Back To Bond Head!

and some thoughts on one part of my business

Getting ready now for the next sale on Saturday Oct 24^th, back in Bond Head.  We had a great May-September in Cookstown this year.  Record sales, record crowds…I couldn’t ask for anything more! However, I also look forward to going back to Bond Head.  That’s where it all started for me 13 years ago, and we have done over 150 sales in that hall.  It is quite a bit smaller than Cookstown, but it makes for a more intimate feel.  The crowd is all around where I am selling, and we have a nice stage area close to the crowd….for an auctioneer, it is a good place to sell.  It is easy to connect with the crowd…you can joke around a little more because it is easy to be heard, and overall I feel we can make the sale a little more fun!  If you haven’t been to Bond Head auctions, please check us out on the Saturday Oct 24^th auction. Oh yeah, that’s another thing.  Saturdays now instead of our traditional Friday night auctions.  Due to scheduling conflicts the hall is not available Thursdays, and that is when we set up for the Friday night auction.   Ours is a long setup and I can’t do it the same day as the auction, so we are moving to Saturdays.  I think that is going to be a nice change, and I am looking forward to it. A big part of my business is selling the antique contents of an estate.  We don’t do the household items, but instead remove the antique contents.  I have been dealing with a very nice woman, whose mother recently passed away.  Because the daughter is from out of province, affairs had to be settled quickly.  We were removing the antique contents within a week of her mother’s passing.  That is difficult for a family member to do, but there are times when you really don’t have much choice.  She told me she felt like she was breaking up her parents longtime antique collection, but there really wasn’t a viable alternative. I am sympathetic to that.  These are items that were collected by someone and those items were important to them.  And now after thirty or forty years, they are being sold off.  It’s more than just “stuff”…these pieces were a part of someone’s life. As some sort of comfort, I told her these were pieces her parents gathered from various auctions over the years, and they made them part of their life.  And now they will go back to auction, someone will buy them and make them part of their life.  The cycle repeats itself once again. The point is, antiques are more than just merchandise.  They belonged to someone…sometimes many different people, and there is a story and history with each piece.  Sometimes the original history and stories get lost, but every time a piece is purchased, another story will be attached to it. I was a collector before I became an antique dealer, and an antique dealer before I became an auctioneer.  It has always been more than just merchandise to me, especially when I remove items directly from the home.  I try and make sure my enthusiasm for the “product” doesn’t overshadow the sentiment and emotion many people feel when they have to part with important items to them. Have fun on the auction trail….enjoy and appreciate the special items you acquire. Rob