THE BEGINNING
I thought I should start this blog by telling you how I started Vintage Finds Magazine. Like so many of you I am a wife and mother with a strong desire to have my own business.
When I was my in my early 30's with my children in just elementary school, my husband was diagnosed with a blood cancer called Multiple Myeloma. The diagnosis was devastating to us all as a family. His diagnosis rocked me to core and for the first time in our marriage I thought I may be alone and raising two children by myself. I thought if only I had my own business. One that I could do virtually, while my husband was in treatment and my children in school. I read every "start your own business" book you could think of from our local library. But nothing seemed for me. I was certainly discouraged.
Time passed and my husband underwent a stem cell transplant...by the way he did wonderful and I'm happy to say is still here with us today. The kids were getting older and life was moving on but I still had the desire and need for my own business. I loved everything to do with computers from research, graphic design to browsing craigslist.
Then one day my mother suggested I visit a new vintage shop in our town. The owner, was so sweet and we struck up a conversation. I suggested that she take a few photos of her shop and advertise her business on Craigslist. Well she had no idea how to upload the pictures, so I told her I would stop by that next week and do it for her. I'm sure she thought she would never see me again. After visiting her again and listing her shop on Craigslist .... I thought wow... it would be great to have a place online that listed these kind of shops.
With lots of online research I started a website called Thrift Happy, an online directory for RESALE stores. As I visited local shops throughout Florida, it was very clear that there was a huge difference in these shops. Although they were all technically reselling previously owned items...they were definitely not all thrift. There were antique, consignment, upscale resale, and vintage shops. I was driven in the direction of the Vintage Shops. I was amazed by the owners of these shops. They were so talented at merchandising and had a real love for vintage items. And so...Vintage Finds Magazine, Florida's guide for the best vintage and antique shops was born.
If you're looking to start your own business, I would advise to just follow your heart, do what you love, continue to gain knowledge and never give up.
Kathy Gonzalez
When I was my in my early 30's with my children in just elementary school, my husband was diagnosed with a blood cancer called Multiple Myeloma. The diagnosis was devastating to us all as a family. His diagnosis rocked me to core and for the first time in our marriage I thought I may be alone and raising two children by myself. I thought if only I had my own business. One that I could do virtually, while my husband was in treatment and my children in school. I read every "start your own business" book you could think of from our local library. But nothing seemed for me. I was certainly discouraged.
Time passed and my husband underwent a stem cell transplant...by the way he did wonderful and I'm happy to say is still here with us today. The kids were getting older and life was moving on but I still had the desire and need for my own business. I loved everything to do with computers from research, graphic design to browsing craigslist.
Then one day my mother suggested I visit a new vintage shop in our town. The owner, was so sweet and we struck up a conversation. I suggested that she take a few photos of her shop and advertise her business on Craigslist. Well she had no idea how to upload the pictures, so I told her I would stop by that next week and do it for her. I'm sure she thought she would never see me again. After visiting her again and listing her shop on Craigslist .... I thought wow... it would be great to have a place online that listed these kind of shops.
With lots of online research I started a website called Thrift Happy, an online directory for RESALE stores. As I visited local shops throughout Florida, it was very clear that there was a huge difference in these shops. Although they were all technically reselling previously owned items...they were definitely not all thrift. There were antique, consignment, upscale resale, and vintage shops. I was driven in the direction of the Vintage Shops. I was amazed by the owners of these shops. They were so talented at merchandising and had a real love for vintage items. And so...Vintage Finds Magazine, Florida's guide for the best vintage and antique shops was born.
If you're looking to start your own business, I would advise to just follow your heart, do what you love, continue to gain knowledge and never give up.
Kathy Gonzalez
WHAZZIT? WHAT IS THAT ANTIQUE OR VINTAGE THING?
By LA Davis
This wooden box could be anything in the whazzit category but according to its owner, Doug Giesecke, it is an antique sugar mold.
Giesecke purchased the box -- not knowing what it was -- from a thrift store in Brevard County and proceeded to do research.
“To me, it’s a weird oddity,” said Giesecke, who is an antiques dealer at Titusville Antique Mall. “At the thrift store they didn’t know what it was and I didn’t know either. I bought it because it was weird and interesting. I’ve done that many times before. I have pretty eclectic taste.”
While Giesecke did a fair amount of research before concluding that his purchase was a sugar mold, there is one odd piece to the sugar mold theory, namely his comes with a wooden ball inside.
“I first thought it was a cannon ball mold,” said Giesecke. “But now I am pretty sure it’s a sugar mold. People use it for some sort of confectionary. I’m not exactly sure what the wooden ball is for—I think that was added later, just because it fit.”
Giesecke may be right that the wooden box is a sugar mold, but his has only one indent and most sugar molds have several. “Dr. Google” says sugar molds usually come with multiple indents for creating rounded mounds of sugar.
So how does the sugar mold work? In the 19th century, long before there was such a thing as “granulated” sugar, there was sugar cane syrup. Raw sugar cane syrup was poured into the sugar mold indentations and allowed to dry. The resultant mounds or cones were easier to store and move or sell. If some sugar was wanted, one simply chipped off a bit (or bite).
Giesecke has to admit that antique sugar molds are a far cry from where he started in antiques.
“I always loved anything that was from the past,” he said. “I’ve always loved all types of antiques. I used to do antique cars. Now I do Victrolas and music boxes … and anything else weird and eclectic, like the sugar mold.”
L. A. Davis is the owner Highlands Estate Sales, the former “Treasure Hunt” columnist for Florida Today, and the author of The Jolly Art of Junking.
Titusville Antique Mall, which has more than 75 vendors, is located at 3550 S. Washington Ave., Titusville. For more information call 321-225-8663.
Giesecke purchased the box -- not knowing what it was -- from a thrift store in Brevard County and proceeded to do research.
“To me, it’s a weird oddity,” said Giesecke, who is an antiques dealer at Titusville Antique Mall. “At the thrift store they didn’t know what it was and I didn’t know either. I bought it because it was weird and interesting. I’ve done that many times before. I have pretty eclectic taste.”
While Giesecke did a fair amount of research before concluding that his purchase was a sugar mold, there is one odd piece to the sugar mold theory, namely his comes with a wooden ball inside.
“I first thought it was a cannon ball mold,” said Giesecke. “But now I am pretty sure it’s a sugar mold. People use it for some sort of confectionary. I’m not exactly sure what the wooden ball is for—I think that was added later, just because it fit.”
Giesecke may be right that the wooden box is a sugar mold, but his has only one indent and most sugar molds have several. “Dr. Google” says sugar molds usually come with multiple indents for creating rounded mounds of sugar.
So how does the sugar mold work? In the 19th century, long before there was such a thing as “granulated” sugar, there was sugar cane syrup. Raw sugar cane syrup was poured into the sugar mold indentations and allowed to dry. The resultant mounds or cones were easier to store and move or sell. If some sugar was wanted, one simply chipped off a bit (or bite).
Giesecke has to admit that antique sugar molds are a far cry from where he started in antiques.
“I always loved anything that was from the past,” he said. “I’ve always loved all types of antiques. I used to do antique cars. Now I do Victrolas and music boxes … and anything else weird and eclectic, like the sugar mold.”
L. A. Davis is the owner Highlands Estate Sales, the former “Treasure Hunt” columnist for Florida Today, and the author of The Jolly Art of Junking.
Titusville Antique Mall, which has more than 75 vendors, is located at 3550 S. Washington Ave., Titusville. For more information call 321-225-8663.
RETAIL STORE FOR SALE, RENNINGER'S - STREET OF SHOPS
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Do you rent space & want your own building? Has the time come to own your own antique and/or vintage store?
Here’s the opportunity to own a high traffic corner location on the highly desirable Street of Shops at Renninger’s Antique Center, located off 441 in Mount Dora, Fl Greet your customers with a double door front entrance & a single door side entrance from the covered patio selling area. The building measures 11 1/2 ft wide by 51 ft deep, along with a 9 ft by 11 ft side room and a storage room…for a total inside of over 800 sq ft. The store’s inside walls are covered in white pegboard, and includes a checkout counter, wooden display units, a glass display case and additional wall shelving. You also have access to a 2 car parking space behind the store. NOTE: You would own the building and pay rent for the land under it to Renninger’s. The building cannot be moved & it cannot be used as a restaurant. Your hours of operation are Friday from 10 to 4, and Saturdays and Sundays from 9 to 5. Asking price is $55,000. Contents available at separate prices. Please stop in during days and hours above for a tour and more details. Thank you very much. Jim Law 352-431-4383 or [email protected] |
HOW DO ANTIQUE DEALERS PRICE THEIR WARES
By Ed Kindle
As many different types of antique stores, vintage shops, retro dealers and other secondhand stores as there are, there are probably as many different ways these stores value and price their items.
Prices at thrift stores used to be far less than they are today. Part of this rise is due to factors such as inflation, but in reality, much of it is due to the internet. In the past many thrift stores put what they felt a fair price was on each item and were happy to make something on each item because the investment in each item was basically zero since most, if not all the items were donated to them. Anything they made was nearly all profit.
Sometimes they went by nationally printed price guides, but most stores didn’t care to make a large investment in a price guide library to price higher valued items they might not see often. When the internet and sites such as eBay came along, their world changed. It was now much easier to look up what the items were selling for in online auctions and price their items similarly.
The downside to this is that it’s dependent on who is doing the looking. Many folks look to eBay for pricing information and when they find their item or a similar one, they find the highest price they can, and use that. The problem with this strategy is that the price they found might not be valid.
Some folks on eBay are willing to fish. They dangle an item out there and put a pretty high price tag on their item to see if anyone bites. If they do, great, they made a lot of money on an item that was purchased on the cheap, inherited or gifted to them. Even if it doesn’t sell, they are not out anything. Some just keep relisting the item over and over again. The other option they have is to slightly lower the price each time they list it until the item sells. I have seen some listings on eBay & craigslist that have been there for years.
Price guides were the staple for many years, written by auction houses or experts who traveled around the country buying and selling the topic items, and they had a pretty good idea of what an item in their specialty would sell for be it in New York City, Peoria, Il, or central Florida.
Again, this lasted until the internet and items were now being sold at a lightning pace instead of at one show a year in each major city. It became more difficult to keep up on pricing trends to print in a book that would be relevant for an entire year. This is why the use of pricing guides has decreased.
As far as antique dealers, there are several options open to price their items. One is their market. The saying of what ever the market will bear, is valid, if you know your market. What are the demographics of your market? Population, median income, average age, type of shopping/stores in the area, what’s popular and more, all make up information about your local market that an experienced seller can use to price their items.
Experience also can come into play. The longer someone is in the business of buying and selling antiques, the better they can get at pricing items so they sell. This also goes hand in had with knowing your market. There were items that I always bought, because they always sold. Now, this is not always true because trends have changed.
I have had conversations with other dealers over the years about how they set their prices. Some stick to a straight percentage similar to new retail items. This allows them to figure sales and discounts quickly. Other dealers told me that if they can’t mark an item up a set number of times, they won’t buy it.
Some folks who get into the antique selling business are smaller dealers who are downsizing or liquidating collections. Even if they kept meticulous records on what they paid, that data is largely irrelevant today as prices for most goods have fallen drastically. Much depends on what a dealer purchases items for. Some dealers won’t purchase anything unless they can get it at a very low price. Others (and I frequently do this) will spend a bit more up front and make a bit less on the sale in order to acquire a better-quality, or more unique item to offer. Some dealers are fair, some will lowball everyone they buy from. Dealers are as unique in their buying style as the goods they offer.
I will admit that I use eBay a great deal as a reference. However, I am very aware that what something sells for on eBay in New York City, will be vastly different than what that very same item will sell for in Central Florida. I also watch for the fishing prices. To negate this, I will find a high price, a low price and average them together. This is done using the sold listings, not active ones. Even then I sometimes need to pull the price back for my market.
I also rely on knowing my market, my experience and my intuition when pricing items. I always ask myself, “Would I be comfortable buying this at this price?” Sometime the answer is no, and I need to do some more homework. That also has to happen when I buy items. I ask myself the question “Can I make money on this if I pay this price?” Many dealers when shopping don’t ask this question and they seem to just continually ask the seller for a “dealer discount”.
There are cases when you find something in a store, and you love it, but you don’t love the price. A quick jaunt to your favorite online source may yield a better deal. But there are also other considerations such as the desire to support a locally owned business vs a major online monopoly. This is when the ability to properly haggle without offense is truly a skill to have. Another point is you are holding the item in your hand. With an online seller, you can only go by what photos they show and their description, and you have to hope that whatever shipping service is used handles your items carefully. Also many online sellers are now refusing to take returns, so even if you don’t like it, you still own it.
I won’t tell a falsehood. When I purchase items, I need to buy them at a wholesale pricing structure because I have to be able to earn a profit on each item I buy. I have to have room to pay my expenses and also to be able to lower the price if I have to offer it at a sale or discounted price. The old adage of “Buy high, sell low, and make it up in volume” just doesn’t work.
In addition to some real bargains, there are unique items out there that surely deserve a higher premium. Rarity, uniqueness, quality, condition, provenance, maker, style, age and many other factors all go into what something is worth. Knowing this information goes a long way in setting a fair price for an item and in being able to communicate that value to the customer about why it deserves the price that it is being offered for.
I am sorry to say that there is really no hard and fast rule on how antique dealers price their items. I use the methods that work best for me and adjust accordingly. But in the end, when all is done, an item is only worth what someone will pay for it, be it a small tchotchke offered locally, or a Monet. Keep on collecting!
Prices at thrift stores used to be far less than they are today. Part of this rise is due to factors such as inflation, but in reality, much of it is due to the internet. In the past many thrift stores put what they felt a fair price was on each item and were happy to make something on each item because the investment in each item was basically zero since most, if not all the items were donated to them. Anything they made was nearly all profit.
Sometimes they went by nationally printed price guides, but most stores didn’t care to make a large investment in a price guide library to price higher valued items they might not see often. When the internet and sites such as eBay came along, their world changed. It was now much easier to look up what the items were selling for in online auctions and price their items similarly.
The downside to this is that it’s dependent on who is doing the looking. Many folks look to eBay for pricing information and when they find their item or a similar one, they find the highest price they can, and use that. The problem with this strategy is that the price they found might not be valid.
Some folks on eBay are willing to fish. They dangle an item out there and put a pretty high price tag on their item to see if anyone bites. If they do, great, they made a lot of money on an item that was purchased on the cheap, inherited or gifted to them. Even if it doesn’t sell, they are not out anything. Some just keep relisting the item over and over again. The other option they have is to slightly lower the price each time they list it until the item sells. I have seen some listings on eBay & craigslist that have been there for years.
Price guides were the staple for many years, written by auction houses or experts who traveled around the country buying and selling the topic items, and they had a pretty good idea of what an item in their specialty would sell for be it in New York City, Peoria, Il, or central Florida.
Again, this lasted until the internet and items were now being sold at a lightning pace instead of at one show a year in each major city. It became more difficult to keep up on pricing trends to print in a book that would be relevant for an entire year. This is why the use of pricing guides has decreased.
As far as antique dealers, there are several options open to price their items. One is their market. The saying of what ever the market will bear, is valid, if you know your market. What are the demographics of your market? Population, median income, average age, type of shopping/stores in the area, what’s popular and more, all make up information about your local market that an experienced seller can use to price their items.
Experience also can come into play. The longer someone is in the business of buying and selling antiques, the better they can get at pricing items so they sell. This also goes hand in had with knowing your market. There were items that I always bought, because they always sold. Now, this is not always true because trends have changed.
I have had conversations with other dealers over the years about how they set their prices. Some stick to a straight percentage similar to new retail items. This allows them to figure sales and discounts quickly. Other dealers told me that if they can’t mark an item up a set number of times, they won’t buy it.
Some folks who get into the antique selling business are smaller dealers who are downsizing or liquidating collections. Even if they kept meticulous records on what they paid, that data is largely irrelevant today as prices for most goods have fallen drastically. Much depends on what a dealer purchases items for. Some dealers won’t purchase anything unless they can get it at a very low price. Others (and I frequently do this) will spend a bit more up front and make a bit less on the sale in order to acquire a better-quality, or more unique item to offer. Some dealers are fair, some will lowball everyone they buy from. Dealers are as unique in their buying style as the goods they offer.
I will admit that I use eBay a great deal as a reference. However, I am very aware that what something sells for on eBay in New York City, will be vastly different than what that very same item will sell for in Central Florida. I also watch for the fishing prices. To negate this, I will find a high price, a low price and average them together. This is done using the sold listings, not active ones. Even then I sometimes need to pull the price back for my market.
I also rely on knowing my market, my experience and my intuition when pricing items. I always ask myself, “Would I be comfortable buying this at this price?” Sometime the answer is no, and I need to do some more homework. That also has to happen when I buy items. I ask myself the question “Can I make money on this if I pay this price?” Many dealers when shopping don’t ask this question and they seem to just continually ask the seller for a “dealer discount”.
There are cases when you find something in a store, and you love it, but you don’t love the price. A quick jaunt to your favorite online source may yield a better deal. But there are also other considerations such as the desire to support a locally owned business vs a major online monopoly. This is when the ability to properly haggle without offense is truly a skill to have. Another point is you are holding the item in your hand. With an online seller, you can only go by what photos they show and their description, and you have to hope that whatever shipping service is used handles your items carefully. Also many online sellers are now refusing to take returns, so even if you don’t like it, you still own it.
I won’t tell a falsehood. When I purchase items, I need to buy them at a wholesale pricing structure because I have to be able to earn a profit on each item I buy. I have to have room to pay my expenses and also to be able to lower the price if I have to offer it at a sale or discounted price. The old adage of “Buy high, sell low, and make it up in volume” just doesn’t work.
In addition to some real bargains, there are unique items out there that surely deserve a higher premium. Rarity, uniqueness, quality, condition, provenance, maker, style, age and many other factors all go into what something is worth. Knowing this information goes a long way in setting a fair price for an item and in being able to communicate that value to the customer about why it deserves the price that it is being offered for.
I am sorry to say that there is really no hard and fast rule on how antique dealers price their items. I use the methods that work best for me and adjust accordingly. But in the end, when all is done, an item is only worth what someone will pay for it, be it a small tchotchke offered locally, or a Monet. Keep on collecting!