but it is all a good thing!

This year has certainly been a very busy one for me…and it looks like it is going to get even busier! As you probably know, I have done several auctions of new furniture and home decor items in Barrie, for Spring Furniture And Vacuum.  The auctions have been going very well…in fact we have outgrown doing the sales in the retail store location, and as of June 1, will be moving the auctions to a much larger location in the south end of Barrie.  Sales will run every two weeks, and there are some pretty exciting plans for the future auctions. William Smith is the owner of Spring Furniture, and he has been working very hard with his staff, to bring about the opening of the new Spring Auction Centre. David and Carol Beasley work with me doing the auctions for William, and with members of my auction team, and William and his staff, we managed to make the auctions successful, despite having to work in some crowded conditions in the retail store location. So now we will be working in a large, open concept facility, and this will allow the auctions to grow and develop into something unique for Barrie and the surrounding area.  I am pleased to be associated with Spring Furniture and Vacuum, and look forward to the opening of the Spring Auction Centre! So now, this brings me to another point.  I have had a few people ask if I am going to give up the antique auctions, and just do new furniture and liquidation auctions…and the answer is…absolutely not!  The antique auctions have been a big part of my life for the last 18 years (and many years before that).  It is in my blood, and I have no plans of giving them up.  They can be very hard work, but there is an excitement and thrill of doing a good antique auction, that never fades away for me.  It is a big part of who I am. Now, I am making some changes to the antique auctions.  For the summer I am spreading them out to every 6 weeks, instead of every 4 weeks.  I want to concentrate more on quality and cut back on the quantity.  I am in the process of cleaning up a big backlog of glass, china and some lower end items, and then will concentrate more on quality items and good country items.  We do well with good pieces, and do particularly well with the primitive and country items, so I will continue to focus on those areas. Now that I have expanded into the new furniture auctions, it means that my entire income is not dependant on the antique auctions, so I can take this opportunity to adjust the antique auctions to make them even better! So there are some exciting things coming down the pipe, and the antique auctions that have been the mainstay of my business for the last 18 years, will just keep getting better!

or traditional auctions?

It has been a little while since I posted here, and my apologies for that.  Lots of things on my mind, but it has been hard to find the time to put them to print. (well digital print I guess) The last four months have been the busiest four months I have had in my auction business in the last 17 years…so that’s a good thing! Now however, I have a little time this week before the two weekend auctions, so no more excuses. I often write about the changes in the auction business and keeping up with those changes. One of the interesting changes, has been the number of on-line auctions emerging.  Not the ebay type of auction, but an on-line auction conducted from the consignors home.  Many auctioneers are now making that part of their business.  They go into a home, do the photos, set up a preview time at the house, create the on-line auction, and after usually about one week, the winning bidders come to the house, or whatever designated location, and pick up the items.  You can bid from the comfort of your home, and that is something that certainly appeals to some people. There are many situations where a consignor is not able to conduct a traditional live auction from the house, simply due to parking concerns, weather concerns, etc.  There are times when they do not have enough dollar value in their merchandise to justify the expense of a traditional on-site auction, so an on-line auction is a much better way to go. It is also getting more difficult to find appropriate halls to conduct traditional auctions.  You can run into by-law problems, occupancy and parking problems, booking problems, or the hall is just too expensive to rent for an auction. So I think on-line auctions are going to become more common.  It will be a big part of the future auction business. HOWEVER, having said all that…on-line auctions are really not for me as an auctioneer, or a buyer.  I like attending old fashioned, traditional auctions.  I like doing old fashioned, traditional auctions.  I like auctioneering in front of a live crowd of people.  I like working the crowd, joking with the crowd, getting response from the crowd…there is an adrenalin rush that comes with auctioneering.  It is hard to explain how I can sell for 7 or 8 hours straight, without taking a break…something starts and just doesn’t finish until the auction is over!  Most auctioneers will understand this…however, it is something that is hard to explain to other people. For the buyer, a live, traditional auction offers something an on-line auction can never offer. Auctions are exciting, auctions are very social, and I know people who attend two or three a week, and even though they may not buy much, they still love the social aspect of an auction.  You interact, you have fun with people, you gossip a little…criticize the auctioneer, enjoy the food booth. You remember the high prices, the low prices, the jokes the auctioneer made,, the response of some people in the crowd.  You will remember driving in the snow storm, but getting the piece you had always wanted.  Staying until after midnight and loading the van with your purchases. Standing in the rain and wondering why in the world are you doing this? Outbidding the dealers, or learning from the dealers…or both. There is an atmosphere, an energy and a feeling of excitement during a live auction, that cannot be duplicated.  It can be addictive, and it is not for everyone. You could go to an antique mall and buy your antiques, but most auction goers simply want to buy at an auction.  It is part of their personality, and they are not likely to change. The same goes for me as an auctioneer.  I already obviously spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen….working on photos and listings for the auctions… writing blogs, and I enjoy doing it.  However, that is only part of my business, and I don’t want it to become ALL of my business.  I need to work in front of a crowd…I need to be a traditional, old style, LIVE auctioneer.  I need to work with and interact with people.  It is what I love doing, and I am not planning on changing that. So, on-line auctions, can be a good thing, and they will become a bigger part of the auction business, but for the foreseeable future, this auctioneer will step away from the computer, and step up in front of the crowd.  That’s what I love doing, and that’s the way I will continue to do it. Rob

that is the question!

I always say the antique market is changing, and you should keep up with the changes, if you want to survive in the antique auction business. So here is something I would like to address.  Painting old furniture. Yes or no? For me the answer is yes, but with some considerations.  I don’t think you paint over good old original finishes, and I don’t think you should paint over good oak Victorian pieces, or nice walnut Eastlake pieces.  And of course you never paint over museum quality pieces! So what do you paint over?  Well, there is an abundant supply of older, lower quality pieces, and poorly refinished pieces, that definitely get a new life, and many more years of use, with a nice paint finish. Much of the furniture from the 1930’s and 40’s, had fallen out of favour with the antique crowd and the prices were plummeting. However, now  the walnut vanities, sideboards, china cabinets, in the bland brown or black finish, are becoming more sought after pieces.  They are relatively inexpensive to purchase at auction, and the ones with nice form and style, really do look much better when they are properly painted. Some skilled dealers, can now take a  walnut china cabinet that would sell for $100 or less at an auction, and with the proper paint job, can make a nice return on that piece. Personally I get a little tired of the honey coloured pieces of furniture that were all the rage 30 years ago.  Some dealers refer to it as the “honey money” period. Almost all furniture was stripped and refinished in golden oak or puritan pine stains. Now I like seeing some colour.  My preference would be for original painted pine furniture in blues, greens, yellows or reds, but they are tough to come across, and when they do come to market, usually command a pretty good price. However, I think a red, or blue, or black 1940’s walnut china cabinet can be a pretty striking piece of furniture, in the right room setting.  White or cream coloured bedroom furniture was very strong, although I think the demand for that colour is levelling off a bit. Several stores have opened in my local area in the last couple of years featuring painted furniture, and I think they are doing quite well.  Perhaps even better than most of the “traditional” antique stores. From an auction perspective, the trend to painting furniture, has helped my business.  Now I look at what may seem like a bland or poorly refinished piece, and if I think it has potential to paint, then I will take it into the auction.  Over the last few years, some of those pieces were quickly heading toward ZERO value, but now they are coming back in price.  Some were likely heading toward the dump, and now they have been given a new life, and will survive for many more years! So in summary, go ahead and paint the lesser quality pieces. Don’t paint the quality pieces, and the true antiques, but if it is a mass produced piece that really fits more into the category of vintage or older used furniture, then go ahead…give it new life!

a few thoughts.

This year (2014), marks my 30th year in the antiques and auction business….wow, give me a moment to let that sink in! I was working as a radio announcer in Newmarket Ont, and then decided to try my hand at selling radio advertising. 3 months later I decided I would quit BEFORE they fired me…and I made the right call. Now that I was unemployed, I had to decide how I was going to make a living.  I made a meagre living as a radio announcer, so I thought to myself, why not try and make a meagre living in the antique business? A friend of mine approached my with the idea of opening an antique and craft shop just outside of Bradford at the entrance to the Husky truck stop. Good location, very cheap rent, and I went into it thinking it may only last a few months, but I had nothing to lose. My friend and business partner decided she would have to pack it in after about six months. (she looked after the crafts and I did the antiques).  I changed the store over to just antiques and some giftware, and stayed there for 10 years.  It was a pretty decent business from 1984-1994…before antique malls and the internet…back in the days when people went out “antiquing”. Driving around to the small towns looking for shops like mine. It was a good time to be in the antique business. However, all things come to an end, and in 1994 my landlord sold the property, so I had to close the store.  It wasn’t a bad thing. 10 years working weekends and holidays, so I was ready for a change. For many years I thought about going into the auction business.On slow days in the store, I would practice doing an auction chant.  Once again I had nothing to lose, so I started working with local auctioneers, setting up the auctions and holding up merchandise during the sales. One day an auctioneer asked if I wanted to try selling some job lot items.  I remember very nervously selling my first item….a set of small deer antlers.  A friend of mine bought them, and as far as I know, still has them. I continued to practise, practise, practise during my spare time, and gradually sold for longer periods of time during the auctions, and even worked myself up to selling some of the better pieces. Within three years I decided to try an auction on my own.  17 years later, I am still doing it. So now I am one of the “old timers” in the antique/auction business.  I sold thousands of pieces when I had the antique shop, and have now sold over 100,000 pieces through my auctions. If you total all the auctions I have attended over the last 30 years,  I have seen over 1 million items sell through auction! So looking back over the  last 30 years what have I learned? Well I realize there is an awful lot about antiques that I still don’t know. I think I have a pretty good working knowledge. I can look at most pieces and get a feeling if they are good or not. However, I am not an expert in any one category.  There is a lot to learn about everything that has ever been made in the last 200 years. Recently I was dealing with one particular consignor, who admitted knowing nothing about antiques a couple of years ago, but decided he was going to start buying and selling. Suddenly he seemed to know everything, and took great delight in sharing his “knowledge” with everyone he came in contact with. One day I sarcastically told him, “If you want to know everything there is to know about the antique business, just ask someone who has been doing it for two years or less”. I think he got the point. So other than knowing what I don’t know, I have managed to learn a thing or two about the antique auction business.  Main thing is, the market is always changing, and it has changed dramatically in the last few years.  If I still had an antique shop and was trying to sell the same type of items I was selling  20 and 30 years ago…I would be out of business. If I was doing the same type of antique auctions, and in the same way that I was doing  them 17 years ago, I would likely be out of business as well. I have seen some items now sell for less than they did 20 years ago, but I also now seek out items that a few years ago would have been almost give-aways at the auction.  It’s all a matter of what’s hot and what’s not, and that will always keep changing. Technology has changed the auction business. Websites, and social media, have changed the way I promote my business.  I spend as much time now doing photos and working on-line, as I used to spend picking up items and setting up a sale.  I still have to pick up the items and set up the sale, but now I do the photos and on-line work as well.  However, the end results make it well worth the extra effort. I have dealt with a lot of interesting people over the years, a lot of good people, and I consider myself fortunate to now consider many of those people as friends.  Sadly I have seen a lot of people come and go, but that comes with spending 30 years in business. Looking back I don’t have any serious regrets about my 30 years of self employment.  I know I could have made more money if I had done some things a little differently, but I am still doing ok.  There is not much I would change, and at this point in my life, there is nothing else I would rather be doing. My advice to anyone going into business?  Do something you love.  It can take many years before the financial rewards come your way, and there is always the possibility that there may never be any substantial financial rewards.  You may spend the rest of your life just barely making a living, never having any “benefits”, and never receiving a pension.  However, if you spend your working life building a business that you love doing, than there is something to be said for that.  There may not be the financial rewards, but if you wake up most days looking forward to the day ahead, well I think that is a pretty good benefit. As I write this blog I am certainly looking back, but I also continue to look ahead.  There is much I want to do with my business, and I am excited about the upcoming years.  There are going to be changes, and some of them will not be easy for me.  I know there could be a time when I view this current period of my business, as the “glory” years, but I still look forward to, and plan for the future. So now I would like to thank you. Thank you for your support over the many years. Thank you for the good times you have brought to my business.  Thank you for being the most important part of my business.  Looking forward to many more years! Rob

where has another year gone?

  So another year draws to a close.  It feels like only a few months ago I was writing the final blog of the year!  The older you get, the faster time goes, and I certainly can’t argue with that. It continues to be an interesting time in the antique auction business. Throughout this year we had record high prices on some items, and then again record low prices (at least for us). Prices are certainly up and down, and I discuss this endlessly with other auctioneers and dealers. The consensus seems to be, the market is definitely changing, and we just have to live with that. I monitor other auctions, check on-line activity, and the same thing seems to be happening throughout North America. Prices may be flat in many categories, and it is an incredibly good time to buy antiques ,but quality items are still selling. We’ve had some good unusual pieces this year, and in most cases, the prices were fair to strong. Unusual, quality items still sell. The antique market has had a pretty strong run over the last 30 years, but now we are going through a period of readjustment.  Over the years, there were a lot of mediocre and in some cases, just plain terrible pieces selling for big money. I used to see poorly refinished and horribly restored pieces of furniture selling for more than what they should have, and a lot of low end collectables bringing big money.  That doesn’t happen much now.  I think many buyers are now more discriminating, because there is a good supply of most items on the market now. Most dealers have to buy cautiously if they are going to be able to sell at a reasonable return.  It’s also a very competitive market, and everyone has to work hard if they are going to make a living in the antique or auction business. However, as always, I am still very optimistic about my own auction business. The phone keeps ringing, and at times, even I am surprised at the quality of some of the items coming in!  It has always been, and still is, an interesting business for me, and there is nothing else I would rather be doing! I don’t anticipate big changes in our business in 2014.  I am going to be making some adjustments, but I do that every year.  I may diversify my business a little more, because I would like to try doing more than just antique auctions.  In October I started doing new furniture and liquidation auctions for Spring Furniture And Vacuum in Barrie, and I will be doing a third auction for them in January.  We would like to do 5 or 6 auctions a year for them, and perhaps pick up a few more on-site estate auctions, plus our regular antique auctions in Pottageville.  So I am anticipating another busy year, but let’s face it, none of us really know what the upcoming year has in store for any of us! So I will wrap this us by wishing you the best in the new year.  I sincerely appreciate my customers, both as buyers and sellers, and hope you will continue to be part of my business in 2014.  And by the way, 2014 marks my 30th year in the antiques and auction business!  More about that coming in the new year. Have fun on the auction trail! Rob

 

looking forward to another Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings And A Happy New Year! I extend this greeting on behalf of myself and my staff, and let me take this opportunity to thank my wonderful staff, and say a few words about each of them. Audrey Sage.  My mother of course, and Mom has clerked and set up every auction I have done over the last 16 years.  Mom will be 83 in March, and she claims the auctions keep her young.  She has a passion for auctions and antiques, and when you consider the ten years she helped out in my antique store, we have worked together for over 26 years.  To everyone on our staff she is simply called Mom. Brian Sage. My brother Brian has been working with me since the very beginning as well.  Brian started out as a handler, but the last few years has done more clerking duties, as we often run in two rings. Kris and Gerry Jansen.  My sister and brother in law have looked after the food booth for almost every auction during the last 16 years.  I think my sister makes the best egg salad sandwiches!  Unfortunately for me, there are never any left  after the auction for me to scarf down! David and Carol Beasley.  David and Carol have been with me as well since the first year, and I have worked with them in their business for the last 18 years. Carol looks after the registration and cashiering, and always amazes me how she keeps it all going.  Carol also has this strange ability to retain incredible amounts of information….if there is something I don`t know, all I have to do is ask Carol. It is scary sometimes. David has been my associate auctioneer as well since the first year. You are familiar with David`s skills as an auctioneer, but what you don`t realize, is David`s ability at auction set up and display.  David can take 500 lots of assorted items and in a few hours have it look like a display at the mall.  Of course he does have a few years of retail experience. Don Garner.  What can we say about Donnie.  Lots of hugs for the ladies…always laughing…our big ol teddy bear!  Donnie has been with me for over ten years, and I couldn`t imagine our auctions without him.   He works hard, but loves doing it.  He takes his responsibilities seriously, but has fun as well.  We have many, many ongoing jokes with Donnie, and he laughs with a mischievous grin.  Sometimes I think he may be grinning, because he is also thinking that we don`t know how close to the truth we really are! Charlie McAteer.  Charlie has been with us for several years now, and he and Donnie make up the team we call the Sunshine Boys.  Charlie doesn`t live far from me, so quite often we pick up items together, load the cube vans, and usually are doing a lot of the grunt work.  Charlie told me he has the best of both worlds now…he loves going to auctions and now gets paid to be there!  He kids me about how poorly I pay him.  However, he is always there when I need him, and never let`s me down, so I guess I am not as cheap as he let`s on. Tylor Fairbrass.  Tylor is by far the youngest member of our team….in fact by decades!  Tylor started handling with us about a year ago, and immediately made a great impression on our staff.  He just turned 17 and has demonstrated a remarkable work ethic.  As well as the auctions, he of course goes to school and also holds down a part time job.  He has a true interest in antiques, and even holds garage sales a couple of times a year with his Dad.  He recently gave me a Tim Hortons gift card to show his appreciation for being able to work with us.  The rest of the staff should take note! David and Susan Niven.  Quite often Dave and Sue volunteer their services when needed at the auction.  Dave will step in to do handling, and Sue will clerk or assist Carol with the cashiering.  I usually ask Dave if he can help out for a few minutes, and those few minutes can turn into several hours!  Dave and Sue both have a passion for auctions, and when they are not at our auctions, you will see them at several other local auctions. Lisa Ferrie.  Lisa starting helping us out this year as well.  As with Dave and Sue, she volunteered to help out for a few minutes, and ended up working the entire sale!  Lisa makes a good handler, because she has had many years experience in the antique business and as a result the auctions as well.  Lisa made the mistake of telling me she would rather be helping, then just sitting in the audience.  It turns out I am not giving her much time to sit in the audience! So that is a little bit about my staff.  I often say I have an incredible staff, and the auctions simply would not be possible without them.  Every person makes a valuable contribution to the auction, and it makes me feel good to constantly hear from you, how great our staff are! Looking forward to seeing you all in 2013. Rob