Advertisement
How to go Antiquing in your own Home

Blog | November 7th, 2011

Could you use a few more dollars in your wallet? Sure, we all could. The question is how we go about getting it. Well, the answer could be sitting in the attic right now. If there are boxes of extra stuff lying around or spare pieces of furniture, you could be sitting on a financial goldmine and not even know it. We have some tips to aid the search so you know where to look and what to look for.  

To get started in this effort, you need to know where to look. The attic and basement are great places to start. These places are full of extra items that could be worth a small fortune. Be sure to check around the house for hidden crawlspaces and closets too. You never know what might have been stashed somewhere that is worth some cash. Do you have any offsite storage units? Be sure to check them out because, if reality television has taught us anything, there could be any number of items in there that can be sold for a bunch of money.

Once you know where to look, it’s time to narrow down what to look for. Anything could be of some value to someone so when in doubt, do some research and have it appraised. However, there are a few common areas to be on the look out for.

Records – Remember those old black slabs of vinyl that people used to listen to music on? Guess what, people still listen to them and pay big bucks to get a hold of them. Not all records are worth some cash but original pressings by popular bands can be worth a decent amount of coin. Check on auction sites around the web and see what similarly priced albums have gone for. If worse comes to worse, you can probably sell them in bulk at a record store or swap meet for some cash.

Furniture – This is where the big money potentially is. Antique furniture in good condition can go for crazy amounts of cash, especially when they are from known designers or from a foreign country. Random pieces that are no longer available are also highly sought after. If you find something, do some research on it. Get it appraised. Just remember to be careful because any sort of damage can hurt the item’s value.

Books & Comics – Many people throw these items out when going through their house. What most people don’t realize is that those old books and comics could be a  goldmine! Be on the lookout for first editions of books by famous authors and old art and history books. As far as comics, everything that is more than twenty years old could be worth something. First appearances of major characters are extremely valuable no matter what the condition is but other random issues could be worth money as well.

There are many other areas that where valuable things can be found whether they are toys, currency, trading cards, pottery etc. so keep your eyes open. We focused on just a few small areas to help guide you on what to look for. Have you had any success finding something valuable? What was it? Leave a comment below and tell us about your buried treasure. Happy hunting!