20 Best Places to Buy Antiques Online Safely

Whether you’re an avid antique collector, or are just looking to get a cool piece for your room, this article will present you with some of the best online websites for safely buying antiques.

Some are auctions where you have to bid against other buyers, others are simply online marketplaces. That being said, here are the 20 best online websites for buying antiques:

Best Places to Buy Antiques Online

1. 1stdibs

This website offers a wide selection of high-end antique furniture, art, and other collectibles. The main categories are as follows:

• Furniture
• Lighting
• Decor
• Art
• NFTs
• Jewelry & Watches
• Fashion

Items are listed by people all around the world, so there is a great variety to choose from and you can find even regional antiques that didn’t gain a lot of traction from the outside of where it was made.

Additionally, each seller has to go through a verification procedure by filling in an application. As a result, each item is verified by 1stDibs experts so you aren’t likely to encounter many fakes or reproductions there. 

However, shipping costs can be expensive, but there are many options, including in-home delivery, air, sea, or parcel shipping. Finally, 1stDibs made sales worth a total of $343 million and had over 125,000 individual sales in 2020 alone.

2. Invaluable

This website is similar to 1stDibs, with a wide selection of antiques and collectibles from people all around the world. However, Invaluable specializes in auctions and allows you to participate in one of the hundred auctions that are being hosted there.

The antique categories are as follows:

• Fine Art
• Decorative Art
• Jewelry
• Collectibles
• Furniture
• Asian Art & Antiques
• Automobiles, Boats & Airplanes
• Dolls, Bears & Toys
• Estate & Storage
• Guns & Firearms
• Real Estate
• Wines & Spirits

As you can see, Invaluable offers one of the widest selections of rare and collectible items online. Additionally, they have an artist database with over 500,000 international artists from all around the globe, with a total of over 2 million works of art.

3. Etsy

This website was first built for amateur and professionals alike to sell their works of craft or art, but it has eventually evolved to also be a great place for finding rare and unique antique items.

Etsy is especially great if you’re looking for renovated or improved vintage antiques that have been tinkered with by hobbyists or experts. However, you should keep in mind that shipping costs vary depending on the seller, so be sure to check before making a purchase.

You definitely don’t want to pay for shipping as much as for the antique itself, so always keep an eye for that.

4. eBay

This website is probably one of the best options for finding a wide variety of antiques and collectibles. There are simply categories for every antique imaginable, so you’re guaranteed to find even the most obscure items listed there.

You can often find great deals on items, but be sure to do your research and inspect the items carefully before making a purchase.

eBay isn’t particularly focused on protecting the buyer, so you’re likely to encounter fakes and reproductions that aren’t worth nearly as much as it’s being listed for.

Shipping costs vary depending on the seller, so it’s always wise to check before making a purchase.

5. The Antique Trader

This website is a good resource for finding contact information and resources for buying and selling antiques. You can find great deals on vintage furniture, jewelry, and other collectibles. It’s basically an aggregate of all the best auctions and listings that are currently on.

The Antique Trader also has a lot of valuable information regarding antiques and collecting valuable items, so we definitely recommend checking it out even if you’re not looking to purchase anything soon.

6. Amazon

Similar to eBay, Amazon is full of rare antiques and collectibles of nearly every type. There you can find sports, coins, or entertainment collectibles, trading cards, historical & political art pieces, and much much more.

Most categories have sub-categories as follows:

Category	Sports	Entertainment	Coin	Fine Art
Subcategory #1	MLB	Movies	Gold Eagles	All Art
Subcategory #2	NBA	Music	Silver Eagles	Acrylic
Subcategory #3	NFL	Television	Mercury Dime	Oil
Subcategory #4	NHL	Stamps	Buffalo Nickels	Archival Digital
Subcategory #5	NCAA	Theater	Coin Sets	Watercolor
Subcategory #6	Nascar		Presidential	Litographs
Subcategory #7	PGA		Sports
Subcategory #8	More		Perfect 70

7. Christie’s

Christie’s is one of the world’s largest and most prestigious auction houses, offering fine art, furniture, sculptures, jewelry, wine, and more. They offer a wide variety of services to their clients, including appraisals, private sales, and financing.

There, you can also find great deals on vintage and antique items if you’re willing to do some research. Christie’s offers buyers the opportunity to purchase items online or in person at their auctions.

8. Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s is another online option for safely buying antiques online. It’s one of the world’s largest auction houses, selling art, jewelry, and other collectibles. They offer an online platform where you can buy and sell antiques from the comfort of your own home.

It also includes advisory services like valuations, art advisory, global partnerships, fine art storage, post-sale services, private sales, restitution, scientific research, and much more.

9. Bonhams

If you’re looking for a trusted source for buying antiques, Bonhams is a great option. With an extensive online catalog, Bonhams offers buyers the ability to participate in hundreds of online auctions hosted all around the world.

One of the advantages of shopping with Bonhams is that you can be sure you’re getting a quality product. All of the items in their catalog are carefully vetted by experts to ensure that they are authentic and in good condition.

This means that you can shop with confidence knowing that you’re getting a piece of history that will stand the test of time without being worried about getting scammed.

10. Skinner

This website is for a subsidiary auction house of Bonhams, which is called Skinner Inc. It’s specifically aiming at hosting fine art auctions, featuring some rare antique art pieces, including paintings and sculptures.

11. Heritage Auctions

This website offers a wide selection of high-end antiques and collectibles. Items are sourced from people all around the globe, so there is a great variety to choose from, and you can even find rare regional antiques.

Shipping costs vary drastically and can be expensive, but Heritage Auctions tries its best to offer the best delivery possible and guarantees that your item isn’t damaged during the shipping process.

12. Ibon Antiques

This website is an antique store offering antiques in several categories, like books and comics, clothing, dining and kitchen, jewelry, and pop memorabilia, but Ibon Antiques is putting its heart into vintage furniture.

You can even visit their physical store in Edmonton, Alberta, to check out their selection in person.

13. Wright

This website is another great option for finding a wide variety of antiques and collectibles, especially fine art of many different eras. Wright hosts live auctions where you can bid online and try winning rare antique art for a good price.

14. Swann Galleries

Another online auction, this time for Swann Auction Galleries. It’s a great option for finding a wide variety of fine art, which is being auctioned off in auctions of various themes.

 Some of the upcoming auctions are “Focus on Women” on June the 2nd, 2022, and “Ïllustration Art” on June the 9th, 2022. and the prices are often very reasonable.

Before buying, you can view photos of the paintings before you bid on them, so you know exactly what you’re getting. We recommend always reading the description carefully and taking the shipping cost into consideration.

15. Hake’s Auctions

This website is probably the best source for finding entertainment memorabilia antiques, like action figures, posters, and autographs. There are hundreds of auctions going on all the time, so if you’re into collecting things like that, Hake’s Auctions is the website you should visit.

16. Ruby Lane

Founded in 1998, this website offers a wide selection of high-end antiques and collectibles. The items are sorted into categories like art, furniture, jewelry, fashion, dolls, and glass. 

Collectors from all over the world are putting rare collectibles for sale, and Ruby Lane puts a lot of effort into verifying the authenticity of every antique it sells.

17. All Vintage Cards

Another website for vintage card collectors, be it baseball, football, pre-war strip cards, or any other type of collectible card. All Vintage Cards also has many articles full of valuable information that can help you increase your knowledge of vintage cards.

18. Dean’s Cards

This website is probably one of the best options if you want to buy or sell valuable collectible cards. They have categories like baseball cards, football cards, boxing cards, and many others. 

Dean’s Cards sort them by date, so it’s easy to navigate and find the cards that you’re looking for. Finally, you can even buy or sell some vintage sports journals, like Sports Illustrated, or The Sporting News (TSN).

19. Collector’s Cache

If you’re a fan of Pokemon, Collector’s Cache is the website for you, because it hosts one of the largest selections of English and Japanese Pokemon Cards and figurines in the world. 

On this website, you can buy anything from booster packs and boxes to theme decks and trainer kits.

20. Found Antiques

This website features furniture and home decor antiques, including collectible art and sculptures. If you’re looking to make your home look better, it’s one of the best websites to buy vintage decor pieces.