace, which provides various selling features like live customer service chat, an extensive selling resource library, and a host of selling tools.
TIAS.com
TIAS, or The Internet Antique Shop, is described as the largest antiques and collectibles mall, making it an ideal place to find antiques buyers. Joining TIAS.com to set up your own online shop requires no set up fee. You get a free 60-day trial during setup prior to activation and you can post unlimited listings with no “per item” listing fees. Plus, you can get your items on all major search engines. TIAS.com’s most popular plan is the automated Web catalog, wherein you pay TIAS.com a 10% commission on the items you sell on the site at a fixed price, or a 2% commission on the merchandise you sell at online auctions via TIAS.com’s auction loading/management system. If you prefer a no-commitment option, you can go with TIAS’ month-to-month plan for a minimum fee of $39.95.
Sell Older Books on Amazon
Amazon is a great place to sell older books due to its extensive reach. Antique books are a fascinating niche market for book lovers. AbeBooks.com, an Amazon company, is also a marketplace for buyers who want to find rare books and collectibles. Selling older books on Amazon is easy and with the available seller tools, you can begin selling right away. Just create an account at Amazon and choose between registering as an individual seller or as a professional seller. As an individual seller, you use a pay-as-you-go plan with basic listing and order management tools. You don’t pay fees unless you sell an item. As a professional seller, you get access to advanced selling tools for a monthly subscription fee.
GoAntiques
GoAntiques is an established online venue for antiques enthusiasts. If you’re searching for antiques buyers online, GoAntiques is an ideal place to start because it’s a hosted marketplace for antiques, vintage and collectibles. It requires no listing fees, no commisions, and it boasts of the lowest per-item listing cost marketplace. GoAntiques has three seller plans:
- Basic. At $24.99 per month, this plans offers up to 100 item listings, and featured items at $2 each per month.
- Professional. This plans costs $49.99 per month, with 10 featured items per month for free.
- Power. For $74.99 a month, you can have up to 1,000,000 item listings, with 10 featured items per month for free.
If you’re selling your antiques at Etsy, GoAntiques also provides you access to a tool that will let you upload your Etsy inventory files to your GoAntiques account.
eBay
eBay is a popular marketplace for a wide variety of items, including vintages. There are thousands of antiques sold on eBay, so you must make your listing unique. Use correct keywords so that they match buyer queries. When selling at eBay, you only pay a fee when your item sells. Listing is free. Basically, you’ll be paying insertion fees and final value fees. If you list more than 250 items per month, you start paying $0.35 insertion fee per listing. For final value fees, the rate is 12.55% of the sale price or lower for most categories, plus $0.30 per order. If you wish to get more free monthly listings and get savings on final value fees, consider getting an eBay Store subscription.
Craigslist
Finding antiques buyers online can also be done by using Craigslist, the widely-used classified advertisements website with numerous categories and sections. Posting at Craigslist involves an uncomplicated process that can be completed in a matter of minutes. Craigslist postings are typically free. Paid posting accounts are available if you want high-volume posters with additional payment options in some cases. Paid posting accounts provide management tools, pre-purchased blocks of posting, invoicing, and the option to pay invoices online.
Flea Markets
Selling antiques at flea markets can be an adventurous experience. For less than the cost of running an ad in the newspaper, you can show your antiques to hundreds of customers. I did some research and found multiple flea market locations that charged $20 to $50 per space for the day, sometimes much less. This would depend on the location, size, and amenities.
Facebook Marketplace
As opportunities to sell antiques expand, the Facebook Marketplace continues to be a top choice for sellers due to user popularity. The use of social media to promote various things have grown exponentially, which makes the platform perfect for finding antiques buyers online. Creating an account to sell your antiques is a breeze and it’s free. Just access the Facebook Marketplace Community, click on “Sell Something,” and select the “Antiques & Collectibles” category. Add photos, appropriate descriptions of each, and location. To be sure that your post does not go against the site’s policy, check the official guidelines prior to listing your items.
eBid
eBid is an online site for selling and buying arts or antiques. After you sign up, you need to upgrade your account from Buyer to either Seller or Seller+. The Seller account lets you access eBid’s standard listing format, which is free to list with a 5% final value fee. If you choose Seller+, you get access to the site’s free listing and you enjoy 0% final value fee. eBid also offers the Seller+ Lifetime plan at a discounted rate of $69.99. It comes with numerous benefits like no listing fees, no final value fee option, unlimited listings, no store subscription fees, and no selling fees.
Consignment Stores
Consignment stores are another great sales outlet for your antiques. These shops specialize in reselling various kinds of goods that may range from fashion, jewelry, furniture, and more. Numerous retailers accept consigned goods since this setup enables them to obtain inventory without having to spend their own money. In this arrangement, you either receive a percentage of the price when your item is sold, or the shop owner purchases the item from you at a flat rate, upfront, and resells it at a markup. A common range for consignment fees can be 40% to 60% of what the shop expects to sell the item for. The rate will usually depend on store policy.
Yard Sales
If you hold a yard sale featuring your antiques collection, you could chance upon a good antiques buyer. To make the most of the event, consider holding a yard sale when there is an abundance of shoppers and deal hunters such as during a neighborhood-wide or city-wide sale. Essentially, you won’t be shelling out cash to sell your antiques at a yard sale. When pricing your antiques, always try to be flexible. Yard sales are associated with bargains, so establish a pricing option that leaves some wiggle room for potential buyers.
Pawn Shops
Pawn shops are also ideal places to find buyers for your antiques. Whether it’s heirloom jewelry or an antique clock, you can get it inspected and appraised at a pawn shop and get the most value for the item. Pawn shops usually offer free appraisals and, in many cases, restoration services. When you pawn your item, you receive a loan then the pawn shop will keep your item for a specific period of time. You can also sell them the item and keep the cash. Some pawn shops may ask you to state your requested amount. Often, pawn shops will pay a percentage of what the valuable item is worth. Compared with selling online, you can likely get a lower price for your item if you sell it at a pawn shop. This is because pawn shops normally buy low and then sell to make a profit.
Local Antique Shops
Local antique shops are often the first places to find buyers for antiques. You don’t have to pay fees to sell online, you can accept payments directly, and you don’t have to deal with the challenging chore of packing and shipping, especially fragile items. Seasoned antique dealers may not give away free valuations though, so you need to do your research about the item’s worth. Antiques dealers are required to declare their asking price as a benchmark for negotiation. Expect an offer of 25% to 50% off the retail price, but depending on your item, the price can go higher if the dealer sees value in it.
Auction Houses
When it comes to selling antiques, auction houses, aside from antique shops, are a given. An auction house will advertise your item in catalogues, brochures, or flyers that are sent to the auction house mailing list, and on the Internet as well. An expert will value your item and assist you with the information you need. You can also set a reserve price. This selling process may take a minimum of 2 to 4 weeks or up to 6 months, depending on the auction schedule. You will also need to pay a seller’s fee, which is 10% to 20% on average and can go as high as 50%. If the item is unsold because of a reserve, you may need to pay transportation, photographs, reserve and buyback fees.
Final Thoughts
When looking for antiques buyers online, it always pays to do due diligence as this will ensure you get the best value for your antiques. Weigh the pros and cons of your decision and think of the factors that may have a tremendous effect on your profits. And, be realistic with your expectations.
I hope one of these options can help you out! As always, if you want to add to list and/or comment on the ones I did mention, you’re more than welcome to leave a comment below.
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