remembering The Silver Fox

Seems like reality TV has now discovered the auction business, the antique business, the pawn shop business, the storage locker business…almost anything to do with buying and selling! One of my favourites is American Pickers, and it reminds me on a personal note of a very interesting picker from my past. When I owned my antique store from 1984-94, I had the pleasure of meeting and dealing with a truly interesting person.  His name was Bob Jergens AKA “The Silver Fox”, and he was an old time picker. He was in his early 60’s, had a somewhat colourful past, but had mellowed considerably by the time he decided to buy and sell almost “whatever”, for a full time living.  He drove an old van that he paid I think around $500 for, and he was on the road with that van 6 or 7 days a week. He bought privately, through lawn sales, auctions, and believe it not, from dealer to dealer. I think he had this uncanny knack of knowing which dealer needed some cash, and which dealer needed some inventory.  He could buy from one dealer and run it down the road and sell to another. His favourite term for a piece he considered “difficult” to sell was “sausage”.  “I bought this piece through an auction, didn’t look and what a sausage it was!”  I still like to use that term, even though there is only one other person in the business I know, who actually knows what the term means! Bob was a chameleon of sorts.  He could adjust his personality in order to be comfortable with the person he was dealing with.  He could sit down and have tea and pie with an elderly female dealer, or be out wheeling and dealing with a crusty ol scrap dealer.  He was not insincere, he just knew how to read people and deal with people.  I don’t think I ever heard him swear, he did not drink or smoke, yet he could adapt to most people. We never discussed how much money he made, but I think he turned it into a rather comfortable living.  All deals were cash, and if you are on the road 6 or 7 days a week, and making a few hundred dollars a day, it all ads up.  And this was in the 1980’s. I was only in my late 20’s when I met Bob, and rather new to the business, but I never felt he took advantage of me.  Yes there were a few pieces I bought that didn’t turn out very profitable, but that all goes with the business. The last time I saw Bob he dropped into the store, and he really didn’t look very well. I thought he had a rather pale look,, and he told me he wasn’t feeling well.  Instead of me making some dumb joke, I told him he didn’t look well, and maybe he should go home and relax.  That’s exactly what he said he was going to do, and that was the last time I saw him alive. A day or so later, I got a phone call informing me Bob had passed away.  He was moving a big desk out of a basement, and it appeared he had a heart attack.  He was in the hospital for a day or so, but in true Bob fashion, he checked himself out and went home.  He then suffered another heart attack and this time it was fatal. I went to the funeral, and I was a little early, so I got to spend a few minutes alone with Bob before the family and friends entered the room.  It was nice to have those few minutes to reflect. As they loaded his casket into the hearse, I thought it would have seemed so appropriate if they used his old van instead of a hearse.  I think he would have liked that. This business is full of interesting characters, and Bob Jergens “The Silver Fox” is one I will always remember. Rob IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ABOUT THIS OR ANY OTHER ARTICLE, FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME AT rob@robsageauctions.com  ALWAYS NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

…seems to come around again!

I have a couple of stories today illustrating how pieces in this business can travel about and eventually come full circle. In our Jan 22 auction we sold a very nice hall mirror.  It had come to us from a home in Orillia. A week or so after the auction, I received a rather interesting email from the new owner. “We owned the same mirror ten or fifteen years ago believe it or not.  It hung above a hall table in the old house for several years, and we sold it after we bought a hall stand to replace it. Now here in the new house, we have one of a kind 1/4 cut oak hall bench, and of course we wanted a mirror to go over it. We tried several different ones and none of them were just right…and we commented on several  different occasions that we needed to find one like the one we owned all those years ago. Imagine my surprise when I saw it on your website!  There couldn’t have been two the same, and sure enough when we got a chance to see the back, we knew it was our old one as we used to mark everything we sold.  As we hoped, it looks wonderful in the hall above the bench. The size, style and colour are very compatible and you would think they were made for each other!!!” So I called the consignor, and sure enough he had purchased it through the same auction the new owners had sold it through so many years ago.  So it all connected, and the mirror went back to one of the original owners, after a ten of fifteen year stay in Orillia. The consignor was delighted it went back to the appreciative original owners, and as you can read, the original owners were happy to have it back again! Now another one for you.  In November I helped auctioneer Bob Severn with a very large on-site auction in Alliston.  We were selling in two rings due to the size of the sale.  I was selling outside, and eventually went into the garage and sold some furniture stored in there.  I sold a large sideboard to one of my regular auction customers. When he attended our Jan22 auction, he handed me an old business card he found in the piece of furniture.  It was a card from my old antique store, and on it I had proudly written that this piece was the 3,578th  piece of furniture sold through Rob’s Place Antiques!  I operated that store from 1984-94, and in 2010, without realizing it, I sold the piece again! So yes, it is a small world, especially in the world of antiques. As they say, what goes around, comes around…but in this case I mean in a positive way! IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ABOUT THIS OR ANY OTHER ARTICLE, FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME AT rob@robsageauctions.com  ALWAYS NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

good way to start 2011!

Thanks once again to all who attended the Sat. Jan 29 auction. This was a smaller auction than the Jan 22 auction, and a little different atmosphere. The sale was organized by Raymond and Cecile Bates, and it is always a pleasure to do the sale for them.  When you are selling for one person, there is a little less pressure, and more opportunity to have fun with the sale.  A couple of times Mom said to me while she was clerking…”what’s gotten into you today?”  There were a lot of things that were striking me as amusing, and I just had to pass that along to the crowd.   The mood of the sale was fast and funny….keep things moving and wherever possible try and make it entertaining! That doesn’t always happen, but I do try whenever I can.  Sometimes it is only Carol Beasley who gets my jokes, but that’s ok.  At least there are two of us amused. Years ago I used to attend the auctions of a certain auctioneer who I always thought had a pretty good sense of humour.  To this day I can still think of some of the things he said, and I still smile.  But I also noticed that when he was doing a large antique auction, it seemed to be much more serious. He was at his best when he was doing small on-site evening household auctions.  It just seemed like he was having fun, because there wasn’t a lot of pressure. Now I understand that.  Not to say the big consignment auctions we do are a lot of pressure, but they are a little more demanding.  Most  of our auctions have 15-20 consignors and I always have to make sure the right items are getting up at the right time.  I  don’t want someone’s good items selling at the end of the sale, and then again you don’t want someone’s good items selling right at the beginning, so you always have to strive to keep a balance to the sale. Not only am I thinking about what I am selling, but also about what will be selling next, and trying to keep a direction and focus to the sale.  There are times when there is so much going on, that you may forget to work a little humour into the auction.  I think I always get a good number of laughs from the crowd at any auction, but I have to admit, the smaller sales give me a little more opportunity to have some fun! January was a busy month for us, with two good sales back to back.  I did have some concern about doing them so close together, but I didn’t have much choice. However, both sales went well, and you still get a different crowd from sale to sale.   Of course there are our much cherished regulars, but always new faces in the crowd, and that is very encouraging. We had one couple who where there from the beginning to the very end and buying throughout the auction.  After the sale they told me how much fun they had and how enjoyable the auction was for them.  That is the kind of comment I love to hear!  When someone comes to the sale for the first time, I want to make them a regular customer. So that is it for now.  They are predicting a major snowstorm in the next few days, so I will gather up food and supplies, and then spend the snowstorm at home getting photos ready for the upcoming auction! Rob IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ABOUT THIS OR ANY OTHER ARTICLE, FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME AT rob@robsageauctions.com  ALWAYS NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

off to a pretty good start!

Our first sale of 2011, and it certainly got off to a good start!  The January sales are some of our biggest and best, and this one certainly met the criteria! This was our largest sale so far since we moved to the Pottageville Hall.  175 people registered and we sold 535 lots.  Now that is a big sale by most standards, but last year in the much smaller Bond Head location, we sold over 700 lots and had 190 registered bidders!  Over 150 pieces of furniture, plus 100’s of smalls and all those people crowded into the small Bond Head hall. Makes me so glad we are now in Pottageville! Of course there were highlights and some lows in this past auction.  Most notable highlight was the signed Napoleon letter selling for $1000.  The letter could not be authenticated and we sold it under those conditions, and there was a nice round of applause for the winning bidder.  Naturally I followed that with some goofy comment that brought a bid laugh from the crowd, but that is just what I do. On the low end of the auction, we sold a nice 1929 walnut 9 piece dining room suite for a mere $200.  No round of applause from the crowd on this one…just a small groan from me.  When it comes to dining room suites I just wonder how low can they go?  It is going to get to the point where I may no longer take them into the auction, unless we can break up the set and sell them separately Overall, furniture prices were fair, and a few pieces exceeded expectations. Always seems to be good money on the unusual small items.  Rookwood vase sold for $400, and the primitives and country items were strong as usual. People might think the overall economy is responsible for low prices on some items,, and I don’t really agree.  We can sell a good small item for $1000, but a dining room suite for $200 ?  That is not the economy, it is more a matter of changing tastes, and that is something that is pretty hard to change. I am going to make this entry a short one, because I have a lot of work to do right now.  I will update a little later, but now I have hours of paperwork from the last auction to do, plus getting ready for the upcoming weekend auction, and also pickups all this week for the Feb 19 auction…so I have to get to work! Rob IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ABOUT THIS OR ANY OTHER ARTICLE, FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME AT rob@robsageauctions.com  ALWAYS NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

and I think that is a good thing!

First let me say we have another great auction coming up Jan22.  Our Jan auctions are some of the best and this one certainly is no exception, so please check it out! Another interesting thing I would like to address is the proliferation of reality TV shows based on the antique or auction business.  American Pickers, and there is soon to be a Canadian version, Auction Kings, Pawn Stars, Hard Core Pawn, and of course the perennial favorite, Antiques Roadshow, and I am sure there are a few others. The favorite of mine is Antiques Roadshow, but for the most part, they are dealing with items most of us will never see in our travels.  American Pickers and Auction Kings, are a better reflection of the kinds of items I see and deal with. Just the other day, I was fuelling up my Dodge Sprinter, which is the same type of vehicle they drive on American Pickers, and the person next to me came over and said, “do you do what they do on American Pickers?”  I explained I am a little different, in that most people come to me, rather than me cold calling on people looking for items, and of course I run an auction business.  We talked about antiques for a bit, and then he asked for my card, so hopefully he and his wife will make it to one of our auctions. Later in the day, I was doing a house call, and the owner asked about American Pickers and Auction Kings…wow these shows must have  great ratings! Personally I find it encouraging to see the re-newed  interest in this aspect of the auction/antique business.  They refer to it as “Mantiques”.   Things that traditionally interest men more than woman, and it is the dirty, gritty side of the business.  Digging through barns and sheds to find old advertising, car parts etc.  American Pickers focuses more on that aspect, rather than glass, china or fine furniture. I like Auction Kings as well, because I think it presents a pretty accurate depiction of the auction business.  It shows consignors winning on some items, losing on others, good auctions, bad auctions…exactly what we go through! I am very comfortable with the way the business is portrayed in that show.  I want a reality show!!!   Now one other thing I want to mention.  I bought my Dodge Sprinter months before the American Pickers premiered on TV…and I had to pay for mine! So it is nice to see this new interest in auctions and antiques.  Might bring even more people out to the auctions.  However, I think you should really think twice if you think you can hop in your truck and head out picking.  That is a tough thing to do, and I only know a couple of people now who have been doing it successfully. If you want to open an auction hall, and make lots of fast, easy money….well, we will have to talk about that! IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ABOUT THIS OR ANY OTHER ARTICLE, FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME AT rob@robsageauctions.com  ALWAYS NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

have the years been shortened to ten months now?

Happy New Year! Almost all of us will say we can’t believe another year has gone by so quickly, and yes it is true.  I find time seems to go by very quickly in this business, because you are always planning one or two months ahead.  It is only the end of December and I am trying to plan the May sales! 2010 was a good year for our business, and I certainly hope 2011 brings more of the same. The antique business is changing and therefore the auction business changes. There has been a huge fluctuation in prices, and the overall consensus is, the antique business is not what it was 10 or 15 years ago. It has been an excellent time to buy antique furniture, but of course a hard time for many antique dealers. I know many dealers who are finding it difficult to change with the times, and I am afraid the upcoming years will not bode well for them.  As one dealer told me just the other day, there is a new pricing for most antiques now, and you have to live with that.  If you buy at the new price, you can sell at the new price, and still make money. This past year we have seen a good supply of quality items coming through our auctions, and for the most part, prices are fair for both buyer and seller.  The crowds are good, the prices are fair, so that keeps the good consignments coming. The auction business is still very viable, and of course we auctioneers have to adjust and change with the times.  Sometimes it is a case of having to sell more items to make the sales profitable, but that works.  You just have to work harder. As and auctioneer, I feel it is my responsibility to fill the sales with the items people want to buy. That seems pretty obvious, but not all auctioneers think that way.  It is not up to me to tell people what they should buy and what they should pay.  Just because something sold for $300 five years ago, and it now is selling for $200, doesn’t mean the buyers are wrong.  If the demand drops, the prices drop, and that becomes the new value for that item.  Prices are not carved in stone,, and demand increases or decreases for certain items, and that is what we live with.  I can come up with a whole list of items that used to bring decent money, but now I don’t even want them in the auctions!  I am also considering some items for the auctions that I would not have given a second look at just a few years ago.  Vintage stereo equipment and retro furniture for example. Also I have noticed an interesting trend on TV this past year.  New shows such as American Pickers, Auction Kings, Pawn Stars and a few others dealing with the antique and auction business.  There seems to be a renewed interest in the business of buying and selling antiques and collectables.  I have even heard the phrase “Mantiques” in describing primitives and collectable items usually of interest to men.  This is a good thing…I would love to have a reality TV show!  Can you imagine what it would have been like if a camera crew had been following me around when I got the news about the last minute cancellation of the first sale in Pottageville?  There would have been a lot of editing, but it would have made for interesting TV! So once again I am looking forward to another interesting new year.  I am pleased with our move to Pottageville, and now my friend and associate Dave Beasley will be conducting sales there as well for the winter months.  Between the two of us, we are going to make Pottageville a very busy place for auctions! So I wish you all the best in 2011, and hope to see you at as many of our auctions as you can possibly attend. Have fun on the auction trail in 2011! Rob IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ABOUT THIS OR ANY OTHER ARTICLE, FEEL FREE TO EMAIL ME AT rob@robsageauctions.com  ALWAYS NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

a time to relax and reflect!

December.  This is the quiet time of year for me when it comes to business.  I deliberately do not book sales in December, because it is the only time of the year when I can justify not doing an auction.  It is when I get some time off, and can focus on some of the things neglected during the very busy fall season. This certainly has been an interesting year…and also a record year for sales totals!  The quantity and quality of the items consigned to our auctions during the last year has been very satisfying to me personally. Of course the most talked about event this year in our business, was the forced last minute cancellation of our first sale in Pottageville.  I am sure you have heard, but we had to cancel and move the sale out of the hall, the night before the auction.  There was a mixup in the hall booking and it turned out the hall was not booked to me on auction day, and had been booked out for another function.  I still shudder when I think about it, but we did get everything moved out of the hall (took until 4:00 am), and the sale went ahead two weeks later.  Enough said about that! However, on the up side, the move to Pottageville has been an outstanding success!  Nothing but positive comments about the hall and the auctions, and I have to admit it is a pleasure to set up and do the auctions in that facility.  I hope to make Pottageville a permanent location for us for many more years. Bond Head was where our sales started 14 years ago, but the huge increases in the hall rent, plus the physical limitations to the building, made me consider a move for the last few years.  It worked well in Cookstown for the summer and early fall months, but I really needed to make a change for the fall and winter auctions.  Of course nothing is carved in stone, and it is very possible I could be doing sales again in Bond Head, but for the foreseeable future, Pottageville is going to be our home. Here are a few statistics relating to our business.  First, 2010 has been a record sales year.  We sold 7462 lots, including over 1500 pieces of furniture. Each sale averaged 621 lots and that believe it or not, is fewer lots per sale than previous years.  In 2009 we averaged 726 lots per sale!  However, I have been trying to cut down the number of lots in each auction, and focus on better quality pieces.  As a result we sold fewer lots but had a record sales total.  My goal in 2011 is to keep the average number of lots at approx. 500 per sale. We had a total of 1635 registered bidders for our 12 sales this year, which averages 136 registered bidders per sale.  Probably works out to about 200 people per sale, because a couple generally only register under one number. 72% of the registered bidders make a purchase. People come from all over the province to our auctions, especially in the summer months.  I keep track of where every bidder comes from.  Since moving to Pottageville we have had a increase of bidders from south and east of us, so now about 60% come from those areas,, and the remainder from north and west.  Surprisingly, we are not a “local” auction.  Very few people in the immediate vicinity attend the sales.   Most people drive between 1/2 hour and one hour of the sale. Ok, enough with the statistics.  They are important to me in understanding my business, and very helpful in planning out the auction schedule, but how does that affect you?  The numbers tell me what I need to know about my business., and hopefully what I should and shouldn’t do.  I can anticipate the size of the crowds and try and make sure I have the right items at the right time of the year. I am learning what sells, and when it sells best, and plan the auctions accordingly. So, what are the plans for 2011?  Well, I am working on reducing the size of the sales, and focusing on better quality.  It takes some time to do this, but I have managed to do that during our fall schedule, and the results were obvious.  Potential consignors may be disappointed when I have to turn down their items, but I can’t run a successful business trying to sell what people don’t want to buy.  At times we get overrun with low end smalls, and it can take months to get through some consignments.  No shortage of good quality items in our auctions, so it doesn’t make much sense to spend a lot of time and effort on items that just do not sell anymore.  I am compiling an ever growing list of items that just do not sell, and therefore I do not want them in our auctions.  Most importantly, you do not want them in the auctions.  You vote with your bids! So 2011 is looking very interesting.  I anticipate the quality items will continue to come our way, and I will do everything I can to maintain and  even increase the quality of our sales.  There is a lot of good merchandise coming into the marketplace, and I want to make sure as much as possible comes our way! I thank you again for another wonderful year….and in fact, a record breaking year, and look forward to an interesting and exciting 2011!

great way to wrap up the season!

Thanks once again to everyone who showed up to our final sale of 2010, Sat Nov 20, at the Pottageville Community Centre. It was a great way to wrap up our season!  We had the largest crowd so far since we moved to Pottageville, and the general consensus was the prices were strong overall. Of course there are always a few items that disappoint ( not the buyer of course, but perhaps the seller), but I felt the prices were strong and fair on most furniture pieces.  This was an auction with a quantity of nice refinished smaller furniture pieces, which I believed to be right for the time of year.  The glass and china consisted of a lot of average type pieces, so I was not expecting strong prices in that area. The last two months have been two of the best months I have ever had in my fourteen years in the auction business, and I credit much of that to the move to Pottageville.  Many new faces at every auction, and that is very important to our business. One of my concerns when we first decided to go to Pottageville, was that we not lose the “fun, old fashioned country auction” atmosphere, that I believe has been very important to our success.  Bond Head was crowded, noisy and had a certain energy to the auctions.  Cookstown was big, two rings running, lots of noise and excitement to those auctions as well.  I didn’t want Pottageville to be staid and boring.  It is a sit down auction, people get comfortable and at times complacent and perhaps a little bored at some of the sit down auctions I have attended.  I wanted to keep a level of excitement and energy to the auctions, and in my mind at least, I think we have accomplished that in Pottageville.  It is an nice hall to sell in, the crowd is close, and it is easy to inject some humour and banter with the staff and customers,  into the auction. To follow up on that thought I would like to share part of the contents of an email I received from one of our very good dealers `Hi Rob. Great auction yesterday. You and your staff make us feel so welcome it doesnt feel like work“ I take that as a compliment.  As a dealer I attended 100’s of auctions, and there were always some I looked forward to attending, because I had a good time when I was there.  Now as an auctioneer, I am flattered when someone enjoys coming to our auctions. So now I have to get back to work.  There are many consignors to pay, and a full day of paperwork to do.  I will do a wrap up of our entire season and some of my thoughts on what I have seen during this past year, in a future entry. For now, have fun on the auction trail! Rob