Authenticity cannot be settled on a video call, and for an antique the thing being claimed — age — is the one thing a photograph is worst at showing.
What to ask them to show
The underside and the back. The faces nobody styles are the faces worth seeing, and a seller who photographs only the front has given you the least informative view.
Close shots of wear in the places use actually touches — a handle, a foot, a seat edge. Ask for them; do not interpret them.
Any tool marks, joints or fixings, close up.
Any repairs, named. Ask directly: "what has been repaired or replaced?" A good answer is specific. A bad one is "it is all original."
Where it came from and when they got it. Provenance is not proof, and its absence is not guilt — but how a seller talks about it is informative.
What a refusal means
This category attracts confident storytelling, because a story cannot be checked. Notice when you are being given a narrative in place of a photograph.
A seller who declines to photograph the back of something is declining the easiest request there is.
What this page will not do
It will not tell you how patina should sit for a given age, or which tool marks indicate what. That is connoisseurship — it takes years, it is specific to a trade, and a general version of it is how people buy a confident reproduction.
For anything valuable, photographs of the underside, joints and wear are what a specialist needs. Get them before you bid.
What protects you if you get it wrong
An item described as older than it is, is not as described: returnable for 7 days whatever the store's policy says.
Also ask how it will travel. This is the most fragile category on the site, and collection is often the sensible answer rather than a courier — for many antiques, that is a bigger risk than authenticity.
Questions people ask
Does "vintage" mean anything specific?
Not reliably. Ask for a date or a period and ask what the date is based on.
Is a restored antique worth less?
Usually, and it depends on the restoration. The important thing is that it is disclosed.
Should I buy a large antique without seeing it?
Consider collection, and ask for the largest single dimension — the measurement that decides whether it gets through a doorway.
More: spotting a counterfeit before you bid, Metzee's position on counterfeits, reporting a seller, questions to ask before bidding on an antique.