Dog eat Dog in the Antiques world (Bit of a windge sorry)

New year here and where do I start I'm New to selling in the Antique game and started selling from A Antiques center in Greater Manchester on January 17th 2016.

But sorry to say to all come to a abrount end on December 24th 2016.

Don't get me wrong I was going to move out of the center on Jan 17th and just build up more stock until April and start selling again .

But the way it ended you Couldnt make it up what happend is I'm always happy to make a quick turnover for little profit and often sell to other dealers .

That most of my business anyway the center I had my stall in the owner of the center has a half share in a Antiques shop outside the center and I often sell to his business partner because we do good deals and he often buys the whole lot of a fair price and doesn't cherry pick the best leaving me the worst .

Not like his partner who runs the Antique center .

Who gives me a little has he can and doesn't take the whole lot.

So obviously I prefer to deal with the guy in the outside shop . Anyway I just sold the shop guy parcel of things only made £35.00 profit and the Antique owner started moaning saying I show favourably to his parterner and that he wanted out of the unit because he works all the time running the center on his own and I should sell to him when I said I sell who I want to he got irrate and come up to my face winging how many hours he runs the center he a parnter of the shop and so on.

Anyway afterwards he said he was up to me if I left .

So I had a decision with my girlfriend who witnessed all this and we decide to leave the rather the Jan 17th .

It's obvious he wanted my items for himself give me less money and take all the profit for himself .

And leave his partner of the shop out.

Dog eat Dog .

 

u have to do what's right for u .......& sell to the guy who treats you fairly !!!

 

If I ever get into the antiques business I'd want to own my own store to avoid all the foolishness of trying to run a profitable business while placating others who may not have your best interests in mind.

 

I sell online, at shows and the local flea. I don't want the expense of trying to run a business - rent, insurance, utilities, payroll.

I live in a vacation area so multi dealer shops are not an option for me, they all want a 1-year commitment but the selling season is really only 3 months long. I understand why they want the full year, it just won't work for me

 

Having both had a stand-alone businesses and mall spaces, there are advantages to both. Mall space can be very expensive and sometimes you feel like the mall owner is the only person making any money. I have kind of found that you generally get what you pay for. I have done best at the malls where I have paid the most rent.

All the services the malls provide are expensive to provide for yourself in a stand-alone space. It is not so bad if you can run it yourself or have a spouse, relatives, or a business partner to share the responsibility. Having had a couple of the latter, it is something to avoid if possible unless you are absolutely sure you are on the same page and can get along. Once you get to the point of hiring employees, the costs and problems go up exponentially.

I think I would have to think long and hard before ever opening another shop of my own again. In renting mall space, if you can keep your expenses for rent and costs of good sold below 50%, you are doing pretty good. Despite very high rent, I am able to keep mine on an average of about 30%. There are always some months where I make no money but the other months more than make up for it. I am not sure I could always say that when I had a stand alone antiques shop.

 

The point of taking a space in an antiques centre is to gain exposure to retail buyers. Selling to dealers in bulk can be done on a one-to-one basis with no need for a b&m rented space.

The owner is already getting a return from rental, it looks like he was jealous of the deals you were doing with his co-owner.

You will have your own business model, but for me I prefer selling to the end buyer or, if selling to a dealer, getting a good return to maximise profit on turnover.

 

Very good point. Sounds like the OP would just as soon be a picker than a dealer. In a lot of ways, it is more efficient business model that allows you to spend more time out in the field. I am just not so sure it is the most profitable.

 

that's why frank and mike have 2 stores....

 

One of the first things I was told when I entered the Center most trade in the Antiques business is with other dealers .

About 80% of trade comes from other dealers and I found in my case this to be true

I have limited income and did not carry much stock also I had a policy of not to try and have stock over 3 months and try to keep a good steady turnover of fresh stock .

That's the reason I decided be for I took on the adventure to keep my stock limited and go for a quick turnover and little profit mark up .

It's something I enjoy doing buying new stock and if sold always seen this has a Enhancement to reinvest in more stock .

I can't for the life of me understand why some dealers are not willing to Drop there prizes and hold on to dead stock .

 

Interesting viewpoint Charlie.

I reckon about 5-10% of my sales go to other dealers. But then I load the dice away from dealer sales to maximise sales to the end buyer/collector.

When buying I too like to see my money back quickly, usually takes about 1 month before I'm cash positive from purchases made.

But I do hold onto some of my more slow moving stock, and this chips in a steady stream of sales.

It is a model that works well for me, but I can see that it would not suit everyone