Reputable Dealers

**aurelius180** · 11-20-2012, 05:34 AM

Hello- I'm a fairly recent member of the forum and new to collecting WW2 memorabilia. I came upon the site after making my first purchase of an NSDAP kampfbinde at a local antique store earlier this year and have spent most of my time lurking in the shadows reading. My second purchase was a Deutsche Wehrmacht kampfbinde. Thanks to the helpful members of the forum both appear to be original and nice shape.

I've started with less glamorous but fairly safe and to me, interesting items. I would like to start making more purchases and have done some research on the forums and have narrowed down the list of "reputable" online dealers who similar "beginners" items for sale. What are the thoughts of other members on here regarding:

Grenadier Military Antiques
The Collector's Guild
Brent's Antiques
Summer Vacation Militaria
Uniforms of the NSDAP
World War II German Helmets

There seems to be conflicting thoughts on the price points among the various dealers listed above. At this point I'm not overly concerned with slightly overpaying for an item. I'm at the point where my attainable interests lie in the sub-$500 range and if I pay $90 for something that is more realistically going for $70-80 I'm not going to lose sleep over it if it comes from reputable source and is legitimate. I would have a problem paying $500 for a $200 item or a fake item. I understand no one is immune to fakes, and there are potentially even some in the Classifieds here, but working with trusted dealers would certainly help to reduce that possibility.

Any information that could be provided, in a broad sense, regarding others experiences with quality, accuracy of descriptions, ease of use and of course price would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

**Greenhorn** · 11-20-2012, 06:56 AM

Aurelius

My best advise is to find the dealer with the best return policy as they all may have a fake every now and then. Buyer beware, learn your prey very very well and then buy something after you're armed with knowledge. If you have stayed on the sidelines and read for a while then you should know that very knowledgeable members get fooled from time to time. Ask yourself why that is. The fakes are so good it's ridiculous! Lear and learn more, then learn some more. Ask for advise and then still learn for yourself and decide on your purchase. By that time, you can look at most dealer sites and decide for yourself. I collect Party badges and find fakes everywhere but still buy from dealers here and there. Military shows are worse! No return police most of the time here. All the dealers you listed are reputable and should offer a great return policy in the case of a "just in case".

Green

**youthcollector1** · 11-20-2012, 07:58 AM

Grenadier Military Antiques and Summer Vacation Militaria for a beginner. My reasoning behind this is these two site are very fair on pricing. Sites like The Collector's Guild and Uniforms of the NSADP have extremely high prices and are more for those looking for that rare item to lead there collection. I have also personal purchased items from all of these dealer and have nothing but kind words to say about them. I even heard a story of a member here purchasing a item from Guild, only to learn it was a reproduction. He went to return it he realized he lost it. After over a year he found it and had no problem returning it; even after a year! Good luck with collection!!

P.S this site also has a classified section, very fair prices and the mods monitor it as well for fakes.

**Sir Payne** · 11-20-2012, 08:07 AM

Every time I send a message to the guy at Summer Vacation Militaria he doesn't respond. If he would have replied to my emails then I would have bought about 400 items from him by now. Anybody know why he never responds?

Corey

**youthcollector1** · 11-20-2012, 08:13 AM

Yes, he travels a lot and is also email challenged lol. Best to call him, the first item I bought from him took over twenty email before he responded and was able to purchase it. Second item I called and had it in a week.

**Adrian Stevenson** · 11-20-2012, 08:59 AM

Don't forget we have a selection of trustworthy dealers who are forum sponsors:

War relics advised dealers

Cheers, Ade.

**DioMac** · 11-20-2012, 10:01 AM

I have bought from Sammlermarktnord and GermanHistorica with no troubles. Good email contact from both, and GH even went so far as to email me a picture of the postal tracking number for an item - rather than just copy-pasting it.

Both post internationally and have my trust.

**NineLives** · 11-20-2012, 10:24 AM

Lakeside Traders are great, but I get most of my items from the classified section here because I know I can buy with confidence!

**DUJAILAH** · 11-20-2012, 02:01 PM

Quote: - Every time I send a message to the guy at Summer Vacation Militaria he doesn't respond. If he would have replied to my emails then I would have bought about 400 items from him by now. Anybody know why he never responds?

Corey

I bought 2 items from him; but gave up trying to buy more as I had no reply to emails. Shame 'cause he's got some nice stuff, Cheers, Richard.

**Kiwipete** · 11-20-2012, 02:10 PM

Paul at lakesidetrader........Bob at collector to collector......John at germanwarbooty
I will be amazed if those 3 guys would set anyone wrong in this hobby.
Ive spent to much with these guys lately!