Buying Vintage Household Items

BUYING VINTAGE HOUSEHOLD ITEMS FOR A GOOD PRICE - EASIER AND MORE AFFORDABLE THAN YOU MIGHT THINK

COLLECTABLES TO USE, IN KITCHEN AND HOME, THAT OUR GREAT GRANDPARENTS OWNED AND PURCHASED FOR PENNIES

     Fine antiques, art, textiles, silver, china, porcelain, rare and antiquarian books, treenware, folk art, quilts, well yes indeed, the list is a long one. Most country dealers have some pieces in their collection, and on their shop or mall booth shelves, that do fall into the category of unique, special, rare, high quality, heritage-laden, provenance enhanced, that do deserve to be priced in the nose bleed section of what our profession comes to represent, by the nature and character of their work. But, and like mine, it's a big one, there is a huge percentage of what are passing for antiques these days, as questionable as they are in age and authenticity, hugely overpriced and the discrepancy between booths and nearby shops, is not customer-friendly in the least. Dealers can do better. They need, first of all, to compare prices of similar pieces, in competing shops and booths, which is not being done with any significant due diligence. Dealers need to be concerned about their customers, and it starts by justifying the asking prices, and being in line with what other vendors are asking for the same, or similar collectibles or antiques. Tougher economic times coming, will force the issue, as competition for discretionary spending gets tighter.
     News flash! According to the evening news, we might have a sinking dollar, but in terms of household debt, apparently Canada is topping the G-7 nations. The falling loonie has its problems and the increasing household debt is a disaster-in-waiting; one we may not have to wait to long to realize. It's certainly a precarious time in Canadian history unless you keep your savings in American funds, and pay off your credit card bills when you get them. As for running a retail operation through the eye of the storm, now that takes courage. Read on!
     Is there such a situation as a "buyer's market" when it comes to the antique and collectable business. Sort of like real estate but a little less pricey? Of course there is, and it's heading this way.
     On the afternoon financial spot today, heard on "am" radio, a reporter asked the business guru of the hour, how low the price of oil could sink before, as they say, "bottoming out"! "Zero," he answered, and the chuckle came later. His sense of exasperation, was that now, because of Iran's new oil production plans, millions upon millions of gallons will be flooding the marketplace, kicking the bejeebers out of the steadily diminishing price per barrel; meaning more negative impact on Alberta, and Canada generally; a country that at one time, only a few short years ago, was pretty damn cocky about the future. And the fact, there was really nothing to stop the empire from becoming a bigger, and bigger empire. Well, you know what they say about putting all the eggs in one basket; the one with the little hole, that under stress, becomes an even bigger hole. If a schmuck like me, knows the truth about "good times having to end sooner or later", (like my mother used to warn me over and over) a fellow by the way, who knows very little about oil and its dynamic in the market place, why has all this carnage in Alberta occurred. How could the brightest minds in our country, and economic experts, not have figured out that sooner or later, China was going to need less of our resources, especially oil, and by the rigor of economic cycles, as they have existed for seemingly ever, would, in time, kick-out one leg of a multi-legged platform. It seems we didn't have as many legs on that platform as we might have thought, or hoped for, as stake holders in this country. I think about how many billions of dollars have been lost in personal investment, and from our own country's coffers, because of this one basket concept, without any obvious reverence to the reality "crap happens," and not on a defined, rigid schedule.
     The antique business, over my own forty years of experience, has changed direction many times since I climbed aboard, and as far as trends, by golly, it's been like the changing weather patterns day to day. There are about a million things a dealer has to consider investing in their shop or mall-booth inventories, because, like any retailer, stocking mistakes can abruptly end a business history before it hits the milestone of the first year. General antique dealers, or "country" dealers, as we used to call them, have a pretty good chance of "selling something," because they stock such a wide variety of vintage articles. The antique dealers who specialize in a particular area of collecting, whether it is Canadiana, being mostly pine and historic furniture, can't possibly live on drop-in clientele, because there are not that many Canadiana collectors in our region. They are forced to advertise and attend antique shows, to get the message out about their specialty collection. Whether your specialty is old books, antique glass, clothing, china, furniture, silver, or quilts, with little diversity into general antiques, there is absolute necessity to promote business through various forms of media advertising; whereas, most general or country antique shops, with a little bit of everything, can save some money on advertising, because they have this inventory diversity. Meaning that an antique hobbyist (or dealer), is likely to find something in your shop that amuses them enough to make a purchase; whereas they might reject a specialty shop altogether, because, for example, they don't sell railroad lanterns, or nostalgic afghans. It's difficult being a general antique and collectable dealer, but it's the only way we have ever operated, and the way we will continue for the rest of our business life. Consider that out of 100 customers to pass through our shop door, only two or three could care less about Canadiana, heritage glass, oil lamps or railway collectables. If we were specialized to only sell those items, we would close our doors within a month, due to poor sales. By having thousands of different pieces, all of considerable vintage, we cover more bases, and capitalize on a much higher percentage of those same hundred customers who cross the threshold of our shop. Here's a point worth weighing over. Last week, in total, we had 35 visitors to the shop, Monday to Saturday. Yesterday, we had four, and today we've had one customer by two o'clock. It's January in Muskoka, so we expect this kind of turn-out. Yet we have still made money on that greatly reduced turn-out, because we have a solid variety of wares. How many Canadiana collectors do you think there would be in a pool of 35 customers? What about ten customers? No, we shall not specialize, at least being in this neck of the woods.
     As I've written about previously, Suzanne and I began changing our inventory, and lowering prices, on newly acquired inventory nearly three years ago, because we knew an economic downturn, bigger than we have seen before, was beginning to mount as threatening clouds on the economic horizon. We sensed that the proverbial "hole in the basket" in our resource sector, of which the loonie is hinged, was going to cause us all some collateral damage, when the eggs started to fall so to speak. We knew that in order to satisfy the local appetite for low prices, and an always precarious tourist season, having its character ups and downs, we would have to explore more thoroughly our new normal, as far as antique dealers in a storied profession. We had also the added initiative, here in Gravenhurst, of having to be exceedingly competitive, because other related businesses were opening, and the market for antiques was showing no sign of expanding accordingly; meaning, the same customer base, but dividing sales and profit amongst an increasing number of competitors. I was right about this, because this is exactly what happened over the past two summer summer seasons, particularly, that we grew at a steady rate, but what might have been an excellent rate of profit, was instead, an acceptable, modest increase, that was a little bit discouraging to be honest. So in order to be more competitive, we followed through with our cost cutting plan, and it has meant we have had to purchase our stock at a greatly reduced price in order to pass it on to our customers cheaply. All I can say, is that it has made us more competitive, and determined to be better dealers; ones that can survive yet another economic downturn, and still be able to afford the occasional piece of meat from the grocery store; but not cauliflower, because it's over the moon these days.
     The very idea planted in our head, three years ago, that the hole in Canada's basket was going to get bigger, and the perils for recession greater than ever, encouraged us to change our strategy in this profession, and thank God we started early. We had to hunt further and harder, to get good prices on what we know as the durables of the antique trade. By this, for example, we mean kitchen ware that was used as far back as a hundred years ago, and is still useable today. We have simply had to find these materials for a good starting price, such that the mark-up is reasonable enough to appeal to a more frugal clientele. Customers by and large, want quality first and foremost. They are less likely to buy a vintage mixing bowl for sixty dollars, but they are curious at half that price. Drop in another five bucks and you're in business. I have to tell you, that this mission to drop prices, on high quality antiques and collectables, has been the most difficult challenge of the past forty years slugging-it-out on the antique hunt and gather. But in order to stay in business, the choice was limited. And seeing as we aren't wealthy folks, reading the coming market conditions meant a sweeping change, in the actuality of selecting shop inventory, and even to our own philosophy of what it meant to be a contemporary purveyor of vintage goods. Being weighed down by expensive rarities, and the "finest of the fine" in furnishings and antique adornments, was better suited to a decade earlier. To survive as a generalist dealer these days, in the retail setting, one has to do back flips, and then some, to please more demanding customers, who also know what economic downturn means to their advantage. It has meant a wholesale change of inventory, from our old days and ways, but I'm glad we embraced new realities before they were sitting atop our shoulders, in such a way as to limit any kind of re-boot necessary to stay in business. For those antique and collectable dealers determined to stay the course, and keep their prices artificially high, even in the eyes of their own peers, well by golly, they will face a more demanding marketplace in the coming twelve months; a clientele wanting dealers to be more responsible about their increases, and justify their valuations, which are, in many cases, of the "pie in the sky" variety. Every retailer should be concerned about the changing economic scene, especially those in the fringe areas, like antiques, which are hardly necessary to everyday survival and household economics.
     At a time when grocery prices are changing the way most of us dine each day, and in some case, limiting the luxury of going out to dinner, it's only logical that folks of our ilk, in the antique profession, will have to face the fact, some of our wildest dreams of success, may be dampened by the large hole in the basket, and all the eggs crashing out, inspired several provinces to the west. The crisis in the oil patch is the crisis for all of Canada; and you appreciate this when you try to buy a cauliflower at the local grocery store, or just about anything else that is not grown or made in Canada. When it's a matter of buying provisions for our kitchens, in order to survive, it seems that buying a sixty dollar vintage mixing bowl, might not be as imperative as it was a year ago, when impulse buying was a quirky little flaw we laughed at, while chatting over a fine and expensive lunch at a local cafe. Today, well, maybe we make an offer on the bowl, possibly half the asking price, and then share a brown bagged sandwich, while sitting in the van in the parking lot. Is it really that bad? It's going to be! Me thinks it is about to become a buyer's market in the next two to three years, as customers finally challenge absurdly high valuations, to arrive at their own sense of fair play. Dealers can either choose to go along with the trend, or have less to deposit at the end of each month from shop or booth sales.  
    The collateral damage from the oil collapse won't hit us the same as it has for the poor sods in Alberta, but we will feel the ripple effect for years to come. On the plus side, gas is cheaper, the dollar is lower, and that is great news for a prime tourist region in this country. That's the benefit for us, but it has meant the hardship for others, and I'm sorry about that, but, as they say, "it's the way the cookie crumbles."
     I've seen these storm clouds mounting before, and as a survivor in this profession, I have a deja-vu feeling, we are about to find out, as dealers, that we fall behind a lot of other monthly demands assessed to our customers; so maybe we should work a little harder, and be a little less demanding, about the profit we think we should receive for the basic act of hunting and gathering old stuff. Being reasonable may soon become the business mantra antique dealer adopt, as the best new way forward. At this point, well, there's certainly some adjustments to be made. We just decided to prepare for this storm early; and call us doomsayers if you like, but when you've survived the perfect storms of the past, it becomes second nature to duck when the lightning once again, begins to snap in our vicinity.