“Flash News” – Daryle Lambert's Antiques and Collectibles Blog – Sometimes You Get It Right.

Just My Opinion

I have been attempting to bring our readers of my blog "Daryle Lambert's Antiques and Collectibles" into the marketplaces of today for some time. Several months back, I stated that the only real markets left were auctions and the internet. This week helped prove my point that antique shows are a dying breed if they continue on the course that they have chosen. First, I talked to many dealers at the show I was attending who said that doing shows no longer proved profitable for them and that their expenses were so high that it took most of their sales to pay them.

It seemed to me that the people who were buying were just looking for the pretty things and I didn't talk to many real collectors in my two days there. One comment that I heard over and over was that there were just too many shows. What they were saying is that the quality items are spread too thin, which allows just a few dealers to make money. For example, I traveled all the way to Nashville from Chicago and attended both the shows that were open. Thank goodness for the first one called the “Tailgate Show”, where I bought a few thousand dollars worth of merchandise, because I left the later show, which was supposed to be the prime one, without even offering to buy a single piece. Believe me. It wasn't because I didn't want to buy but because there were so few pieces that were for the collector and the few that were had prices out of sight.

What is the difference between sales and auctions, you must be asking. First, the auction houses usually wait until they have sufficient items to sell before listing an auction. This makes it possible for the people attending to know there will be an adequate number of items that interest them before attending. The sellers, therefore, will find that there are buyers for the items that they consign to the auction. In fact they don't even have to attend themselves, eliminating the expenses of the shows.

With the acceptance of internet and phone bidding by the public, that old adage that people want to hold what they buy is quickly fading from the scene. I believe that 35% – 50% of all sales at auction now are absentee. Here is the question. Why should I pay to enter the antique show when, at an auction, I can see several times as many pieces of my interest and not pay to attend? This is the market our club is trying to fill.

This leads me to the other way of selling and buying and that is on the internet. This is still the wave of the future and I believe it will continue to play an ever larger part in the collecting field. The numbers are just too large, both on the buyer’s and seller’s side to discount. just wait until the collectors get aquanited with our marketplace. They will be shopping there in droves.

Here is my opinion of the future for Antique Shows. There should be fewer of them and the merchandise that is displayed must be condensed so that it make the expense and time involved for the buyer worthwhile. This blog may not make me the most popular man in town, but I love being a collector of and also a dealer in Antiques, Collectibles and Fine Art, and it is important for me to share my opinions on these subjects. Everyone can take of them what they wish.

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