Here are a few things you should never say when attempting to talk an antique dealer down in price: “What is the lowest price you will take for this piece of junk,” “Give me a good price and I will send lots of business your way,” “This has been in your shop for a long time are you ready to get realistic about the price,” “How about ten dollars for this. That’s more than it’s worth,” and when I took a poll of antique dealers the most disliked phrase was, “I’ll give yah.”

Pewter is an alloy of tin that has been used for many centuries. Early pewter, such as that used by the Romans was alloyed with lead, but other metals also have been used as alloys in pewter. In the 1800s tin was alloyed with antimony which made a harder metal called Britannia metal.

Previous Ruby Lane Authenticating Antiques and Collectibles subject collecting category blogs focused on ceramics, glass, furniture, and metals. This blog discusses oil paintings. One more “subject” authenticating blog remains—paper. The authenticating series concludes with a blog entitled “Antiques and Collectibles Detectives Kit.”

Dear Ruby Lane Friends,

Am I losing weight because my shop is losing weight?

I have lost thirty pounds in the last year. This is intentional. I have been paying greater attention to what I eat ever since my doctor wanted to double my Lipitor. But I have tried to lose weight before to no avail. Why is it working now?

I have no doubt that not everyone will agree with me. But I'd venture to guess many of you will. As always, comments are welcomed!

So diving in - here it goes:

1.. Listings on Ruby Lane where the dimensions are only shown in photographs and not stated within the listing. Sooooooo annoying. I do understand that that 'trick' is being used by a couple of the top sellers, but there is no excuse for the dimensions not to be declared within the listing.

Antiques and collectibles shops have traditionally relied on the auction house as their principle source of supply. But have the suppliers become competitors? And if they have, what can the shop owner do about it?

When buying an antique rug, what should I look for?

Having been in the business of buying and selling rugs for over a decade, the first questions I get from people are: Before buying an antique rug, what should I consider? Where do I go to buy antique rugs? Where do I actually begin my antique rug-buying hunt?