Tag: Tips for the beginner

What are some of the different types of plates that you will run across?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Beginning to collect, Glassware, Pottery, Serving sets, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!, Vocabulary WordsLeave a comment

One of the first auctions that I attended, I found out that there are different types of plates when it comes to a set of dishes.  Here are some of the more popular ones that you will run across:

Dinner Plates—they are flat and usually round (there are other shapes like square out there).  Dinner plates range in size from 9 ¾ inches to 11 inches in diameter.

Salad Plate—these are also known as a side plate.  They are flat and usually round and range in size from 7 ¾ inches to 8 ¾ inches in diameter.

Bread & Butter Plate—these are also known as a dessert plate or even a cake plate.  Like salad plate, this type of plate is flat and usually round.  They range in size from 6 inches to 7 ¾ inches in diameter.

Luncheon Plate—they are often confused with the dinner or salad plates.  Luncheon plates are flat and usually round, ranges from 9” to 9 3/4” in diameter.

This is only a sample of all the different types of plates that you will run across.  What other types of plates have you seen?

Things to consider after you attended an auction

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Auctions, Selling tips, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

Now that you have attended an auction, paid for everything and took all your purchases home, what are some things to consider?

After you figure out what you want to keep for yourself and what you want to sell, the first thing to do is to figure out where you are going to sell the item.  It could be at a flea market, an antique booth or even online.

When you know you where you are going to sell the item, you need to get a little history about the item.  Where it was made, who made it and even a good time frame when it was made will help any customer when they are interested in it.

Repairs may be inevitable before you sell the item, and you will have to take this into consideration when you go to price the item.  The cost of any repairs that you may make will drive the price of the item up.

These are only a few of the things to consider after you attend an auction.  What kinds of things do you run across after you attend an auction?

Here’s some different type of dealers that you will find

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Beginning to collect, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!, Vocabulary WordsLeave a comment

There are several types of dealers that you will find, and some of the different types could be great for you to do if you are just getting started with antiques and collectibles.

Weekend dealers—these are dealers who shop at yard sales, garage sales, auctions and even estate sales on Fridays and Saturdays and then sell at flea markets on Sundays.  You can also find them in an antique mall occasionally, and this type of dealer is also called a “weekender”.

Vest pocket dealer—this is someone who buys and sells in coins but does not have a coin shop or store.  They also do not set up at coin shows, and they are often a part time coin dealer.  This type of dealer may not do a large volume of business, and they carry their coins that they are going to sell in their pockets.  Many coin dealers got their starts as vest pocket dealers.

Greeddobo—(greed-dough-bough) this is a term that is used by southern coin dealers for someone who is so caught up in making profits that they do stupid things or bad ideas to make money.  This term can be applied to just about any type of dealer who does this.

Wholesaler—this is a dealer who sells goods in large quantities at low prices to be sold off by others.

This is just a few of the different types out there.  What kinds of dealers have you run across?

Some of the terminology you hear about cleaning coins

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Beginning to collect, Money, Tips for the beginner, Vocabulary Words, Wisdom LaneLeave a comment

When I first started to collect coins, I found several articles talking about cleaning coins.  I found out that there was a special vocabulary when it comes to this area.  Here’s some of the words that you will run across quite a bit:

Slider—this is a term meaning the coin simulates a higher grade than it really is. Often, a slider has been cleaned, treated, or whizzed to give it the appearance of being uncirculated or even Mint State.  This type of coin is worth less than the coin that has not been cleaned.

Whizzed—this is a coin that has been buffed or polished to give it the appearance of the luster found on a mint coin.  More often than not, whizzing is done on a slightly lower-grade coin to try to sell the coin at a higher grade than it really is.  This is sometimes done by using a fine brush attachment on a high-speed drill.  Doing this may hurt the value of a coin rather than help it.  This is because it causes wear to the surface of the coin.  See buffing.

Brushed—this is a coin that has been brushed with a wire brush or some other material.  The surface will show fine lines, or hairline scratches from the cleaning.

Buffing—this is a polishing of a coin with an abrasive that leaves a finish that attempts to counterfeit mint luster.  See whizzed.

Artificial toning—this is when you change the color or surface tone of a coin by applying chemicals, heat, or treating a coin with something.  This is done to make the coin appear natural or unusual.  It’s also done to cover up signs that the coin has been cleaned.

This is just a small list of what you will run across when it deals with cleaned coins.  What have you heard?

What are the different types of auctions that you might run across?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Auctions, Tips for the beginner, Wisdom LaneLeave a comment

Auctions have been around for many years now, and there are quite a few different types of them.  What are some of the different types of auctions that you might see?  Here’s a few of the more popular types that you’ll run across:

English Auction—this type of auction is arguably the most common form of auction that are used today.  People attending this type of auction bid openly against one another, and every new bid is required to be higher than the previous bid (this type of auction is also known as an open ascending price auction).  The English auction is commonly used for selling goods (most prominently antiques, art, real estate, etc.).

Dutch Auction—with this type of auction, the auctioneer begins with a high asking price for some quantity of items that are the same.  The price is lowered until a bidder is willing to accept the auctioneer’s price for some quantity of the goods in the lot (it doesn’t have to be all the items) or until the seller’s reserve price is met.  This type of auction has also been used for perishable items like fish and tobacco.

Sealed first-price auction—with this type of auction, all of the bidders that are participating will submit sealed bids at the same time.  This is so that no bidder knows the bid of anyone that’s there.  The bidder that submits the highest price will win the auction.

This is only some of the types of auctions that you will find.  What are some of the other types that you have seen?

What are some different designing styles that you will run across?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Beginning to collect, Styles, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

Through the years, there have been some designing styles that have come about that have been very popular.  Art Deco, Mid-Century Modern and even Art nouveau are some of these, but what are some of the other styles that you will find?

Egyptian Revival—this style came about in the early 1920’s when the discovery of the King Tutankhamun was found.  This style ran at the same time as the Art Deco Style, and the Egyptian Revival influenced a number of items from architecture, jewelry and even furniture (the style has an Egyptian flair to it).

Baroque—this style is highly ornate and often extravagant style of architecture, décor and even music.  The style flourished in Europe from the early 17th century to the late 18th century, and this style evolved into an even more flamboyant style called “Rococo” when the 1740’s rolled around.

Streamline Moderne—this is a late type of the Art Deco Era, and it’s sometimes called Art Moderne.  It emerged in the 1930’s and it has emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes it even has nautical elements to it.

This is only a small handful of the great styles that have come about.  What kind of style have you seen?

How do you take a photograph of an item that’s round?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Photography, Tips for the beginnerLeave a comment

When you get to selling items online, you will run across a wide variety of items that are different sizes and shapes.

Round items were always a problem when I needed to take photos of them.  I was afraid that they would start rolling around (and eventually fall and break) before I could take the photo.

Because of this, I would have to hold the item and have to take terrible photos.  That is, until I came up with a simple (and very cheap) way to help take the photo.

IMG_2104.JPG

The trick is to put a rubber washer under round item.  I know it sounds silly, but it works.  The washer helps prop up the item to keep it from rolling around, and the center of the washer is open to accommodate for the round surface.

The washer that I have set aside for photographs didn’t cost me much at all—it was a couple of bucks (the good thing about it is that I have used some of the other washers around the house).

shade

The trick works on a wide variety of items, just like the lamp shade in the picture above (you can barely see the washer at the bottom of the photo).

What kinds of tricks like this do you use to help you take photos?

Simple things to remember to help keep the cost of shipping supplies low

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Selling tips, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!, Wisdom LaneLeave a comment

When you start to sell items on the internet, one of the things that could eat up any profits are shipping costs.  There are plenty of ways to help keep costs low, and here’s a few of them:

Grocery stores like Wal-Mart will set aside some boxes for you if you ask them to.  They will give you a wide variety of sizes so you can pack any number of items.

If you have a paper item (like an ad or even the cover of a record), you can use plastic bags from stores to help keep it from getting wet.  Make sure that you also put a piece of cardboard with it to help it from not being bent.

When you are packing an item, a good substitute for packing peanuts is newspaper.  Make sure that you use plenty of it so that the item you pack with it doesn’t move around and get damaged while being mailed.

This is just a few of them, what kinds of tips have you heard of?

3 simple tips to remember when you sell an item online

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Selling tips, Tips for the beginnerLeave a comment

You decided not to long ago to sell some of your items around the house, and some of your item have sold.  What are some simple tips that you need to keep in mind to help things go smoothly?

Tip number 1—when selling items online, make sure you have a scale to help weight items you are shipping.  You don’t have to worry about getting a scale from the post office—you can use a bathroom scale if it registers anything less than a pound (this will help with first class mail).

Tip number 2—make sure that you pack the items you sell as good as you can.  When I pack an item, I will use bubble wrap and packing peanuts to help keep the item I sold from getting broken.  You never know what might happen when the item is being shipped.

Tip number 3—If you are unable to get an item you sell to the Post Office, you can always schedule a pickup with them.  This can be very useful if the weather outside is bad or if you have to get to work (you can tell the post office to come where you work if it’s ok with your boss).

This is just 3 tips to remember when you sell an item.  What kinds of tips have you run across that help you out?

Different names of furniture that you might run across

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Functional items, Furniture, Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!, Vocabulary WordsLeave a comment

There are many different names of a certain furniture item (or a certain part of that piece of furniture) that you will run across.  There will be times that it will literally make your head spin on what the word could mean.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that furniture definitely has its own vocabulary.  This is especially true when you are dealing with items from overseas.  There are many places in Europe that have made furniture, so you will run across words that are from another language.

You never know what you may run across, and here are some of the words that you may scratch your head over:

Pietre Dure—this is decorative work that uses inlaid, semi-precious stones to depict scenes.  These scenes are geometric patterns, floral motifs, farm scenes, and many more.  More often than not, you will see this on a table top.

Lit de repos—this is a day-bed.

Gueridon—this is a small, round table. It was made to support a candlestick or even a candelabrum.  It could almost get away as being called a side table.

Gesso—this is made from a composition material, it’s often made with chalk and parchment.  It’s made in a size that is commonly applied to furniture, picture frames and even mirrors.  This is a base upon which gilding (or even silvering) was applied to.

Coquille—this is a seashell or scallop shape.  The shape will often be seen on the top of a table or chair leg.

This is just a small sample of the vocabulary words that you might hear.  What have you heard?