Profits and perils in the antiques and collectibles market: the influence of product knowledge structures on dealer exchange outcomes

The secondary market for antiques and collectibles represents a disorganized market channel characterized by competition for supply of rare goods and retail sales arising from non-traditional channels, loose ties among channel members, and largely unregulated transactions between buyers and sellers. This study explores how knowledge structures affect dealers' abilities to turn a profit in the antiques and collectibles market. Data were obtained from in-depth interviews with eight professional antiques and collectibles dealers operating in different regions of the United States. Findings indicate that while information is widespread, its credibility can be difficult to assess without some degree of product and market knowledge. Furthermore, the findings show knowledge plays a critical and somewhat differential role in the ability of professional dealers to turn a profit. Knowledge asymmetries that create favorable conditions for profits when dealers hold the balance of informational power in the upstream acquisition of antiques and collectibles ironically reduce dealers' ability to earn profits in downstream resale of these goods. Findings support a multidimensional view of knowledge as a broader concept, based on information and product and market expertise, but deepened by experiences that lead to tacit knowledge, which can be difficult to transmit.