Buying Antiques Abroad: - where to buy antiques in Europe - the story behind the Paris flea markets - where the antiques bargains are in Europe - what antiques to buy in Europe - how to ship antiques from Europe home

2. Tonight we’re going to Paris…
No Passport Required!
We’re going to discuss Buying
Antiques Abroad:
Where To Go – the Paris Flea Market and
Beyond
The Story Behind The Story
Where the Bargains Are
What to Buy
How To Get it Home Sweet Home Across
the Pond!
Whether you’re buying for yourself or for a client or
stocking your store the most important thing when it
comes to shopping abroad is Location, Location,
Location! And so we’re going to take what I like to
call Grand Tour – Antiques Diva Style!

3. The Antiques Diva®
• I own Europe’s largest antiques
touring and buying services
company.
• We lead one on one customized
antique buying tours in 10
countries and I have 18 guides.
• We work with tourists and the
trade – antique dealers and interior
designers sourcing antiques
abroad.
• On tour we translate, we negotiate
and we liaise buyers with
international shippers to help get
your goods home sweet home
across the pond.
• For those times when you can’t
travel in person we offer Buying
Services Shopping On Your Behalf.
Toma Clark Haines
Chief Executive Diva
The Antiques Diva® & Co European Tours
www.antiquesdiva.com

4. Paris Flea Market
• Well-organized permanent structures housing millions of euros of inventory - complete
with 15 districts and more than 7 miles of antique-filled alley ways.
• The Market is open Saturday and Sunday. Friday is dealer day - less than ¼ vendors
open and Monday the market claims they are open but less than 1/8 of vendors are in
residence.
There is no better place to antique than
the Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen - Porte de Clignancourt!
Antiquing in Paris with NYC based jet set Designer Jennifer Meditash

5. The Paris Flea Market Map
KEY POINTS
A. Porte de
Clignancourt
B. Rue des
Rosiers
C. Marche
Vernaison
D. Marche
Paul Bert &
Serpette
E. L’Entrepot
F. L’Usine
G. corner
Rue Paul Bert
and Rue
Jules Valles
C
A
D
E
G
F
B

6. • If it weren’t for The Haussman Plan the Paris Flea
Market might never have been born!
• The Haussman Plan was commissioned by
Napoléon III - the nephew and heir of Napoleon
Bonaparte. Napoleon IIII was the first President
of France to be elected by a direct popular vote.
• However, when he was blocked by the
Constitution and Parliament from running for a
2nd term, he organized a coup d'état in 1851, and
then took the throne!
• His prefecture was Baron Georges-Eugène
Haussmann - and Haussmann’s job was to clean
up the city.
• Between 1853 and 1870 Baron Haussmann
started renovating Paris – literally tearing
building downs and rebuilding the city.
Making Modern Day Paris

7. • Though work continued until the end of
the 19th century, well after the Second
Empire's demise in 1870, it is often referred
to as the "Second Empire reforms".
• The project encompassed all aspects of
urban planning both in the center of Paris
and in the surrounding districts:
- streets and boulevards
- regulations imposed on facades of
buildings
- public parks
- sewers and water works
- city facilities
- public monuments.
The planning was influenced by many
factors, not the least of which was the
city's history of street revolutions.
Making Modern Day Paris

8. Paris Flea Market Origins
• While everyone remembers Baron Haussmann in the
the annals of famous Frenchmen Eugène Poubelle gets
a seriously bum rap.
• Eugène Poubelle is the Poubelle of poubelle fame
• Poubelle served at the préfecture in Paris.
• On March 7, 1884 Poubelle declared that as a matter of
public safety owners of buildings must henceforth
provide their residents with not one but a minimum of
three covered waste containers, each holding between
40 to 120 liters. These boxes were to contain the
household rubbish from each building. He provided a
system for recycling and sorting garbage .
• The concept of a regular system to do away with the
city’s refuse was revolutionary
• The people of Paris began referring to putting out their
refuse bins as “putting out la poubelle.”
Eugene Poubelle

9. • The Only Problem? The Rag & Bone Men
were made redundant. They made their
living strolling the streets collecting rags to
resell as scraps of fabric or to be rewoven or
made into paper. They scrounged bones
and boiled them down, creating a glob of
smelly glue.
• By the end of the 19th century, M.
Poubelle’s tidy team cleaning up the city
drove them to the outskirts of town near
the city gates – to the Porte de
Clignancourt, the Porte de Vanves, etc…
• Then the Rag and Bone men turned a
misfortune into an opportunity.
• Referred to as “Moonlight Fishermen”
Paris Flea Market Origins

10. • Some canny businessman saw the benefit
of grouping their wares together and the
first official flea market – the Marche
Vernaisson was born.
• Parisians in their long gowns and top hats
began to see these Sunday afternoon
outings as a genteel sport, like fox-hunting
for shoppers!
• BUT one did have to shop carefully – some
of the goods for sale were infested with
fleas, leading the Parisians to call an outing
to the markets at the edge of town as going
to “the fleas" hence the market became
called “les puces de Paris.”
Paris Flea Market Origins
With Valerie Rennert, Andrea Algaze, Rose
Gilbert and Lloyd Princeton at my annual
Paris Flea Market fete during Maison Objet!

11. What Will You Find at the Marche Vernaison?
Smalls, Perfectly Packables, Lower Priced Items, Jewelry,
Paintings, Hotel Silver, Passimentarie, Porcelain, etc
Paris Flea Market Origins
Marche Vernaison was
the 1st Market within the
Paris Flea Market. Over
time as it became more
popular the Paris Flea
Market Grew and today
has 15 districts.

12. Antiquing with Dalton Dalton – Editor at Large
Paris Flea Market
If You Only Have a Short Amount of Time to Shop the
Paris Flea Market Go To
• Marche Paul Bert
• Marche Serpette
This is the Paris Flea Market you always dreamed of
seeing!
• It’s not cheap – and it doesn’t have to be. You’re
paying for that convenience of pre-choreographed
shopping.
• These aren’t haphazard stalls set up willy nilly but
formal styled antique shops.
• Make sure to ask the Vendors for a “Prix
Marchand” If you have a proper shipper you can
ask for “Export Price.”

13. • Don’t be shy – negotiation is
expected.
• 20% discount is standard
• Verify they are giving you the
export price.
• Ask questions about the piece
to show interest.
• Poor French is better than no
French at all.
Paris Flea Market
The Forgotten Markets
• L’Entrepot
• L’Usine
The further you go on the Rue de Rosier past Paul
Bert the better the prices become.

14. Global Markets
FRANCE
• L’isle sur la sorgue
• Provence
• Avignon Trade Fair
• Montepellier Trade
Fair
• Lille
Best of the Best
BELGIUM
• Antwerp
• Brussels
• Tongeren
• Brugge
Best Prices
Architectural Salvage
ENGLAND
• London
• Sussex
• Southern Coast / Kent
• Cotwolds
• West Counties
• Newark
Choreographed & Chic yet
less expensive than Paris

15. Global Markets
ITALY
• Tuscany
• Le Marche
• Emilia Romagna
• Arezzo & Lucca
• Florence
• Milan
Great for Painted, Arch
Salvage & Garden
SWEDEN
• Southern Sweden
• Helsingborg
• Malmo
• Stockholm
• Auctions
Top quality period
pieces, mid C modern
When is Best Time To Go:
• Feb, March, April
• Watch out for Easter!
• May is difficult due to 3
religious holidays
• June
• Avoid last half July and
August
• September, October,
November
• December and January
can be difficult

16. • NEVER let not understanding international
shipping deter you from buying abroad.
• The most important thing you can do is to USE an
experienced company with whom you have good
interaction. I recommend contacting 3 shippers.
• If you want to bring something home with you &
pack it in your suitcase – it’s usually cash & carry.
• If you’re only buying 1 thing on impulse often the
antique dealer will recommend one for you.
• If you are going to Europe & planning to buy then
contact a shipper before you go to set up an
account.
• They will give you a book of Purchase Orders &
Stickers to tag your purchases as you shop.
Shipping

17. • When finished shopping you will do a bank transfer
or give a credit card to the shipper’s client account.
• The shipper will pick up the items from the vendor,
pay on your behalf, produce the proper paperwork
for customs clearance, organize your insurance and
transport your purchases to your home or shop.
• Price quotes for shipping are often only to the
nearest port. Ask if you want the piece shipped to
your front door.
• The shipper will designate a broker for you to clear
the goods through customs.
• The important thing to remember with shipping
THE MORE YOU BUY the CHEAPER it is!
• All antiques – if over 100 years old – are Duty Free!
Shipping
With Justin Shaulis, Lynn Yaeger, Janet, Marion
Harris, Shaun Smith Gail McLeod, Susan
Pennington, John Bottero at Mercanteinfiera
A Few Shippers Names
• Adam Crease
• Chudleys
• Air Sea Freight
• Edet
• Alan Franklin
• Headley Humpers

18. Follow The Antiques Diva®
Web: www.antiquesdiva.com
Email: toma@antiquesdiva.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheAntiquesDiva&Co
Twitter: @TheAntiquesDiva
Instagram: @TheAntiquesDiva
Linked In: Toma Clark Haines
For Media Inquiries Contact: Andrew Joseph PR andrew@andrewjosephpr.com