What you’ll learn in this episode: The surprising connection between dollhouses and jewelry Why vintage barware is so collectible  How the internet has warped some buyers’ perception of antique pricing  Why you should always get a receipt when buying vintage How sellers can choose trustworthy platforms to sell their goods About Erik Yang Erik Yang is the founder of The Lush Life Antiques, which offers a selection of vintage designer jewelry, both signed and unsigned. His primary focus is on American and European costumes, Mexican silver, Native American Indian, Bakelite, modernist and contemporary designer jewelry. Each piece is carefully hand-selected for its design, quality, and construction. In his 25 years as a jewelry dealer, Erik has segued from exhibiting at shows to selling exclusively online. Photos available on TheJewelryJourney.com Additional Resources: Instagram Website (currently under construction) Transcript: The most valuable thing Erik Yang has isn’t his collection of vintage jewelry and antiques—it’s his expertise. As founder of The Lush Life Antiques, Erik has built a reputation as a trusted dealer for his integrity and in-depth knowledge of jewelry and antiques across several periods. He joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about how to find trustworthy vintage stores and dealers; how the internet has shaped antique pricing expectations; and why you should always get a receipt. Read the episode transcript here. Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the second part of a two-part episode. If you haven’t heard part one, please go to TheJewelryJourney.com. Today my guest is Erik Yang, founder and owner of The Lush Life Antiques. Welcome back.   We talked a little bit about the importance of a dealer’s reputation. What makes one dealer more trustworthy over another? I would rather have somebody say, “I don’t know,” if I ask them, “What is this from? or “What is this made of?” as opposed to giving me some story.   Erik: Right. There are a lot of people that don’t know, and there are a lot of people that use that as a disclosure: “use your opinion, “buyer beware,” but they know. A lot of people pass off their mistakes to other people that are unsuspecting. A lot of collectors give their mistakes to dealers who don’t really know and say, “Here, I’m divesting. Please sell this for me at the market. I don’t need this. You keep the difference.” That happens all the time. They tend to use people that don’t have the knowledge base, but the collector has the knowledge base. Maybe this is getting into a little more complicated discussion, but dealing with a reputable dealer is difficult.    We had this discussion when you were here for that exhibit. I think when you’re dealing with somebody who has been in business for quite a long time, is very known in the industry, is a published author, someone you can Google and they’ll have multiple hits for interviews or articles or this or that, someone who is respected, I think those are the type of people you can deal with safely. I always joke that I’ll buy something from somebody I know very well, when they’ve been in business for 30-something years, and I’ll ask them, “Can I have a receipt?” There are people that do the market every month, and they don’t know how to write a receipt, let alone have a receipt book with their business name and their contact information on it.    When I receive a receipt and it just says, “Necklace, $30,” with nothing on it, I can make that myself. Someone like that, who is that casual about their business, if you have an issue with something, if you buy something from them, you have no recourse aside from going up to them and saying, “I bought this necklace from you for $100 and it turns out it’s not gold. I would like my money back.” Well, you don’t have a proper receipt, and they’re probably going to say, “I don’t know. It’s been too long. I can’t do anything.” That’s quite common. If someone has th