Featured Covid-19 impact on antiques business

Well Missouri is the show me state, so they showed us.

I heard that people are back buying trips on cruises again like candy.
So if the cruise co got any money, take it back and give it to those who need it.

 

Antiques fairs, carboot fairs and antiques centers are all still closed in the UK....
I'm desperate for this lockdown to end so I can get back out there.

 

I actually saw a garage sale listed for today and was oh so tempted. But the weather was not great and the items didn't seem to be my cup o tea so I didn't go.

What a mess this is. I need my estate sale fun.

 

A local estate sale company is trying on next weekend. They're assigning time slots and limiting numbers. I'm going to set my alarm clock and wake up and sign up for the earliest slot I can get.

 

Ohhh, I understand all you're frustrations at the lack of sales venues......BUT...I'm just waiting to hear all the fun that will break out once some start to open.....

That woman that pushes past you for the jewelry table..
The long line outside a home.....in a thunderstorm.
The , "No we can't hold stuff for you while you continue to browse around."
The too many folks in a home at the same time.....& some older man starts coughing uncontrollably .
The gal who grabs stuff on a table.....puts it down....you pick it up.....and she starts yelling that it's hers......................
The woman who grabs stuff out of your carry along.........
The estate sale prices that make you spin around and march out the door !!!

Oh boy.......is we gonna have fun !!!!

 

True Komo, but I will say this, the only things on your list that bothers me is the too crowded space and the cougher. The other stuff goes with the territory as annoying as it is I just wish we could have the fun again even if it is not all fun and I kvetch plenty.
Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away. Everyone sing.

 

The cougher would bother me, but it often did anyway. The thieves...thieves make me crazy and it's not a pretty scene. I'm a four-octave alto who knows how to go full volume when she has to. The prices and crowds... go with the territory. Families with high prices soon have empty sales, and professionals who price too high have no customers.

 

I can see coughing used as a ploy to get an area to yourself. Maybe everyone at a sale should wear a mask and anyone coughing should leave voluntarily or be helped out the door.

 

A couple of sales have been run here in the Des Moines area. Masks and limited numbers are the rule. I went to them and not a lot of traffic. They were certainly ready to deal. One of these days thing will kick back into gear.

 

We have some estate sales coming up where they ask us to call for a time to be there and some look promising. Masks and gloves required. I am very tempted but will wait till the date gets closer before making a decision.

I can still remember my last estate sale purchase before this madness kicked in.
A Pillsbury Cookbook.

 

Most of the estate sale companies in Nashville have been holding sales for the past week or 2, most with masks required and limited numbers allowed in at a time. I have not been, and will probably wait a few more weeks and see how I feel then. I have been digging through stuff that has piled up at home, and am finding enough to keep me busy.
One mall I'm in opened 2 weeks ago with limited hours, and sales there have been on the low side of normal. They are requiring customers to wear masks.
The other mall I'm in opened this past Friday, and my sales have been brisk so far. My booths and cases are generally too full, so this is a good time to thin the herd.

 

Another one bites the dust. I saw today that the July Brimfield show has now also been cancelled. That leaves only the September show still scheduled. But the Boston Marathon (rescheduled for September) was cancelled this week, so it seems unlikely they would be able to hold the September show either.

If you've never been to Brimfield, it is a huge show with hundreds of dealers and pickers, and amazing amounts of vintage and antique merchandise change hands over the week that each of the three annual shows is held (this is a nationwide antique dealer and clean out your attic flea market, not a tube sock flea market). Storage costs are expensive, so all that stuff must be burning a hole in lots of people's pockets.

 

I think there are lots of dealers trying to figure out if they want to hold onto their stuff till the shows start back up or try to sell it elsewhere.

The IPBA convention was cancelled for this year. It is held the beginning of May & this year it was suppose to be in Dallas. There is 3 different officially held sales over the 4 days. The first is the Showroom which is where the professional dealers set up for all 4 days. It is open only to members for the first 3 days & to the public on the last day. The second is the auction that is usually held on Friday night. There are usually about 150 bottles or so & bidding can get very competitive with some bottles selling for 5 figures. The auction is open to the public & you can also bid on-line or by phone. The third one is the marketplace where any of the members who wants to pay a small fee can set up on a table. It is open to members only for the first couple of hours & to the general public the last hour.

All of this to say that I have noticed more high-end bottles on eBay lately & I know for a fact that one of the dealers that usually sell in the Showroom has been listing bottles for the last couple of months.

The auction is still supposedly going to happen "sometime this summer", but no idea when. They say it will be held like it is at the convention with in-person, on-line & phone bidding. It will be interesting to see what kind of prices the bottles bring.

 

Our store opened yesterday under new guidelines. Capacity is limited and people must wear masks. Guess we did a couple grand in business, which is not bad all considering. I don't know what I personally did. I am not going back to clerking there for the forseeable future. I was in my booth the day before getting it ready and just a few other dealers were around. I am hoping I can still go in after-hours in the future or maybe they will have dealer access on Mondays when we are closed.

 

Brad, @verybrad besides your shop you were doing some pretty impressive estate sales at the beginning of the year. Did you get those finished before the shutdown started, or are you still sitting on a lot of inventory from those. If you are, what is your plan for when it is safe and profitable to trigger estate sales again?

 

Most of the estate sale remainders have been sent to auction or put on ebay. Private sales for postcards have also been held. There are just a few boxes left to be opened and there will not be another estate sale held. The lease on the building was extended until July so things should be pretty much wrapped up by then. I have not helped for the estate since the middle of March.

 

I take it Brad....that the family is...well......over the moon thanks to your help !!!!

 

Two more shows just bit the dust here. Our organization is reworking our August show to be help a little later in the month and online only. We are running in circles trying to get it set up. Then there will will be the issue of helping our members with technical help, some have older computers, some don't know how to attach a file to an email, some do not have computers at all. OY! This is going to be interesting!!!!!!

 

I think all of the local sales are off the boards. The one in Manchester CT was cancelled anyway; the person who usually organized it died last year. The others are more victims of the virus. We may get lucky this fall, but I think even my favorite rummage sale is toast.

 

My rummage/jumble too. I also miss the people I usually spoke to in the queue, I would see them more often than family members.