Elusive Antique Trends

After 25 years in the antiques business, you would think it would be easier for me to figure out what people want to buy.

If Dear One and I listed all the inventory that we have sold in 2015 to date, there are no trends and no patterns to what we have sold, the pricing of same, or ability to draw conclusions on what to buy in the future.  Great.  Nice solid footing for our business plan.

Antique selling is hands down a "crap shoot."  The comparison to one of the most risky of gambling games is spot on.  We sell an expensive painting one month and cheap furniture the next.  The following month, nothing large, just modest priced smalls.  The items that I vow to leave in the shop "one more month" are then quickly sold on next months shop tally.  What gives?

My favorite design and antiques magazines come from England.  They are eye candy to me, but are not the most accurate on current American antique and vintage buying trends.

Recent English magazines show color color color--and particularly burnished gold accessories.  That is not the current trend for American Midwest buyers.  Southern Midwest buyers still want country primitives.  Try selling those in Madison Wisconsin.  Chicago buyers like edgy.  Rockford buyers still want stoneware and pantry boxes.  Elkhorn  Market buyers want $600 sets of puppets and $5.00 wooden pulleys.  Madison buyers want mid century furniture one month and a hepplewhite side table the next.

Moving forward, Dear One and I are going to go for a more varied mix at shop and shows.  We will work harder on a variety of price points to appeal to a wider range of pocketbooks.

I have recently started working at a resale shop in a western suburb of Chicago.  The shop is owned by our church and all money raised goes to local outreach within 25 miles of the shop.  It is a snappy shop with a clientele of folks looking for quality items at attractive prices.  I am learning a great deal about rotating merchandise and display and pricing.  My education is not over. 

Predicting buying trends isn't rocket science.  But it is a moving target.