August 2026
Buying an antique online: the right method
The questions to ask, the photographs to request, and what an intermediary does — or does not — guarantee.
Start with the missing photographs. A serious seller supplies, without argument, the underside, the back, the inside of drawers, the locks and any restorations. The absence of those views is itself an answer.
Ask three questions in writing: which parts have been replaced or redone; where the object comes from; what its real structural condition is. Written answers commit the seller, unlike a phone conversation.
Check dimensions against your space, including access: doorway, stairwell, lift. It is the leading avoidable cause of returns on antique furniture.
Finally, know who is selling. On Maison Boitel each piece belongs to an independent dealer: the platform introduces buyer and seller, takes no commission on the sale, and the contract is concluded directly with the professional, who remains responsible for the description and delivery.
