be realistic!

In the last few years, the on-line classified sites, have become a popular way to try and sell your items. Kijiji is probably the most popular site in this area, while Craig’s List is very strong in the Toronto market.  The sites are free to use and you can post unlimited text and several pics. The down side is you don’t know who you are letting into your home, and of course the scam artists are working those sorts of sites. What I find particularly interesting is some of the prices some people are asking for antiques.  I recently saw a very low end piece of 1950’s or 60’s furniture, that I would not even want in the auction, and if I did have it, I would be shocked if it even brought $10 or $20.  The asking price? $420.00 ! It makes me wonder, is the seller even serious about selling this piece of junk? Why bother posting an ad, when no-one is ever going to pay that price?  I recently saw an oak case wall telephone, in poor condition, and a very common model, and they were asking $1200.00.  Average auction selling price would be $100-$150.  So I wonder where they would come up with an asking price like that?  I guess some people just pick a number and hope some sucker is willing to pay the price! Bottom line is, people can ask whatever they want for something.  However, if you are serious about selling your pieces, don’t be mislead by some of the asking prices you see on-line. Ebay can be a good reference for selling prices, but you must check the completed listings to see what price the articles actually sold for.  It doesn’t matter what people are asking, it only matters what people are paying. Of course if you frequent the auctions, you get a good idea of what the average selling price is on most items.  Retail prices may be double or even triple the auction price, but as a seller, you cannot expect a dealer to pay you retail. Dealers have their time and overhead to recoup, and they deserve a fair return. Quite often people will quote me a price they see in a store or antique mall,, and of course it doesn’t matter how good the piece in the mall is, theirs is even better. However, they may not realize that the piece they have seen, may have been sitting in that store or mall for a very long time with no takers. I have been watching one piece in an antique mall for the last three or four years.  It is a china base coal oil lamp, without the original shade, and we would usually sell them for $25-$50.  This particular dealer is asking $425.00  Why?  I have no idea!  I have never ever seen that particular lamp sell for anywhere close to that price.  Maybe $100 tops, and I have been doing this for almost 30 years now.  It boggles my mind why they would even waste shelf space by pricing it at such a ridiculous price. Another particular pet peeve of mine, is when someone calls about selling an item, and they will not tell you what they want.  They usually tell me they have no idea what it is worth. So, far too often I make the appointment, spend the time and money to get there, and after I quote them a price, they start quoting me retail prices on every item!  If you know what you want, just say so on the phone, and if it sounds reasonable, myself or some other dealer will make the effort to go see it.  But don’t waste someone’s time and money, if you are going to ask retail price.  You are going to have to work a little harder to find a retail buyer. Recently I offered a person approx. $25 a piece for a certain item.  She then indignantly told me she saw them selling for up to $85 a piece in the shops.  I explained that was an asking price, and in all likelihood the dealer paid about what I was offering her anyway.  She refused my offer, even though there was a dealer looking at them just before I got there, and he didn’t even make an offer on them.  A day or two later, I was telling this story to a friend of mine, and he told me he bought similar items at an auction recently for only $17.50 a piece!  I think the lady should have taken my offer. Just in case you are wondering why I sometimes buy items, when I am an auctioneer, and for the most part make my living selling for other people on consignment?  I do advertise in the yellow pages to buy antiques, because there are people who just don’t want to go the auction route with their items.  I tell them what I think it will sell for at auction, and then make an offer to buy outright, if that is what they want.  However, over 95% of what I sell, is consigned through the auction. So to summarize, when you decide to sell, be realistic about the value of your items.  Most auctioneers will give you an idea of what your items will bring at auction, and in my case, I have over 2000 photos posted on my website with the selling price at our auctions.  It gives you a good idea of what prices certain items have been selling for in the last few years. Remember also that even though the items may have sentimental value to you, as far as a dealer is concerned, it is just inventory, and they cannot put a price on sentimental value.  That photo of your great grandfather in the nice oval convex glass frame?  You might just want to hang on to that for now. Some come out to the auctions, get a good sense of the current market, and if the prices seem fair to you…give me a call! Rob

and I pray it never happens again!

I’ve had a lot of memorable auctions over the last 16 years.  The one we did last weekend for the closing out of The Little Furniture Shoppe in Wasaga Beach will be one of them.  The first on-site auction I did 13 years ago when we almost set fire to the house is another. ( just a small fire on one of the tables of merchandise set up outside…we put it out).  The there was the “mudfest” at the Cookstown Curling Club.  An early May sale that was so muddy around the building that I didn’t know how we were going to get people in or out. However, the most memorable sale was one that never actually happened! Sept 25 2010 we were to make our much anticipated debut at the Pottageville Community Centre.  It didn’t work out too well.  Here is a repost of my blog concerning that fateful event 2 years ago! The Saturday Sept 25 auction was to be our big debut at the Pottageville Community Centre.   Well I guess we created quite a bit of talk….not about what happened…but what didn’t happen!   The auction didn’t happen! This gives me an opportunity to explain what happened to our Saturday Sept25 auction…the one that was cancelled at the last moment! The sale was almost completely set up, on Friday.  At 5:00 pm we were visited by a very nice young woman from the recreation department explaining that there was some confusion as to the auction date.  I believed we had a three day booking,  Thursday, Friday and Saturday of course. But it was brought to my attention that it was booked for Thursday 9:00 am until Saturday 12:00 am. Ok so what was the problem?  We had all day Saturday to do the sale right?  No, actually 12:00 am Saturday is just past midnight Friday…and that is when we were to be done with the hall. There was another booking for the hall on Saturday, and we would have to have the hall cleared by 8:00 am Saturday.  Now I am not going to cast any blame here, because there was a mix up and miscommunication on both sides.  Verbally the hall was to be booked for 3 full days, but when the contract arrived I did not notice the Sat. 12:00 am mistake.  The point is, we had no choice but to clear the hall. It took us two days to set up the sale, and now we were going to have to empty the building in a matter of hours.  I was overwhelmed and a little distraught, but it had to be done. I called back all my incredible staff, family members, friends and some consignors, and began the task of repacking and removing an entire auction! It took until 4:00 am, but we had the hall cleared and  contents stored in various locations. I put a notice on the website at 10:00 pm, which was the earliest I could access my computer, and sent out the email list at 4:00 am hoping to catch people first thing in the morning announcing the cancellation . Dave and Carol Beasley also sent out notice through their email listings, as well as Tom Clarkson Auctions, so we did everything we could to spread the word. I made a few early morning phone calls to people I knew were traveling a distance, but this is all I could do. With about one hours sleep, I went down to the hall for 8:30 am Saturday and delivered the bad news to those who did not receive notice and showed up expecting an auction. I was absolutely amazed at how understanding and considerate everyone was.  Not a single complaint from anyone….just inquiries about when the next auction was!  I really do have some wonderful customers! At this point I want to express my deepest appreciation to everyone who came foreword to help.  The people I work with are not just staff, they are friends and family.  And they came to my aid as good friends and family would. Everyone showed up when I called, pitched in and did everything they could to help.  It was just amazing . So here are the people I want to express thanks to on-line…I have thanked them over and over again in person, but I want you to know. Mom, my brother Brian, sister Kris and brother in law Gerry, Dave and Carol Beasley, Raymond and Cecile Bates,  Don Garner and his wife Audrey, and last but not least Charlie McAteer, who worked with me through to 4:00 am.  Also consignors who I called to pick up their merchandise, but would prefer I did not announce their names.  I was truly overwhelmed by the effort everyone put forth! Also the many emails and phone calls from customers who offered whatever help they could. So a bad situation was made as good as it could be, and I once again thank everyone. Yes it is an experience none of us will forget, and a lesson for me to read the contracts carefully!

same old, same old..just putting in time until I can retire?

I was picking up some furniture today for our Oct 6 auction, and the consignor asked me if I ever get tired of doing this? I have been doing auctions for 16 years, and put together over 200 of my own auctions.  I also had an antique store for 10 years.  I told her I never get tired of doing this. And it is true.  I have sold over 100,000 items through our auctions, but I am probably more excited about the business now than I was 16 years ago! For me, putting our auctions together, is like putting on a show every month.  I get excited when I have good pieces consigned to the auction.  I get excited thinking about how I am going to photo them, and how they will look on the website.  I plan out where they will go on the stage and how that will look. I research many of the items as I am getting the photos done. I am constantly learning new things even though I have been involved in the antique/auction business for almost thirty years now. I like selling good stuff.  Yes there are times when handling the pieces, removing them from the homes,  and setting them up for auction, can be physically demanding. Doing up the photos and promoting the auctions properly takes a lot of time. Quite often I will spend 12 or 13 hours a day making house calls, packing and moving the pieces to storage, doing the photos and then spending the time to post them to the websites. There are days when I have 15 or 20 phone calls, plus emails, concerning consignments etc.  Then of course there are days when I have only a few and just one or two house calls to do. I have heard this saying a few times. “Do something you love and you will never work a day in your life”  That is true.  When you love it, it doesn’t seem like work.  Regardless of the hours or the physical strain. On Sept 22 I am partnering with David Beasley and we are doing a closing out sale for The Little Furniture Shoppe in Wasaga Beach.  I have never done a sale quite like this before.  Nicely refinished antique and reproduction furniture, plus the shop equipment etc.  When I went to the shop to do the photos I was very excited about what I was seeing.  I couldn’t wait to get back home and get the photos posted!  I knew everything was going to look great and this was going to be a unique auction for us. All this week I have been picking up interesting pieces for the Oct 6 Thanksgiving Auction. Moorcroft pottery, original paint country furniture, old toys, lots of interesting primitives…this has been a good week!  This is what keeps the business interesting for me. So it is true.  I don’t get tired of this business.  Every auction is different, and to paraphrase another show business adage, “you are only as good as your last auction”.  Every month you start over and try to put together as good an auction as you can. So as long as the phone keeps ringing and good, interesting pieces keep coming in, I am going to keep loving this business. I hope when you come to one of our auctions, you are having a good time. Because I am. Rob

some thoughts on our Saturday night summer auctions.

I am a little late in writing this, but it has been a very busy week since the last auction.  So thanks to all who attended our final Saturday night auction of the summer, on Aug 25. We had another good crowd, 162 registered bidders, and prices were fair on most items.  Primitives of course did well, and the pine Canadiana brought fair prices for both the buyers and seller.  Most glass and china still on the down side, but that seems to be typical across the board. I’ve been very pleased with the Saturday night sales this summer.  Last year was the first summer I did this and it went over well then.  This year brought in even larger crowds!  So obviously next year I will be doing it again…you can’t change something that is working so well! Now I realize the large, crowded noisy sales are not for everyone. Two rings going at one time for part of the sale can be a little challenging.  Big, noisy crowds can also be challenging. As my grandmother might have said…”it’s not everyone’s cup of tea”. That brings me to my next point. Our sales are not for everyone.  I wish I could please everyone, but that is not possible. I hear the comments and I do take them to heart. I hear people say there are too many primitives, too much glass and china, too much furniture, too many people, too much good stuff, too much low end stuff…too much of everything!  You can’t create the perfect sale for everyone.  If ever I can do that, I will make a lot of money and for six months of the year you won’t even see me!  However, that is not likely to happen. The average attendance at our auctions has increased about 30% over the last five years.  We are continually reaching new buyers and bringing out new faces to the auctions.  Typically, over 70% of the registered bidders purchase something.  The quality of the auctions has never been better, and I am working to make it even better for the upcoming year. So, even though this may sound a little strange, I actually am up front about admitting, our sales are not for everyone.  We are not Waddingtons or Sothebys, and we are not trying to be.  We are not trying to be an English antique auction, or some stuffy high end objets d’art auction.  We are trying to be a fun, energetic country antique auction. Sometimes a little goofy, but overall getting the job done. I, as always, will listen to and consider any comments, but I am also pretty adamant about what kind of auction I want to be.  I will always continue to make improvements, but despite our flaws, I am still pretty happy with the direction we are going in. So here’s hoping you do enjoy what we are doing and I look forward to seeing you at the Oct 6 Saturday daytime auction.  I could not get a booking in Pottageville in September, so I have lots of time to put together another good auction for you! Rob

and another record sale!

Thanks to everyone who attended our Saturday evening July 28 auction…and what a sale it was! We sold 932 lots in two auction rings during a 7 hour sale! We had almost a record crowd, sold a record number of lots, and indeed it was a busy, noisy and hectic sale! And to think a year ago I had people questioning me about the wisdom of doing a Saturday night sale.  The question was, “who will come to a Saturday night auction?” The answer is…”a lot of people!”.  We had people literally from all parts of Ontario.  Some driving ten or fifteen minutes to the sale, while others drove for up to two hours to get there. Now I realize some of you may have found it a little challenging with the size of the crowd and the noise…heck as an auctioneer I found it challenging! However, rest assured, if this was your first time to one of  our auctions, they are not always like that.  This was a combination sale between myself and Dave Beasley, and between the two of us, we had a lot of merchandise to move.  It worked well, but it is not something we do on a regular basis. My Aug. 25 sale will be one auction ring only, so I am working to keep it a little smaller.  I have a backlog of glass and china to get through, but I am trying to keep the sale a little smaller.  Ok, I have said that many time before, but I am trying! I have some great Canadiana pine pieces coming in, and I will be building the sale around that.  I spent two days bringing the pieces up from Erin, Ont. and it is one of the best offerings of pine I have had to date. Everything came out of one home, and I was in my glory for two days!  Even Charlie was impressed with what we picked up! I am going to make this entry short, as I am preparing for the upcoming long weekend.  I am working at Kempenfest Festival in Barrie, helping a friend of mine with his art exhibit.  It is nice to spend a few days working at a different type of selling.  I don’t get to yell at people for 7 hours straight…and that is kinda nice! Have a great holiday weekend, and have fun on the auction trail! Rob

…looking for love…or just looking for great deals?

Thanks to everyone who attended our Saturday Evening June 23 auction!  This was our first Saturday night sale of the season, and the hall was packed!  Packed with merchandise and packed with people! The crowd started coming in just after 4 and by 5:30  it was wall to wall people. This is very satisfying for me, because when I first thought of doing Saturday night sales last summer, the idea was met with some scepticism. Last year I wasn’t entirely sure it would work, but it worked very well, so I was pretty confident in a good turn out for this sale. I believe many of my customers consider auctions as entertainment.  So why would they not want to come out on a Saturday night for a fun evening out? I try and make it fun, and the “singles night in Pottageville” angle has been a running joke. Obviously Saturday night proved my point.  Over 160 registered bidders! We sold 650 lots and were selling in two auction rings for much of the evening. The sale concluded at 11:30, so with the two rings going, we averaged approx. 110 lots per hour.  This makes for a fast paced, at times hectic, and certainly noisy auction! I will be honest when I say, these types of auctions are not for everyone.  I realize it may be a little challenging and perhaps even intimidating when there are two rings running.  Some people are able to stand at one ring and be able to watch and bid in two rings…these are the seasoned auction goers!  Others prefer to sit and just focus on the auction ring they are interested in.  I set up the auction so items of specific interest…primitives, jewellery for example, are selling in one ring, while the more general interest items are selling in the other. There are times when the rings overlap, and we are selling primitives in both rings at the same time, and that’s when it can be a little challenging! Saturday nights sale was like that.  A lot of primitive and country decorating items selling throughout the night.  We took a break and just went to one ring when we sold the stage and the major furniture pieces, but aside from that, it was two rings for almost all evening. If you find it a little too “energetic”, well not to worry.  All of our auctions are not like that.  The rest of the summer auctions are likely to be a little smaller. Although I have said that before! This past auction was interesting to me, because in some ways it went opposite of what the trends in antiques have been lately.  This time out, the big furniture pieces were selling well, and the small furniture pieces were generally soft.  It is usually the other way around. Pressed glass, carnival glass, depression and crystal, all seemed down in price last night, and that is a trend I have seen for quite a while now. There is a lot of glass and china coming onto the market, and unfortunately we are seeing quite a dramatic slide in price.  Will it turn around?  I am not too sure on that. However, if you are a collector, you’ve probably never seen a better time to buy! So now I start two days of paperwork (I admit, that is the part of the business I don’t really like, but of course it has to be done!). July is going to be a very busy month for me, due to other commitments I have, so I am glad David Beasley and I will be working together and sharing the  July 28 auction.  We each have our own consignors, and merge together for one auction.  We have done it twice now in the last year and it works out very well. Gives both of us a little time off, but the end result is a good auction once again for you! So enjoy your summer…have fun on the auction trail…and if you would like to see a video slide presentation of last nights auction, you can click on this link. SATURDAY JUNE 23 AUCTION VIDEO

but lots of fun!

Thanks to all who attended our Saturday June 16 auction. This auction was unusual for us.  It was an estate from Scarborough, and was mainly household items and used furniture with some antique pieces as well. Our sales are usually mostly antiques, and usually 25-30 different consignors, rather than one full estate. This sale drew about 1/2 the number of people we usually get, and the total dollar sales about 1/4 of our average antique consignment…and it was a success! Now you might be saying, with half the bidders and 1/4 the dollar value, how could you say the sale was a success? The truth is, the objective of this sale was to sell everything regardless of price, cover the expenses of the auction, and not have anything left over to dispose of after the sale. The family pays the expenses on a sale like this, and I work on a commission. Obviously they want the sales to cover the expenses, empty the contents of the house and then move on. I had a sales total in mind I thought would make the family happy, and compensate me adequately…and the sale went 30% above that figure.  Everyone was happy! The family had spent months cleaning out the house, organizing the remaining contents, and it just gets to the point where everything has to go.  That becomes the only objective. We were selling things for $1…which I usually do not do, and big lots for a couple of dollars…and even a sofa for one dollar! I just wanted to help the family dispose of the contents, and have fun doing it. We certainly succeeded in doing that! The crowd started out small, as I predicted, and then built up by 11:00, and much of the crowd stayed with us throughout the afternoon. Lots of good deals on practical household items, and even though the prices on the antique items seemed low compared to our usual antique auctions, overall it all averaged out. I have no intentions of building my business doing general household auctions. We do very well with our monthly antique auctions, and that is my livelihood. However, this past sale was something different for us, and myself, staff and those attending, all had a pretty good time! But now we move on to our large antique auction on Saturday June 23, and the only dollar bills will be the ones spent at the food booth!

I kinda wished it had rained!

I admit I have been a little slow in updating my News and Views, but it has been very busy! Thanks to all who attended our May 19 Victoria Day Weekend auction. I admit it is tough to get people to attend an indoor auction when you have record breakin,g beautiful sunny weather on a long weekend…but we did manage to do it! Not a huge crowd…a little larger than last year’s Victoria Day weekend auction…119 registered bidders.  As  most of you know, we have been packing the hall on a regular basis since last October with record crowds, so for those of you attending this past auction, it probably was a little more comfortable with a smaller crowd! Prices as always were up and down.  Highlights included the wonderful bird box automaton for $1700….a great pine secretary also sold for $1700…and one of the best pieces of Coke advertising I have had in a long time sold for $625. Of course there were lots of good buys on the other end of the scale, and every auction has its highs and lows.  That is something we learn to live with. As an auctioneer you want those attending the auction to go home with some good deals, and you hope they are happy with the purchases. Of course, as an auctioneer I also think of my consignors and hope they end up with a reasonable price for the items they consign. So how do you balance the both?  Have happy buyers and sellers? It would seem at odds with each other, but it can be done. Usually when I look at the items people wish to consign, I give them an approximate selling price.  I am conservative with the average selling price I quote, because I want the consignor to be realistic about the value of their items.   I stress that the selling price could be higher, but I also stress that it could be lower.  I point out we do not place a minimum selling price on the items and the consignor has to be prepared to take a risk.  If people do not like my assessment, then I suggest other ways they could possibly sell their items. If they cannot sell them on their own, then the auction is still a possibility. However, most people simply want to sell, or they have to settle an estate, and they usually go through our auctions. The key to selling at an auction, is to average out the selling prices.  There is an old saying “what you lose on the apples, you make up for on the oranges”. Case in point.  One recent consignor in the last auction had three pieces of furniture. I told her I thought two pieces would sell for $150 each and the third piece I wasn’t even sure if we would get much money at all for. So we agreed $300 and change would be a decent selling price.  The first piece sold for $100 and that was very disappointing. However, the second piece sold much to my surprise for $300 and the third piece I wasn’t even sure about, sold for $70! So the consignor ended up with $470, when we were only expecting about $300. The buyers I hope were happy with their purchases, so everyone ending up winning. As an auctioneer sometimes I remember the items that seemed to sell for very little money and don’t realize how well some of the other items did, until I tally up the consignors sales. Another consignor, recently seemed disappointed at the auction with some of the selling prices, but when I ran into him a week later, he told me he was shocked at his total sales….double what he thought he did! Of course there are some consignors who get lucky and every piece does very well, and unfortunately other consignors who get low prices on every item, but usually for most people it averages out to their satisfaction. So obviously, if you are buying or selling, auctions can be fun and exciting! TO VIEW A VIDEO SLIDE PRESENTATION OF THIS AUCTION PLEASE CLICK HERE Rob