Taking A Moment To Look Back….

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reflecting on a changing antique market.

In my next auction I have a Trisha Romance print.  You’ve probably seen them many times. The old Victorian house, usually a winter scene with Victorian era children playing outside. Very nostalgic, and incredibly well done. It got me to thinking about how a Trisha Romance print is a reflection of what I believed the antique market was like twenty or thirty years ago.  Nostalgia. A romanticized, idealized version of the past. When I was in college in the mid 1970’s, antiques were starting to boom. Look at old 70’s sitcoms like Mary Tyler Moore, or Mork and Mindy, and you see antiques in the decor. Restaurants like the now defunct “Mothers” chain were filled with antique chairs, tables, etc. The Old Spaghetti Factory in Toronto (is it still around?), was  over-filled with antiques.  Even the big chains like Swiss Chalet incorporated them into the decor.  As a twenty year old I would go to “Fern bars” where plants and antiques were part of the look…and those places were the hot spots for college students! Can’t imagine too many college students now heading out to a bar with ferns hanging from the ceilings and stained glass part of the decor! When I opened my antique store in 1984 (Rob’s Place…some of you might remember), Trisha Romance prints were extremely hot.  Baby boomers and their parents were buying up antiques, and as a dealer, it was always a struggle to keep the store filled with good inventory. Folk art, crafts and potpourri scented stores seemed to be on every block. Towns like Cookstown, Schomberg and Unionville were booming, and on a weekend, especially a Sunday, you would be luck to find a place to park.  There was this incredible demand for nostalgia…even if it was glorified. I knew several people who bought restored Victorian homes, or in some cases restored them themselves. You filled the house with antiques, and in some cases, made your friends totally envious with your latest acquisitions. Your antiques could become a reflection of your personality. What you collected said something about you, and it seemed like most people were collecting something!  Not only antiques but limited edition dolls, plates, teddy bears, bells…whatever the manufacturers could put a number on and label it “Limited”. I was part of that as well. I started collecting coal oil lamps at age 14, and in several years built the collection to over 150 lamps. I even took the collection out on display a couple of times, and locally I guess I was known as “the kid with the coal oil lamps”.  It seemed to be a reflection of who I was. I still have many good lamps and probably will never part with them, and still have a soft spot for them. However, now I sense things have changed.  There doesn’t seem to be the feeling of nostalgia in our society now. It seems to be all about technology, and the marvels of the current time we live in, rather then a nostalgia for past times. Some of the hottest antiques right now are industrial pieces. Wrought iron pieces, metal lamps, metal industrial carts etc. I call it “antiques with an edge”. Not soft and fuzzy  Victorian pieces, but pieces that compliment the technology of today. Pieces that fit into a “minimalist decor” and make a strong statement. It’s not so much about grandma’s old rocking chair, but more about a piece salvaged from an old brick factory. Or a rusty street sign. Painted furniture. Antiques with an edge. Our auctions are still very busy and it seems like the crowds keep getting bigger. There is a demand for antiques, but the demand for certain items is changing. Mid century furnishings, industrial antiques, signs, cast iron, primitives and country furniture….I keep changing with the times and I hope our auctions reflect that. However, every so often, I still get a little nostalgic for the ” Trisha Romance” days. Rob

A Little Slow In Getting A New Blog Posted…

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but I do have a good excuse! (actually more than one)

Been awhile since I updated this blog, but it really has been a busy month! Working on two auctions for October, and then combined with other personal and business obligations, plus house maintenance etc…well you get the point…like most of us, life can get a little busy! So I thought maybe this would be a good time to explain exactly what I do in putting an auction together.  After all, there are some who think I only work two or three days a month…how hectic could that be? Before you run out and buy an auctioneer’s gavel and sound system (ok…no one I know uses a gavel, but to make the point), here’s what to consider. Most of my auctions involve 20-30 consignors.  In most cases I make an appointment and then go to the home to see what they have.  If the pieces are appropriate, we do the paperwork, and then prepare to send them to auction. If it is furniture, I try and take the photos at the house, although that is not always possible.  If I can’t do the photos at the house, then of course the pieces are transported to my storage, I set up the back drops, and do the photos there. Most small items are packed and I do the photos back in my studio. The whole photo/website thing is something that didn’t even exist when I got into the business 17 years ago, but now it is an integral part of the business. I spend a lot of time on the photos, and I must admit I am pretty fussy.  I take several shots of each item, select the best, edit them, put them on a background, add text and logo, and then upload them to the websites.  Some would argue it is not necessary to go to the time and effort on the photos that I go to, but I get a lot of good response on the photos and website, and I really am not going to change now. On average, I probably spend over 40 hours a month just working on photos. Fortunately it is also something I enjoy doing, so I spend most evenings working on them.  Each auction averages about 150-250 photos. I get a lot of calls for furniture, and we are pretty well known as a “furniture” auction.  Most times there is someone at the house to help me load, but if not, I have to hire someone and we go off and make the pickup. Each piece is handled at least four times.  Pickup at the house, unload at the storage, load again to take to auction, and unload at the hall.  This is why I don’t take pianos, and now am seriously going to have to reconsider some of the very large pieces. And chairs. So many people call with chairs! So each month I am going through this process with 20-30 consignors.  Some email photos of the items and drop them off at the hall, but most consignors need the items picked up, and of course I take care of the rest. There are days when I may do three or four house calls or pickups, and most of the activity is during the two weeks following an auction.  I have to get as much together as quickly as possible to meet advertising deadlines for the upcoming auction. Then of course there are advertising deadlines to meet, and ads to prepare.  I don’t do as much newspaper advertising as I used to, but I am constantly working on the on-line advertising. Ads for the websites, daily updates on facebook….speaking of facebook, there is something else that didn’t exist a few years ago, and now is an increasingly important part of the business. Two days before the auction, I start loading the trucks. Setup day is usually a 10-12 hour day, and then I try and rush home and post more photos on the website the night before the auction. Auction day is pretty well self explanatory.  After the sale we spend about two hours packing up and cleaning the hall, and if it is a daytime sale, it is off to Swiss Chalet for a late dinner! However, for me the auction is not over yet.  There is the paperwork. I send the cheques out within 7 days of the auction, and doing the paperwork for 20-30 consignors, plus getting the banking ready and done, can take almost another two days.  It is the only part of this business I don’t really like…but people have to get paid! The day after the auction I also go through the auction paperwork to make sure there have not been any mistakes.  I also track where the buyers came from, how many people attended, how many lots we sold, figure out the average price per lot, etc.  I must admit I am a bit of a geek when it comes to auction statistics, but I have done that for every sale I have ever had.  It actually now is a pretty valuable reference tool for me…I have stats on almost everything connected to the auction! Also after each auction I create  youtube slide presentations.  One video is photos of the auction after it has all been setup, and another is of selected price results from the auction.  I don’t know of any other auctioneers who do this, but it is something I enjoy, and the videos get a combined yearly viewing audience of over 5,000 people.  Not huge numbers, but it is something I enjoy doing, and now I have a pretty good on-line video archives from the last few years.  It is nice to go back a couple of years and see what the auctions looked like! While I am doing all this, I am also planning and making appointments for the next auction.  I must admit that I am pretty lucky because the phone rings on a steady basis and there always seems to be good stuff coming my way. So there is a little insight into what it takes for me to put on a monthly antique consignment auction.  I love doing it, and it is the only business I want to be in. However, like most small businesses, it takes a lot of work and devotion, and it helps if you love what you are doing.  It also takes a little luck.  So I will leave you with this one quote I read many years ago, and I have always considered it to be so true. “The harder I work…the luckier I get” Rob

A Good Way To Finish Our Summer Auction Season!

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…and some reflections on the local antique business

Thanks to everyone who attended our Sat. Aug 24 auction. Our final sale of the summer and we certainly wrapped up the summer season on a high note!  Good crowd…some very good prices! It proves to myself and many other people, that good quality, unusual pieces will still sell well!  That has always been the mantra in the antique/auction business, and it is very reassuring when you see it happen. It is the unusual accent pieces and the statement pieces that bring the money. Furniture prices still up and down. I sometimes wonder why a good piece of furniture may not bring a decent price, but then I have to remind myself of a few simple things. Is the piece practical?  Is it too large to accommodate the homes of most people who are in the market for furniture? Can you mix it in with contemporary furnishings and contemporary decor?  Not many people are filling their homes from top to bottom anymore with antique furniture. I sometimes get caught up in the age of a piece or the quality, but then don’t think about the piece in practical terms.  It may be well built and over 100 years old, but is the piece practical and saleable?  I have to look at a piece and say to myself…”who is going to buy this?”  If I can answer that question, then I will take it into the auction. Now, lets stray away from the auction business for a bit and talk about the antique business.   Currently I live not too far away from Cookstown, and I have lived in the area for most of my life.  I remember back in the 1970’s ( I was in high school), and Cookstown was one of THE places to go for antiques. The antique business in general was booming, and the baby boomers and their parents were on a buying spree.  There were at least 6 or 8 antique stores on the main street, and I’ll bet all of them were struggling to keep up with the demand.  On a Sunday you would be lucky to find a parking space on the main street, and the sidewalks were teaming with shoppers. At most of the local auctions, the dealers would be battling each other for the choice pieces.. and there were some pretty intense rivalries! I learned a few tricks of the trade from one particularly old and crusty dealer.  We partnered together back in the early 1980’s to put an auction together, and we both took a bit of a beating…but I learned a few things! So now, once or twice a week I drive through Cookstown, and what a different place it is today.  There are no antique dealers left on the main street.  Many of the stores are sitting empty, and there is no problem finding a place to park on a Sunday.  In fact you could easily park a tractor trailer on the main street and there would still be lots of room. Now, remember there is still a very good antique mall on the edge of town....The Cookstown Antique Market, and it is well worth a visit, but I am talking about the demise of the main street.  At least as far as the antique shops go. Schomberg was another hot destination for antiques, and back in the 80’s and 90’s there were three large shops in town.  I drove through Schomberg today, and once again, not a single antique shop. Unionville was a booming place for antiques 20 years ago, and I haven’t been there for many years, but I suspect it is a similar story as far as antiques go. With the creation of antique malls and the advent of ebay and other on-line antique shopping sites, the single dealer antique shops have almost gone the way of the horse and buggy.  And that has changed the nature of the antique business. I owned an antique shop from 1984-1994, and we had a good business. However, right now I don’t think I would survive if I had an antique shop and was trying to do business the way I was doing business almost thirty years ago. The auction business is where I am happiest. I really doubt if little towns like Cookstown will ever enjoy again the prosperity the antique business brought in during the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Times have changed, and I don’t think we will go back to those days. The antique auction business has changed as well, but the technology has worked in our favour. Websites, good photos, inexpensive on-line advertising, TV shows, are all helping to bring out new people to the auctions. The antique malls attract many part time and hobby dealers and those dealers may come to the auctions for inventory.  There are challenges, but overall it is still a good time to be in the antique auction business. Perhaps towns like Cookstown will thrive again with speciality shops, good restaurants, ice cream and coffee shops, but at this moment in time, it is still pretty sad. I don’t think anyone could argue, that the glory days are gone for now. Rob

Another Very Good Auction Coming Your Way…

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and some insights into our auction business.

We have a very good sale coming up on Aug24. Probably the best variety of quality items I have had in a long time. Funny thing is, just a little over a month ago, I had some concerns about the upcoming Aug auction.  The phone had been quiet (dog days of summer), and I was a little concerned about having enough good pieces  for the sale.  Boy did that change!  The phone started ringing, and the quality merchandise came pouring in! Partial estates, downsizing, dealer cleanouts…and every pickup kept getting better and better! This is what makes the business interesting…you never know what is coming our way. I don’t pick up the phone and ask someone if they want to consign items to my auction.  I wait for the phone to ring, and after 17 years in this business and over 200 regular monthly antique consignment auctions, plus having sold for over 2000 different consignors, the phone usually rings on a pretty steady basis.  As I said before, that’s what makes this business so interesting for me. The down side of course, is having to tell some  people that the items they have are just not suitable for our auctions.  This can get a little tricky. I go on many house calls, and receive many email photos and inquiries.  I recently had to tell one very nice woman that the china she had collected (and in some cases paid a fair bit of money for), just does not sell well anymore.  She was very disappointed, and was wondering just how she was going to dispose of it.  On the bright side I told her that even though it was not something I wanted in our auctions, I would give her the name of another auctioneer that I thought would be interested. Hopefully it all worked out well for both of them.  This is a common scenario for me, and seems to be happening even more frequently now. Some people think, as an auctioneer, I would accept almost anything into the auction, regardless of value. I will often have people tell me they really don’t care what it brings, they just want it gone. The reality is, I care what it brings, because I usually have to handle every piece four times when I pick it up from the house.  If it doesn’t sell, I have to load it again, unload it at our storage, load it again for the next sale and unload it at the hall.  I have now handled it 8 times. If it sells for $5.00 I have earned less than $1.00 for all my work. In our July auction I picked up a white contemporary loveseat from a home. It was nicely stored and wrapped in plastic, but it wasn’t until I got it home, that I realized this one might be a bit of a problem. And sure enough it was. I could not get a bid on it…I literally could not give it away!  I got quite a few laughs with it at the auction as I desperately tried to find a home for it, but that didn’t work either. So I load it up again, unload it into the storage. With the consent of the consignor, I loaded it into the van again and gave it away to a thrift shop….and they even hesitated to take it! A lot of time and handling for zero dollars. I try and make sure that doesn’t happen often! So the rambling point I am trying to make is simply this….I have to be careful of what I take into auction.  It is expensive to put on a monthly antique auction. The first $10,000 in sales in the auction, go to covering my expenses. Anything less and I lose money. And the monthly antique auctions make up the vast majority of my income. I have a simply formula I use for my auctions. On average the selling price per lot, should be in the $40-$50 range.  You take the $1000 pieces and the $5 pieces, and when you average them out, you need to come out with that $40-$50 range. When I am accepting consignments, I want the entire consignment to average out in the $30 range at least.  Not hard to do really. 10 items $300…one could sell for $250 and the other 9 sell for $50, but it still averages out ok.  I have some consignments that average out over $100 per lot or higher. However, if I am looking at a possible consignment and all I see is $2 and $5 items, then I will have to pass on it.  The numbers just are not there. Also I have to fill the auctions with the items that are going to sell, and sell quickly.  In our primitives section, we usually average out less than $30 per lot, but if you have been to our sales, you realize how quickly we can sell out that section.  Even if it is a $5 or $10 piece, we hold it up and the hands start flying! Rarely do we have any of the primitive items unsold after the auction.  So as long as people want them, and they can sell quickly and for a reasonable price, then I want them as part of the sale. Also if you have been to our auctions, you have seen me struggle trying to sell low end glass and china. You can’t eliminate it completely from a sale, but there are times when I struggle to get $2 on a tray lot of low end items.  Bottom line is, if the buyers don’t want it, then I can’t sell it, so it really should not be in our auction. So back to the upcoming auction.  What a pleasure it is going to be doing this sale!  It is the direction I want to go in for every auction. Having said all this…don’t be reluctant to call me if you have something for auction!  If it is something I cannot use, I make a point of assisting people in finding another auction house, or some other venue for selling the items. What doesn’t sell well in our auctions, may sell very well in another auction.  It is just a matter of finding the right place to sell. Rob

Another Anniversary Sale Over…

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and we start the 18th year on a high note!

Thanks to everyone who attended our July 27 anniversary auction! I have to admit I was very pleased with the results of the sale. Prices on most items were fair for buyer and seller. Some pieces higher than I expected and other items much lower. Chairs continue to be a tough sell.  Just when you think they can’t get much lower in price…they get even lower in price! However, the quality items continue to bring strong money. I made some changes to this sale and I think they worked well.  I cut back substantially on the number of lots. In  June we sold over 700 lots in two rings. This sale we sold just over 400 lots in one ring.  This sale we had the quality rather than quantity, and as I have previously stated, that is the direction I want to go in. Working in two rings for part of the auction has enabled us to do large sales for the last several years.  However, with the changes in the hall (the sound baffling had to be removed from the walls), it is just too noisy doing two rings for any length of time. For the anniversary sale we did the entire sale in one ring. The hall is still noisy at times, but it makes it much easier for people to follow what we are doing.  It also is more enjoyable for me, because it is easier for the auctioneer to be heard, and therefore you can develop a better rapport with the crowd.  It’s more fun and more interesting for everyone. After each auction, I spend about a day or two doing the paperwork, and then I start getting the next auction together.  This week the phone has been ringing off the hook, and I have been doing two or three pickups a day…and this is a good thing!  Lots of good quality, interesting items coming our way, and this is what makes the business interesting for me. As I enter into my 18th year in this business, it is probably more interesting and exciting than it has ever been.  Every auction is different,, and each month it is like putting together a new show.  You never know what is coming your way, good or bad, and that’s what makes it such a great business to be in! So having said that, I am off to do another pickup…the second one today, and there is lots of work getting the photos done, so I had better get off the computer and get to work. Look forward to seeing you at our next auction! Rob

Anniversary Number 17 Coming Up….

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and to think I was a mere child of 40 when I started!

Another year rolls around, and here it is, coming up to our 17th anniversary.  I know this is very cliché, but it is true, the years have gone by so quickly! I still remember that first auction.  The Bond Head Community centre is where it all started for us, and we continued doing sales there for 14 years. It was a small hall with very little room for sitting, and we would do up to 700 lot sales in that tiny hall!  People would stand shoulder to shoulder for hours…in fact we had sales that started at 6:00 on a Friday night and would sometimes last until after midnight…one even lasted until 1:30 am! The first sale consisted mostly of my stuff, along with a couple of other consignors.  I wanted to start off with reasonable quality items, and when you are new to the business, consignors are not going to give you good items for your first sale. As the sale date grew closer, I was almost hoping some calamity would strike me and I wouldn’t be able to do the sale…however, there was no calamity and no turning back. Of course I was nervous…and very serious…but I got through the first sale and it actually went quite well.  I have been fortunate through the last 17 years, because I have never had a truly bad sale.  Some not as good as others of course, but the sales of 17 years ago where not much different than the sales I have now. Lots of stuff…good crowds…overall good prices…I have been fortunate since day one. And for a bit of trivia…over the last 17 years we have sold over 110,000 lots! I have also been very fortunate to have a great staff since day one. David and Carol Beasley have been with me since day one, and of course Mom doing clerking and setup, and for the first 7 years Dad worked with us setting up the sales. (Dad passed away in 2004).  My brother Brian has been a handler/clerk since the beginning and my sister Kris and brother-in-law Gerry have done a great job with the food booth since the very beginning.  Donnie Garner came on board over ten years ago, followed by Charlie McAteer a few years later, and now we have David and Sue Niven, and Lisa Ferrie helping out at most sales.  A great staff is the back bone of a good auction! Of course there have been changes in the auction business over the years.  The biggest change is technology.  When I think of the old time auctioneers in the business when I was much younger…Ernie Severn, Alan Horner, John Ball, Chester Baird, just to name a few, I can just imagine the look on their faces if I told them about running an auction in the not too distant future. Computer listing, personal websites, digital pictures, email lists, Facebook pages, Twitter, on-line selling…and most of this just coming about in the last several years. A long way from the old days when you went to the consignors with a pen and paper, made the listing and then drove to the newspaper office to place the ad. Simpler, not as much work, but maybe not as effective as the way we conduct business today. And speaking of computers. Back in the mid-1990’s a friend of mine suggested I try setting up a webpage for my business.  I told him I thought auction goers where print orientated and I could not see the value of a website. So much for my ability to see into the future! Naturally there have been other changes over the years. Customers, consignors and dealers come and go. Prices change, and that is very evident over the last few years. Some items are up in value and some items are down.  I now look for some items I wouldn’t have considered a few years ago, while some of the hot items ten years ago, I am reluctant to take any more. We have moved our location of course.  Started doing summer sales in the Cookstown Curling club, and then back to Bond Head for the fall, winter and spring sales.  When we could no longer use the curling club, we moved all the sales to Pottageville and that has worked extremely well for us. I am considering a second location to use when Pottageville hall is booked and not available, and I will have more details on that in the future for you. So looking back on the last 17 years I have to say it has been an interesting and rewarding journey. No regrets, and I can honestly say it is a great way to make a living! There are challenges on the horizon and changes to be made, but it has always been that way. All businesses must change and adapt in order to survive and move ahead, and the auction business is no exception. If you have been a long time customer or consignor, I thank you very much.  If you are new to our auctions, I also thank you very much, and hope you will continue to be with us for many years. On behalf of my staff and myself, I thank you for the fun times, the friendships we have made, the excitement that is part of an old fashioned country auction! There are interesting and exciting times ahead of us, and I hope you will continue to share and grow with us! Rob

Our First Saturday Night Auction Of The Season…

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and I am going to address the elephant in the room.

Thanks to everyone who attended our Saturday June 22 auction…our first Saturday night sale of the year! I decided on trying Saturday night auctions two years ago,, and when I first suggested it, I was met with some scepticism. The main response was …”who wants to go to an auction on a Saturday night?” Well, a big part of an auction is the social aspect.  To me it seemed logical that Saturday nights would also fill a social need for many people. A night out.  Why not?  Our first Sat night auction two years ago was a big success, and every one since has been successful.  We draw more people to a Saturday night auction in the summer, then we would a Saturday afternoon auction.  I am considering extending them further into the fall season this year…perhaps even as late as October. However, the real point of this blog is to deal with another issue. The noise. And boy was it noisy!  And  do you know who is to blame? Me. I am to blame on this one. Two issues to address.  First, I miscalculated on the number of primitive and country items.  We sold over 300 lots of primitives, (700 lots in the total auction) but we had to sell outside in one ring and then inside in two rings for almost three hours. Primitives are popular, but this time around we simply had too many.  We have to sell in two rings in order to accommodate the primitives and country items, and usually we are able to do this during the first hour or hour and a half of the auction.  I sell lower end glass and china while David works on the primitives, and by the time David is finished, we are back into one ring for the main part of the auction. It is a little noisy, but it works. However, this time David had to continue in his ring while I started selling the stage, and it was just too noisy.  Again, I take all the blame for this one. Issue number two. King Township has had to remove all the sound baffling that was previously attached to the walls. Remember those big upholstered blue panels on the walls of the building? Those were sound baffles,, and apparently they used to do a good job of baffling the sound! Now the sound seems to bounce all over the building.  I noticed it in May during David Beasley’s auction, and now in my auction, with two rings selling at one time, it is simply too noisy.  I underestimated the impact of removing the sound baffles, so I have to accept some of the blame for that as well. So, those were the problems, and now what is the solution? Well I am going to have to limit the amount of time we spend selling in two rings.  For the summer I can move some of the primitives outside and that works well.  However, when we are selling inside, I have to make sure we are only selling in two rings for a shorter period of time.  I think about an hour with two rings selling is manageable, and maybe even less. Another solution. Increase the quality and decrease the quantity, which is something I have been trying to do for some time now. However,  now it has to be done, and it will be done. I don’t enjoy doing an auction where I am struggling to be heard. It is not fun for me, and it is not fun for our customers.  And let me reiterate…it is NOT the fault of our customers. So starting in July I am working on implementing some changes.  It may seem strange, but I will actually try to do smaller sales. (at this point the staff roll their eyes). I want quality over quantity.  I will still take in $5 and $10 items, because that is all part of a good auction.  I just won’t have as many of them, so I can get back to doing the type of auctions I enjoy most…selling good items, and having fun with the crowd. If June 22 was your first auction, please don’t think they are all like that.  We are higher energy and more hectic than most auctions, and we likely will always be that way….but from here on in…we won’t be as noisy! Rob

Reality Tv And The Auction/Antique Business…

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I watch and learn! (most times)

These last few years have seen a number of antique related reality shows hit the air waves, and for the most part, I think they have been beneficial to the auction/antique business. Here are some of my thoughts on the shows that I am sure you have seen as well. Antiques Roadshow: This show hit the airwaves long before the other shows I am going to comment on.  I am not a hard core devotee of the show, but I do watch it when I can and I do like it. It may lead you to believe that $50,000 Tiffany lamps and $100,000 paintings pop up all over the place, and that really is not the case.  In my 30 years in the business I have never even seen a true Tiffany lamp, and if I did see a $100,000 painting I may have walked right by it! Keep in mind that 99% of the stuff people bring in to the show has very little value and of course doesn’t make it to air except at the end of the show in the feedback section.  However they do always uncover some true gems and the appraisals can be jaw dropping, but it does make for interesting television. American Pickers: This is a must see show for me. It is realistic and you can learn by watching the show. Mike and Frank for the most part pick the kind of items you might actually see and have a chance to buy sometime. The old signs, the rusty cast iron pieces, the industrial stuff. It shows the ups and downs of picking, and every time I see the show, I want to hop into my Sprinter van(similar to the one they drive, but I had to pay for mine), and hit the open road and start knocking on doors. However, I could not take the rejection they go through, so I am content to let people come to me with the items they want to sell! Canadian Pickers: The same can be said for the Canadian version, although it did take me a little while to warm up to Scott and Sheldon.  At first I found Scott a little whiney and obnoxious, and it used to annoy me when they would go to a dealer or antique show and complain about not being able to buy.  What kind of picker goes to dealers to buy?  Why would they think dealers are obligated to supply them with merchandise at a price they can turn around and make money on? However, they seemed to get past that,, and now I do enjoy the show. Sheldon can seem a little “wooden” and forced with his on-camera delivery, but overall the show is another good learning experience. Auction Kings: This show is based out of Atlanta Georgia, and I think it is the most realistic auction show I have seen.  It really gives you a good idea of how an auction hall is run, and they do show the ups and downs of the auction business.  Some sellers win big, and unfortunately others lose, and that of course is very true of the auction business.  They don’t seem to shoot a lot of episodes, and it doesn’t seem to have a regular night on the TV schedule.  I catch it now and again, and more often than not, it is a re-run, so I am hoping they have a batch of new shows coming down the pipe soon.  I noticed in the second season they have a new opening and they actually feature the two auctioneers in the opening sequence…about time! Wish they would do a Canadian version of the show. Hmmm…I know an auctioneer who would be interested! Pawn Stars: I really don’t know much about the pawn business,, but I do like this show. Interesting personalities, and very informative. The shop is in Las Vegas, and it has become one of the major tourist attractions in the area!  They now have 1000’s a people a day coming through the store, and they say it is now more of a gift shop than an actual pawn shop.  I know several people who have been to the store, and they say it looks much better and bigger on TV! Storage Wars: Probably the biggest hit show of the buy and sell reality shows, and I do watch it occasionally, but I am not a huge fan. It seems far too staged, and too much emphasis on the personalities involved, but that also is what makes it such a big hit!  They do show them scoring big and of course taking a beating as well, and that again is true to the reality of buying lockers.  I haven’t really been involved in locker auctions, but I do know a few people who are, and they say the show is making it tough for them to buy now.  Locker auctions used to only attract a handful of hard core buyers, but now some of them are packed with “wannabe” storage warriors, and that makes it tough for the people who buy them for a living.  There is a Canadian version of Storage Wars now being shot, and I do know one of the regular participants in the show, and I did have a chance to talk to him about it.  Sounds like it would be great fun being a regular on the show and I look forward to watching it when it hits the Canadian airwaves.