Antique dealer
Antique dealers buy and sell old objects and collector items.
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
As part of your day-to-day work, you could:
- buy items from salesrooms, auctions, markets and private owners
- sell items to the public from shops or from stalls in antique centres
- negotiate purchases and sales
- buy and sell items online
- carry out minor restoration work
- research the identity and value of objects
- value antique objects for insurance or sales purposes
Working environment
You could work at antiques fairs, at a store or from home.
Career path and progression
You could progress to become a specialist dealer, valuer or auctioneer.
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- the ability to sell products and services
- persuading and negotiating skills
- excellent verbal communication skills
- customer service skills
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- the ability to use your initiative
- the ability to work well with others
- business management skills
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
How to become
You can get into this job through:
- a university course
- a college course
- working towards this role
- turning a hobby into a job
You could study for a degree in fine arts or art history, although this is not always essential.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
More Information
You may be able to start by taking part-time or short residential courses to build up your knowledge.
Courses include:
- antiques
- history of art
- fine art
- decorative arts
Entry requirements
There are no set entry requirements for this route.
More Information
You could work in an antiques shop as an assistant to learn on the job.
You could also start in a salesroom or auction house as a porter, clerk, cataloguer, valuer or auctioneer.
You could collect and research antiques as a hobby and then:
- get a stall at an antiques market or fair
- buy and sell on the internet
- open a shop
Some of the larger auction houses, like Sotheby's Institute of Art and Christie's Education, run short courses in art history and the arts market. They also offer more in-depth postgraduate study aimed at graduates wanting to work in the commercial arts market.
Career tips
You'll need a good knowledge of antiques and the market. Sales skills, the ability to spot items that will sell and having money to start up are likely more important than formal qualifications.
Further information
You can discover more about working in antiques through The British Antique Dealers' Association.
You can also find out more about working in creative careers from Discover Creative Careers.
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External links
This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.