(Copyright © 1997 T Bruce Tober)
And it's happening in some very big and some very successful ways. Christies and Sothebys both have huge web presences, but it's not only the major international antiques dealers getting involved. A small army of small, local antique dealers and even home traders is to be found in various newsgroups and E-mail lists devoted to antiques and collectibles and on the Web. And the push is on to get increasing numbers of them involved.
Dealers commenting on this phenomena told of the way they are being contacted by sales reps from various Internet Service Provider companies trying to get their business.
"They make us an offer one month and something better the next, very low prices, free introductory sign-ups, free web sites, the works," said one reluctant dealer.
In the UK, one of the biggest incentives for antiques dealers getting online in the near future is the fact that the country's largest association of professional antiques and fine arts dealers (LAPADA) is now there with a new web site. LAPADA is "firmly convinced the Net is now a marketing tool and will be a trading tool" beyond comparison for its members, Malcolm Hord, the association's chief executive, told CompuWeb.
The site is a cooperative venture for all LAPADA members and was established as a one-stop, all-encompassing center for those interested in antiques, with pages for participating members to display their wares and information about their businesses. The costs will be minimal, according to Hord, because, LAPADA has about 750 members, many of whom will join this effort. It also will provide its own server after the initial phase, which will further reduce costs. The LAPADA site also includes a database of stock lists for all dealers, with all items classified and cross-referenced.
But perhaps the most important aspect of the Net to proponents is its educational value. The LAPADA site includes information pages to help educate visitors about antiques in general and in specific areas of the antique business. Information about ancillary services such as restorers, shippers and antiques exhibitions also will be available.
And each participating member business is provided with its own E-mail address through LAPADA if it doesn't already have one. Users can E-mail queries to those dealers and expect to receive responses. More generally, Hord is looking into starting a Usenet newsgroup or List serve for such discussions.
He also sees other benefits for collectors, possibly the most important of which would be that by allowing users to shop and compare prices on its web pages and in its database, dealers may find they have to bring their prices into some degree of alignment in order to stay competitive.
Because antiques is a very sensual, touch-me-feel-me business, there are those who are skeptical of the Net's usefulness. To the true connoisseur, some dealers interviewed at recent major international exhibitions in Birmingham said, antiques must not only be seen and their details taken on board but also their texture must be fondled, their aroma sniffed -- in short, they must be experienced.
To the true antiquarian book collector, for example, there is nothing more fragrant than the aroma of a book full of dried, yellowed pages. To the true aficionado of fine antique furniture, what could compare to the texture of a fine grained and aged wood?
Many dealers and industry associations are publishing catalogues of their wares or shows on the Web. But at least as important is the use of Usenet newsgroups to those involved in the trade (both professionally and as a hobby). Several dozen newsgroups devoted to antiques and collectibles in general, as well as to specific categories of antiques or collectibles, exist among the more than 15,000 Newsgroups.
These are resources for business to be conducted. Even more so, they are places where information is exchanged and education happens. It's not unusual for a dealer in the US to ask what a certain category of glass or kitchen item is known as in the UK, or vice versa. Nor is it unheard of for dealers in the UK to ask what the hot items in the States are at the moment.
From rec.collecting.stamps:
True, the SAFE wm detector does no wonders. I do not collect US stamps but based on my past experience with stamps from other areas (some of them known to have difficult wms), I would venture the HYPOTHESIS: A watermark can be detected by the SAFE method IF and only if it can be detected by the best available fluid method. But the SAFE method is expensive: about US$80 for the portable, $150 for its big brother. So why use the SAFE method? Well, first, its safe. Second, you can look at the wm for as long as you like. There is no fugitive best moment: the wm is always there. (BTW, I am not connected in any way with the SAFE company, except for being a very satisfied customer.)
From alt.collecting.autographs:
>Anyone have Goldie Hawn's or Mickey Rooney's Addys?
Here's a Mickey Rooney address I found. Good luck, and happy hunting. :)
Mickey Rooney 3131 Via Colinas Westlake Village, CA 91362
From alt.collecting.autographs:
As a history lover, I would love to get a signed photo of Winston Churchill. What do they run to? I saw one photo at the last Book & Paper show here recently for @ $2000. That sounded a bit high.
From rec.collecting.stamps:
I need your help... I have stamps with THE FOLLOWING WORDS on them but need to know what country they are from: Helvitia, Sahara OCC R.A.S.D., Berkina Faso, Belarus, Manama, "D D R" Luftpost, Ajmad, Ajman State, etat du inchii ya Katanga, Posta Shqiptaire, POCC backwards N & R Rossya, postes Lao, Nipon, Y3 funny b EK backwards N CTOH (one word) or UZBEKISTAN (on same stamp), VDRZAVA?SHS, OEUTA or CEUTA/MELILLA is printed on stamps which also has "Colegio de Huerfanos de Telegrafos" on them. Also, Is Republique Du Tchad the French colony Chad? Where are Marshall Islands? Is "Republique democratique populaire Lao" Laos?
And, of course, answers were forthcoming to all those queries. The Newsgroups are also inundated with For Sale and Wanted to Buy lists.
"Going online for most types of businesses with something to sell is a viable, perhaps even important move. They can throw up a webpage full of pretty pictures and glitzy advertising copy and people will come and buy. But, somewhat uniquely, the antiques trade is very much a hands-on, all-senses-involved-situation which causes many in the trade to wonder if getting on the Net is a worthwhile idea," notes Hord. "It's still early days yet. People are looking to use the Net, but have no plan or goals about how best to make it work for them. We're still on a steep learning curve."
As for the Antiquarian Book trade not being suited to the Net due to its sensual nature, there are some dissidents. One such is Marc Smith, Owner of the Antiquarian Book Network (ABN): "We're never going to have the personal sensory touch abilities, even when 3-D virtual reality becomes available. So that will always be something of a problem with most antiques, but not the books side."
Smith's ABN provides WWW sites for various antiquarian book dealers and associations, such as the Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association (PBFA), the largest antiquarian book association in the world with about 650 members, and the somewhat smaller Antiquarian Booksellers Association (ABA). Each of these UK-based associations is on the ABN with its own webpages.
ABN has developed a database that is perhaps its major drawing card in attracting such diverse and competing dealers and associations. ABN puts all members' catalogues, auction lists and any other inventory lists onto a freely available database. Visitors to ABN's site can use the database to find any book they want that is for sale at any member organization's site and then link into that site.
"Buyers of books only need to know which book, which edition they want in order to purchase it," Smith says. "They don't have the need to touch and feel it before taking the decision to invest in it."
Smith also has started three E-mail lists: Wants (for dealer and collector want lists to be posted), Announce (where events of interest to the trade and collectors will be posted) and For Sale. A discussion list is planned. Uniquely, all books listed for sale will be integrated into ABN's database.
But the Net is not only the World Wide Web. A major part of the Net is Usenet newsgroups and a cursory search of the more than 15,000 newsgroups on Usenet found more than 30 dedicated to discussing antiques in general, buying and selling antiques and collecting everything from vintage vehicles to antique wirelesses. In these, dealers, collectors and total novices thinking about getting into antiques trade information, help define terms, exchange tips on what's hot in the US versus the types of materials being sought in the UK, etc.
Very few E-mail lists seem to be running, however. In addition to Smith's three, only one other turned up in an admittedly not very thorough search -- Laurie Lattimore's ArtDeco list, which was begun in June 1995.