Before heading out to the antique malls, make sure you are prepared. If you are purchasing antique furniture, you should take a vehicle that is big enough to haul your furniture home. Most antique shops will not deliver. If you are shopping for fragile items, you might want to keep blankets in the car. This way you can wrap the items so they arrive home safely. Be sure to bring cash. Cash may give you some bargaining leverage. Browse through several antique shops to find the perfect antique at the perfect price.
If you don't know anything about antiques, try browsing the internet for tips and advice before you start looking at them. Also, you better not take your money along with you shopping to avoid unnecessary impulse buying. Some of the price tags are there for the dummies. You can bargain the prices down because many of the prices are double what that stuff is worth. I learned my lesson when I bought an antique crank phone at one of those shops. When I got home my friend told me she bought one just like it on eBay for half as much - in better condition too!
I have gotten into the hobby of collecting antiques, and I was really worried about over-paying. I didn't want to look like a sucker the minute I walked into the antique store. I did a little research first before actually buying the antiques I was interested in. I found out that there are several places online that can help you with regard to antique prices, and eBay was one of the best places to find out the prices and values for different antiques. Pretty much every item I was interested in was posted on eBay. So, I got a good idea about what to expect when it came to prices. eBay isn't a traditional antique price guide, but it certainly helped me out! I found a lot of other price guides on the Internet too that gave me the guidance I needed.
I always walk straight up to the storeowner and ask the hard questions before buying anything. You're going to waste some serious cash on some worthless antique if it's not a legit piece. In the past it's been my experience that getting a bit of education before even setting foot in an antique shop is the best way to go. That's the bread and butter in the world of antiques; get educated! Once educated make smart choices not impulse buy on junk items. And don't be afraid to pickup an antiques guide and tote that thing along with you while shopping.

Got a great tip? Submit it here.