History

Back When

Buying and selling antiques runs in my blood and has been a part of my life since my childhood.   I am a born Antiquer.  I have been a buyer, seller, collector, hoarder, and accumulator, of antiques and old stuff for 50 years or more and I am close to 60 years old as of 2010. 

My initial education in acquiring and appreciating antiques and collectibles began as a child working with my mother as we went curbside in New Jersey during monthly "pickup" week.  My mom was such a fanatic that my home town instituted an ordinance in our hometown against having more than 2 sales a year.  This was back in the 60's before yard sales were in vogue.  She overcame that roadblock by simply moving the venue around.  I remember those days, experiences, and the finds fondly!  It was a lot different from today.

I went through the typical phases of a young collector.  I hunted for, bought, sold, or traded baseball cards, coins, military related stuff, critters, fireworks, and most anything else that happened along.  Mom's dead and gone but the gene carried through.

After moving to California in the early 70's I use to regularly pick the local dump and made a decent living at it.  It was during a time when people use to throw away some great stuff including antiques and other valuables. Most times I made more money doing that than working a regular job. 

For the most part though that era and those times of easy antiques ending up on the roadside, in the dumpster, or at the dump, waiting to be brought to market are over and I moved on.  Going into antique stores and seeing stuff I was selling for 5.00 & 10.00 being offered up for 50.00 - 100.00 was just one small wake-up call.  My first time at the Brimfield Antique Show was like being reborn, and the first tool show I attended and sold out at was something a lot of people remember fondly. 

Carole, my wife and partner, is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate from Vassar.  She has a degree in Anthropology and a deep appreciation for all old things, not just bones and stones.  She has a keen sense and ability to interact with people that makes her eminently qualified to rummage around in other people's stuff while they are still watching.  My approach is a bit rougher.  The differences in our experiences, education and approach are complimentary though and have helped us stay focused and to evolve this business and our style of buying and selling antiques to what it is today.  Without her I might still be rummaging around the dump, thrift stores, and flea markets. 

Changing Times

Before the advent of the internet (BI) during the 80's and early 90's we use to spend 8-9 months of the year on the road and on the East Coast in our constant pursuit of  antiques.  We use to go from shop to shop, show to show, club meeting to meeting, and auction to auction, buying and selling antiques with reckless abandon.  The supply of great antiques & collectibles and great buyers of them seemed endless in those pre-internet times. It was an exciting, fun, and rewarding period, and it seemed there was no end in site, on the horizon or anywhere else.  WRONG!! 

The Internet happened a new reality appeared -began to take hold and has evolved.   It was the end of that previous seemingly endless era of cheap and easily obtainable antiques, and the beginning of a new era (AI) or After Internet has dawned. 

The world of antiques and how to buy or sell them changed.  At first we were slow to adapt, and were resistant.  MISTAKE!   Later we realized we were not getting any younger and it really was a changed era.  We had to adapt, and the way we conducted our business, had to change in order to continue and prosper. Our 2 Antique related WebPages www.Patented-Antiques.com , and www.Antiqbuyer.com were created, and we entered the new era of internet antiquing.

Today

Today, our internet antique websites  www.Patented-Antiques.com , and www.Antiqbuyer.com are our way of meeting the new challenges in the ever-changing world of  buying and selling antiques in today's world.   I imagine it has been an experience much like getting one of them new fangled telephones, or a gas powered vehicle was for the operators of antiques shops and early sellers of antiques in the old times.  (WBI or Way Before Internet)

As a note, we just got our first cell phone in 2006 and were also slow to adjust to that change.  We still do not get reception or service where we live out in the woods, and it was just in 2009 when we finally upgraded to a satellite connection for the internet.  Both are now as much a necessity as our websites are in order to conduct antique related business in today's world. 

We still routinely make house calls from contacts generated from third antique related website www. Patented-Antiques.com, and  our sister site www.AntiqBuyer.com which has a lot of more specific info about the different categories of antiques we deal in, as well as a large data base of Past Sales Results for specific antiques we have sold in the past. 

We are always interested helping you sell quality collections of antiques or single great pieces.  The days of going from show to show or shop to shop, and hitting every out of the way shop between here and there in the quest for quality antiques are basically over for us.   We still do make 1 or 2 cross country trips every spring and fall to follow up on leads our sites have generated, pick up stuff we have arranged to sell,  and attend a few decent shows that remain, but our road warrior days are over. 

Collecting Clubs

We are or have been members of numerous collecting groups such as MWTCA, AFCC, PAST, ATTIC, ISMACS, KOOKS, MSICC, EAIA, PATINA, CRAFTS, APES, ACME and others.  These clubs, and many other Collector Clubs are valuable sources of information and knowledge, and without exception are worthwhile expenditures of time and money for collectors and lovers of antiques.  Our advice to all collectors is to join such an antique collector club today and participate.  It is a very rewarding experience.

Our Goals

The primary goal of this Internet antique website www.Patented-Antiques.com   is to provide you with a high quality, high-profile, easily accessible  location in the "new antique marketplace" on the internet to both buy and sell antiques.  We fully understand and are constant witnesses to how the antique marketplace has been changing over the past few years. This site will provide you with a new and viable alternative to the old and now obsolete ways of both selling and acquiring antiques.

We strive to provide you with a  reputable, knowledgeable, and hassle-free venue to sell your individual antique or life-long collection of antiques that are of interest to us. 

Selling antiques on consignment through a specialty collector / dealer who is visible, forthright and honest has several major advantages over selling antiques locally where the limited buying knowledge of many "antique" dealers, or even outright deceit can often lead to prices which can be far below the current actual market values and what you might expect to receive.

This site, and our strong desire to help you sell high quality antiques also offers you advantages over selling at most auctions and dealing with the unpredictability of that venue where time, high commissions, poor scheduling, and the overall uncertain nature of the end result can often lead to major disappointments or worse.   Please see the FAQ pages, or visit our sister website www.AntiqBuyer.com for more info on this.   

If you have a single antique, or a collection of antiques to sell please contact us at LCM@patented-antiques.com giving us your PHONE NUMBER  and other contact info and we will get back to you ASAP. 

To view examples of the types of antiques and collectibles we have previously sold and are always interested in helping you sell please visit our Past Sales Archive Pages at our sister website www.AntiqBuyer.com.

Please see our FAQ page, the Appraisal / Selling Page and the Selling Your Collection Pages for further info.

Thanks!!
Larry & Carole

We do not have an open shop!  The Internet is our only storefront.

For more info on this please see the FAQ page Thanks!!

 

Please Note:  Important

Because of the volume of requests, severe time constraints, and a full time work schedule, we cannot respond to all of the individual requests for free online appraisals, "eppraisals", valuations, or general information requests about individual antiques we receive. 

 Thanks for understanding! 

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