Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Antique buyers fazing out

Went on a buying trip to Texas. One store owner said I was a dying breed since I buy only antiques and he had antiques and new items in his shop. Said that is only way his business can survive, can't make it on antiques only.He said the younger generation is not intersted in antiques like older is. I have heard this before. I hate to think that the signs and items could drop in value as more younger generation buyers. Especially what I have paid on gas oil signs in past. Anyone know if this is the trend?

In my area, the only antique shops that have survived anymore, do most all of their business on ebay!

i believe so, at least by looking at the car market. i think many, us included, collect items we relate to in our past. the antique car market for 30's-40's cars is showing a loss of interest because many who wanted one to "relive their past" are getting older & out of the hobby. the market now is muscle cars & 50's-60's cars. why, a younger generation who drove them in their youth. i think the same goes for anything collectible, so based on time, things phase out. the economy doesn't help any either. sales on "wants" vs. "needs" is down.

I'm only 26 but I'm into the older stuff. My fiancée and I are currently redoing our house and it's all vintage stuff. Our living room is all vintage advertising. We have 12 antique cars 1934-1954 and 2 antique boats a 1936 GarWood and a 1949 Chris Craft sedan. We have several builds full of antiques. I wouldn't say its a dying trend. There's a group of us that all we do every weekend is go to antique shops and look for stuff.

One of the largest antique "malls" around here closed up earlier this year. Makes you wonder.

It costs a great deal to have a brick and mortar store. Look at the major chains are even closing down stores. I have noticed antique shows in the last few years are getting smaller in our area. Costs to drive and set up, eat and motel, etc.... As much as I like to hold the item before I buy it, things like ebay are so much easier. (Not without their problems though)

I would say it depends on what genres of antiques you are talking about. Victorian antiques died off in popularity in the early 1990's. The furniture, glassware, etc. from the turn of the century and before is worth no where close to what it was then. It just doesn't appeal to the younger generation. I think it's more a change of decorating trends and tastes over the years that has caused the true antique buyers market to shrink.
I am 35 years old. My friends and I like mid-century modern items and quite a few of my friends collect it. We did not grow up in that era, but I prefer my Herman Miller Eames rocking chair in my home over an 1890's pressback rocker. People who grew up in the 40's and 50's can't stand the furniture their parents had now, but like what their grandparents had. It almost seems like what appeals to a the younger generation is the stuff from a generation or two previous. I grew up in a 1970's and early 80's decorated house, brown, gold, avacado galore! I can't stand the style of that era, but young kids now think it's cool and they are buying it.
I believe the biggest thing affecting prices now is the economy. I think we also need to keep in mind that more kids are growing up in poorer, deprived households. If it's a want and not a need, then you don't have to have it. This is being ingrained into them, as well as a less is more creed when it comes to living and the environment. It helps paint a somewhat dismal picture of the future of the general antiques and collectibles market. It's been said a million times on here, but if you buy things for the love of collecting them and preserving them then we will never lose sleep over the future values of these items.
Sorry to ramble....I just have a lot of different thoughts on this subject and could go on and on.
Darin

Another thing to think about on this subject. How many times have you been in an antique store and found a couple things you would like to buy.... but they are about three times overpriced.

I went back to a antique shopping center I go to about 2 times a year and the last couple of times I have seen the antiques start to go away and there tends to be more garage sale material showing up in the stores.There were 8 large shops there now they are down to 3.

I have a few observations. One is that I have always "dickered" with an antiques dealer because they always have a huge mark up. If I dont make a deal, I leave my number with them and after the item has sat too long, I frequently get a call back saying they will take what I offered. These guys are still in business. The ones I have seen go out of business have ridiculously high prices, take items on consignment and they dont dicker. The people consigning the item have little to lose if it sits in the store for years and they are less likely to budge on their price.
The other thing is if you are exposed to antiques when young, you tend to appreciate them. My parents home was always furnished with antiques, and I love antiques, as do my kids. Friends whose parents went for modern tend to love modern. Thats life.
John

Young generation has little to no interest in antiques. Most Local stores are overpriced by 50-100 percent due to operating costs. Many people have less disposable income. Antiques are not a necessity. If you look at gas items as an investment your in the wrong hobby....this hobby is as risky as putting your money in the Netflix stock. In the past few years local towns have lost their total antique district. eBay has killed the retail store antique market. Antique stores in my opinion are a dying breed. I like to buy local and support local but most of the local stores have very few of the unique items I like to buy. The main problem is lack of finance to buy these items. Jm2c

After visiting several Antique shoppes recently in Upstate NY, Mass and Conn., I can see why they are either closing or not selling anything....

....They're prices are way too high Vs. Condition.

Antique Business is doing fantastic in my area ,resale is doing even better,and estate sale's are as nutty as can be with traffic!You know ,my thought's are this when it come's to all of the T.V "antique road show,pickers,pawn stars,a.restoration so on & so on, even though our opinions vary on that topic i personally think that these show's have helped the antique business/resale & collecting hobby in general,more so with resale & antiques.These days it seems as if the younger folks are tied up watching snookie on jersey shore with a ipod in one hand & a cell phone in the other,and the only thing that's being collected is empty Jack Daniel bottles & condom's!I cringe at the thought of my kid's generation & how fast pace ,on edge ,& ignorant that things seem at times & t.v promotes this garbage all day long! The simple thing's in life like ........taking kid's to get a ice cream cone,fishing,camping,raising animals,farming,car shows,collecting,"school" have fallen by the way side & are considered to be boring & old fashioned! Anyways I'm curious now.......so how is the antique business doing else where?

I'm 17 and when i lived in Ohio i frequented the local antique stores because there were a lot of signs and oil cans. Some at reasonable prices some well above retail but here in FL i have found it very hard to find any signs at antique stores at all and the ones they have are either newer or extremely over priced. It also has to do with younger people not being interested in antiques. I've only met a few guys my age with the same interest. When i have freinds over i like to show them my gas&oil collection and bicycle collection and they all think its really cool but the chances of them starting to buy is unlikely. Mainly due to the fact they would rather spend their money on video games and other electronics.

I agree. My mom has a house full of antiques and my girls think they are cool. On November 5th, there is an Antique Show coming up. My two girls (age 10 and 17) can't wait to go. Their 16 year old cousin also loves antiques. So, I wouldn't say that the whole "younger generation" will turn their backs on antiques. It's just that, sometimes, you don't really appreciate the "old stuff" until you, yourself, get older.

Michelle

I went to Bonneville this past August and left the interstate east of Salt Lake City and travelled state roads exclusively til Marshall, Texas. I had a zero balance on my credit card and a little cash-I was ready to spend some bucks. I spent barely over $200.00 and probably should not have spent half of that. I experienced an appalling lack of antique shops, malls, flea markets, etc. Those that were open had little of "our" type stuff and I encountered no petro/auto signs for sale at any price level. Store owners told me those were scarce and when they came up for sale they were grabbed quickly and at prices that would allow them little profit margin. I do hope other areas of the country are healthier than this.

There is a lot of antique stores here in town. Like some of the other post on here its mostly garage sale junk or furniture, Some of them specialize in fine antiques and there is a couple of dealers that have some advertizing stuff. From time to time and when they do get something really good and it is priced right it does not last long . But most of them are just dealers that rent a small space in a large antique mall. And have real jobs and this is just a side gig. But I do think it is tough to pay the rent and make a profit at it, in one of these brick and mortar stores.

A lot of good points made here.
My wife and I buy antiques for our house. Things that fit our lifestyle, everything must be useful not just for looks (well except that big floor butter churn she bought, and I am determined to actually make butter in it).
My offering price is half what I see on a tag. Sometimes we get a good deal and buy, sometimes we don't. Dealers seem to meet us at lower prices than they use to.

The biggest problem for antique dealers I see is they sell the High quality stuff on the internet and that only leaves the "garage sale" items for the store.

I have a booth in an antique mall, and our mall does "fair". My booth has actually helped turn that mall around some. Use to be mostly womens interest items. I added my oil and service station items and then a couple other guys came in with "guy" stuff. Now the regulars are adding more of that type stuff and traffic and sales are improving. They learned, if the husband has stuff to look at too, he wont' drag his wife out so quick.

My biggest beef, is Antique dealers see the price a pristine piece sold for in a book, and get STUCK on that value for their piece in not so nice shape. That alone has probably stopped me from making a purchase more than anything. And we all know, as the quality falls, the value falls even faster.

Chuck

Those are my favorite dealers the ones who love the book prices I just show them my book with 1994 prices LOL

Seldom do I find a fairly priced Petro item at an antique shop .

Back around 2004/5 when gas hit 3$ a gallon killed our A/S we had buildings full of old stuff, no one was driving around "antiquing" When we did get a customer they tried to get it for a few pennies on the dollar, those we ran off as quick as they pulled that stunt. So off to a number of auction houses in the area where we got more than what was on the stuff here. We still do a couple of "malls" the junk sells good stuff doesn't, September was the best month since the mid 1990's. So much for "reganomics" We still get people who drive past the "no trespassing" to see if we are open. I guess the shotgun means no! tt

ebay is what's killing the shops

2-3 years ago was the shakeout in the Chicago area: first people moving stores to locations with lower rent, now just plain gone. I see a lot of used furniture and assume that eBay gulps the smaller items.
What I don't see is college age shoppers. Back in the day, vintage stuff was the way to decorate: it doesn't seem to be now.
I can't remember the last time I saw a globe in a store, and if I see pump plates, they're repros. Rarely I'll see a sign. The maps I see look like eBay lots that didn't sell. Flea markets aren't much better, but once in awhile I find a gem.
Many, if not most, of the malls in the suburbs are gone. LaGrange had more than a dozen shops and malls in the early 2000s: nearly all are gone.
Prices are very soft on everything around here, too.

I have talked to the owners of antique malls in my area. They all say that the first thing that gets chopped when the budget gets chopped is the budget for trinkets. The high end antiques do ok with the people that can afford it but these malls make more money from small items than the one large sale a week.
I see the dealers at the antique auctions and they have been driving up the prices on each other for so long that they tend to set on stuff for long periods of time to get their money back. I also think that the quality of the antiques is getting diluted with less good stuff in the stores and malls.

All of the antique malls around here are full with waiting lists to get a spot and charge 300 a month for a 10x10 spot plus 7% on sales. New stores opening up everywhere. I don't see many signs or globes but when I do they are HIGH!

I am a traveling gas pump calibrator. I always look for antique shops and scrap yards. I usually have better luck finding cool stuff at the scrap yards. Antique shops/malls usually disappoint. I rarely find items that interest me, and when I do they are usually WAY overpriced. I can usually walk through a shop in less than 10 minutes, with nothing catching my eye. Also I have noticed that a trend has developed recently. Many of the really great shops near me have stopped getting "real" old stuff and started getting stuff that is made in China that looks like hand made art and antiques, but it is all just more junk from overseas.

I always clean up in antique shops around here...as well as auctions...the antique shops here are quality and have lots of good stuff cheap...

I was at a sign auction 2 weekends ago and everything went at rock bottom prices....I bought 20 signs and only spent $550....some were NOS....I bought a 9' Keystone lubricants sign for $260...also picked up a mobiloil Artic sign for $60 a mobil gargoyle porcelin that was dated for $50...

There are tons of young buyers out there you just have to look closer

eBay is what's killing the shops

your right greg, if i see a computer when i walk in the store door, i turn around and walk out...
mind you in 20 years, i can count on 1 hand the number of quality items i have found in an antique store.

Lots of good points here. I guess the antique business varies from region to region. I've found some great things within 15-25 miles of my home in the last few years (including a bowling machine that I'd been searching for for about 25 years!!) I'm not sure if it's all doom & gloom (what happened to the "Let's figure it out America" that I grew up in???) When I go into an antique store/mall I take a little more time than I used to; it's amazing what you'll find if you slow down a little...... If I'm asked what I collect by someone that works there, I let them know what I'm interested in, I've been directed to some good stuff that way. It also seems to really help if you smile when you're antiqueing, alot of people that I see looking for stuff seem to be p*$$ed off about something. A smile costs you nothing...............:)

I agree, I haven't been in an antique store for about 5 years,,, they all look like yard sales to me..

And it's only getting better. LOL