Starting An Antiques Business - Would I Be Mad To Try?

[Peaspeculiars]

Hi Guys,
Myself and partner have been uhming and arhing for years over whether or not we should start our own antiques/ second hand furniture business. Starting very small to begin (due to cashflow) with online/ local auctions and hopefully a dream to concurrently have a street shop with a bookshop and cafe. We have a good but not extensive knowledge of antiques, can get our hands dirty with auctions/ car boots/ scouring places/ internet for low cost items which the seller isn't aware of their value etc, etc. We have both worked together before with no issues, can repair some items ourselves or restore with the help of a french polisher friend and are by no means afraid of long hours or hard work.
My real question is: Do you think the antiques/ 2nd hand trade is oversaturated now? Is anyone interested in antiques to pass on to future generations anymore? Is the risk of leaving my (horrendous) job too great in this day and age?
If anyone on answerbank has 'had a go' at setting up an antiques business, do you mind if I ask how'd it go? Would you do it again and what would you not have done if you could do it again?
I think the crux of it is I am really fed up with working dog-hard for idiots and would really like to work dog-hard for ourselves instead in an area the really interests us even if we only just break even for years to come! :-)
Apologies for the essay, and Thank You in advance.

[carrust]

Go to an auction sale room and see how much furniture is selling for in your local area. I'll bet it wont be fetching very good prices, unless it's the top quality stuff.

[TWR]

My so-called Brother was into Antiques, at one time he had 2 shops,now down to one due to People keeping hold of their money, he went into Grandfather Clocks, that was doing well with persons from the USA but that has dried up, remember, your rates, rent, heating, lighting, Insurance, YOU could get done yourself! to Quote what you said " The seller / Byer is not aware of, I dont like the way you said that, then your fuel & lastly, your income.

[RATTER15]

I dont think there is much money in antiques these days, unless you are an expert I would say it is a very dodgy field to try your hand in.

[silliemillie]

Why don't you try starting small, part time at evenings & weekends? You could advertise your wares in local papers / ebay ect picking up at your home before you get premises & all the associates costs.

See what sort of profits you can make before giving up your job, you can always upscale later if it works put for you, fingers crossed.

[askyourgran]

I think you may need more than antiques to keep the premises going, all the bills still have to be paid every month. I would imagine that antiques is not a thriving business with a daily turnover unless you have a decent cafe-wi-fi/wholefoods business attached to it. Do you know anyone in the trade who could advise you?

[Peaspeculiars]

Hiya, Thanks all for your feedback. Because of premesis rates/ rent/ insurance etc yes, I think the plan might be to start off part time as we visit the local auctions and car boots each weekend to buy small items, but mostly go just for pleasure and to look around and see what prices things sell for. We so far have used ebay to sell and the auctions once or twice. I guess if we do it that way if we can't afford to give u the day job, we'll just keep plodding along :-)

[Peaspeculiars]

Also, TWR - Apologies, you are right about the section of my question being perhaps poorly worded 'scouring places/ internet for low cost items which the seller isn't aware of their value'. I assure you that I have no intention of robbing people when I buy items from car boot sales or on gumtree etc, if a seller requests only £7 for an item that you know is worth £15, it just makes good sense to buy at less than the market value. No offence intended. Cheerio.