>>3410902Mom & pop. I don’t think there’s such a thing as a chain antique store. Assuming you’re in the US, just get on any interstate and drive in one direction for a while and eventually you’ll start seeing signs for various antique stores.
The downside, of course, is that you’ll never actually know what you might find. So you might go to one store with no camera gear at all, another will have a stall with a shitload of camera gear that’s all overpriced, another might have a stall with gear priced the same as you’d get it on eBay or wherever, and then you’ll finally find a place where someone’s selling camera gear and has no idea what the hell they’re selling so they price it way low.
So, if you’re looking for a specific piece of gear, like a Minolta 50/1.4, you’re probably not going to find it. If you’re just looking for something interesting for cheap, there’s a pretty good chance.
And that’s why prices online are higher—because you can look for exactly what you want and, more to the point, so can everyone else. With eBay or craigslist or whatever, the demand for a specific item is much higher, so the price is higher. They’re basically selling to anyone who wants that gear anywhere in the country.
With an antique store, they’re only selling to, for instance, the intersection of the Venn diagram
1. Knows what that gear is
2. Wants that gear
3. Happens to be driving down interstate 50 looking to visit antique stores
4. Stops in Jim & Talulah’s Antiques, Crafts, and Live Bait specifically
So the demand is a lot lower and prices are often correspondingly lower. Also, there’s a good chance they have no idea what they’re selling. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a lens in an antique store labeled on the price tag with something like “Hoya UV lens 58mm, $12” because the seller can’t tell the difference between a lens and a filter on the lens.
Also check thrift stores. Pretty much same deal.
