Early Bird Fees - Daryle Lambert's Antiques and Collectibles Blog - They are worth it.

I spent the night with my daughter and this is a picture of my three grandchildren. What a blessing they are to me from God. Now on to the blog.

What are the two most important days of an Antique Show, Flea Market, House Sale or Garage Sale? If you said the first and last days, you were correct. It is very important that we manage our time properly and when to attend events is an important part in determining whether we are successful or a failure.

Why the last day, you must be asking. Consider this. By the last day, all the dealers who are going to visit the sale have already been there and didn't figure there were any bargains left to buy. But is that true? My answer is no and here is my reasoning. If the sellers overpriced their items, the last day is their only chance to get them sold, so you will find that they are far more willing to bargain than before. Second, if there is a rare or unusual piece that has been overlooked, you should expect to be able to buy it at pennies on the dollar, compared to its value.

Does this work? Yes it does. You may remember when I attended a sale on the south side of Chicago on its last day. The reason I waited was that there were three very important sculptures being offered. I knew they would be overpriced the first day so I waited until the latter part of the last day. Sure enough, they were still there when I entered the living room but I didn't go to them right away. First, I approached the person conducting the sale and introduced myself. I soon learned that the sale was being conducted by the person who had inherited the estate. She lived in Phoenix and needed to sell everything before returning home. Her first question to me was, "Is there anything left that you would be interested in?" I replied "Let me look around." The sculptures that I wished to buy were very large so I figured they really didn't want to ship them. This is when I knew it was time to make an offer of pennies on the dollar of their retail value. The three sculptures combined listed for over $32,000 and, as you know, I was successful in purchasing them and the rest is history. What a way to finish the year.

But what about the first day of an event when you are asked to pay an early bird fee to get in before the public? Does that make sense? Cecil just asked me this yesterday about the shows we will be attending later this week. Here is my answer to him. "Cecil, it will cost me about $1000 to attend these shows and if I don't buy something, that money was wasted.” But I asked him to remember that not spending your money correctly was the worst thing that you could do. So to get into the shows and see what is being offered for sale before the public sees it might be a great thing, wouldn't you say? To go in with the public, the fee would be $14 and, as an early bird, it will cost $25 so what do you think? I said to him, “If you don’t get this right, I still have a lot of teaching to do.”

I hopefully will be reporting our successes to you over the next few days and I ask for your prayers for safety while I am away from home.

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