Paris - Vintage travel gear seller at the marche Dauphine - 5212

An antique shop (or antiques shop) is a retail store specializing in the selling of

antique An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

s. Antiques shops can be located either locally or, with the advent of the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

, found online. An antiques shop can also be located within an antique mall, where an individual antique seller can open a booth or stall and display their personal or family items for sale within the

mall Mall commonly refers to a: * Shopping mall * Strip mall * Pedestrian street * Esplanade Mall or MALL may also refer to: Places Shopping complexes * The Mall (Sofia) (Tsarigradsko Mall), Sofia, Bulgaria * The Mall, Patna, Patna, Bihar, India ...

. These mini-malls are a form of

consignment shop Consignment involves selling one's personal goods (clothing, furniture, etc.) through a third-party vendor such as a consignment store or online thrift store. The owner of the goods pays the third-party a portion of the sale for facilitating t ...

, and are often located inside where previous large retailers such as grocery stores have moved out or closed outright. Normally stores' stock is sourced from

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

estate sale An estate sale or estate liquidation is a sale or auction to dispose of a substantial portion of the materials owned by a person who is recently deceased or who must dispose of their personal property to facilitate a move. Reasons for an estate ...

flea market A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously-owned (second-hand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...

garage sale A garage sale (also known as a yard sale, tag sale, moving sale and by many other namesSome rarely used names include "attic sale," "basement sale," "rummage sale," "thrift sale," "patio sale," "lawn sale," and "jumble sale".) is an informal ...

s, etc. Many items may pass through multiple antiques dealers along the product chain before arriving in a retail antiques shop. By their very nature, these shops sell unique items and are typically willing to buy items, even from individuals. The quality of these items may vary from very low to extremely high and expensive, depending on the nature and location of the shop. Frequently, many antique shops will be clustered together in nearby locations; in the same town such as in many places in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, on the same street such as on

Portobello Road Portobello Road is a street in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is ...

or Camden in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, or in an antique mall. Antiques shops may specialize in some particular segment of the market such as antique furniture or

jewelry Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...

, but many shops stock a wide variety of inventory. Some shops are online-only sellers; they have no physical retail location.

References

Retailers by type of merchandise sold Antiques Reuse {{retail-company-stub

See also

References