Vintage fell in price: antiquarians told what goods became illiquid in 2026

In the middle of last summer, at the entrance to one of Moscow’s antique shops near the Sokol metro station, a huge pile of old things formed – obviously, from the assortment of this store. Surprised passers-by, janitors and residents of the house told: the store moves out, “low-value” items decided not to transport. Anyway, take whoever you want. The pilgrimage for trophies lasted about two days - the most operational got radios, armchairs of the 1960s, tea and table porcelain of the Soviet model. Residues were taken together with household waste in a construction container

In social networks, the owner of the store explained that it is not only about moving, but also about changing the concept. Almost immediately after that, in the store, working at a new address, there were shares of free distribution of goods – of course, not all, but those that, according to antiquarians, can not be quickly sold. In the autumn, the distribution and even the release of “illiquid” held three more well-known antique shops of the capital.

“On the one hand, everything is simple: store things in warehouses, keep them in the catalog, keep this catalog of many thousands of items up to date – serious costs, it would be good to minimize them,” Konstantin, an antiquarian with 15 years of experience, told MK. Therefore, sometimes such distributions are carried out to make room in the warehouse for new, more valuable receipts. But there is a more serious reason: sales of almost all vintage and antiques have plummeted this year. It turned out that the effective demand for ordinary old things almost disappeared – this has not been the case since the early 2010s, when vintage culture went to the masses.

Rare antique items of auction and museum level are still in price, the source told MK. Requirements for them at the same time grew: for example, for porcelain in this category, traces of existence and gilding are practically unacceptable, vinyl records must be flawless, "unplayed", and equipment - for example, cameras and typewriters - collectors (that is, for a good price) are interested primarily in factory packaging and with all documents.

But those items that previously served as the "entrance gate to the world of antiques" - slightly worn, with traces of existence - in price just collapsed. “It seems that serious collectors are not interested in this, and being a collector in between is available to fewer and fewer people,” suggests the antique.

A similar problem arose in the market of retro cars: if a year or two ago to buy GAZ-M20 “Victory” in any condition cheaper than 100 thousand rubles was impossible, now shabby copies can meet and half cheaper. Another question is that it will take more than one million to restore such a car to collectible level – and those who are ready to buy a retro car, as a rule, understand this.