The Antique Victorian Furniture Blog

According to a recent article in the Daily Gazette out of Schenectady, NY, there are a number of pressures working to push down prices of Victorian furniture and other antiques and collectibles.

Current economic conditions, for one, are leaving people strapped for cash. Mark Lawson of Mark Lawson Antiques of Sarasota Springs says that more and more people are coming in trying to unload collectibles. In the past he saw this only once in a while, and it was often the elderly trying to pay property taxes. Now he’s seeing younger people.

As he explains, “Because of the economy, people are desperate to raise money to live or get by on. That’s really new.”

Unfortunately, what these people don’t understand is that the market has sunk because of online sites like Craigslist and eBay. Collectibles relatively rare in the past are now widely available and therefore less valuable. Hummel figurines, for instance, that used to sell between $100 and $200 are now worth no more than $30.

Also, the market has simply changed. Young people aren’t collecting. It’s not fashionable. Antique Victorian furniture used to sell well. Today the market for it has shrunk.

David Ornstein of New Scotland Antiques in Albany tells of a woman who brought him a Victorian marble-top table. He offered her $100, thinking he could get $150 for it, but the woman thought she was being cheated. “We’re caught in a tunnel we can see no end to,” he explains, “and I’ve been in this business for 30 years.”

Is there really no end to this? Or does this represent an unusual opportunity for the more astute? The greatest investors have always bought when the masses were selling.

You’ll find the article here.

And here are some earlier posts of mine that deal with the current market for antique Victorian furniture: Dec. 9, Dec. 8, Nov. 27, Oct. 25.

Technorati Tags: Antique, Antiques, collectibles, Craigslist, ebay, Economy, Furniture, marble, Market, prices, Table, Victorian

Here’s another article out of the UK on the state of the market for antique furniture. Unlike the article I linked to yesterday, this one, which comes from the Telegraph, takes a negative view.

This makes the second article I’ve found that paints a gloomy picture of the Victorian furniture market, and the first negative one to come from the UK. Yesterday’s article and the one from the post on October 25 were both from the UK and both positive. Today’s sounds more like the one from November 27, which predicted a permanent collapse in the market for antique Victorian furniture.

And it would appear to blow up my theory about British Victorian being in a stronger position than American Victorian.

Here are some things the article says. Prices are at their lowest level in ten years. The 90s were boom years, but things have gone downhill since the 9/11 attacks. Collectors are selling off pieces to pay off debts. Many dealers are thinking of throwing in the towel. It could be a good time to buy if you could wait 20 years for prices to recover. Business at auctions is up because so many people are selling. The low prices are actually attracting a new generation of buyer.

The article provides a list of specific pieces, with their prices a decade ago vs. their prices today. Here are a few that may interest you (prices are in British pounds):

• Victorian Pembroke Table (200 in 1998, 50 today)
• Victorian Dining Room Table with Braided Legs (800 in 1998, 175 today)
• Victorian Chesterfield Sofa (400 in 1998, 75 today)
• Set of Six Victorian Dining Room Chairs (900 in 1998, 300 today)

The article does not give its sources for this information, by the way, so it’s probably based on the word of a few dealers. Not all dealers are struggling in this market, by the way. On November 25 I linked to an article about a man who recently opened an antique shop in the economically devastated city of Detroit. He’s now enjoying great success selling high end antiques and also selling online.

Perhaps it’s the case that the market got overinflated, much like the housing market. If a new generation of buyer is now able to afford pieces previously out of sight, Victorian furniture could be getting a whole new life. Out of the hands of investors and speculators and into the hands of people who actually live with it and appreciate it?

More on this topic to come, I’m sure. We’re getting quite a variety of messages.

Here’s the article.

Technorati Tags: Antique, Chairs, Collectors, Dealers, Furniture, Market, Sofa, Table, Victorian

This post is the third I’ve written on the current state of the antique market in general and the market for antique Victorian furniture in particular.

On October 25 I linked to an article that was bullish on antiques and called Victorian antiques an upwardly mobile investment. Then on November 27 I posted on an article that told us the opposite, that Victorian furniture was going permanently into the tank.

Well, the bulls are back today. An article from The Press and Journal out of the UK, entitled “Antiques new way to beat slump,” tells us that antiques are “bucking the global downturn.” People are taking advantage of the slump and buying up items in the hopes that their value will turn around. Now’s the time to buy antiques, we’re told.

And here’s news for us. Sales of Victorian furniture are on the rise, and you can get the real thing for less than reproductions at the moment.

What do you make of these different messages? It’s interesting that the two bullish articles are from the UK, while the bearish one is from the US. Two separate markets perhaps? Is British Victorian on the rise while American Victorian sags?

Obviously an ongoing story that we need to stay on top of.

Here’s the link to the article in The Press and Journal.

Technorati Tags: Antique, Antiques, Economy, Furniture, Investment, Market, Victorian