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
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