Featured I don't understand how some antique dealers stay in business.

Thank you, Linda! I will look at the FB page some time soon.

I did just look on maps and see that it's about 45 minutes farther than Dyersville. So, about 2 hours and 15 minutes. (I am in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area.)

Next time I talk with my friend I'll see if she would be interested in going there.

 

Excellent! There's a couple little stores down the road too and a place for lunch that makes excellent paninis and coffees!

 

I'm on the outskirts of Sydney so am out of touch with the auction houses and trendy outlets we used to know well before making the sea change. But the vast array of stuff we've collected is looking pretty dismal. There just aren't the buyers and there isn't the interest. Whether it's Ikea, the minimalist look, 'buy now pay much later' offers from stores, baby boomers offloading their parents' stuff or becoming 'empty-nesters', or kids living with their parents forever ... I may have to have a very big grave and it can all be buried with me

 

from lovejoy....

"Three antique dealers were stranded on a desert island with only one chair and they all made a comfortable living."

that was 30 years ago now.

 

Linda, I took a peek at the Facebook page, and it looks like a delightful place! As you say, something for everyone.

Of course, I'm in New Hampshire, and the chances of my ever getting to your part of Illinois are pretty much slim to none. Still, if I ever WERE in the area, I'd definitely stop by!

 

I rented space in an antique mall (in a town of 16,000) for 6 months last year and did well selling mainly mid-century stuff and vintage clothing/accessories. But I had to price things relatively low and bring in replacement merchandise every week (I had a small space). I thought I could combine it with my ebay business, but found I didn't really have enough time to do both well.

I might have been able to eventually do a better job of juggling both the antique mall and ebay, but when it starting getting into winter weather I realized I didn't like lugging stuff a block away from my car on slippery streets/sidewalks in freezing cold weather (close parking was hit and miss because of the mall location near the college campus). The mall is open 7 days a week and dealers aren't supposed to bring in merchandise during business hours, so that meant bringing in stuff early or late when it's dark outside during the winter months.

So....I better understood why other dealers seemed to have the same merchandise in their spaces month after month. I think the mall does well overall because it's located off the interstate highway that runs between Chicago and Minneapolis/St.Paul (I was told that dealers from the big cities are some of their best customers).

 

Same here. If it hasn't sold in FIVE YEARS, maybe you should lower the price.

 

Was at an long established smaller antique mall this weekend and about 30% of the vendors had their booths so overflowing with items that I didn't even attempt to enter. Not going to risk having an avalanche on my dime ..... I sometimes have to wonder if that is indeed the business plan. Many of these types of vendors have prices nearly twenty years out of date and the faded price tags are difficult to read. I asked an mall employee if they could check a price for me on an item and they said that they steer clear of that booth so I didn't press the issue. I did however see another customer a middle-aged lady doing a contortionist like dance trying to get to an item in that booth ...... entertaining for sure. Was waiting to hear the crashing of glass and shelving.

 

I was in a multi-dealer shop for a year about 10 years ago. We live on Cape Cod so the July into October was good and then it died. I decided I could do better selling at the local flea and some local antique shows and it has proven to be true.

A large antiques mall a few towns from here just closed, it was open for 15 or 20 years. I used to go there also looking for mistakes and found some once in a while. But so many of the dealers had the same things, ordinary milk glass an other ordinary glass and pottery items. Sometimes I wondered Don't the dealers look at the other booths?

And DUSTY! And yes, price tags that were so faded they couldn't be read, some booths so full I was afraid to enter.

The other thing I don't understand is dealers who do no research. Generic descriptions like "old basket" or "old glass" on tags. Really? How do you price something when you don't know what it is?

I was at a show last year and spied a dragon's breath bracelet, no price tag. It took me a few minutes to untangle it from the junk that it was mixed with, I asked the price, the dealer said "That is amber for $40." I said "No, it is a man made glass stone called dragon's breath. Is it silver?" He said he didn't know. So he had a bracelet of unknown metal with stones he knew nothing about priced at $40. I said thank you and put it back.

 

Marie, we have no antique shops at all around here anymore. Well maybe one that is an antique/thrift which started out great but then the prices went out of control.
I find similar situations at estate sales when I ask how much something is (most times nothing has a price on it) and am told a nutty amount of money.
They seem to just pull a number out of the air. At which point I leave in disgust.

 

I can understand it a little bit more at an estate sale where there is a limited amount of time and a load of material to price. At one sale last year they were asking $60 for a Trifari fairly plain costume pin and $15 for a sterling bracelet inlayed with lapis. Guess which one I bought

The upside of the lack of research is finding sleepers!

 

I live for the sleepers!!

 

Me too.

 

I can only talk from my experience here in Australia. I live in Melbourne and have being collecting for the past 35 years. As you all know sometimes you have to part with things to make way for other things. It could be because of space, finances, the missus, in my case ( haha ).
So I’ve bought a lot and sold a lot in that time. I’ve found most people prefer to shop online, EBay, Facebook, Instagram, Gumtree, etc. I’ve also seen a huge influx of newbie dealers since Pickers, Pawn stars, etc, started airing on tv. A lot of these people have no passion for the items their buying and selling and it’s all about the dollars. So most of the people that visit the antique stalls and markets are dealers hoping to find that rare treasure that’s been missed and priced cheap so they can resell it, which is rare. That’s why a lot of stock sits around and doesn’t sell. It’s mainly dealers buying from dealers ( if the price is right ).
I’ve also found with the majority of the younger generation that they have no appreciation for antiques so why collect them. Also the cost of living just gets higher and higher so antiques and collectibles are a luxury item that a lot of people can’t afford.

 

The trick is knowing what the people who can afford them, want !

I won't be there to see it....but when the time comes to move up from , Wayfair , Amazon, Ikea, & the like .... where will all this junk end up ?
I can just imagine the flood of used crappy furniture being offered up on Facebook , Kajiijii, CL, yard sales and other venues yet to be discovered....sitting ....with no buyers ...