Dear Lee,

As we write this, the news is filled with problems of the economy. Collectors are in a good position to ride out economic tremors. Collections, after all, have a dollar value. But now is the time to prune your collections-sell the OK items and keep the best. Or if you need money, part with some gems and be glad your assets include collectibles. If money is tight, get your “addiction” to antiques in check and go to shows to study or to see friends, not to buy.

Study the antiques and collectibles market like a stock expert. Think of your collections as a portfolio. There’s what has gone up in the past but probably isn’t going to move up in price soon: Higgins glass, ordinary Mission furniture, doorstops, lunch boxes, Depression glass. There are items that are going up in price: large pieces of American folk art, Indian and Western art, garden statuary. And how about the undiscovered: high-quality furniture from the 1940s and ’50s, enamels, pottery from Vallauris, France (the town where the Picasso pieces were made), top-designer Scandinavian furniture of the 1950s, older work by local craftsmen. Look for once-popular things that are not fashionable right now but are of good quality.

Collectors have been through many changes in the world of online buying and selling, and we are bound to see more soon.