7 Days a Week by Appointment
England could be considered a one-stop-shop for antiques being a global melting pot. On our Antiques Buying Tours in England, shop pre-choreographed, curated antiques collections. When you buy in England, your purchases are showroom to showroom ready to sell – no restoration needed.
Ideal for the antiques trade, our English Antiques Buying Tour is one-on-one and fully guided. We custom plan your route and drive on the other side of the road – so you don’t have to navigate those tiny alleyways on your own. An Antiques Diva itinerary is a highly choreographed agenda, customized to give you the best access and best prices. We not only help you negotiate for antiques, but our long term stellar relationships allow us first access to inventory before other buyers hit the road. We fill out the purchase orders, provide documentation for your records, and liaise buyers with international antiques shippers.
While you can book 1-day antiquing in England, we suggest maximizing your time by booking a multi-day itinerary sourcing the antiques markets, warehouses, and by-appointment only antiques stores in London, Sussex, the Cotswolds, Wilshire, Wales, and beyond.
Our England Antiques Buying Tours cover the whole of England. Our antiques sources are dotted over more than 1000 miles of highways. While anyone can go online and find a lot of English antiques shops, only our Antiques Diva Guide who has decades of on-the-ground experience antiquing in the UK can tell you which shops are right for your style, your budget, your time lines, your level of restoration needed. You could spend weeks looking for the right source. But when you tell us what you are looking for – we take you straight to the vendors who are most likely to have that item you are looking for. On our Antiques Diva England Tours, we save you time and we save you money.
Ask about our hybrid tours, combining antiques with English gardens and country manor house visits.
Email info@antiquesdiva.com for more information
WHAT YOU WILL FIND
England is a global melting pot of antiques. From obviously English antiques to traditional French classics to Scandinavian and beyond, buying in Britain has something for everyone.
Expect to see fine English country house antiques, chic painted furniture, contemporary and modern furniture and lighting, architectural reclamation, and garden antiques galore.
WHY SHOP ENGLAND WITH THE ANTIQUES DIVA & CO?
Inventory in England is showroom ready. The British Antiques Dealers understand the American sensibilities. They stage their inventory in a way that relates to the American eye. And they restore their inventory to the point of perfection. As Goldilocks in The 3 Bears might say, “Not too much. Not too little. But just right!” They keep the patina while making the drawers function and the tables stop wobbling. This means that when the items come off the container in your antique store – they are ready to sell. No restoration needed.
When you arrive at a British antiques vendor on an England Antiques Diva Tour, you are greeted not as a client but as family with a cup of tea and an earful of English antiques gossip. Dealers share trend reports, what’s selling, what’s not. As they speak English, it’s easy for our friendships to become your friendships as we help you build – and continue to grow – your little black book. You may think you know all the dealers in the UK antiques trade, but I guarantee we are always one step ahead of you.
English Antiques Dealers share trend reports, what’s selling, what’s not. Have you ever looked a photo of the planet earth taken from outer space? Only from a distance can you see that the earth is curved. British Antiques Dealers understand the American antiques trade even better than those inside the trade stateside. They have the perspective from afar. And getting an outside opinion on American sales trends is exclusive information you can only get on an Antiques Diva Tour.
Our Antiques Diva Vice President and England Antiques Buying Tour Agent Gail McLeod jokes, “What happens in an Antiques Diva car, stays in a Diva car.”
When you go on the road on an Antiques Diva Tour in England, you enter a sacred space. Your guide is planning your journey. She takes you places beyond your wildest dreams. But more she becomes your mentor, your colleague, and most likely your aunty. She is your confidant. You can discuss your antiques business. Your problems are confidential. And she has answers to your questions and 1 million ideas to help you sell antiques. They don’t call her the queen of antiques for nothing. As you crisscross country roads, your Antiques Diva Guide deals out advice based upon her decades of industry experience and position as one of the most connected people in the English world of antiques. She has shopped with some of the leading names in this antiques industry – and she understands the #businessofantiques. On your antique buying tour, you profit on free roadside business coaching in between destinations, as part of the package buying antiques in England.
PRIVATE TOURS
- Our ENGLAND ANTIQUING TOURS are private 1-on-1 fully customized tours organized for the trade. The tour fee allows for 2 people if required – ie one additional person travels free.
DURATION
- Trips can last from 1 to 7 days – additional days are possible.
- Shopping hours vary according to day but are 8 hours unless indicated otherwise.
- Evening hours dining with your guide are frequently suggested but optional and at the expense of the client unless otherwise indicated.
- Accommodation is frequently suggested sometimes available at friends’ country homes, so accommodations on tour might be off road in a private home you would never have the opportunity to stay in otherwise.
ANTIQUES DIVA GUIDES
- Our Guides are fully fluent in English. They negotiate on your behalf and liaise with international shippers.
- All our guides are locals with long established reputations sourcing antiques with referrals from both sides of the pond.
WHEN
- Tours possible on reservation 7 days a week with advance notice.
- England has lots of antique fairs to consider, and when you tell your desired inventory style and price point, we can recommend flea markets which coordinate with your travel dates.
BOOK A TOUR: EMAIL info@antiquesdiva.com
LISTEN: PODCAST
Meet Antiques Diva English Agent Gail McLeod in this episode of the Business of Antiques
SAMPLE MULTI DAY ANTIQUES DIVA ENGLAND TOUR ITINERARY
While all our private tours are customized – this sample itinerary gives you an idea of what you can expect from an antiques buying tour in England. While this tour is also open to non-professionals, it’s ideal for the antiques trade. Buying in England allows you access to curated, choreographed inventory that is restored and ready to move from showroom to showroom. You will visit English country houses and private by-appointment only antiques stores, as well off the grid antiques warehouses and on the main street antiques shops that happen to have prices exclusively for the antiques trade. From high to low, you will meet some of the characters of the English antiques trade, making the type of long-term relationships that only come from having an introduction. When you buy on an Antiques Diva Tour, the vendors know that you are a serious pre-qualified buyer. We are your endorsement and entry in a world of antiques most dealers spend decades trying to infiltrate.
Tuesday: Antiquing in London – shop the best of the city before you take the train from London and meet your guide in the Cotswolds to shop a private by-appointment only antiques warehouse and English country house.
Wednesday: Continue antiquing in the Cotwolds, Wiltshire, and Wales at high street antiques stores with special trade pricing, antiques malls, and at one of the largest antiques warehouses in Europe
Thursday: Crisscross England to go antiquing in Sussex and Go Down to Shop the coast in southeast England warehouse hopping from one antiques warehouse to the next. End your day at yet another English Country House for more by-appointment only antique shopping.
Friday: If you are are lucky, stay tuned for one of the famous area English flea markets before going north for more Antiques.
Inquire For Details info@antiquesdiva.com
English Deballage Tour – The Northern Route
- 7 X per year – email for more information
Tout le monde goes to France to shop the deballage, but one thing I know running a good antiques shop is that having inventory NOT seen by all your competitors is necessary. Very few American buyers realize that England also offers Wholesale Only To the Trade Antiques Fairs with special dates exclusively for antiques dealers. Inquire for more information on dates for upcoming English deballages. While there are the famous fairs in the north of England, the equivalent of Deballages takes place all over the country. You simply have to know what you are looking for. With this insiders antiques buying tour in Britain, we take you to dealer-only days at the leading trade fairs and into by-appointment only antiques sources that are available simply on invitation.
SAMPLE MULTI-DAY ENGLAND DEBALLAGE ITINERARY
Tuesday: Lincoln Antiques & Home Fair, followed by private appointments with nearby dealers.
Wednesday: Visit one of the largest antiques malls in England, followed by visits to private homes with antiques celebrities and by-appointment only stores.
Thursday: Visit Newark Antiques Fair – Europe’s largest antiques fair for open air shopping, followed by appointments with area antiques dealers at all ends of the spectrum.
Friday: Continue in the area for more antiques shops, antique warehouses, and by-appointment only stores in antiques dealers’ homes.
Saturday: Option to continue south shopping the southern route – see multi-day itinerary above.