THOSE ANTIQUE DEALERS WHO DON'T LIKE TO BE HAGGLED - SHOULDN'T HAGGLE EITHER
THE ANTIQUE DEALER WHO WAS APPALLED BY CUSTOMERS MAKING OFFERS - DAH!!!
A WELL ESTABLISHED AND VERY ASTUTE ANTIQUE DEALER, I ONCE KNEW HERE IN MUSKOKA, CONFESSED TO ME ONE DAY, HOW IRRITATED SHE WAS BY THOSE CUSTOMERS WHO INSIST ON HAGGLING. I LISTENED TO HER STORY, AND CONFESSED THAT WE HAD THE SAME THING HAPPENING IN OUR SHOP AS WELL. IT'S NOT JUST COMMON. IT'S AN HISTORIC REALITY. A TRADITION OF THE ANTIQUE TRADE, DATING BACK LONG BEFORE MY TIME.
THE WAY SHE TALKED ABOUT THESE "CHEAP" AND "ARROGANT" CUSTOMERS, I STILL HAD TO AGREE WITH HER. EVEN OF HER CLAIM, "THE HAGGLERS," MADE HER FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE IN HER OWN STORE. RIGHT ON! TWENTY-PERCENT WERE RUDE IN THE PROCESS OF REQUESTING A BETTER PRICE. AS A VETERAN DEALER, I WAS SURPRISED TO HEAR HER STATE, THAT SHE REFUSED TO GIVE DISCOUNTS IN THIS FASHION. IT WOULD ONLY BE ON HER TERMS THAT ANY CUSTOMER GOT A BETTER PRICE, OR EVEN HAD THE TAX INCLUDED. WHILE IT CAN BE SAID THAT WE WERE KINDRED SPIRITS, I WASN'T FINANCIALLY ABLE TO TOSS OUT THE TWENTY-PERCENT OF THOSE DEAL-HUSTLERS, JUST BECAUSE THEY WERE BLUNT WITH THEIR LINE OF QUESTIONING. PROVIDING THEY DIDN'T CALL ME AN A--HOLE WHILE ASKING FOR A DISCOUNT, I WOULD CARRY ON THE NEGOTIATION WITH MY OWN BRAND OF BOLDNESS. I WOULD HAVE LOST A LOT OF MONEY IF I'D TURNED MY BACK ON IRRITATING CUSTOMERS. AS A SURVIVAL TECHNIQUE, I JUST LEARNED HOW TO PRACTICE GOOD RETAIL STRATEGY. THEY WANTED THE PIECE, AND WERE PREPARED TO NEGOTIATE TO GET IT, SO I FIGURED IF THEY COULD MUSTER THE COURAGE TO FACE THE MUSIC, THEN I COULD BE STRATEGIC, AND OFFER A COMPROMISE. I ONLY LOST A VERY FEW CUSTOMERS, AND THOSE FOLKS WEREN'T SERIOUS IN THE FIRST PLACE. THEY JUST WANTED A LITTLE FUN IN THEIR BORING LIVES, AND I LET THEM PLAY THEIR RESPECTIVE CARDS.
GETTING BACK TO MY DEALER FRIEND……, I WAITED FOR HER TO FINISH, AGREEING AND NODDING FOR ABOUT TEN MINUTES OF THIS OUTPOURING OF EMOTION. I HAD TO ASK. I WASN'T TRYING TO BE A SMART ASS, OR EVEN SARCASTIC. I REALLY WANTED HER TO ANSWER ONE QUESTION. "IF YOU DON'T LIKE WHEN CUSTOMERS HAGGLE FOR A BETTER PRICE, THEN WHY IS IT OKAY FOR YOU TO HAGGLE WHEN YOU BUY AT GARAGE SALES?" SHE WAS INDIGNANT THAT I, A FELLOW DEALER, WOULD ASK SUCH AN INTRUSIVE, POINTED QUESTION. SHE BEGAN TO ANSWER, "I DON'T…….." AND SHE STOPPED, WHEN SHE REMEMBERED THE TIME I WAS WITH HER, WHEN SHE TRIED TO BEAT-DOWN A SALE HOST ON A PINE TABLE. "THAT'S DIFFERENT," SHE SHOT BACK, AS IF A TRUE BELIEVER, THAT ANTIQUE DEALERS OPERATED ON A DIFFERENT STANDARD THAN EVERYONE ELSE IN THE UNIVERSE. "I HAVE TO GET A GOOD PRICE, AND AT YARD SALES ITS CUSTOMARY TO MAKE OFFERS ON THEIR THINGS," SHE SAID, WITHOUT BLINKING….WHICH MEANT SHE WAS MAD ABOUT THE QUESTION, AND THE SUGGESTION SHE WAS THROWING STONES, WHILE LIVING IN THE PROVERBIAL GLASS HOUSE.
I INFORMED HER THAT IT WAS HYPOCRITICAL, TO SUGGEST THAT CUSTOMERS TO OUR RESPECTIVE SHOPS, COULDN'T RIGHTFULLY AND ETHICALLY MAKE OFFERS…..EVEN IF THEY WERE PERCEIVED TO BE OF AN ARROGANT OR RUDE TONE. THERE WAS NO FEDERAL OR PROVINCIAL LAW BEING BROKEN FOR HAGGLING, AND THERE CERTAINLY WASN'T ANY MUNICIPAL BYLAW THAT DISALLOWED "SEEKING OUT A BETTER PRICE ON RETAIL INVENTORY." JUST AS THERE WAS NOT RULE ANYWHERE, THAT YOU COULDN'T HAGGLE WITH A YARD SALE HOST EITHER. (THERE IS ONE EXCEPTION, THAT I WILL TELL YOU ABOUT LATER). "I'VE HEARD YOU DICKER, AND IF AS THE OLD SAYING GOES, 'WHAT'S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE, IS GOOD FOR THE GANDER,' THEN YOU HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT AS A SELLER OF USED ITEMS. SHE DIDN'T LIKE THE REFERENCE TO "USED" INVENTORY. IT IS "USED," AND "SECOND HAND" AT LEAST, BUT THIS ANTIQUE DEALER FELT IT WAS BENEATH HER ANTIQUE SHOP TO BE REFERENCED IN THIS FASHION. I TOLD HER, AS GENTLY AS I COULD, THAT NO MATTER WHAT SHE THOUGHT OF HER INVENTORY, AS BEING DIVINE TO HER, IT WAS USED STUFF, AND HER CUSTOMER BASE KNEW EXACTLY THE SAME THING. ARGUABLY, THE ANTIQUE TRADE IS THE HIGHER RUNG ON THE LADDER, OF THE SECOND HAND MARKET-PLACE, BUT "USED" IS "USED!"
I COULDN'T RESIST RECALLING WHAT SHE HAD ALSO SAID ABOUT "HAVING TO GET A GOOD PRICE," IN ORDER TO MAKE ANY MONEY ON RE-SALE. SO I ASKED HER, ABOUT THE PRICE SHE HAD PLACED ON THE PINE TABLE, THAT I COULD SEE IN FRONT OF ME, AND WHAT SHE HAD PAID FOR IT AT THE YARD SALE. WITHOUT SAYING IT, SHE GLARED THE WORDS, "NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS." I THEN ASKED HER HOW MUCH WORK HAD BEEN DONE TO THE TABLE BEFORE THE PRICE HAD BEEN DETERMINED. "I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO IT," SHE ADMITTED. WELL SIR, I DIDN'T NEED TO SAY ANOTHER WORD, OR ASK ANOTHER QUESTION. I HAD KNOWN THE ASKING PRICE FROM THE SALE VENDOR, AND THE SELLING PRICE, BECAUSE I WAS WITHIN EAR-SHOT WHEN THE DEAL WAS MADE. THE PRICE HAD BEEN INCREASED BY ABOUT THREE HUNDRED PERCENT, WITHOUT HAVING ANYTHING MORE DONE TO IT, THAN A LIGHT POLISHING WITH A MATERIAL EXPENSE OF ONLY SWEAT EQUITY.
I DON'T HAVE ANY ARGUMENT ABOUT THE THREE HUNDRED PERCENT INCREASE IN VALUATION. THE TABLE, AS A LEGITIMATE ANTIQUE, WAS WELL WORTH THE ASKING PRICE IN THE SHOP. MY ONLY ISSUE THAT DAY, WAS IF SOMEONE WAS TO OFFER HER A PRICE THAT WAS A HUNDRED PERCENT REDUCTION, WHAT WAS THE BIG DEAL? THERE WAS STILL A GOOD CHUNK OF PROFIT TO BE HAD, WHICH WOULD HAVE COVERED MILEAGE, TIME SPENT HUNTING AND GATHERING, AND ANY POLISH SHE MIGHT HAVE USED IN THE SHOP. PLUS PROFIT FOR HER COMPANY COFFERS. SHE WOULDN'T AGREE WITH ME, THAT THERE WAS ANY SIGNIFICANT ROOM TO BARTER. MAYBE TEN PERCENT. ONCE AGAIN, THIS ANTIQUE DEALER, AS ACCOMPLISHED AS SHE WAS, HAD DECIDED THAT THE NORMAL RULES OF RETAIL BUY AND SELL, AS ITS OWN CYCLE OF ECONOMIC WELL BEING, DIDN'T APPLY. SHE WOULD SIMPLY HANG ON TO IT, AND GET A BETTER PRICE LATER. MAYBE. IN MY OWN WAY OF DOING BUSINESS, WHICH HAS ALWAYS SERVED US WELL, I'VE NEVER IGNORED THE ORIGINAL PURCHASE PRICE WHEN MAKING DEALS WITH HAGGLERS. AND BY THE WAY, IN CASE YOU AREN'T AN ANTIQUE DEALER PRESENTLY, IT IS WELL ESTABLISHED PROTOCOL, TO FACTOR IN "WIGGLE ROOM," INTO THE SHOP ASKING PRICE, FOR SUCH EVENTUALITIES AS "OFFERS," AND FRIENDLY DISCOUNTS. I'M DELIGHTED WHEN I MAKE A FIFTY PERCENT PROFIT, AND YES, THERE ARE TIMES WHEN YOU CAN GET A SEVERAL HUNDRED PERCENT RETURN. THIS IS BASED ON THE FIND YOU MADE. CONSIDER THE DEALER WHO FINDS AN ORIGINAL PAINTING FOR TEN DOLLARS, AND DETERMINES, WITH RESEARCH, IT TO BE WORTH TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS, THEN ASKING THIS HAS JUSTIFICATION. OBVIOUSLY YOU DID WELL TO FIND SUCH A PIECE. IF ON THE OTHER HAND, EVEN WITH RESEARCH, THE PRICE ATTACHED IS THREE HUNDRED AND UP, WITHOUT FOUNDATION AND JUSTIFICATION, THAT'S JUST GREED PLAYING ITSELF OUT. I'VE GOT A LOT OF STORIES ABOUT THESE FOLKS.
MY FRIEND EVENTUALLY SOLD HER TABLE. I WAS PLEASED FOR HER. TO THE END OF HER SHOP DAYS, HER OPINION NEVER CHANGED ABOUT THOSE PESKY HAGGLERS. NEITHER DID MINE!
A PRECARIOUS CIRCUMSTANCE FOR THE DEALER AND EVALUATION
Antique dealers are expected to be knowledgable about their choice of inventories. It is incumbent upon the dealer, standing behind that shingle, to upgrade his or her knowledge, in order to be able to properly attend to inventory evaluations, to provide accurate pricing for the pieces they are specialists in…….and responsibly attend to those items they are less familiar…..by the due diligence of research and comparison pricing. I just wrote this because it is what should be true but isn't generally accepted as necessary to run an antique business. There are far too many dealers in this profession who wing-it and slap down valuations on subject antiques that are ridiculous, and nowhere near the market or insurable value. Just as there are dealers who under-price, because they haven't got a clue what they're selling. It's just vogue these days to call yourself an "antique dealer," as if there's some incredible status attached. Well, there is a reputation attached alright, and it is historic…..but as the early novelists portrayed us as a bunch of scoundrels, you can't pick and choose this sort of thing…..we are what history dictates. Indeed, there are rogues and scoundrels in our profession. If you're going to be part of the profession, you really should perform extreme due diligence to get it right…..and know what you're getting into, and what your responsibility is, to treat customers respectfully……and part of this, is to avoid ripping them off. The "ripping off" part goes well beyond what Charles Dickens wrote, about those shops dealing with vintage wares, and is very historically insightful indeed. So in this new century, you'd think we would have learned how to better our cause, and helped to create more public awareness about antique dealing and fair play. So here's a bone of contention.
I know dealers today, who pride their skills at acquisition above all else. Being fair to customers? Not so much. The only reason that they would be marginally fair, is the very real concern, they might lose customer loyalty, if they didn't throw in a few perks now and again. There will be dealers who will argue it's perfectly acceptable to inflate prices for rare items. One of a kind pieces. This is true, and I have to admit, I have had pieces like this, and been firm with my asking prices based on uniqueness and rarity. That's sensible stewardship of resources. There is however, the acquisition responsibility, and professional ethics, that can wind up in court, and sometimes it isn't the case of "dealer trumps vendor." The judicial system has a more rigid interpretation of what professional misconduct is all about, especially when stated "antique dealers" make questionable purchases of articles, often haggling a vendor down on a piece that is known to be worth a great deal more. This is done all the time, but doesn't often wind-up being considered by a judge. Of course, it has been this way before, and every dealer should be concerned about the legal potential, regardless how ethical they believe they are in day to day business.
If you are a known antique dealer, with for example, a reputation for selling original art. If you happened upon a sale, where you identified that a collection of sketches, were the handiwork of Canadian Group of Seven Artist, A.Y. Jackson, would you pay the fifty dollar asking price? Or would you haggle to get it down to forty or lower? If of course, you knew that the art panels would fetch a huge price at a Canadian Art auction, based on your knowledge of original art-work, and sought out a better price on the sketches…..would you not feel this was dishonest based on experience in appraisals on comparable art? While this is an extreme example, I know this happens frequently in all areas of antiques and collectables, and I don't think it is a boon to our business in general……that dealers are found in the mix of discreditable conduct. This also applies to collectors of art, and can have serious legal ramifications. Especially, if the garage sale vendor was to see the feature story on the evening news, about the huge find in Canadian art at a local yard sale.
This happened in the United States with an alleged abstract painting, said to be the work of artist Jackson Pollock, unsigned, potentially worth, if authenticated, at around twenty million. The buyer wasn't a dealer or a collector, just a yard sale shopper. Attach professional status to this, such as an art dealer buying the painting, the vendor may have the right to pursue the matter in court. This would be based on the dealer's knowledge that this was a hugely valuable art piece, and the price was ridiculously low. So what should the dealer have done? This will be argued forever amongst dealers, but the best case scenario, would be for the dealer to either advise the seller to seek a second opinion, of a fully qualified art appraiser for insurance purposes, and then an auction house, to see if the suspicion was warranted. If the vendor says, "I can't be bothered," then you probably should have the sale agreement put in writing, in the form of a receipt, with the clear acknowledgement that even though the painting might be worth many times more than the asking price, the original asking price has been accepted. They can still come back at you, if you go the route of the daily news….or in our town, the local weekly, boasting about the really big find on "yard sale Saturday!"
There are antique urban legends, of stories that have been embellished over the decades, to reinforce this ethical debate……and influence outcomes ever-after. First there was the case of a traveling salesman who had car trouble, and stopped by a farm he had passed, to use the phone. While waiting for the tow truck, he spotted a beautiful pine cupboard from Quebec, with the diamond-point design on the front. He asked the farmer if he wanted to sell the piece, and the answer was somewhat ambiguous. So believing it was a possibility, he called a friend in the antique profession, and asked the farmer if it would be okay if someone he knew could have a look at this nice cupboard. Several days later the dealer showed up at the farm, and was delighted to find this well preserved example of historic Quebec pine cabinetry. So he sat down with coffee to discuss the potential the farmer would sell him the antique piece. The short version is that he was successful in acquiring the cupboard for what, originally, to the farmer, seemed a more than fair price.
The dealer couldn't take the cupboard at that time, and made arrangements to come back in a week to pick it up. In the meantime, the farmer spread the word about his windfall…..selling the beat-up old cupboard to this city slicker, who runs an antique shop. Someone he told, knew a fair amount about antiques, and asked if he could see the subject piece. When he saw it, there was no question, the farmer had been low-balled without knowing it. Before it could be picked up, another antique dealer was called in, to have a look, and confirmed the piece was worth many thousands of dollars above what had been agreed upon, as the initial selling price. When the buyer returned to pick up the cupboard, the farmer handed him back the money he had paid, and said it was no longer for sale. He apparently confessed that he had secured a proper appraisal and found out that the dealer's offer had been ridiculously low. The bottom line, is that the dealer argued he had made a contract with the farmer, and the cupboard belonged to him. The farmer claimed that the dealer had known full well, the value of the piece before making the offer, and was trying to rip him off, plain and simple. Now there are various versions of the outcome, but most that I have heard, suggest the judge sided with the farmer, that the dealer was wrong for under-valuing the piece in the first place; and that because he had offered a price, instead of being informed of the asking price, the deal was invalid. Thus, if the farmer had said, he wanted $1,000 for the piece, and the dealer accepted it, and paid the requested amount, the seller wouldn't have had a case. If the dealer however, had low-balled on the $1,000, to get a better purchase price, he would have similarly been seen as ripping the seller off, based on the knowledge, the antique was worth many times more. This is the legal weight of knowledge placed upon the buyer!
In another case, which I don't know the resolve, a dealer was held to account, for buying a painting at a thrift store, that he knew was worth a great deal more than the asking price. The situation arose, when a family member, donated estate items to this particular thrift shop, that were actual inheritance items worth considerable money. The chap grabbed the wrong pieces to donate, and in the mix was a valuable work of original art. The thrift shop priced the painting, and it sold to a known dealer shortly after it was put on the floor for sale. When the family came back to the shop, in an attempt to block the painting from being sold, the news was not very good. A clerk offered the name of the buyer, and the information that he was a well known antique dealer in town, and even where to find him. The family went to see the dealer, and he offered to sell the painting back to them for the market value. Needless to say, the matter went to court. The case balanced on knowledge, once again, that implied the antique dealer knew, when he was buying the painting, that it was priced ridiculously low, and that he would make many thousands of dollars if and when it sold for market value. The contention was, the dealer should have identified this to the thrift shop manager, and indicated his suspicion the art work should be professionally appraised. Sounds crazy and undemocratic? It sounds reasonable to me! Integrity was lost in this case, and most of us value ours enough, to never put it at risk for a quick or big buck.
Recently I've written extensively about this, in context with today's trend, to employ research and appraisal services, at thrift and charity shops, and our family has been offering these services to preferred shops for several years. Many of these shops have become wise to the values of some of their donations, and have sought advice to determine market values. Some of these shops actually sell via online auctions, which helps establish a market value for that particular venue. This is a little hard on dealers, who have to pay more for their inventories, buying through these shops; although I imagine there are fewer judicially required settlements, over similar disputes.
Knowledge is a powerful tool, either used for good or the "not so good." But you're not a worthy dealer, without it……and lots of it.
It's been wonderful to have you aboard, whether you agree with me or not. I'm not a qualified legal expert in antiques and collectables, and carry no other weight than my years in the trade, but I am a great believer in fair and honest play in our profession….., the same ethics practiced by hundreds of thousands in the antique trade, who treat their customers with respect and honesty as a business hallmark. Hope you can drop by again soon for a visit.
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