Four Sure Ways to See If an Antique Dealer is Trustworthy

Often people come into contact with antiques without having any prior experience to the market. This usually happens when a relative dies and leaves you with antiques and you are faced with the choice of keeping the furniture or selling the inherited property. If you decide to sell you must do your due diligence to get a fair market price. This includes working with antique dealers that are reputable and honest. There are three steps you should take to verify trustworthiness.

The first is to call local and national antique dealer associations for references. These organizations work to keep the industry clean by promoting ethical buying and selling practices. These organizations help enforce those standards. These groups will purge dealers that do not maintain standards. Some associations will only accept dealers that have a certain number of years in the business and they almost always review dealers annually for compliance.

Ask for college degrees or certifications.

Google the company or person and you will most likely find bad and good reviews of the person. A few poor reviews does not mean that the dealer is bad, but it means you should ask some questions. Specifically, you can bring these reviews to the dealer's attention and ask for an explanation. If they do not or cannot provide a good explanation for the bad review, it is time for you to move on to another dealer.

Ask for sample documents of previous sales. Remember a good antique dealer will show you price reports and inspection reports they have completed. You can often see how much a dealer paid for an item and at what price they sold the item. Remember if you ask for price reports, they are entitled to a fair profit as well.