Featured Expert Opinion

Interesting article by Hollie Davis and Andrew Richmond in MAD yesterday about the antiques biz and how it's changed & how the internet has affected many folks in the industry food chain.

https://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/expert-opinion/6789

 

Hi James,
It is so true and disheartening. I was a gatherer. I would spend my weekends buying stuff at yard sales and thrift stores. I would hold three or four huge sales a year. I sold my stuff cheaply because I bought it even cheaper. I would make a profit of between 3 and 7 thousand dollars a weekend. It was work but I loved it since I got to meet hundreds of people. Some people would travel 200 to 300 miles for my sales. Since they knew I was not offering the usual junk. My sales notice in the paper always said "No clothes, no baby stuff, no Tupperware". Did this for over 10 years and then the bottom fell out. I could not even get 5 dollars for a mint condition McCoy cookie jar. The really expensive stuff(over a hundred dollars) went to the auction houses and finally to eBay. The year 2000 was the end for me. I was glad of the carnival ride while it lasted. The 25 years were fun and met a lot of people who became friends.
greg

 

Thanks for posting James.
It's so hard to get stuff at Estate or Yard Sales for much less then it would sell for on eBay. I've been to a few Estate Sales lately and offered 10 or 15% less than the asking price and the answer has been "If I can't get what I'm asking for it I'll sell it on eBay.

 

Yep, change is sometimes painful no matter the industry but, change is also inevitable, no getting around it. What works today just ain't happening tomorrow.

 

Great article. My take is that even with the internet and a glut of "experts" its still possible to find a treasure. Its much more difficult,and more often than not one comes home empty handed,but stuff is still out there.The hunt was always part of the fun for me,its just far more difficult now. I still REFUSE to get an i-phone and snap away and research like I see so many others doing,but Im so cheap I rarely come out on the losing end.I tell my 75 year old mother on a daily basis that the world has changed,forever,and we have to roll with the punches or sink.Thats how I feel about the internet and antiques market,roll with it or quit playing the game.

 

Good article. The point "clearly defined roles in the trade" being lost is what stuck out - the current environment is so oriented to we're all at the same level with our instant access. But we still have the experts in a field who can be a joy to hear speak - the depth of knowledge can be impressive. 25 years ago my shop was next to one of these people, a dealer with expertise in Chinese antiques - the first time I went into his office, I was taken by a wall of books, maybe 600 of them on the subject. My advice of the day is when you meet a true expert, take the time for a long chat, you might lean what depth of knowledge truly is.

I guess the only thing that will not change, is the passion of antiques

 

Thanks for posting. A very interesting article.

I think his point about collectors being different now is a very important point, though this wasn't the main point of the article: "Collectors are different too. They can now assemble a world-class collection by pointing and clicking, with limited regular or sustained interaction or education."

I would add that this ability to see a hundred instances of an item for sale at any one time makes it harder to consider those items that one does buy as unique and "special". There is always another one out there, or so it seems, and this makes it harder to justify spending the money now to actually buy them.

And an even worse problem for those trying to sell, is that many people today seem fully satisfied with having a "virtual" collection. I see that in my own family - my wife has a pinterest account, and unlike me who likes to own and hold and examine items, she is content to make a link to an item that she loves, and keep it online only. She can look at it anytime she wants, but without the downsides of real ownership - no need to find space for it, or clean it, or fear breaking it.

 

Interesting article.....pretty much agree with it too.....don't LIKE it, but agree with it!!!!

 

There was one part of his article where I'm not sure what he meant:

"And now with the help of social media and DIY selling sites (eBay, Etsy, etc.), collectors are able to sell things themselves from their collections. (You probably do not need us to tell you that this very often does not end well.)"

I wonder who he meant that it doesn't end well for - the seller, the buyer, or the food chain that is no longer part of the journey? I'm guessing he means that the seller doesn't get what they are worth, but what do you think?

 

AAAAAANNND, if anyone's sitting in today.....here's another one to browse!!!!

http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ODN/AAW/default.aspx

 

Alrighty Then! I stopped receiving email alerts several weeks ago on threads i started or commented on so today i decided to tinker with my profile and see if i could fix it, BIG MISTAKE!
I entered a different email account, going from gmail to hotmail and now back to gmail but each time, site was supposed to send a confirmation email which never arrived at either email.
So now i am basically a non member and can't start any threads. HOUSTON! we got a problem here!

 

Another thing i notice, on Introductions forum, there has not been a post since
Feb 21 which is over 2 weeks ago, just sayin...........

 

But, but.... You're still using the same ID, with a joined date in 2017. And your Profile is still there and over 2000 likes. Now, that is really weird!

 

Yeah, i hear you but none of that matters, there is obviously a glitch in antiquers software and, as noted, there has not been a new member post on Introductions since Feb 18th & no post at all there since Feb 21.

 

I realize that none of that matters - which is why I said it's weird.

 

Yeah, i hear what you are saying but trust me, i am not "confirmed", site still recognizes me as james conrad but i can't edit any of my posts for instance nor start a thread and, at the top of every page i go on site is this
"Your account is currently awaiting confirmation. Confirmation was sent to I deleted your email to stop you getting spammed
Bottom line, I killed my membership when i tried to change email in profile!

Look at Introductions forum, there has not been a new member posting there in weeks, this can't be normal, can it?

 

And once the email notice stopped coming in AT LEAST a month ago, I learned to adapt (difficult for me!!!!!) because it appears it's not coming back, and just have the link at the top of my BOOKMARKS sidebar!!! One less thing in my email now, and just as easy....! Still have to sign in!!!