Featured 4 Myths the General Public Believes about Antiques

at least they still search books !!!
As opposed to " I 've never seen anything like it on the web ".....

 

Value, worth, rarity...whatever...are such ridiculous words. The 'value' of an antique depends on a million different things. Who made it, how old it is, how rare it is, how complete it is, what it sold for, what it didn't sell for, WHERE it was sold, WHEN, to whom...

This, is a good example:



I have been collecting writing-boxes for years. I have seen really plain ones, I have seen SUPER FANCY ONES. I have seen ones which are museum pieces, I have seen ones which are headed to the scrap-heap.

No matter what condition they're in, I've never seen one that was for sale for under $100.00.

I took this to a collectors' fair once with some friends, and set it up on our table where we were showing off our stuff. Sign next to it said:

"1860s campaign slope made by Toulmin & Gale of London. NOT FOR SALE" etc etc etc etc.

I had this guy offer me $1,500 cash for it. That was probably 10 years ago.

You know what they say. If someone offers you a price, double it to find out the real value? OK so $3,000.

Two years ago, another box - same size, same style, but different maker, not as elaborate, and not complete, like mine is - sold locally for $1,800.

That being the case I personally valued my box at between $2,500-$3,500.

Is that what it's worth? I dunno. I think it is, based on what I've seen. But that's only relevant to MY personal circumstances, where I live, and the people I've met, and the market in my area. It may be completely different in another part of the world.

So when people ask 'how much is it worth?' or 'what kind of value does this have?', it's often impossible to answer.

 

MYTH #5
If trying to sell an item to an antique dealer, you will not get what the dealer has it priced at.

I cannot tell you how many times people will come into the store to sell things and think that I am going to pay them what I am selling the item for.

It's not just antiques, it's all retail. My SIL decided she wanted to "make" jewelry (i.e. string a few beads together) and sell it in local gift stores. I told her she should expect to sell them to the store for about 30% of retail. She was floored, said that's not fair!

I reminded her the items could take months and months to sell taking up valuable space in the store. That tstores have payroll, insurance, utilities, rent or a mortgage and supplies to pay for. Buy low, sell high is not just a saying!

 

My husband is a locksmith and he has set rates for different jobs. He actually does add a premium to his invoice if people messed up their lock trying to fix it themselves. He has to because a job that would take half an hour can be two or more hours if he has to undo whatever they did wrong.

 

The words "antique" and "vintage" are meaningless. What was said earlier - "even Gramma shops at Home Goods" is true. My parents were in the second hand business all my life. They had a barn behind the house and, when they could afford the rent, had stores. They did flea markets on Sundays. My Dad was a hustler. He could convince you that a five year old chair which sat outside in the weather for five years was a priceless antique from the 1800s. People from Mass. out for Sunday drives in NH were the biggest suckers. Of course, he drank up all the profit, but that's a tale for another time.

I've discovered you can't educate people who already have their minds made up. When I see someone post "It's an antique because my Grandma said she got it from her Grandma." Well, I'm a Grandma and even if I got something from my Grandma, it might only be from 1970. That's why I always ask the year they first saw the item.

 

Many people (who don't understand how businesses work) act as if (antiques) stores are immoral bottom feeders and blood-sucking vampires, hanging onto the wallets of respectable citizens.

 

I've never had as much as a crud bucket from my grandparents (who are all dead), ergo I've never had that problem.

 

I've been dealing antiques for nearly 3 years now. Yes, I'm a newbie in this trade. But I've seen - and have dealt with - all kinds of people and things when it comes to 'antiques' and 'prices'.

An antique-shop owner I know was helping out a customer one day, and I heard the customer ask something about why X item was more expensive than Y item, when they were essentially the SAME item?

And the shopkeeper said: "It depends on what each individual dealer bought the item at and how much they think it's worth and what they can sell it for. It's not up to us (the shopkeepers) to tell the dealers (who rent their space) what to price their antiques at".

I get people who haggle and bargain with me all the time with my antiques and I don't mind. But when people insist on certain prices...all the fun just evaporates out of it. I had one guy offer $450 on a solid gold watch which I paid just under $400 for, and that, I consider cheap, considering what they go for retail. It's a hard business sometimes.

 

I don't envy anyone who's an antiques dealer / shop owner, etc. these days. Maybe in the 80's it would've been easy.

I just remembered one more myth. Ever heard of this one? I imagine it's used by people trying to get a high price for their item: "If a collector or someone who really likes this item comes by, they won't care how much it costs!"

 

Being a dealer today is HARD. And I can assure you that the whole "If they want it, they will pay whatever it takes", is complete balderdash.

One of my regulars is a physician. You'd think he has money to burn...and he does. But that doesn't mean he pumps out limitless amounts of cash when he buys things from me.

All my prices are negotiable when I sell something, because I know that selling antiques is HARD. It's the nature of the business and there's no way to escape it. People who won't negotiate at all, are doomed to failure.

 

I don't mind bargaining at all, but I do mind when someone really low balls me and acts as if I should be grateful for their offer!

I will put an item under the table when someone keeps coming back offering a fraction of what I have it priced. It's easier than saying no over and over again. Plus I get the pleasure of saying "Sorry, someone just came by and bought it at full price!"

I know dealers who, out of frustration, have broken the item in front of a haggler and said "Now you can have it for that price!"

 

Hi Marie,
I am one of those dealers. I had a lady (use the term loosely) try to get my price down from 25 cents for a 1950 cartoon glass usually selling for 5 bucks for 5 cents. She kept coming back to me a penny higher. I finally lost my patience and smashed the glass into smithereens. "Now you can have it for free!!!" I have been known to give stuff to people for free, just because they are nice and pleasant. This lady had more jewelry on than most stores carry in stock. She also had a very expensive car and she is trying to score for less than a quarter. I would have given it to her for free but she just did me in by offering a nickle.
greg

 

I once told a guy that I'd burn a mask before selling it to him at the price he wanted......

( traditionally , many masks were thrown in the fire after a big Potlatch....so I was being culturally sensitive.......)

 

A bad bargaining habit of mine is to start a new bargaining process after the seller has already agreed to a price. That is when I feel like the item is still too expensive.

 

Many years ago, now, I was at my local flea-market looking over this stall run by a lady who sold jewelry and watches and such-like. Ahead of me at the table, were two Chinese guys. They had to be in their forties or fifties at least, and I recognised them as regulars at the market who are constantly hunting for watches.

Anyway they were looking at the watches, tossing them aside, grabbing other watches, looking at them, opening the cases, tossing them back...And the lady was getting more and more agitated, because she could SEE that they...

a). Didn't care if they broke them.
b). Weren't going to buy any.

In the end she lost her patience and told them to leave.

That's when I stepped forward and she said to me "Can you BELIEVE those guys!?"

I picked up one of her watches - a big pocketwatch - and carefully opened it, looked it over, put it back together...then I saw the price, and I asked for a discount.

She said normally she wouldn't since it's already quite cheap, but she took 1/3 off, for me, because I was a regular customer, and because I knew how to handle her stock without breaking it.

I ran into that same lady about a month ago at the flea-market, and she laughed when I showed her, I still had the watch!! That was confirmation in her mind, if she ever needed any - that she'd sold it to the right person at the right price

 

Oh my, that is bad indeed, once there is an agreement it is very bad form to try and lower it more! I have only had one person try that, I politely said no and asked her if she still wanted it. I would have happily kept it if she didn't want to honor the agreed on price.

 

Perhaps also an intimate cultural difference between any individuals. The process of bargaining to me personally means finding out if there's a possibility for a discount and at the end just means I might consider it. A deal is only done when money is exchanged. Or maybe I'm just inconsiderate.

 

I'm afraid that is a distinct possibility!

 

There are some dealers that can outdo anyone in trying to avoid taking a risk by purchasing something. Back in the 80's I would have a dealer come in my shop and carefully look over a number of items. He would measure, make notes, etc.; say he would think about them and leave. About a week later I would see everything he looked at offered for sale in his Antique Trader ad, with the prices tripled or more from mine!

 

The box is gorgeous. Really a nice example, a cut above. Seems like the painting is a bit fancier than some. There is even a snowman in the crowd! @komokwa