and not likely to see one like this again!

On Sat. Nov 13 I had the privilege of working a very special auction.  I was helping Bob Severn sell for long time collectors Drs. Jack and Ann Dale, and it was truly an amazing auction! I conduct large auctions on a regular basis…often as many as 600 or 700 hundred lots…but nothing like this!   I have never seen so much quality merchandise come out of one home.  Probably 1000 lots.  They had a large outdoor tent, plus selling in the beautiful old Victorian home, plus selling outside and also some items from an adjoining property!  These items had been purchased over a 30 or 40 year period, and it was the kind of auction you rarely have a chance to see, and probably won’t see again. There is a generation, and they are now usually in their late 70’s or early 80’s, and for most of us, it is our parents or grandparents generation, that become avid antique collectors.  They filled their homes with antiques, and it was a passion for so many of them.  Now many of those collectors have passed on, or must downsize, so the collections come onto the market. Generally the “under-40” generation does not have the same passion for collecting.  Usually they buy antiques as decorator items, and therefore acquire a single type of item, but do not build collections of items.  It was there parents and grandparents who “hoarded” antiques and it was a very different approach to buying. That is why the auction on Saturday was so unique.  It is just so rare to find such quantity and quality in one household.  I think those type of collectors are now few and far between, and not likely will we see them again. It was a nine hour auction, and about half of the time we were selling in two rings, so that is some indication of the size of the collection. It was fun and it was interesting to be part of it, and I was lucky enough to be able to purchase some postcards and collectables from my hometown of Beeton, but I also realize auctions like that may not happen again.

winding down a busy year!

This has been an extremely busy month for me…and I am not complaining, but I just have to admit I have been a little remiss in a few areas on this website. I still haven’t updated the results page since August!  I like to post photos and highlights of some of the items we sell in each auction, and although there have been lots of highlights…I just haven’t had time to post any! However, that will happen soon.  I just need to get caught up on a few other things. People often ask “where do you get all the stuff from?”  Well it is amazing to me where and when items comes from.  I dropped by a thrift shop the other day, because that is where I rent the truck to use on set-up day.  I ran into a “picker” I haven’t seen in years, and he was someone who used to consign to our auctions.  He moved, and I really didn’t hear much from him anymore.  We got talking, and now I have 100 good items to put into our Jan 22 auction.  That’s how it works sometimes.  You run into someone, and next thing you know you are doing business!  I guess that’s why I make sure I shave before I leave the house! Nov 20 is our final sale of the season, and I have to admit it has been an interesting year.  Even busier since our move to Pottageville, and it is going to be nice to have a little time off. Someone asked me today if I go away during that time off.  I said no…I just want to sit around and do nothing for a little while…that will be enough holiday for me! So I hope you can join us for the Nov 20th sale.  It is turning into another good one, and it will be a good way to wrap up our 2010 auction season!

batting a thousand so far!

Our thanks again to everyone who showed up for our Oct 30 auction. Once again a good crowd, over all spirited bidding, and I was pleased with the results. Initially when I decided to move our auctions to Pottageville, I thought it might take several sales to build to the sales level I have been accustomed to.  I thought the attendance might be a little lower than Bond Head auctions, and perhaps the prices a little softer.  I really wasn’t absolutely positive it would be a a good move….maybe 90% positive.  Well now after only two sales…I am 100% sure it was a good move! Our sales totals for the last two auctions are up 20% over the same period last year, and the attendance numbers are just about exactly the same.  Consignments have been flooding in, and it has actually been a bit of a challenge to keep up, but I have managed to do it! The response has been positive from everyone I have spoken to, and I look forward to a good winter season. One of the comments I get , is about the quantity and quality of photos I post on the website.  In the last three weeks I posted a total of over 400 photos for the Oct30 and upcoming Nov. 6 auction.  I enjoy doing it, but it is a time consuming process.  There are times when I wonder if it really makes that much of a difference? Well I was approached by a man at our last auction who told me the following.  He said he and his wife go to a lot of auctions around the province, and the one thing that really sold them on attending our auction, was the photos.  He congratulated me on them and said they were some of the best he had seen. So when I get feedback like that I am encouraged to keep doing what I have been doing.  We do get a lot of new people out to every auction, and some of them travel quite a distance, so it would seem pretty evident that it does pay off.  I may not always be able to post over 200 photos per auction, but I will do the best I can to promote every sale to the benefit of the buyers and the consignors. And before I wrap up, there is one other thing I have to mention.  Recently I was at a house call and the very nice lady showed me a clock that she said had been appraised by one of the travelling appraisal clinics that show up at various malls and functions.  This simple wall clock, in only average condition, and made by a very common manufacturer, was appraised at $1000.  I had to tell her to drop a zero off that price, and make it $100.  She was rather surprised when I told her that was all I would expect at auction for it.  In fact I had recently seen a nicer one bring only $70 at auction. Now, part two of my story.  A couple of months ago I received a phone call from a lady who had a cylinder music box, appraised again by the travelling appraisal clinics, at between $20,000 and $40,000.  Now this is out of my league of expertise, so I set her up with a very reputable and honest collector of high end cylinder machines.  He looked at it, went on-line with his ipad, and showed her they were only currently selling for about $800.  He was not interested in buying it, and told me he has sold much better machines for around $2000. So why would the appraisal clinics quote such outrageous prices?  I really don’t know.  All I know is it is very disappointing when someone like me has to inform someone that their “treasure” is worth a fraction of what someone had lead them to believe. So that’s it for now.  I have an extremely busy three weeks ahead of me.  Two sales in three weeks, and lots to pick up, photo and get ready for auction! IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ON THIS OR ANY OTHER BLOG, PLEASE CONTACT ME.  ALWAYS NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU.  JUST CLICK HERE.

a rough start, but it all worked out!

A big thank you to everyone who showed up for our first sale at the Pottageville Community Centre!  I must admit, I think by most standards the sale was a big success…it certainly was everything I hoped it would be! This will be one of the most memorable sales I have every conducted…mostly due to the fact that it was cancelled last minute on Sept 24th, and so this was the date we re-scheduled. When you consider the fact that we completely set up a 500 lot auction, and then had to repack and restore everything because of the cancellation, and then had to move it all down to the hall again and set it all up two weeks later…it was an incredible amount of work to make this sale happen!  (hopefully I will never be forced to cancel a sale again…we got a lot of publicity because of what happened…but still never want it to happen again!). I do not choose to do holiday weekend sales, but this was the soonest date I could reschedule.  I admit we had a lot of competition with other good auctions to the north, east and west of us, and of course it is a busy weekend with Thanksgiving, but we had a good turn out and overall strong prices throughout the auction. I had some very good quality, large  furniture pieces and I was concerned about what prices they would bring.  Much to my relief, on most pieces, the selling price reflected the appreciation for the quality of the pieces.  That’s all I can ask for, and overall I was pleased with the results. Primitives were in abundance in this auction, and once again, overall I felt the prices were strong. Glass and china as always is up and down in price, and we all have to live with a new reality when it comes to the value of some glass and china. Most other items fell into the expected price range with some nice surprises and of course some disappointments, but we all know that is the nature of auctions.  There are winners and losers, but we just hope it all averages out. After 14 years doing sales in our Bond Head location, this was a bit of a gamble for me to change venues, but I was pretty confident it would work out well.  The response I have received so far, has all been positive concerning the facilities, parking etc in Pottageville.  Customers liked the seating arrangements, and overall spaciousness of the hall.  I am confident this will be our venue for many more years to come!  (at least I hope so). The demographics of the crowd changed as I expected it would.  Many more people from the south and east of us, just about the same percentage from west of us, but a significant drop from the north of us.  Of course it is a longer drive (about 10 minutes), for those from the north, and combined with the fact that there were two other good auctions to the north of us, I am sure made a  difference.  However, over the next few months I think the northern crowd will join us in significantly higher numbers.  The inescapable fact is, when you change venues you obviously will be closer to some of your regular customers, and further from others.  However, the serious buyers will be there regardless. So despite a rocky and memorable debut, I am very pleased with our new venue and very excited about the future there.  I truly believe this new location will continue to bring out good consignments and that of course will bring out good buyers. I am keeping my fingers crossed, but so far the future looks good! IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ABOUT THIS BLOG OR ANY PAST BLOG PLEASE EMAIL ME AT rob@robsageauctions.com.  I AM ALWAYS GLAD TO HEAR FROM YOU!

an event I wont ever forget!

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! IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ON THIS OR ANY OTHER BLOG I HAVE WRITTEN PLEASE CLICK ON THIS EMAIL LINK rob@robsageauctions.com  IT WOULD BE NICE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

and it’s all good!

Change can be a good thing…and there have been a number of changes for me lately…and they have all been good! Biggest change of course will be our move to the Pottageville Community Centre, starting  Sat Sept 25. For 14 years we have conducted our sales for all, or part of the year, at the Bond head Community Centre.  That’s where I conducted my first auction, and over the years we have had many outstanding auctions in that hall. Four years ago I decided to try doing auctions in the Cookstown Curling Club for the summer and early fall months, and that turned out to be a huge success. However, when it came time to move back to Bond Head for the late fall and winter sales, it was hard to adjust to the smaller hall.  I would hear many negative comments concerning how crowded the sales were, how difficult it was to view items if you came in later, how hard it was to remove items from the stage once you purchased, etc etc. I wanted to find another hall, in order to solve some of the above concerns, but also because the rent in Bond Head had more than doubled in the last four years, and more increases on the way.  People were shocked when I told them what I was paying for rent! Another auction company had been using Pottageville for a number of years and running very good auctions there, so I was hesitant for both of us to be using the hall.  However, due to some changes in their business, the hall was not being used on a regular basis anymore, so it seemed like the time was right for me to make the move! We now will be using a newer, bright, larger, modern facility.  No stairs to deal with, a nice big stage area, room to seat at least 100 people, wheelchair accessible, air conditioned, food booth on main level, and a good parking lot.  In short, just about everything I would ask for in an auction hall! Also it gives me a chance to adjust our auctions as well.  I cleaned up most of the backlog of lower end “smalls” in our Cookstown auctions, and now will work on upgrading the overall quality of the sales.  I want the focus to be on good quality glass and china, primitive and country items, artwork, silverplate and sterling silver, lighting  and of course the furniture.  I have had to turn down quite a bit of stuff, but fortunately the quality items have been coming in so it has worked out well.  Now when I say “good quality” glass and china, we are still going to have pieces under $20, but they will be items that are in demand.  I don’t want box and tray lots that we struggle to get $2 for.  Too much time wasted and too much effort on that sort of item.  There will always be some of that in the auctions, but I am working hard to keep that to a minimum. However, I am still keeping this very much a country auction.  I want the mix of refinished and “as found” items….nice to have some painted furniture, and some rusty primitive pieces, as well as good refinished furniture items and higher end glass and china.  The mix is what makes it interesting, and that is something I don’t plan on changing! So in short, I am planning on better auctions in a nicer, more convenient facility…it’s time for your benefit…and mine as well! Hope you can make it for our first sale in the new venue on Sat. Sept 25. P.S….I mentioned there have been some changes for me personally as well as the business.  Yes I bought a new computer system, so am getting used to that.  Also broke my camera so had to get another one.  Also replacing my printer, and have had to unexpectedly replace my riding lawnmower!  Nothing life changing, but lately a lot of small changes I have had to adapt to! Rob

think about this!

Had an interesting phone call from a nice lady last week.  She told me she thought she may be getting ripped off, so she asked for my opinion. She took a set of chairs that they purchased for very little money at an auction, to a furniture “refinisher/restorer”.  She wanted the chairs refinished, left a deposit, and then a few days later got a call from the refinisher.  He told them the chairs would have to be taken apart, redoweled and repaired. (one chair was broken).  He told her they would restore them to “museum quality”….for $1000 PER chair! She refused to go ahead with the work, and wanted to send me a picture of the chairs for my opinion.  I told her the chairs would likely sell for $50 per piece on a good day, and I have seen them sell for as little as $10 per piece on a bad day. These are extremely common Duncan Phyfe style lyre back chairs…you can find them at almost every antique auction.  I could not imagine anyone would have the nerve, or lack of scruples, to try and sell this woman a $4000 refinishing/restoration job on a set of chairs worth $200 or less! Now I realize if you are a refinisher, the value of the piece may not be relevant.  If someone insists on having the work done, and are willing to pay, then of course you would go ahead with the work. However, how can anyone expect to operate a business when they quote $1000 a piece to refinish chairs?  To me that is unheard of….and I sincerely hope the woman gets her deposit back, or reaches some sort of reasonable agreement with the refinishing company. So the point is….know the current average market value of the piece you are considering having restored or refinished.  Don’t let anyone sell you an expensive  refinishing or reupholstering job on something you can pick up at a fraction of the price at an auction or antique shop. When someone quotes $1000’s of dollars for a refinishing job…I think it is time to shop around! Rob COMMENTS ON THIS BLOG OR ANY OTHER ARE ALWAYS WELCOME rob@robsageauctions.com

number 182 in our 14 years!

Thanks to everyone who attended our Monday July 26^th auction!  The hall was a little warm, but unlike the very humid conditions for the May auction, I don’t think it affected the bidding.  Maybe we are getting accustomed to the heat and humidity now and are now taking it all in stride! I had two very large auctions in May and June and this time I tried very hard to make this one smaller….I did…and I think it worked.  We had half the amount of furniture we had in the two previous sales, simply because the feedback I was getting indicated people where just overwhelmed with the quantity of furniture in the May and June auctions.  I believe that negatively affected the price of the furniture, so I thought I had better make some changes very quickly.  With half the amount of furniture in this sale, the prices seemed stronger.  We had some nice quality pieces and I was pleased with the results on almost all of them.  It is a rapidly changing market and we all have to make adjustments concerning price expectations.  What may have seemed like a low price 5 years ago, may now be considered a fair price…so we have to live with that and adjust expectations accordingly. Having said that, I felt the prices were rather low on some of the glass and china.  I did a quick check on ebay, and of course the same thing seems to be happening on certain types of glass and china there as well.  So once again, we have to be realistic and make some changes in our thinking. The month of July marks my 14^th anniversary in the auction business, and of course that makes me reflect a little. I think of the changes since I first started.  The biggest change has been the technology of course.  When I started I didn’t have a computer…no internet…no email of course.  I used to type the ads out on my old typewriter and drive them around to the various local papers.  Then I progressed to faxing them to the papers from the local coffee shop ( I didn’t have a fax machine).  A few years later a friend of mine, who was an early adopter when it came to technology…he was one of the first people I knew to have a home computer, suggested I should get a website for my auction business.  I told him I really didn’t see how a website would help my business, and basically auction goers were oriented to print, so they would not be interested in a website.  When I worked as a music director for a local radio station in the early 80’s, I listened to Michael Jackson’s new release of a song called “Billie Jean”, and promptly announced that disco was long dead, and there would be no interest in Michael Jackson. So in my lifetime I have totally underestimated the power of the internet and the popularity of the King Of Pop! Maybe it’s a good thing I make my living with antiques…I am better at looking backward than forward! However, 14 years in the auction business and I have seen a lot of changes. Prices drop on some items, rise on others.  Trends change…people come and go.  I have seen a few people come into the auction business determined to show us all how it should be done….and then seen them disappear just as quickly.  Also some of the established auctioneers have left the business, and the old style auction places that sold everything from household junk to antiques, have almost all gone. I am proud to say one of the consistent auctions in the auction business, has been my own little business.  I am still basically doing what I started out doing 14 years ago, with almost all the same staff, and some consignors who have been supplying me for ten years or more. Dave and Carol, Mom, my brother Brian and sister Kris and brother in law Gerry, have been with me since the beginning.  Don Garner has been with us for almost ten years now and Charlie McAteer for about the last five.  Great people who have all been a big part in making my business work. I started doing the sales in Bond Head, and then switched the spring, summer and early fall sales to Cookstown, and now will be moving the fall, winter and early spring sales to Pottageville.  I am planning some adjustments over the next few months, but that is an important part of any business. However, I will still continue to do “fun, old fashioned country auctions”.  It is more than just a motto…it’s what I truly believe in, and it was the reason I got into this business in the first place. Some good things happening…hope you will continue to be part of them! Rob IF YOU WISH TO COMMENT ON THIS OR ANY OTHER POSTING JUST SUBMIT TO  rob@robsageauctions.com I ALWAYS LIKE THE FEEDBACK.