Today I received an email from Suzanne asking me to look at a few picture of special items that she thought I might be interested in purchasing. There was the Lotton Perfume that had been $750 but was marked down to $500 and the large Weller Sicardo vase that had been $1750 but is now $1200. These two pieces now are at a level where we as members of the 31 Club might want to take a look. Yes our offers would be even less than the present asking prices but who knows, our offers might be taken if these pieces have been sitting long enough and if the seller is in need of the money.
I could see offering $300 for the Lotton and $700 for the Weller. Would my feelings be hurt if these offers weren't accepted? Absolutely not and here is why? The owner knows that I am interested in the pieces and maybe later he may want to take me up on my offer. Be sure to leave your contact information with the seller and sit back and wait.
Here is a little tip for you. Never let your eyes get lazy because if you are constantly looking who knows what you may see? Yes, you are asking what he is talking about? Well in the photos that Suzanne sent me were two other pieces that I wanted her to inquire about. One was a Newcomb pitcher and the other was a Teco vase. It may be these will be items that we purchase.
This is the time to go back to your old haunts to see if the prices are more in the range you wish to pay. Antique shops are a great place to start because, guess what, if they aren't selling anything you can bet the expenses are still running? This may encourage them to even lower their prices further, so don't be bashful about your offers. House sales may also be more flexible because if they don't sell the contents of the house while the sale is going on, where will they take the things that don't sell? Auctions are also feeling the pinch as I wrote about Early's auction earlier. They are receiving fewer bid on the items from their customers so these can be very profitable places today to find treasures.
The most important thing about purchases made today is that we don't want to just replace and put ourselves in the seller’s place by buying merchandise we can't sell either. Try to be sure you have a plan on selling what you buy and follow that plan as soon as you can after the purchase. Remember, we don't have a crystal ball so we can't be sure what the future markets will be. It is hard enough to evaluate the markets as they are today.
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