We continued to learn, and we found to our surprise that we were making a profit. Not a large one at first. But a profit nonetheless. We found that we did best and were happiest selling a variety of merchandise with a wide price range. We also discovered garage sales, flea markets, tag sales, and estate sales were viable markets for purchasing articles to sell, although we confess we've never enjoyed this type of shopping as much as auctions.
Our little hobby was turning into a lucrative business. We found we looked forward to our selling days. We made friends with other dealers and with customers. But most of all we were and are having fun buying and selling antiques and collectibles. We hope you do too!
To Stephen
whose courage is an inspiration
CHAPTER 1
Finding Merchandise:
The Never-Ending Quest
In order to start in the antiques and collectibles business, or to stay in it, you need merchandise to sell. Obtaining that merchandise is a large part of the business. In fact, it usually proves to be the most time-consuming facet. And yet we are not alone in considering it the part of the business that's the most fun. It's a great way to satisfy your desire to shop without depleting your pocketbook, because if you make your choices wisely you're going to turn the items you purchase into a healthy profit.
Many people get started in the business when they decide they have a few things that aren't right for their homes anymore but they don't want to give them away or throw them out. They have a garage sale, count the profits, and decide this is a good way to make some extra money. Then the problem becomes—finding more merchandise.
Some people are collectors and find that they're not as enchanted with their collections as they once were. Or having collected for many years, they discover that their tastes have become more finely honed. What at one time seemed like a valuable addition to their collection is actually an inferior or common piece that would only be valued by a beginner. They pack up the unwanted pieces and send them to auction. Or they advertise them in a collectors publication. Or they decide to rent a booth or space in a market somewhere. They're pleased with the prices they get and enthusiastic about being in the business. The problem is—finding more merchandise.
A few people, some of substantial means, just love to attend auctions. They cant resist a good buy and purchase many lovely items. It doesn't take long before these people have purchased so many articles that their homes begin to overflow. Often, the answer to this overcrowding is to go into the business. These people start with the items with which they've grown tired, the things they wish they'd never purchased, or articles of which they are the least fond. They continue to attend auctions. But since they are now selling to others, as well as purchasing for themselves, the problem is—finding more merchandise.
There are, of course, other reasons why people go into the business. They may need to supplement their incomes, they may think they can live on what they make in the business by working at it full time, or they may just want the sheer fun of it. There are those who inherit an estate that includes a houseful of goods. They decide that rather than selling to a dealer or sending the merchandise to auction, they'll attempt to sell it themselves by temporarily going into the business. Once they have a taste of it, they often continue, and they face the same problem—finding more merchandise.
The Search Begins
GARAGE SALES
Spring is the best season to start your business. Most people feel that new enthusiasm that comes with the first spring buds, but, more important, it's the season when garage sales begin to happen in large numbers. People start cleaning out attics, cellars, and cabinets and begin to get rid of unwanted clutter. There may be wonderful treasures among that clutter. We've found some of our most profitable items at garage sales. There was the Hull tea set Joan purchased for one dollar and sold the very next day for ninety-five dollars to another dealer who obviously planned to mark it up even more. And one dismal Saturday morning we found five old fire company fire extinguishers, made of copper and all polished up, for four dollars a piece. We bought all five. True, they didn't sell as fast as the Hull tea set, but we did sell them—and for thirty-five dollars a piece. It was worth the wait. Don came upon a 16 mm movie camera with a fine leather case, remarkably priced at fifty cents. He put a price of fifty-five dollars on it, and it sold within a month. We could go on and on about garage sale finds, but you get the idea.
However, we don't want to lead you to believe that all your garage sale treks will result in phenomenal buys. There's many a week we come back empty-handed or with pretty average merchandise. Many dealers who've been in the business as long as we have wouldn't be caught at a garage sale. But we've found them among the best places to get items at a price that we can mark up enough to make a sizable profit.
Garage saling is an art form. Most sales take place on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, with the lions share being Saturday-only sales. There are sales on other days, of course, but they're not the norm. The first step is to purchase a paper and turn to the classified section. There, under the heading "Garage Sales," you'll find a varying number of listings, depending on the season and the area of the country in which you live. Friday's sales are usually in Thursdays paper. Saturday and Sunday sales generally appear in Friday's and Saturday's paper. Carefully select the sales you want to attend. To do this, first read through all the listings and cross out any in which you re not interested, such as those that read something like, "lots of modern furniture," or "clothing to fit all sizes," or "an assortment of household goods." Also, be aware that one that lists antiques may only have a couple of old, cracked, or crazed plates with high price tags on them (which you wouldn't want anyway at any price because of the damage), and a lot of junk. Generally the people who list antiques want high prices if they have anything good, and bargains are hard to find. On the other hand, people who don't know anything about antiques or collectibles often put wonderful items out at ridiculously low prices. Other listings won't be specific as to merchandise offered, and you'll have to make a choice on intuition alone.
The ad also lists the time a garage sale will begin. In our area, most sales begin at either 8:00 A.M. or 9:00 A.M. There are a few with starting times of 7:00 A.M., and even' fewer that open up at 10:00 A.M. or 11:00 A.M. Circle the sales that sound interesting to you. You must plan to be at these sales at least an hour before they re scheduled to start unless the ad states "no early birds." Usually a sale is picked of all merchandise desirable to a dealer within fifteen minutes. Of course, there are instances where sleepers that are quite valuable are overlooked because they re not common enough to be known by the average dealer. But at garage sales this is the exception rather than the rule.
We always try to select two sales that are close to each other and that begin at the same time. For instance, if there's one listed at 802 Twelfth Street in Emmaus and another at 890 Fourteenth Street in the same town, and both of them are advertised as starting at 8:00 A.M., we'll be at one or the other by 7:00 A.M. If the first one we go to isn't ready for business, we'll quickly go on to the second. Then when that has opened and we've looked over the merchandise to see if we want anything, we return to our first stop.
We also circle two sales for 9:00 A.M. and two for 10:00 A.M., if any seem right for us. And we repeat the procedure we went through for the 8:00 A.M. sales.
Weather is a factor in garage sales. If it's raining, look for sales that advertise "rain or shine" or choose those that take place in church basements or school gyms. Sometimes a sale will be listed as "a whole houseful of goods." If the ad is legitimate, then the sale is an indoor sale. Few people try to put "a whole houseful of goods" on their lawn. And, of course, there are a few sales that live up to their name and are actually held in garages.
We have found that most neighborhood