Some things are less chancy to purchase in this manner. For instance, any of the limited edition plates, figurines, etc. are fairly safe. Providing they're in the condition the seller says they are, you'll be in for no surprises. After all, a 1982 Bing and Grondahl plate is a 1982 Bing and Grondahl plate. You've seen one, you've seen them all. There might be a slight color variation, but not enough to make much difference. However, if the merchandise you're interested in is, say, a pair of art deco bookends, you may find they're smaller than they looked in a picture, or that they don't have as much detail as you'd expected, or that they're lighter in weight than you'd hoped.
Before you offer anything for sale, be sure it's clean and in as good condition as you can make it. Chapter 5 deals with cleaning and repairing and will help you to keep your merchandise in tip-top shape.
PICKERS
Pickers are people (usually very knowledgeable in at least some types of antiques and collectibles) who make their living by obtaining merchandise they know they can immediately turn over to dealers. They frequent auctions, flea markets, tag sales, and secondhand shops just as the dealers do, but they know what they're looking for and to whom they can sell it. If you specialize in a certain type of merchandise or you're looking for, say, a pair of old Royal Dux lamps, you may want to ask a picker to look for you. You won't profit as much as you would if you found the lamps yourself, but you also won't spend all that time looking. Pickers have connections—the better the connections, the more likely they are to find what any given dealer wants. Any pickers I've known have been meticulous in examining merchandise before they buy. They go over every inch of a piece several times looking for flaws or repairs. Not much will miss the eye of an experienced picker.
OTHER DEALERS
One good turn deserves another, and if you sell at a coop or are acquainted with many other dealers (which you will almost certainly be as you progress in the business), you may strike a deal with one or several of them. Suppose there's a dealer in your co-op who specializes in Avon collectibles, one who carries McCoy cookie jars, and another who likes to have a large assortment of salt and peppers in her booth. You, on the other hand, really don't care for these things but are wildly enthusiastic about Atkinson Fox prints. When you go to garage sales, flea markets, or auctions you can look for Avon, McCoy cookie jars, and salt and pepper shakers to sell to the other dealers at exactly what you pay for them, and they, in turn, can look for Fox prints to sell to you at cost. Of course, you need to get together to discuss this, exchanging information on what to look for (Avon should be in its original box with product, if possible; McCoy should be marked on the bottom; advertising salt and peppers, nodders, miniatures, turn arounds, and nesters are a few types of salt and peppers that are worth more than just ordinary figurals; Fox prints should be signed, in good condition, and in the original frame). And, of course, everyone needs to know just how much the other dealer is willing to pay for merchandise.
You will find that the kinds of things that sell in one region don't move very well in another area. If you know what's hot in your market, you should be able to purchase merchandise from other dealers in areas where those items may be almost impossible to move. Most dealers will give at least a ten percent discount to other dealers. And since no one in this business knows everything there is to know, you may visit a shop or co-op and find a piece that has much more value than that placed on it by the owner of the merchandise.
DIRECT CONTACTS
One of the best ways to obtain merchandise, and one of the more advanced approaches, is to buy the entire contents of a house. Of course, the house has to have some desirable things in it for it to be worth your while, and this isn't something you're likely to have either the funding or the know-how to do when you're just beginning. It is, however, a lucrative venture when it's approached correctly.
Some people who inherit estates are willing to turn the entire job of getting rid of the contents over to someone else. They don't want to clean. They don't want to sort through things. They don't want to arrange for the appraisal of items. They just want the money and no hassles, thank you. These people will sell you the entire contents with the understanding that you'll get it all out of the house, which they are probably going to sell. Sometimes they want the house cleaned as well.
First, you must tour the house, examining the contents of every cupboard, closet, and corner. You must go up in the attic and down in the cellar. And you must, absolutely must, write down what's there. Look on the bottom of each dish and duplicate any marks on your notepad. Inquire of whomever is selling the house about anything you don't recognize or to which you cannot assign a value. Insist that the person who is selling the contents give you the price he or she wants for it. Don't make the first offer. This is good practice for two reasons. First, you may insult someone by offering a price that is far less than he or she thinks the merchandise is worth. This can result in a complete breakdown in negotiations, ending a deal that might otherwise have worked out. Second, you may make an offer that's vastly higher than the seller had anticipated and end up paying more than is necessary.
Whatever the seller has decided the merchandise is worth, tell him or her you'll report back. And before you accept or reject it (unless it's so high you know you're absolutely not going to be able to come to an agreement), find out the value of any items with which you're not familiar. If you go back to the seller with a counter offer, make it for the entire group of items that interests you. Offers on individual pieces almost always result in haggling. If your offer is for the entire contents of the house, you must determine with certainty the amount for which you can sell the items. Is it going to be worth the time and effort you'll expend? Is the merchandise clean and ready for sale or will you have to clean it all? There are bound to be some articles that are throwaways.
If things work out and you and the person who's selling the contents of the house reach an agreement, you'll be the proud owner of a houseful of articles of varying descriptions and values. It can seem overwhelming. Sort things out by category. First, select all the treasures you want for your business. You're still going to be left with a variety of items. You're not going to get anything for opened boxes of laundry detergent and the like, but you've probably signed an agreement to take care of them. Throw them out. Old clothes, unless they're vintage, can go to the rescue mission or some other local charity, as can brooms, mops, pails, etc. Any furniture that you're not going to be handling in your market can be sent to an auction. Find the right auctioneer for each item. Good antique furniture goes to a good auction where the auctioneer can get top dollar. But if the furniture is inferior or modern, it will fare better at the type of auction frequented by secondhand dealers and retail consumers than at the finer auctions where people are looking for period pieces.
A Word to the Wise
KNOW WHAT YOU'RE BUYING
In general, dealers who sell at flea markets aren't as knowledgeable as those who sell at co-ops or have their own antiques shops. So it pays for you as a buyer to use that to your advantage. The best suggestion we can give you is to read, read, read. (You'll find a list of recommended reading at the end of this book.) Learn to identify as many items as possible and learn which are the most valuable. This gives you the upper hand not only at flea markets, but when you're doing business with experienced dealers as well.
Can you learn all there is to know? It's very doubtful. In all our years in the business, we ve never met anyone who knows everything about everything. There are just too many things to learn. How then can you benefit by reading? Start your education with something that interests you. Do Disney items (called Disneyana) intrigue you? Perhaps the sight of Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, and the other wonderful characters bring back fond memories. There are many books on Disney and several of them include price guides.
While we're on the subject, this is as good a place as any to warn you about price guides. While we consider them an important tool of the business (an opinion that is not shared by all dealers), they are only guides. The prices in them are generally taken from auctions and are often greatly inflated. The person who paid $1,000 for a stuffed Mickey Mouse may be the only person in the world who would pay that much for that particular item. The rule of thumb is that you're probably not going to