Buying antiques by container load can be a mental "rush", but is it business builder some have made it out to be?

Back in 1998, while I was still in antique and estate auction and liquidation business, I decided to purchase a load of antique furniture and smalls and have container shipped to my facility in New York State.

I’ll spare you details of how exactly this is done during this article.

I received load buy tractor trailer, and had friends help me unload container. It was packed full and tight, and furniture was quite impressive to say least!

I was impressed by high quality and good prices, and by fact that I could have load delivered right to my place of business.

There were twist leg oak hall trees, high relief wardrobes, dining room suits, chairs, bureaus, desks, marble top stands, dressers and much, much more. And that was just furniture!

Inside dressers and desks, there were smalls galore. Tucked inside one of dressers was a hand-stitched sampler from 1861. The sampler was done by a mother who had lost a child at birth, and it achieved a high price at auction. I was most impressed with condition and quantity of smalls.

I have been in touch with auctioneers and dealers who have had both good and bad experiences with buying antiques in Europe. I have noticed that without exception, difference between a good experience and a bad one rested solely on who they actually did business with.

Knowledge is power!

This three word statement is more than just a great philosophy. The more knowledge you have about antiques, higher increase in your overall profitability...as long as you use that knowledge. Knowledge can literally make or break your antique business.

Here's a difficult lesson that was taught to a high-minded museum by a shrewd, savvy antique buyer with knowledge.

I love this story! It vividly illustrates difference between knowing and being in dark about antiques and their value. I was browing in an antique shop a number of years ago, when I struck up a conversation with owner. We talked about incredible finds that we had stumbled across over years. Her story topped anything that I had ever done...hands down!

It all started when she attended last day of a weekend sale at a local museum. It seems that museum was desiring to remodel, and they were attempting to raise needed funds by selling off some antiques that had been found in carriage barn that stood on property. Obviously, she was not expecting to see anything spectacular because she assumed that sale would be "cherry-picked".

And then it happened!

While walking through sale, she discovered a large painting with a faded gold frame. Something about painting looked strangely familiar, and she thought to herself, "I've seen that in a history book somewhere."

She quickly ran to her vehicle and poured over several large painting identification books that she had brought with her from her personal library. After taking 10 minutes to research, she was almost positive that this painting was a rare item indeed. She went back inside, and with a few minutes left in sale, she wrote a personal check for $125. and loaded it into her station wagon.

Life took a sudden and drastic turn...for better!