manylittle Posted February 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 You are so right, Chuck. and thanks for bidding on some of my marble auctions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lstmmrbls Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 The auction prices were so low because they decided to have over 700 lots of marbles in one auction. They had so many marbles they had groups of nice marbles that would have been listed separately in any other auction. There was something like 300 lots of CACs. Absolutely ridiculous. And I know of several very unhappy consignors. Lots of good deals were had for sure but many of us refuse to support them. They are not helping the hobby at all holding such an overwhelming auction. too many marbles for too few bidders means low prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manylittle Posted February 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 That makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffy Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 antique malls are a not for the buyer..its for the seller....10% off an item haint much dickerin...like I said if a person overpaid for an item..don't take it out on the prospective buyer....I know...go to the desk get a key wait for the nimrod to find the right key...get the item out inspect the overpriced item...wait for the underpaid clerk to call the seller...then pay more than it worth.how easy would it be for the clerk to be talkin to no one...then say they said thell take 10% off.....not fun.....this all takes time...too much time...if a person wants to sell something..set up a table in your driveway...be honest that you don't know what your sellin.."I saw one on ebay for 250.00"...then put it on ebay....don't waste the publics time.....somebodies gotta pay the rent...its not me....if you buy something for 10$ don't expect to get 40$ for it....lololol... .amazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manylittle Posted February 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Gosh, if everyone did what you say, there would be no malls, and no antique stores. That is not the way. I know that you are frustrated, but they are not all like that and if you think that the clerk is just pretending, ....I always ask if he or she minds if she hands me the phone so that I can speak person to person with the owner. Harry Rinker, a famous antiques columnist says that especially if you own your own bricks and mortar antique store, you have to make a 75% mark up from your cost or you won't be able to pay your over head, replace the item and make a profit. In other words. If you pay $2.50 for an item, you are supposed to get $10 for it. Then you can replace the item for $2.50...pay your overhead for $2.50...grow your store and pay yourself something with the other 50%. I've tested that out with my accountant and she agrees. I don't end up with that formula when I buy from private people.....many just want too much for themselves and are married to the old adage that a dealer only has to double their money...so they want 50 % of retail. I do end up with that formula when I go to auctions. I don't deliberately start out to do that....it is just how it ends up and sometimes,depending on which other dealers are at the auction, I can do much better. The very first auction I went to, I spent $12.50 for the contents of a gentleman's junque drawer. I ended up marking items that totaled $195 that day. That is the best ratio I ever did for an auction. That was how I bagan my business....from that first $12.50 purchase, I kept re-investing. It was a fun and an exciting time. If I knew then what I know now, I would have always stayed a booth renter. When you buy a building, you get tied to it until it sells. In this economy, in my town, commercial buildings are not in high demand. Marking up from $25 to $100 is not bad...its just the simple mathematics that is needed to make ends meet in these times. Please don't begrudge us our justly earned profits. We do work hard for them....at the store and at home. I don't remember how many nights I took antique and or marble price guides to bed with me instead of men !!!!! lol I do love to dicker and have signs in my store that I do negotiate. Many times I have ended up giving 30- 40% or more discounts. I have each price tag marked with a code so that I immediately know what I paid for the item. That way, I know how much wiggle room I have to play with. !!! It is a good system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffy Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 those marble price guides are way off...I would think that the antique price guides are ,too...its like those storage locker auction shows....those prices those guys give are just numbers picked out of a hat....do you really think that if you paid 2.50 for an item...it worth 10.00 nope don't work that way..youll hit a homer every once in a while....but not often.....those malls are designed that the guy that owns the building makes the money..certainly not the dealer or the guy buyin the junk....ive been dealin with collectibles for 40+ years....ive considered getting one of those booths but I don't see it makin me any money...I do make money sellin at flea mkts and yard sales....and I do the interactin with the buyer....the malls take the fun out of it for me......im sure you think your system works for you....but if youre like me the fun is in the hunt....and the process of sittin up some tables...and dealin with the people..since im retired ,now...I figure that this summer I will be sellin off the junk ...ive been storing for awhile....ive got tons of 50-60s ...I think the know-it -alls call it mid century items and bottles and fishin gear and glassware....itll be fun...but itll take some work...like getting up and leave at 430am drive to the flea mkt set up before daylight and sellin til 1pm....that's fun.....and ill gurantee you, ill make the couple hundred bucks ....or maybe more...maybe less...but the 10$ fee to set up is well worth it....and I don't have to split it with no one...different strokes for different folks...but no one leaves feelin ripped off....ill prob take the 300$ crocks home with me but those 1-2 $ kitchen tools and hotwheels and bottles and fishin poles...will have to be restocked at the yard sales.....im in it for the fun....and if anbodies gonna make the money its me......good luck on your sales.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spara50 Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Pices on all antiques are just going to continue to fall. Talked to a mall owner the other day, he said young people today want NOTHING to do with old stuff and collecting of anything in general. I agree, most are back living at home after college. As older collectors start to pass away, sell collections, etc. there is no one to replace them. That's why we collect for enjoyment, not retirement. Right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffy Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 good answer......I don't see much gusto in the twentysomethings and teens and younger are worse.....in the most part disrespectable ...they got their noses planted in their devices...even if theyre in the same room they'll text each other...heck... they don't even know how to play outside.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTAndrea Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 So if we go by the advice of stock market gurus, when prices are down, it's a good time to buy, right? So check out the latest marbles I've got on the buy-sell-trade forum. Heh heh, snuck in a plug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IowaMarble Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 So if we go by the advice of stock market gurus, when prices are down, it's a good time to buy, right? So check out the latest marbles I've got on the buy-sell-trade forum. Heh heh, snuck in a plug. Now only if we could get you to let go of some of your pretty Pelts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manylittle Posted February 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 I think that prices have stabilized a bit and in some categories they are rising. Antiques and Collectibles....the market....will always have its ups and downs....the public will change what they are passionate about collecting. It is just the way things work. I too love to sell at flea markets and I like to do shows too. When I rented booths, I would pay $125 for 100 square feet or so. I never did not make my rent and usually averaged 4 to 8 times my rent with some months being over $1,000. Booth renters have to do 4 times their rent before they are really making a profit if you figure in their expenses and the cost of replacing what they sold. And no, Duffy, I don't believe that if I pay $2.50 for something that it is automatically worth $10. That is not how it works. When I go to an auction, I mark down in my inventory book, what I paid for the entire auction and sometimes break it down by box lots. Then I start researching, listing and pricing what I have bought. I price my items based on my own knowledge of the market and by researching to see what that item or similar items are bringing on the net. I do look to see if the item is in my price guide but that does not mean I accept those prices as gospel. That is why they are called guides, not bibles. I use mu own judgement. When I get done marking everything from the auction, I add the prices up to see how the total compares to what I paid for the auction. I have never once been lower than 4 times my cost. That is just how things worked out. It was never a plan, I had no secret formula. Some prices will be double what I paid for it, and others will be 10 times what I paid for it. It all averages out. Also, just because I might start with all of items on the shelf from that auction being priced at an average of 4 times what I paid for the auction, does not mean that I will end up profiting 4 times my money. Some items from that auction might never sell in a retail situation because there is simply no one who is collecting it right now...those items get lumped together at a certain time and sent to a local auctioneer to add to one of his consignment auctions....Some items end up getting put on sale before they will sell....and other items go the route of the negotiation with me discounting the item from 10% to as much as 50 - 60% on occasion... Thank God true negotiating buyers won't push you too far below that 50% mark as they are knowledgeable enough to know you have to make some sort of a profit in order to stay in business and they want you to stick around. When the buyer comes in who is interested in the item, usually they want a better price. I usually offer at first somewhere between 10 and 20% off. That satisfies most people who just want to say they got a discount. Then there are those who are hard core bargainers. I think that I have won if they walk out with the item, happy, but I have still doubled my money. If my gross profit is lower than that, then I tell myself, I have to quit being such a wimp.!!! lol... The important thing was that a sale was made. Almost all of the times, once a negotiation starts in that give and take that can be so fun to people who understand it, it results in a sale. However, every once in a while, you run into someone who comes in and lets say, sees a Christianson brick with nice lines of blue in it. Its 11/16, in near mint plus condition, and I've got it marked at $139. He comes in and offers $15 including tax....I counter by saying that it is an exceptional marble, I had marked it very reasonably to begin with, and I would be happy to come down to $100 even plus tax.....he says no and won't budge from $15 and the negotiation stalls. It is my philosophy that if the other won't come up, I won't come down any more.....he has to want to play too and if he does not....then he really did not want to deal.....he just wanted something for nothing.....and is not a true bargainer to begin with but is the type of low baller that I despise. He has no inkling that I am running a business, that I have to make a reasonable profit and is only interested in his own self aggrandizement. That type of deal never ends in a sale because I, very politely apologize, say something like, I'm sorry, but at this time, I can see that we are miles apart and that we won't be able to come together to a place where we both will be happy and to have a nice day and feel free to ask any other questions about items in the store. He leaves and I go on with my day, mentally hitting my head on my desk, and wondering what makes people like that tick. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manylittle Posted February 5, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Hey Andrea, if you really want to plug your stuff, why not post a link it your sales? I'd like to see what you got. !!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTAndrea Posted February 5, 2014 Report Share Posted February 5, 2014 Hey Many: I posted pictures of what I've got for sale in the aforementioned buy-sell-trade forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wadely1212 Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 i have to agree with hansel its more comfortable to look on e-bay, craigslist or even this forum or others for things people are selling ... plus i set-up at flea markets and i might have something worth a lot of money but the only people that see it is those who come to the flea markets.. or to the antique shops'... where the internet covers the world.... plus when going to antique shops in my area it doesn't look like people rotate their stock... they always have the same things and ask way to much and complain when people wanna make them a lower offer.. i was at stoudt's black Angus in Adamstown PA, where i live about 45 mins from there and i saw a marble that was an old German handmade solid core 1 1/4" it had pocket wear and 2 moons no missing glass.. the guy wanted 90.00 i told him 60.00 cause of the condition ... he said to me, get out of here you people must think we get things for free you pay my rent for being here.... i walked away that was last winter well i was there again a few weeks ago and its still there with the same other things again i asked him how much and he said 90.00 i told him 60.00 he said nope i walked away... my point is yes that's only a marble but its taking up real estate and you might take a little hit on one thing to make room for new things that you make a killing on... even if the guy paid 50.00 or 75.00 or even 80.00 he didn't even come back with a counter offer... wouldn't you at least want to make a sale rather then loose the sale... i mean i think 60 was a fair offer i believe on ebay i could get 65.00 -75.00 that what i see on their. i don't know am i being fair on that offer or his he just being a stubborn grump trying to triple his money on every little thing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manylittle Posted February 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 You never know what was going on that day. Perhaps you caught him on a bad day where everything in his world was going on and he had just had a slew of people wanting him to go down on a bunch of $5 items. That is one of my pet pieves and if it happens often enough, it puts me in a bad mood too. When you pass the savings on to the customers by pricing a $10 item for $5 just because you got it in a dollar box with a bunch of other inexpensive but still sellable items....and then, someone comes along and wants you to sell it to him for $3. I, and a bunch of other dealers feel the same way so we got together and made up signs that say 'please don't ask for a discount on items priced under $10, unless you are buying lots of them.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manylittle Posted February 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 I know that honey always works the best. Maybe you should say something like ....'I was here a few months ago and made you an offer on that marble and I see that it is still here. I offered you $60 at that time and you said 'no'. Is there a price that you would sell it for that is somewhere in the middle between the $60 and the $90?.....as close to the $60 as you would go..?' You never know, it might work. Sometimes the words we use, even though to us, they seem perfectly fine, don't set well on the other person. It might be our tone, our body language, or just something that the other person is going through on that day. One thing I have learned over the years is that even though most of us speak English, we all still, every one of us, speak a different language. We can say the same words or sentence and mean something entirely different than what the other person hears. Why? Because we listen in the language with which we, ourselves speak, not the language that the person is speaking in. That language is influenced by many things.....how we are feeling that day...what happened to us yesterday....our upbringing and experiences we had as children....and many other unknown influences......I think, that when we deal with other people, we all have to step back and take a breath and really listen with our hearts and minds in the spirit of brotherly love, instead of our immediate reactions. Ever play a game of 'telephone' ? Each time the same sentence gets repeated in someone elses ear, and then he or she had to repeat it to the next person, it changes...Why? because of that language difference.I see that happening on this site all the time. People read a message and mis-interpret what is being said and react to it...and other people get hurt, angry, or discouraged, and fire back and the war starts..... when if the first person had taken a few moments to re-read whatever had set him or her off, they might have not reacted in the same way.... Please now...no one re-act to this....lol.....I'm not referring to anyone or anything in particular....I am just speaking in general terms in order to make a point....that is....if this newbie is allowed....lol I tried to load this message a few minutes ago and got a message, that it was too short.!!!! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffy Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 could you post a picture of the 140$ brick....at 11/16 I would think that $60 would be a fair price....where is your store ??..different parts of the country has different costs of living....I know it is more expensive to live in big cities and here in the ohio valley region, I was fortunate enough to buy land before the oil and gas boom made properties almost unattainable...we pay 20-30% more for gasoline than other places in the state....just 50 miles or so away the price of gas is sometime 40-50cents less a gallon...I sell lots of marbles out west so I know wages and livin there is large.... around here you cant give glassware fenton ,imperial..Viking..fostiria ..and most others away..i get it real cheap at auction and yard sales and can double my money on that easy enough online...so maybe I could try to sell it online in your area via the internet....to dealers at a great price...good luck on your sales.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manylittle Posted February 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 I wish I could send you a picture of the $140 brick but that was quite a while ago and I later sold the marble to a dealer for $120 when he came into my store. I'm not sure if I had a picture of it or not. If I did , it is on a DVD somewhere, but I would have no idea, which one. I'll see what I can do but no promises. Vicki ps. My beat up Christianson Brick is over $52 on ebay with just a few more hours to go and because the quality of the other brick was so much better and the colors were very comparable, I would say that if it were put on ebay today, it would go for way over $100, even maybe over $150. It was a spectacular marble.http://www.ebay.com/itm/121266390324?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 I offered this to a guy from this forum for $25. He thought I was way too high, mentioned that he would be wanting to pay in the $8 or $9 area at the most. A couple other mibs he was interested in are selling for more than what I offered them to him for. I have not listed all of what he wanted, but it will be interesting to compare things once I get everything done and sold. I had not tried to sell anything on ebay yet and was not ready to wholesale them out for cheep until I had tried the ebay route as I'm not hurting for $. So many people, dealers especially come into my store and tell me how cheep they can buy my stuff at thrift sales, etc...and expect me to give them the same deals....na-uh... I don't mind giving good discounts, I do it all the time but I draw the line at giving thrift sale prices. If they want to pay the thrift sale prices, they can go to 30 or 40 thrift sales and they might find what they wanted me to sell to them....then again, it might take many more sales to find that special item, if they ever do again.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTAndrea Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 Reading this topic is fun. Thanks for all the insights into wheeling and dealing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffy Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 great!!!...im glad you can sell bricks in that condition....where is your store ....the thrift stores haint cheap anymore...goodwill---salvation army sell jeans for almost retail....in this area of the country....theres not many thrift stores but a few second hand shops that are way overpriced..they get their prices from ebay and not completed prices, either...I know sellin collectibles and antiques that get bought for too much at auction houses after biddin wars does not mean the value of that item is worth another 20-30%....ive done it all and not ignorant in the process....well I haint sold at an antiques mall cause I think that its all overpriced and your profit goes to the owner of the building...I do frequent mom and pop stores and enjoy that cause its the thrill of the hunt and the dealin with the owner of the object...theres one store in Marietta ohio ,that been there for at least 25 years prob longer...,that offers good stuff and great prices...they wont even take cosignments....but I think that era of antiquing is over...most stuff taken from the attics of the Victorian houses in the 70s is long gone...when the Victorian manors were changed into duplexes all up and down the riverfronts in these ohio river towns....then....the kids moved away sold the properties and lots of stuff to dumpsters....sad ...at least tell me what state your in....you might get some walk ins...I visit one mall in kokomo when im there visitin my son...that has a booth that's a marble show compadre.....but I think that all venues have different pricing methods...upscale antique stores should be higher than flea mkts and yard sales should be cheaper yet....but still there you can have fun dealin........ive paid as much as 60$ at a flea mkt near Pittsburgh but mostly its in the 10$ range....its all fun and if you haint tried it....youre missin out.. its hard work and takes a certain bit of dedication...enjoy your process!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manylittle Posted February 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 That brick, I think, is an exception. The colors are so defined. My walk-in, bricks and mortar store is in downtown Osseo, Wi. It has not been open much this year as I have had health problems and I had to fire my only employee for being dishonest. It was a hard summer for me. I had always thought that I did not need internet access at home. Having it at the store, I thought, was enough and at home, I could feel like I was on vacation....but then when I got sick this summer and had to fire my employee at a time when I was at my worst, I lost my online store at Ruby Lane where I had over 4,600 items listed. I did not have internet at home and there was a four week period where I was practically bed-ridden so I lost out on some orders...they paid and I did not know it, could not have gotten over the 18 mile one way trip to work at packaging them, had I known but at least I could have communicated with them. Once they found out what had happened they all withdrew their complaints and even asked Ruby Lane to re=enstate my store. My Dr gave them a statement that I was better, and I had gotten internet at home so that the problem would never repeat itself. I had been in the top 20's out of all of their stores in several categories for years....I had hoped they would give me a second chance but not only would they not do that, they would not even give me time to copy my inventory and transfer it over to another company...so I am starting from scratch at TIAS. Oh well, it will be a lot of hard work, and will take a lot of time, but I'll make it back. I have my walk in store up for sale and then I will have more time to go find stuff and more time to put things on the internet. I'll also have more time to develop relationships from friends I am making on some of the dating sites...lol I hope they like marbles....lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manylittle Posted February 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 $60 might have been a fair price for most bricks, but this one was very special. Even so, had the guy acted differently, I think we could have ended up close to that. It was the fact that he expected me to keep coming down while he was not willing to come up at all that made me stop trying to deal with him. The bargaining game has to be played by both sides. Its not any fun, when the one side won't move at all. Sort of like what the Dems are going through with the Reps right now. lol Hey...thanks, Andrea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duffy Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 marble dealers can be very hard to deal with...theres a certain way about em that seem to grate at me, but after I ran out of duck tape to wrap up my skull, I found out that some people don't catch on how to play fair and equal....theres got to be a middle but alas, its like the wall bangin in our govts is easier to let em be in their own little space...sorry you had problems....I never went to any of those ruby lane places to buy..i did browse some but couldn't afford the high prices....that's on me..but im cheap...I have other ways to make money so this collectible and antiques thing is more of a hobby..it may seem like a full time job....but you can always sell something some where....and spendin 10$ to make 50$ is ok..its just pocket money...but it might take me a long time to sell it.....if I lived a metro area or bigger city...it would be easier...country livin can be remote and the towns within 50 miles are dinky and walmart is the main supplier...2 hrs away is Pittsburgh and Columbus..its all good.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTAndrea Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 This is like the good old days when we'd get a hot topic going and lots of contributors. I love it. Hope some others jump in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hdesousa Posted February 6, 2014 Report Share Posted February 6, 2014 Pices on all antiques are just going to continue to fall. Talked to a mall owner the other day, he said young people today want NOTHING to do with old stuff and collecting of anything in general. I agree, most are back living at home after college. As older collectors start to pass away, sell collections, etc. there is no one to replace them. That's why we collect for enjoyment, not retirement. Right? OK, I'll jump in, in support of what spara50 says. Since we're collecting for enjoyment, the cheaper the marbles, the further your money goes, and the more enjoyment you can get out of collecting. For example, here's a fine set of German chinas with 6 limestone marbles and the bag their owner once used to keep them in. These possibly precede the invention of German glass marbles. I got them on eBay last year for about 1/3 of what I would have had to pay for them at a show a few years ago, since a dealer would have most likely gotten hold of them before me and would have had to mark them up to cover his/her expenses and profit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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