buying

How To Buy Antiques At Bargain Prices!
by John Gollehon

While John Gollehon of Gollehon Books mostly writes and publishes gambling how-tos and tip-sheets these days, in 2003 he put his expertise on antique bargains into this book. The book is not exactly a reference, like most collector’s books. Instead, Gollehon has published a series of notes and anecdotes on the best ways to get the most for your money, and basics on how to find a good collectible that is fun, available, cheap, and profitable. Gollehon derives his recommendations from his own experience as a collector himself, while drawing tidbits from experts and dealers in the field. Throughout the book, he provides a general basis — without becoming too restrictive in his recommendations — on how to pull together the various desires of a collector into a way to get the most out of collecting. Not strictly a manual on how to find deals, it’s a basic primer on considering the financial aspects of collecting, without losing the fun.

Where the book succeeds, it also runs into a pitfall. How To Buy Antiques isn’t organized well, spreading its information throughout the book without a clear topic at most points. While that removes the book’s reference value, it does do well as an easy-to-read narrative. His comments and notes transfer from one topic to another, loosely bound together by inspecific chapter titles. Trying to break the book up into chapters doesn’t help the book any, and might have done better to organize by something more organic to the book’s stream-of-consciousness narrative. Readers looking for a textbook, compiling specific information into digestible chunks, will be disappointed, but the average reader will find it charming and often amusing. Gollehon is witty and amiable writer, which helps move the book along quickly. He peppers the book with a mix of charming jokes and self-deprecating charm, as demonstrated by the image on the right, that most readers should appreciate.

A reader will have to go through the whole book to completely glean Gollehon’s useful notes. Pulling those parts out might be difficult, but you’ll enjoy yourself getting to the end. Even a more experienced buyer or dealer will hear something useful, even if it’s one of those “everybody knows, but nobody says” pieces of information like what “huge estate sale!” really means in the garage-sale listing. I got my copy in the discount section of Barnes & Noble (as with most books I own), and it appears to still be in print. It might not be the best book on buying antiques, but it’s a fun afternoon’s read, and you just might learn a little something.

How To Buy Antiques At Bargain Prices!, by John Gollehon
244 pages, $12.99 cover price
Gollehon Press, Grand Rapids MI

We just recently reached a major accomplishment – we made our goal of 10,000 positive feedbacks on ebay! While it may not sound monumental to many folks, we know how much work it took. (Our dear friends put this award together.)

We’ve been selling since May of 2000. At first it was very part-time. Just in the mornings and evenings after work. We had some success and really enjoyed it. A down-sizing by one of our employers caused us to re-think our career path and while searching for another position, decided to try this on a full-time basis. And we found it to be just great!
Now, when we are asked “how did you ever reach 10,000 positive feedbacks?” we take our cue from an old comedian who we loved and admired, George Burns. He would have said “First you reach 9,999…” HA! We have actually had a lot more than 10,000 but when they are repeat customers, ebay does not count them again. We also note that less than 35% actually give feedback, even if they take the time to email with a thanks and ‘all is well’ message. But we are proud of reaching another milestone.

Selling on ebay, for the most part, has been a very positive experience. We’ve sent a number of items home! By that, I mean we were able to find things for people that “MEAN SOMETHING.” For example, we have sold advertising items from companies, hotels or restaurants that had the same name as the person who bought it. Or sent a calendar that advertised for a long-gone dairy to someone who worked there in the summer of 1965! Another gentleman bought a huge metal sign from us from a Milwaukee hotel that had closed years back. It had belonged to his wife’s family and he gave it to her as a Christmas gift. A recent sale of restaurant ware items found a member of the family of the original owners of the establishment! We have even sent several photographs to relatives of the person in the picture! And these were from the 1920s. Wow!

We have also played ‘match-maker’ on several occasions. We listed a bottom of a cookie jar and the lady who bought it had the top! We’ve listed creamers or sugar bowls that lacked a mate and they were ‘made whole’ when the buyer had the other piece.
We are also proud to say that quite a few of our items have been added to museum collections. For example, a photo of an old Milwaukee Clipper ship (ferry) has been added to a display case in Michigan. A gentleman in Arizona who collects unique advertising items purchased a very large, and rather unusual, beer wagon made of wood in Western Germany. It had a driver, 4 horses with a lot of fancy hardware and 80+ wooden beer kegs. He emailed to say it will be proudly displayed in his collectibles museum. Advertising items of “local interest” have also been purchased and added to their respective museums.
One of our favorite memories has been sending numerous wedding photos to a gentleman in Texas. He wanted them to display at his son’s wedding. He had purchased several turn-of-the-century wedding gowns for the reception hall. He placed the old wedding pictures on each dinner table. His son was very much into fashion design, so this was a wonderful surprise for him. He was kind enough to let us know it had been a big success!

Several of our friends started selling on ebay about the same time as we did. They thought it would be fun! And, while it is enjoyable, it is a lot of work! You have to find the items, (which is getting a lot tougher), sometimes clean them up, research to see what the minimum should be, list it, pay the fees (whether they sell or not), package them up, ship them off. Then you wait for the good news. We have used the US Post Office almost exclusively and have been very pleased with them. We’ve shipped well over 40,000 items and only 4 have ever been lost and 5 damaged in transit. That is incredible. While we have continued on with ebay, all of our friends have discontinued their endeavors.
In retrospect, it has been a very gratifying experience. We have shipped accordions, a large sink, a marvelous boat anchor, china dish sets of 80 pieces, oil paintings – you name it! We have enjoyed being ‘pickers’ for folks who cannot or do not wish to take the time to find these treasures.

We would love to hear about your selling or buying experiences!

“Gotta Collect? Then You Gotta Connect – Join our Collectors’
Community”

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.