The Wave of the Future for Pieces From the Past
Los Angeles interior designer B.J. Peterson is testing her wings as an antiques shopper on the Internet. The ability to search the entire world is almost irresistible.
“We’ve checked it out, but it has some drawbacks,” said the designer, whose showroom is located on upscale Melrose Place. “You really need to see and feel antiques to know they are authentic, and right now there seems to be a lot of dealing that’s not on the highest level.”
Although she hasn’t bought anything yet, Peterson believes the Internet will be useful both for the professional designer and the consumer searching for antiques.
Antiques collectors want to hold, shake, sniff and examine every detail of an object. The very thought of them simply pointing and clicking on a Web site photo to browse and even make a major purchase defies tradition. But as Peterson observed, cyber-antiquing has already taken off, “and I know it’s exploding as we speak.”
More buyers are jumping in and buying expensive antiques online daily, according to Jim Tucker, director of the Antiques and Collectibles Dealers Assn. in Huntersville, N.C. “It’s definitely happening, since the start-up of EBay. There’s no way to measure online buying in numbers--it’s still in a sorting-out period--but it has already changed the business.”
And while there’s a certain irony in turning to cyberspace to purchase a piece of the past, it is already being celebrated as the cool way to shop.
“Roaming the world for rare antiques is not only exhausting, it’s old-fashioned,” proclaims the current issue of House & Garden magazine in a salute to digital antiquing.
“If you’re going to collect antiques in the 21st century, you’ve got to be Internet-savvy,” says Barry Weber, president of the New York antiques jewelry dealer Edith Weber & Associates. “If you’re not, it will be like trying to continue with the telegraph when everybody else is talking on the telephone.”
Weber will moderate a panel discussion on the subject on Friday at the Los Angeles Antique Show in Santa Monica.
“We will explore what happens when the dealer can bring his shop into your computer screen 24-7,” he said.
Weber’s showroom went online five years ago, and he has watched the trickle-down effect of technology. This is the year everything has clicked into an international electronic marketplace. Not only traditional collectors, but also new buyers are surfing their way into the online world.
Technology’s Impact Makes Itself Felt
And while online antiquing is unlikely to replace brick-and-mortar showrooms, it’s a concept that is starting to shake up a tradition-bound antiques world.
“Today more and more people are comfortable with Web site shopping,” said San Francisco antiques dealer Dan Stein, who organized the Friday panel.
After a slow start, online commerce in general reached something like a critical mass last year, Stein noted, citing the success of EBay.com at https://www.ebay.com, one of the Internet’s biggest trading companies. The auction site now boasts more than 3.3 million items in 2,500 categories, and last year EBay acquired the 134-year-old Butterfield & Butterfield auction house. .
Internet sales for most high-end dealers don’t account for more than 10% of their business, according to Stein. But the potential--opening up the entire world as a customer base--is alluring.
“We have proved that people will buy art and antiques at a fairly high level, such as books ranging from $100 to $80,000, and any number of American antiques such as a Pennsylvania tall-case clock for $57,000,” said Chris Jussel of PBS’ “Antiques Roadshow” fame and now senior vice president of Sotheby’s Online Auctions Associate programs.
He oversees sothebys.com at https://www.sotheby.com, launched in January 1999, which presents art and antiques from more than 4,900 dealers worldwide in an ongoing auction. The Web site, he said, has proved that people will log on, browse, bid and buy, attracted by the reputation of Sotheby’s and its ability to link dealers.
“Any object you look at online has been seen, examined, authenticated, cataloged and offered for sale by an expert with significant experience in the field.”
Convenience With a Couple of Caveats
The Internet is equally attractive for shoppers. Instead of trudging from store to store looking for a Queen Anne armchair, today’s consumer, with the click of a mouse, has access to thousands of showrooms, auctions and flea markets. But beware--that can mean a bunch of junk from the attic, right along with Queen Anne.
Clearly the everyday consumer needs to be equipped with more than a modem and a mouse, and experts warn of the danger of getting carried away by the flavor of the month.
“There are plenty of mistakes to be made with Internet buying. You have to be careful, and you must do research,” explained Scot Levitt, director of the fine arts department at Butterfield. He oversees a Great Collection site on the EBay home page, which compiles antiques and fine art from antiques dealers worldwide.
It may be easy to pick up a decorative poster for $50 or $100, he said, but any buyer venturing into major paintings for $25,000 had better know the field, and also be aware that he can e-mail the seller for more information.
And although Butterfield, like all the serious antiques sites, offers a wealth of ways to learn about painting and sculpture, Levitt suggests that the ideal path would be to take a year and focus on attending auctions and learning about them.
“The auction business really caters to the experienced buyer, even more so online, because you have that much less information to base your buying on.”
Some dealers are forgoing the auction route on the Web for Internet showrooms, such as circline.com, at https://www.circline.com which offers goods at fixed prices.
“We provide access to more than $200 million in inventory, ranging from jewelry to all types of furniture, and our average sale price is $25,000,” said Sean Mast, CEO and co-founder of the New York-based business.
Emphasizing the concepts of “Locate, live, learn and love,” the Web site, launched in February, augments antiques sales with a range of educational and artistic material.
“We offer a three-day guarantee so people can get a piece and see it. We do a thorough background check on everyone we invited to participate on our Web site--half are from Europe. If anyone discovers a piece is not authentic, they can return it.”
Offering Collectors a Spectrum of Services
Lauris Phillips of Pasadena, a serious collector of antique Native American art, pots and rugs, shops EBay auctions and likes them.
“EBay keeps on top of things and lets you know when you have placed and bid and when someone has outbid you,” she said. “It’s very efficient, and everything is shipped in good condition. It’s my favorite of the auction sites.”
What amazed her, she said, was that sellers on EBay are careful to photograph in detail any flaws.
“If there is some bleed in a rug, they show a close-up of it,” she said.
She advises shoppers to check measurements (“I bought a beautiful ring that turned out to be for a baby”) and to e-mail any questions to the dealer.
“Most will give you return privileges for between three and seven days.”
But nobody in this brave new cyberworld is foreseeing an end to antique showrooms.
In fact, Tucker, of the Antique and Collectible Dealers Assn., says that some dealers, who moved their business entirely online, have gone back to the malls and shows, completing the circle.
“It’s a lot of work,” he said. “You are confined to a computer most of your life, and you have to pack and ship everything.”
Even the dealers who thrive online aren’t likely to desert their showrooms, Stein said.
“This is a people business, and the chemistry between client and dealer is too important,” he said.
Nor does Stein foresee an end to traveling shows, like the Los Angeles event, which require dealers to ship expensive lots of furniture and art from as far away as New York, Paris and London.
The process is a “pain in the neck,” he acknowledged, but such dealers aren’t coming to make one sale, but to develop new clients on a long-term basis.
“A show like this creates an amazing energy for four days that you can’t duplicate online,” he said.
* Los Angeles Antiques Show, Barker Hangar, 3021 Airport Ave., Santa Monica. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Daily admission of $15 includes an illustrated catalog and daily lecture series underwritten by Los Angeles Design Group. Information: (310) 455-2886
* Connie Koenenn can be reached at connie.koenenn@latimes.com.