NEWPORT BEACH, CA / ACCESS Newswire / October 5, 2026 / New buyers in the rug and antiquities trade are often told to start with recognized auction houses. The thinking makes sense on paper. Provenance looks cleaner. Pricing looks transparent. A catalog listing feels safer than a handshake deal.

Byrnes was introduced to the import-export business in 1990, working mostly in rugs and antiquities before he later moved west. He says the auction route is not wrong, but it is rarely where the best pieces surface first.

"By the time something reaches a catalog, several people have already decided it is worth bidding on," Byrnes says. "The price reflects that. The real opportunity usually happened earlier, before the piece had a lot number attached to it."

Where the Good Pieces Actually Move

Byrnes points to the private side of the trade: collections changing hands quietly, dealers who know each other well enough to call before they list anything publicly. That world runs on relationships built over years, not on a bidding paddle.

"A catalog is the last stop, not the first one," he says. "If you only show up at the last stop, you're paying for everyone else's homework."

This is not an argument against auction houses. Byrnes still sees them as a legitimate part of the business. His point is narrower: treating them as the default starting place, rather than one option among several, leaves real value on the table.

Why Relationships Beat Catalogs

Byrnes describes import-export as a trade where trust takes the place of paperwork more often than people expect. A seller who has moved difficult pieces before, discreetly and fairly, becomes someone you call directly instead of someone you wait to see listed.

"You're not just buying a piece," Byrnes says. "You're buying the relationship with the person who's willing to sell it to you before anyone else hears about it."

That view fits how he has described his approach to business generally: weighing the odds, but also reading the person across the table. In the rug and antiquities trade, he says, that second part matters as much as appraising the object itself.

A Habit Carried From the Jobsite

Before the import-export business, Byrnes worked in construction, mostly residential, with some commercial plumbing work as well. He says that early experience shaped how he evaluates people now.

"On a jobsite, you learn fast who actually does the work and who just talks about it," Byrnes says. "That same instinct carries over. In this trade, you figure out quickly who's reliable and who isn't, and that matters more than any catalog description."

He says buyers new to rugs and antiquities often spend their first few years learning to judge the object: age, materials, condition. Judging the seller, he says, takes just as long to learn and gets far less attention.

"Nobody writes a course on that part," Byrnes says. "But it's the part that decides whether you get offered the good pieces or just the leftovers."

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About Aaron Byrnes

Aaron Byrnes is a founder based in Newport Beach, California, working in import and export with a focus on rugs and antiquities. He was introduced to the trade in 1990 after an earlier career in construction, and later moved to Southern California, where he has lived since the early 2000s. Outside of work, he follows sailing, pickleball, travel, and fine dining, and is an avid pinochle player.

Contact:
Info@aaronbyrnesnewportbeach.com

SOURCE: Aaron Byrnes