Antique dealers tend to come by the contracts unintentionally, in the course of buying articles of old furniture. Such documents may be found concealed in the bottom of a trunk, or offered for virtually nothing along with other items.
對於四處搜尋老東西的古物「販仔腳」而言，古契約常常是收買古傢具時，無意在箱櫃的隱藏夾層中找出來的，要不就是以極低價半買半送得來。