Guide for the Part-time Antique Collector - 1Earth Antiques and Appraisals Magazine

Antique Secrets: How the "Pickers" Find Treasure in Another Man's Trash has a timeless air about it. Antique Secrets is a part-time dealers' guide to trading in collectibles.

It isn't new, but Antique Secrets: How the "Pickers" Find Treasure in Another Man's Trash has a timeless air about it. Antique Secrets is a part-time dealers' guide to trading in collectibles.

But it's just as useful for the occasional buyer. Where else are you going to learn about flea-market vendors who keep two price guides at hand — one that is old, with dated prices that he cites when making an offer on something, and one that is current and has higher values to support his selling prices.

Willard, whose name is actually Joe Pfeifer, wrote the book based on his experiences as a "picker" — someone who picks up anything from scrap metal to antiques and resells them, often to a dealer.

Pfeifer's philosophy for picker wannabees is simple. Turning things over at a lower margin is easier and more rewarding that trying to milk each vintage radio for the last nickel. Getting emotionally involved in your finds is bad news since there's always going to be something better. Consider yourself lucky if you find nothing to buy — it just means you're closer to something great.

Pfeifer's style is conversational, a little rambling, and repetitive at times, but those caveats are nits compared with Pfeifer's picks. While you may never be a dealer or a picker, he gives the reader every trick in the book so a collector is armed against sly sellers. He steers readers away from "estate sales" that are largely a way for wholesalers to unload cheap goods made overseas in the setting of someone's home. His tips on negotiating are great, and his overall impulse — to have fun — isn't bad either.