As
you might guess a lot of new medical collectors find this web
site and ask for advice on what to collect and how they can
start their collection. My best advice is always to buy
Edmondson's
book on medical instruments and go from there if you are
interested in Civil War or other 1800's surgical antiques. If
you want to collect in other areas, please go to a topical site
and ask questions there.
If
you are looking for a place to start buying, I would strongly
advise you to take an organized approach to tracking items of
interest on www.ebay.com in the 'medical' or 'Civil War'
section. You have to dig a little, but pick items of interest,
save them as 'favorites' and see how the bidding goes until the
end. Do it for a multitude of items and learn how much others
are paying for given items.
Don't even think of bidding on eBay until you are sure you know
what you are doing. Check on www.AuctionSniper.com once you
get to the point where you want to bid. That is what the pros
do and you should too. Try tracking other bidders and see what
they are finding. You just save the bidder's eBay namecode
under 'bidder' and see what they are buying.
Like
any hobby, this one requires lots of study and time. Take your
time and read everything on this web site because there in no
need for you to re-invent the wheel when I've already done a lot
of the work for you.
Knowledge is your
best advisor:
buy books!
For a extended list
like the one above, see the
Topic Indexes