I continue to ask mom & dad, the generalist antique dealers extraordinaire of No Egrets Antiques, a few questions…

What advice do you have for dealers and collectors?

Dad, aka The Dean, has much to say. “You have to go to the antique stores and malls. You must. It’s your education. What do others say its value is? How many times do you see this thing — is it ‘everywhere’? Rarity affects price. Are the same things there visit after visit? Because then the price is likely too high.”

Mom interjects, “He’s always telling me that. I’ll be all excited over something — maybe we have one like it & I am excited by the price on it, and he will say, ‘Yeah, well it’s still here, isn’t it?’” We all laugh and then mom continues. “But you have to go and see. Guides and price lists aren’t as informative as visiting the stores are, and you can still get deals.”

“Our friends are always amazed that we can make a profit off of things we buy at antique stores,” she says. “But we do. Just because it’s in a store doesn’t mean it’s priced ‘right’. We’re generalists, and most dealers are as well. Generalists don’t know everything about everything, but rather have a general knowledge about many things. Sometimes we can find a deal because we knew more than the last guy. Sometimes it’s obvious the dealer specializes in glass and doesn’t know her books very well. If you go to the stores and malls you really can learn as well as get deals.”

When it comes to selling, dad says you have to treat it like any other retail business. “Remember to buy at ‘wholesale’ prices, no matter how much you like it.” It’s the same for antique stores, estate sales and actions. “This isn’t personal; so divorce yourself from what you like and think profit. The same is true for the mistakes you make. Don’t insist on a high price just because your pride’s involved. If the market won’t pay it, the market won’t pay it. It’s all about turning your inventory,” he says.

Mom adds, “If I buy something for $5 and it sells for $35, that’s profit. Even if it sells too quickly. One time, we had a wraught-iron bedframe. The first guy to the booth bought it before we were done setting up for $50. A few hours later, one of our friends who was at the flea market with us came running back to tell us how the guy had ‘ripped us off’ because ‘our’ bedframe was in his booth at $110. I just smiled and said ‘We made our money. Bully for him if he makes his.’ Our friend didn’t understand why we were so nonchalant about it. To him, we had lost money; but to us, we made money — and we didn’t have to lug it back home. (It was still there at the end of the day… no doubt the guy sold it at the price he wanted for it later, but he had to wait.) We were on to the next thing, the next sale.”

Lots of folks ‘blame’ ebay saying it ruined the antiques and collectibles market… Do you agree? Do you think the Internet has had any affect on the market?

“Every year is affecting it,” says dad. “Sure, it may have evened out prices, but that’s because with the whole world ‘in’ we now get a picture of how rare that thing really is. If the Internet has exposed just how rare an item is, it has also thrown a wider net (if you’ll pardon the pun) — which works for buyers and sellers alike. Overall it’s been a good thing, helping us reach a larger audience.”

“It’s what took me from part-time to full-time,” says mom.

What do you love about the business most?

For mom, one of her favorite things is to see items go back home. “The hunt for treasures is fun and keeps the juices flowing and the money is certainly nice. But the biggest kick is finding out that we have sent an item back home, where it belongs! For example, we just sold a calendar to a gent who had worked at the dairy it featured. It was his uncle’s farm and he worked there in 1965! We also listed a vintage print block from a Minnesota Beauty Pageant. The lady that won was excited because her niece had won this very contest in 2005! We’ve connected folks with their name-sakes on numerous occasions: a Johnston Cookie tin to a Ms. Johnston; Blatz beer items to Sam Blatz; a mirror from Ruby Farms to one of the descendants of this prestigious Wisconsin landmark; playing cards from a Snirkles Candy Bar to a granddaughter of the ‘inventor’; photos of a Milwaukee tavern to a lady who recalls her grandfather stopping there; old photographic equipment to a ‘camera museum’; post cards from Louisiana to a resident with fond memories of this park that was destroyed in Katrina; another post card from Florida featuring the hotel the winners spent their honeymoon at in 1949! Stories like this keep us searching for more of the magic connections.”

But both agree, it’s the thrill of the hunt and the joy of discovery, which keeps them interested. Who can know what is all ‘out there’ yet to be discovered? And everything has a story, a history, and if your lucky, you can add to that item’s personal history. But if collecting is addicting, being a seller is even more so.

“It’s a bit like gambling,” says mom. “You can be very lucky and get the right piece at a great price and find the right seller; or you can bet on the wrong ceramic horse. If you don’t want to build a barn for all those horses, you’d better better be able to turn them as inventory fast!”

Do you think the old story that collectors who get ‘too much stuff’ are the ones who become dealers?

Both mom & dad nod their heads. “Sure. Most of them anyway. The thrill of the hunt only increases,” says mom. As an example, she tells the story of another dealer she knows. He got lucky at one auction they were at, and bought a painting for $25. He turned around and sold the painting at an auction in New York for 1.2 million dollars!

But there he was just a few weeks later at the flea market, trying to to negotiate a lower price from mom and dad. My mom laughingly said to him, “Hey, you just made all that money and you’re trying to save 50 cents here?” His reply? “Hey, the thrill’s still there. That hasn’t changed.”

Isn’t that the truth. I bet mom and dad will do the same.

Go here for more on Val and Dean.

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Article Tags: buying, collectors, dealers, selling

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