“The Good Brothers” Perform at “Music on the Barge” on Sunday, August 19th
“Music on the Barge” Gull Lake Rotary Park, Gravenhurst is once again pleased to present the multi-award winning Country Music Group “The Good Brothers” on Sunday, August 19th commencing at 7:30 p.m.
Fred Schulz, producer of the music series says, “The annual visit of “The Good Brothers” has become a summer highlight of the concert series. This year will mark the 22nd performance at “Music on the Barge” and we hope many of their fans will once again come out to this great final concert of our 2012 season.”
They are winners of eight Juno Awards as Canadian Country Group of the Year; they have recorded album sales of more than 265,000 in Canada alone and throughout the course of a stellar 30-year career, have managed to stay at the forefront of the Canadian country music scene. Songs such as ‘Fox On the Run’, ‘Alberta Bound’, ‘The Rabbit’ and more recently, ‘She told Me So’ and ‘I’ll By Seeing You Around’ are Canadian classics that have brought “The Good Brothers” international attention, and their charismatic live shows have earned them a reputation as great entertainers.
Brian, Bruce and Larry Good were born into a musical family and raised in the Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill, where they launched their career singing folk songs as The Kinfolk. Through the ‘70s and ‘80s The Good Brothers built a reputation for having one of the most entertaining shows in Canadian country music, establishing a relaxed rapport with audiences everywhere they went.
Forty-one years and 16 albums later, the boys have gone through some personal changes and personal growth. The Good Brothers were inducted in to the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in September 2004 at the CCMA Awards in Edmonton, Alberta.
Yes, The Good Brothers’ career continues full speed ahead, with all three Brothers continuing to perform. After forty-plus years it becomes plain to see that “The Good Brothers” are actually embarking on what may prove to be the most exciting phase of their career to date!
Don’t miss “The Good Brothers” at this season’s final concert of “Music on the Barge” Gull Lake Rotary Park, Gravenhurst on Sunday, August 19th commencing at 7:30 p.m.
Collection will be taken during the concert. In the event of inclement weather, rain or lightning, the concert will be cancelled and not relocated to another venue for the safety of the audiences and the performers.
SO HOW DO YOU KNOW IF YOU GOT A GOOD DEAL BUYING AN ANTIQUE OR COLLECTIBLE?
WHAT'S ACCURATE AND FAIR PRICING, AND WHAT'S OUT OF THE BALL PARK?
I HAVE HAD THIS FIGHT WITH ASSOCIATE DEALERS FOR YEARS. I MIGHT ASK THEM SPECIFICALLY WHAT THE MARK-UP IS ON A PARTICULAR PIECE IN THEIR SHOP? SEEING AS DEALERS ARE USUALLY CO-OPERATIVE WITH ONE ANOTHER, AND WILL SHARE INSIDE DETAILS OF ACQUISITIONS, THEY WILL GIVE A BALL-PARK FIGURE. THEY KNOW I'M BAITING THEM, BUT MOST ANTIQUE AND COLLECTIBLE DEALERS I KNOW, LOVE TO GET INTO A DEBATE ABOUT THE INDUSTRY. I'M NOT THE WHITE KNIGHT OF THE PROFESSION, BUT I'M PRO-CUSTOMER AND ALWAYS HAVE BEEN, FROM MY FIRST SHOP, TO POTENTIALLY MY LAST....IN THE PRESENT TENSE.
ASKING OUTRIGHT ABOUT MARK-UP, FROM THE PURCHASE PRICE, AND ANY REFINISHING OR CLEANING COSTS ADDED ON, IT'S NOT UNUSUAL TO FIND A FOUR HUNDRED PLUS PERCENT INCREASE, WHEN THE PRICE TAG IS APPLIED. NOW FIRST OF ALL, SO AS NOT TO OFFEND ANTIQUE DEALERS GENERALLY, THE PURCHASE PRICE IS NONE OF OUR BUSINESS. OF THIS, I HAVE NO QUARREL. IF HOWEVER, I WAS TO TAKE YOU TO A GROCERY OR HARDWARE STORE, THAT FOLLOWED MUCH THE SAME PRICING POLICY, WOULD YOU WILLINGLY PAY A 400 PLUS PERCENT MARK-UP AT THOSE STORES. ESPECIALLY IF YOU COULD GET THE SAME ITEMS CHEAPER BY DRIVING A FEW BLOCKS? IT'S A LOADED QUESTION, BECAUSE NO ONE IN THIS REGION, THAT IS NOT ISOLATED LIKE THE FAR NORTH, WOULD PAY EIGHTEEN DOLLARS FOR A LOAF OF BREAD, OR TWENTY BUCKS FOR A BAG OF MILK. OR SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS FOR AN OTHERWISE TWELVE DOLLAR NO FRILLS HAMMER. WELL, I'LL TELL YOU HOW THEY'D REACT, IF THEY WON'T FESS-UP THEMSELVES. THEY'D SOUND LIKE AN ORCHESTRA OF SCORCHED CATS. AND THEY WOULD SHOP SOME PLACE ELSE.
SO WHY DO THEY FEEL THE RIGHT TO INFLATE PRICES, ESPECIALLY OF COMMON, READILY FOUND, ACCESSIBLE COLLECTIBLES THAT ARE NEITHER RARE, NOR PARTICULARLY IN DEMAND? ONCE AGAIN, THEY WILL YELL BACK, "OUT OF ORDER MR. CURRIE.....YOU ARE OUT OF ORDER."
AS A CUSTOMER, YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO CHALLENGE PRICING OF ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES
Suzanne and I, and the two lads, Andrew and Robert, spent all of Sunday, (except for the Music on the Barge concert), out on the hustings, looking for interesting pieces to purchase, and offer our Muskoka and area customers. We made some good purchases, that we can sell for under the present market value, and the boys stocked-up on some in-demand vinyl for their portion of our Gravenhurst shop. We would always like to make more acquisitions but we are sticklers for fair pricing. Not just to increase our profit margin, but to make sure the cycle of business has a good chance of occurring. Seeing as we aren't operating a museum here, and items are actually for sale, geez, we have to turn things over to justify participating in the business community. Otherwise we would have to charge admission, so you could look at piece you couldn't possibly afford.
Now here's the thing. If a dealer finds a nice painting out on the yard sale circuit, are they compelled to sell it with a mark-up, parallel to to that of a bag of milk, a loaf of bread or hammer? Seeing as antique and collectible dealers don't have wholesalers, in the traditional business sense, and may rely on a picker's goodwill to bulk-up their inventory, they aren't measured in quite the same way, as run-of-the-mill retailers. What a customer might expect, as solid business policy, would be a firm and expansive sensibility to fair and responsive pricing, based on the prevailing demands of the market place. What I see out there, in a large number of shops, antique shows and mall booths, is a very loose connection to marketplace values, and a lot more of "it's mine, I found it, and you will pay my price if you want it." It's the reason I walk away from a lot of items I wish to purchase, because I simply find the price unjustified, and even though I might get a discount, or pursue the art of negotiation to lower the asking price, most folks like me, will just wander away, without saying a word. If this happens enough, the business cycle becomes flat sided, and is certainly a warning sign, over time, of business failure. Possibly these dealer have enough resources to mitigate the impact of less sales, more acquisitions. The general rule however, is still the same, regardless how the books and profit and loss are interpreted. For most of us in the profession, if we don't sell enough, we can't buy anything more, and the bottom falls out. Just as it would in any retail. I can't apply this to hobby businesses, where profit isn't the end-all.
I've seen 1970's glass bowls, that were sold in department stores, on sale in antique shops, for ten to twenty times the original asking price. There's no shortage of these bowls. How would you feel, for example, buying a forty dollar "vintage" bowl, and then, some time later, finding other shops, or mall booths, offering the same bowl for under twenty bucks. At the local thrift or second hand shop, you might find another for five dollars. It happens. What makes this acceptable business practice? Dealers aren't cross referencing their prices, like major retailers do every day. The main reason we travel shop to shop, is to find our market-place averages, and to find out, first hand, how much of the same product is on the market. To much supply, without the demand, means the price doesn't stay the same. It may stay the same in your shop or booth, but it doesn't make it right or fair. This is best understood, when antique dealers opt to sell their wares in on-line auctions, and discover to their chagrin, that offering their rare department store bowl, isn't as interesting or money-generating as they first assumed. There may be fifty of the same bowls, and none of them selling. It's why a lot of dealers cringe at the though of selling online. As a long time ebay'er, let me tell you.....selling online teaches you very clearly about the laws of supply and demand, and if you buck the trend, by starting the item too high, or with an unreasonable "buy it now," you'll cost yourself money in the failed attempt.
When all of this becomes a big honking issue, is when there is an insurance claim being made. For example, in the case of theft or a major event, such as a fire. Now it is almost impossible, and cost inefficient, for most businesses in our profession, to have every piece of inventory evaluated, by a licensed insurance appraiser.....specializing in antiques. It would cost too much, and there aren't enough appraisers to go around, at least in this neck of the Ontario woods. So when the dealer explains the loss of the over-valued bowl, the very next question from the adjustor is......how much did it cost you, on the original purchase. The replacement value isn't the price you wish it was.....but what it actually was, and without paper work, and insurance geared to those appraised items, well sir, you're going to be disappointed. And this is a pivot point to argue the case, for those commonly found items, that are hugely inflated. If you're outraged at this point, of the discussion, I challenge you to bring in an appraiser for those common, not rare items, and see just how far out of the park, you've been pricing your wares all these years
I'll give you an example. I used to offer my day-to-day average-dealer appraisals, to help thrift and charity shops price some of their more unique and vintage donations. I can remember getting in a scrap with one store manager, quite a few years back, about their appraisals of even some of the new items, such as used chairs and tables. I simply asked this manager, to justify the prices she was attaching, that to me, were several hundred percent higher than they should have been.....for used, modern day furniture. She couldn't justify, other than to say, "as stewards of these donated items, it is our responsibility to get as much return from them as we can?" I couldn't argue with that, other than to counter, with the argument, that while it's acceptable to price according to market value for such pieces, it wasn't sensible in their charity situation, to be charging inflated prices to many customers who couldn't afford the extra speculation. They just needed a chair to sit on, or a table to dine-at, without any need of it being antique or having any bells and whistles like a built-in vibrator or heater, in the case of an arm chair. Her response puzzled me. She said it didn't matter that someone in need was able to purchase a chair from them cheaply, because it was about earning the most per article, which would then go to benefit those in economic difficulty. It's not that I didn't understand this, just the fact of speculation on the part of a charitable organization, when allowing an individual a lower price, would actually accomplish the same objective, and give him an affordable piece of furniture. I eventually had to give up this appraisal service, in recent months, because of too many differences of opinion, about similar matters, particularly so on antique piece expectations which seemed too aggressive for my participation. I like and support their work. I wish them well.
There are millions and millions of exceptions. Legitimate one of a kind, hand crafted items, are what they are. Art, folk art, precious metals, jewels, primitives, icons, and in Canada, those pieces that are truly determined to be authentic Canadiana, (American in the United States, as well). Early handcrafted furniture, from around the world. It's not hard to know the kind of art pieces and handcrafted items that are deserving of nose-bleed pricing.....just as a penthouse condominium will cost more in downtown Vancouver, than in a small town with a limited view of anything but country roads and tundra. It's logical and sensible, and it is very much the case, "I own it....and if you want it.....here is the price, and this is all that needs to be said." This does of course, still allow for the art of negotiation to determine a final selling price. I enjoyed seeing all kinds of folk art, on our shopping adventure this week, and it is one of my own collecting interests, especially with the accent of being Canadiana, of which I'm particularly fond of owning. I will marvel at the pieces and judge the prices fair or unfair according to my knowledge of similar pieces I know about, or have seen in auction guidebook pre-sale estimations. So I do have a pretty good idea what the pieces may be worth on the open market, and I'll either judge it a good investment for my personal collection.....of which I can pay slightly more, than if I'm buying to sell. I have to look at purchases in two distinct ways. Not everything we acquire is meant to be for sale in the shop. It may come for sale in a decade or so, but by then, if it was a good investment, the piece should be worth twenty to one hundred percent more than I paid. It's not always the case, but it does happen this way, with even larger increases if you buy correctly. Same as real estate. Same as business and industrial purchases. You want to be able to enjoy the purchase, but it's certainly okay to profit from it down the road.
When I ran a small co-op antique shop, in Bracebridge, back in the late 1980's to the mid 1990's, and sold many consignment pieces, I set the asking prices of the pieces we agreed to sell. Even when we rented space out, to several dealers, to help pay the rent, we only brought in people who believed in the same sensible pricing as we did. They wanted turn-over of the materials they hunted up for their shops.....so they could profit a little bit, and afford to go out and buy more....which after all, is the rush for most eager-beaver antique dealers. They had a right to question my prices, and I had a right to question them. If someone, for example, came in and asked if I would sell a vintage piece of furniture, such as a hoosier cupboard, I would refuse to sell it, if the price was beyond justification, comparing other hoosier-type units in neighboring business.....or from local auction sales. They would say "I want a thousand dollars for the cupboard," and I would suggest they visit another shop, or sell it via classified advertising, in the local newspaper. They'd argue with me, about why the price was fair, and I'd respond that I would not feel right, selling an inflated antique piece, to one of my loyal customers......who having dealt with for years, appreciate our shop's responsible and comparable pricing. While sometimes, even with low pricing, you can't eliminate the possibility of finding a lower price for the same item, elsewhere, it would be devastating to me, to find an identical cupboard for three hundred dollars less than I would have to sell the one in question. It is my business to know what these items sell for, and compare condition, and options, when pricing a similar piece. Just like the rigors of normal retail. If your prices are too high, then your business falters because of it, and it's that simple.
The fun of being involved in this business, is to be able to buy and sell. I like both sides of this equation, and it would be hard to open up the shop in the morning, having, with over-pricing, limited my capability of selling something before the shingle outside is reversed to "closed," or "out of business." Antique and collectible dealers, who are committed to the industry, and truly want to succeed, have to abide by the same general rules of retail conduct, as the milk and hammer sellers out there. While our procurement methods are much more difficult, and we do have a lot of additional costs before items are priced and put out for sale, there can be no abandonment of fair valuations, because, simply stated, it's about the cycle of business.......and whether or not, you'd rather have a museum than an antique shop.
The market place will tell you if the price you've attached to an item, is fair or not. If an item won't sell, after months and months, and possibly years, then a dealer has a choice to make. Live with the item, at the same price, or lower it, and fish for the right valuation, to meet the interests of the customer. If you have a lot of these items, well, this is either a warning sign, or you just haven't found the right marketplace to exploit. Maybe you should move to another business district or region.
I don't think it is as much a case of greed, and wild speculation, as it is the clear avoidance of serious comparison pricing, even in antique malls, where different booths have different pricing strategies under the same roof. This isn't right, and the mall managers know this.....that individual rights of dealers, are trumped by customer protection, and this should be a huge concern.....but I don't see much evidence of this, in the admittedly small area I travel regularly. Maybe I'm being to broad sweeping with this critique. Tell me I'm wrong from your own experiences. Where does the customer fit into the antique enterprise? What are their rights, and the protection for them, to get good value on their purchases, just like the bag of milk, or the hammer I mentioned earlier? Or is it truly acceptable to blanket it all with the statement "Buyer beware," or "Our price is the law." Some laws, you see, must be broken. It's why customers should feel free to question, and if need be, challenge antique or collectible prices they find high....just as they should if they find a price unbelievably low. "Why," is an okay question, that shouldn't bring fear and trembling to either dealer or customer.
Our family spends many thousands of dollars pursuing our antique and collectible interests every year. When we come into your shop, or booth at an antique mall, we expect to be treated like appreciated customers. We want fair and equal treatment....and this is what every customer deserves. But the trend isn't what it used to be, I can tell you that, or frankly, I wouldn't have joined the profession in the first place, back in the mid 1970's......when mom and pop antique shops were the biggest game in the trade. It's how I apprenticed, and how I learned about the cycle of business, and at the same time, how to enjoy the antique hunt.....because of the joy, when you get to pass the interesting item on, to someone else, just as appreciative. It was a fifty-fifty deal you see. Buying wasn't half as much fun, if the items we ferreted out, on our adventures, were stacked-up in the shop......with no one to make the winning transition, from inventory, to the "items sold" category in the accounting books. Our family has always very much appreciated the whole sale transaction.....our hard-worked-for finds, going off to a good home. Glad we could help.
If nothing else, I'd like to remind some antique dealers, who have forgotten just how good it is, to have many transactions in a day, a week, or month, versus staring at the items seemingly quagmired and undesirable. Maybe it's just the price that is holding back the turn-over. If you judge what you paid for an item, and what mark-up you've insisted on, maybe, just maybe, there's some wiggle room, to drop the asking price. If you paid too much for a piece, and still insist on adding a large percentage on top.....well, then keep dusting it off for future reference, to remind yourself how important it is to improve your buying skills. And then look up what it means to offer "loss leaders," and possibly swallow the shortfall to move the inventory. It's not the worse case scenario. It happens throughout the retail sector. Sometimes you just make a crappy purchase. Move on.
I love the antique trade, but I'm starting to use the word "vintage" more these days, because I don't want to scare customers off, before they get in the shop. "Antique" is becoming too closely tied to "expensive," and only for those of substantial income. The places I visited this weekend, are not affordable places to shop, and for young people, interested in decorating their digs with old stuff.....well, these aren't the best places to find good pieces at affordable prices. Affordability doesn't enter into it. But argue as they might with my bold opinion, what over-pricing antique and collectible items creates, like the mother of invention, is the creation of a hell of a big mob, competing with dealers on yard sale Saturdays. It doesn't take too much research, to identify the antique dealers at these neighborhood events. They're the ones asking for a "better price." Go figure eh? If they can do it....so can we? Competition is great for everybody, and it should, even in the antique trade, create an environment of lower prices for common, and "not rare" pieces. Accountability is important, and price substantiation is just good business.
The only privilege I have to make comment about the state of the industry, is my own long term involvement, and the many experiences I've had, since I first experienced the allure of history. I attained a degree in Canadian history, but all I really wanted, in fact, was to immerse myself in old stuff......and both write about it.....and hunt and gather. No dealer should fear that I'm about to start a revolution in the antique trade, or that their secrets will be exposed......because I know how serious such liberties-taken are viewed by violated magicians. For a profession, where the average age of vendors is bordering on the classification of "senior," surely it's time to ponder who will take the reigns once we are spent. If young people find it too expensive to get into the game, will they lose interest, and spend their time and money elsewhere? Every profession must bolster, re-evaluate and refresh itself, to avoid becoming irrelevant, and or redundant, and in both cases, it creates a flat side to the cycle. Those who would state to this, "I'll do as I like," are those who can afford to have a weak cycle of turn-overs, and who see being an "antique" dealer, as some status situation, or position of privilege, when it is simply not the case. What this attitude spreads, is exactly what I've written above, and I again draw your attention to the over-priced milk, bread and hammer. The result of this error, is a deadening of competition, and even without an MBA, the voyeur can see that it means unspecified but almost certain failure, sooner or later. Some have a little more financial padding to last against their own odds. I love the antique trade but if I do fear for its survival, and it is imminent without the younger generation taking an interest.....in what is seen today, as an old fart's folly.
Love or hate me, thanks for joing today's blog. If you can stand a little bit more, please visit again soon. I throw in a few opinions about road-show type appraisal events, and what delusions it creates, about some of the higher than justifiable valuations......that are never realized.
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