I-80 road trip

Got back this week from a road warrior road trip across I-80 to Cheyenne Wyoming. Along the way we made more stops at antiques malls etc than for food! Des Moines: Brass Armadillo--as expected from this chain a ton of booths and showcases. Prices were decent and found a few sale items.

Platte Valley Antique Mall just off the interstate at exit 420 was the best stop! Lots of interesting booths,several sales and we took home a personal treasure. Good prices on Wyandotte Toy trucks and some other interesting trucks.

Exit 405 about Lincoln NE area for the Aarvark A.M. easy access from interstate. This had to have been a Brass Armadillo in the past. Prices higher and sales in individual booths were by taking a sales ticket for each item you wish to buy. No sales "ticket" no discount at register.

A dissapointment was the Sherwood Antique Mall in Princeton Illinois, might be nice for wine tasting but overall quality was down--yes there were a few good booths but the rest weren't worth a stop.

In Cheyenne one place was closed on a Saturday after 10AM and the other down the road we couldn't find the address listed in the phone book.

The Ogalla Antique Mall is exit 126 then SOUTH not north into town as mapquest and google showed. Found it on the return from a roadside billboard. Small size, high prices but some interesting items. I really miss the profusion of billboards we saw as kids. Now just field upon field, the boards did breakup the monotony and gave hope for what is down the road.

Walnut Iowa, the antique capitol of Iowa--Well for a town/village/city? of less than 1000 I suppose so. They tout 15 stores unfortunately most were closed on a Sunday in March! We visited 3--one was large and the lower level disorganized, prices reasonable; the second was out of this world prices--one sale would make a great week elsewhere, large selection of jugs and crocks.

the 3rd store was just right--nice selection pretty reasonable pricing and had the NASCAR race on radio.

Definitely worth a stop if you have the time while whizzing along the highway.

Fall in love with antiques

I wish more traffic was coming to the antique outlet. A 25% sale earlier this month was 90% of sales and that was all small items. I'm happy to have moved something and have some room for more. What sold? A golden yellow Lipton teapot with lid intact, a decorating book, a framed needlepoint design,, a chalkware sailing ship, a bait canteen and a neat china fish figurine along with a silver plated etched fish lid for perhaps a kippers server--these 3 went to the same person! A 1971 Indy car shape bottle/decanter. A tied together packet of old and new Antiques magazines. Just weird small stuff. I wish the portmierion coffee sets would go and free up that space.

Off on vacation to the Northwest next week. Hopefully time to visit some malls and find a good buy, but schedule is pretty tight with must see museums such as Museum of Glass in Tacoma!

Have you gotten carded at your LIBRARY?

June is busting out all over!

Well at least flower and tree wise with all the pollen! I' d rather have this than snow and cold!
The antiques and collectibles buyers aren't busting out their wallets. May was bad bad BAD! Oh yeah the antiques mall was down traffic wise and especially saleswise.
I did a revamp and stacked items higher in anticipation of a weeklong sale later this month. I'll also do the outside fleamarket for 1 day in hopes of at least getting back the gas money.
At the auctions things are going and not necessarily dirt cheap. I think some buyers are savvy to the auctions and will buy there thinking they are getting a better deal, often the knockdown is higher than I could have priced it. They are bidding against each other as I watch dealer after dealer drop out of the bidding after a short time.
The pickings at yard sales are slim too for items I can resell. If you want clothes, kitchen appliances or toddler toys you can find bargains galore.
Hopefully good weather will bring out more sales.

Renninger's Kutztown April Extravaganza

Well I made the trek across Ohio and PA to Kutztown to attend the much touted extravaganza opening day. Some of the hype on the web page is true. There were a line of dealer vehicles backed up waiting to get in to setup.

It had rained on Wednesday and I was expecting a mucky field but walking was fine. The photo from their website is pretty accurate, other than there weren't that many cars in the lot. I'd say there were at least 200 dealers and a whole other set on the white building upper left of photo. The inside dealers sure have less than ideal conditions. It was dark, dank, crowded and dirty, but they had foot traffic. !st place I have been in the US where the restrooms had a tip tray set out in the building and for the port-o-johns outside, But they were being attended to and for the number of people clean.

I was disappointed at the pickings. Nothing New--meaning--different that I find at home. Prices were sometimes a tad high--that I attribute to the buyers from NY and NJ. It was only about 110 miles from NYC. One big difference was the dress of the attendees--sure there were those of us in jeans and athletic shoes, but many were dressed in the casual city shopping mode.

I did not score much here.

So off I went on one of the side roads towards Reading. Found 2 so called antique stores/malls. One was pretty much junk the other had nicely setup "rooms" found a few bargains like a "chalk" Afghan hound about 18 inches tall.

Headed on towards Harrisburg with a stop in Hershey--the roads are paved in chocolate--or at least the appearance of a rich cocoa on Chocolate Ave and Cocoa Ave. The aroma of milk chocolate was in the air near the Reese's plant and the large Hershey plant. The top of the light posts were Hershey kisses, some wrapped some unwrapped.

Spoke with the owner of a small store on the road down into Hersey and she said friends have told her even Brimfield had gone down-hill.

After a serious misdirection on return I did have time to stop at the I-76 Antique MALL at the Ravenna exit.

Very nice place, clean restrooms, enough staff to be helpful. McDonald's and 2 gas stations at the exit! Anyway I spent about an hour and a half here and found the inventory good and prices even better. I picked up a rataan/bamboo vintage 50's serving cart that I should be able to resell at double. Glass items, pictures were plentiful. There were 2 young men probably late 20's very early 30's wandering around looking into the showcases for toys and lunchboxes. So it appeals to a variety of shoppers.

As usual every road that could be under construction was with lane closures and redirected lanes. Made good time as traffic was mostly light for weekday and highest gas was $2.15 on the turnpike.

Clear roads =more travel?

Almost a week of clear roads but sales did not increase on those days people could get out. Maybe end of the month equals end of the money. Our dealer day on Sunday was packed as everyone was freshening up booths. My result --one sale of a decorative easter rabbit!
One guy was talking about a friend who had been in another mall since 1992 or 93 and just moved out because sales were so poor. Others commented on the placement of showcases at that mall being out of the way. I thought their placement of showcases was good as no steps and a nice low slope ramp to get there. I know a couple who have a showcase and they had good sales through Dec. Their specialty is Holiday items.
I wanted to get into a showcase at that mall to feature some smalls, but with other sales down and the deposit and 1st month rent I was leery of taking on more commitment. Maybe just as well right now.
eBay wasn't too bad for February as I got rid of some weird smalls and some books I had sitting around. These increasing postal rates are hurting. I had to offer free shipping to get some items to move and then take a loss on what had been my purchase price. But it is slowly weeding out old stock. Got to generate some income to buy new stock.
Has anyone been to Renninger's in Pennsylvania? I was thinking of going the end of April to the big weekend. This would be a road trip with 2 nights motel stays. Are the prices good enough to get a bundle of fresh stock?

Im ready for the end of 2008

Finally this year is ending. The banks got their bailout with few strings attached, the Big 3 got a bridge loan with too many strings. Our roads can't get plowed because there is a deficit in the cash flow for that area because part of car sale taxes went into that coffer. We are totally caught in a Catch 22. Economists keep revising outlook for when the economy will swing up, maybe the new administration will sweep in with a positive change and people will feel optimistic. Of course if you can't get approved by the financial market for a car or home loan we will simply sit. Why in the world would GMAC get bank status when then are an arm of General Motors? Those sharks aren't even approving loans for GM cars!
I'm tired of the upbeat christmas card letters of all the wonderful things people and their families are doing. I thought about writing one about job losses, closing stores, cancellations of internet service, doing away with land phone lines since they have a cell, health issues, medical bills and people tapping into retirement savings to catch up on bills. Now I'm hearing of people who have received a letter from the credit card companies raising their interest rates, on top of increases in late payment fees etc. no wonder it is more of a bah humbug year than Happy Holidays!
On the brighter side having a 25% sale at the antique booth has increased sales tremendously. Thanks to the mall owners for allowing a sale in December.
eBay has been a good venue this year for increasing profits over last and overall a better profit for the antiques and collectible "business". People are buying the odd items not the traditional flow blue or transferware pieces. A Quinella Bet sign from a race track sold while a beautiful cut lead glass 1850's decanter awaits a good home. Variety is the spice of life.

September sales fall like the leaves

Well September was a bummer too! Not as bad as August, but the whole antique mall had a sales decrease over last year.
On the positive side just saw gas as low as $2.97 a gallon if paying with cash and BP who always is higher here was posted $2.99 almost like a breath of fresh air. --
Kind of an oyxmoron using gas and fresh air combined!
Foot traffic must have picked up at the mall as I have had sales 5 out of 6 days!
You can tell times are tough--there have been more yard sales and estate listed in the local paper than normal for October and even more sales found by corner signs! Everyone is getting rid of VCR tapes, christmas decorations, lamps, and books!
Mapquest has been put to good use pretracking a circular route to get maximum locations out of least amount of gas.

Thank goodness we don't need ration coupons like in WWII where if you only had A coupons you could only buy enough gas to back and forth to work. B coupons got you 8 gallons. If you worked at night in factories for the war effort there were only a few stations open at night.

Price of gas during 1944 (about the age of the photo above): 21 cents and it was pumped for you as well as getting a clean windshield and probably an oil check and air in the tires all for free! Boy wouldn't those signs be great to have for sale today along with a vintage pump with an intact glass globe?

Portmeirion 1960's coffee pots

I just had a great book about the planned community of Portmeirion in Wales--the location where the old TV show the prisoner was filmed. They had a chapter about portmeirion pottery that was exciting. Those tall coffee pots from the 60's just struck a chord. They were originally designed by by Susan Williams-Ellis and the totem pattern is great.
Visit http://www.portmeirion.co.uk/early/totem.htm to read about that. The website has a ton of photos and info.
Mostly what we find here is the botanicals and a few birds of America. I had to search eBay UK to find some coffee pots for sale. Not cheap either! So now I'm on a new quest to acquire as many styles as possible at a price that will allow for resale profit!
The photo above is right from the Portmeirion website and shows one of my favorite designs--Magic City.

Overall August sales were a bust, as I expected. Now that more time can be spent focusing, I hope to see a profit for Sept--though with the jump in gas prices over the weekend who knows. I'm hoping that traffic past the antiques mall on the way to college football games will generate some shoppers!

Surgery and antiques/collectibles sales

Surgery was postponed for a week, finally done and now in the long slow process of recovery. Sales have been in slow mode--SLUMP for this month. I did make it to the antiques mall twice to re-stock but those back to school expenses and high gas prices have hurt. E-Bay was ok for thr items I listed though not much time to be running to the post office. I managed to hit some yard/estate sales on way to hospital before visiting hours started. At least I got some bargains to take up for September.

Found this great illustration at www.oldbookillustrations.com and the use is free!

Antiques Roadshow Grand Rapids Michigan

Saturday, August 9th we hit the road making our way to DeVos Place in Grand Rapids for the Michigan stop on the roadshow for 2008. Great weather, clear roads and an unheard of minimal construction areas with no detours. They must of been expecting tons of traffic--1 traffic cop manning the crosswalk from the parking garage to the site. Special event parking only $7.50

Arrived early enough to walk a few near deserted streets to finally find a subway for lunch. Yes we could have eaten at the cafe in the Amway Grand Hotel, but that would have been too high class. Watch some people fishing in the river peeked across to the Gerald Ford Library/Museum.

Thought there might have been a line waiting outside as ticket info stated not to arrive in line before 2:30 for the 3:00 entry time.

Not much action

As we entered and located the door into the actual exhibit hall they were sending in people with tickets from 12:30 to 3:00

Aha a jump start--or so we thought

This pix was taken from the back of the hall where we were staged in at least 100 foot long lines and after 2 1/2 hours snaked our way up to the final waiting line looking at what others brought.At last into the real appraisal area only to wait in another line by category
and again snake our way up to the appraisers table. Almost there! As we waited we saw mark doing some voice over spiels and he came over to talk with everyone and sign autographs. The prints and posters line was so long that appraisers came along the line to us. Unfortunately no one could quit the day job and go home a millionaire. They were very good with the crowd and are human. One said these prints are so freaking cute!

I'm waiting to see if the WWII submarine flag makes the airing, and a man had 2 spears used in The Wizard of Oz movie and they were prepping the "stage" for that appraisal. No sign of the Keno's maybe they were in Rhode Island--they weren't even listed in the event guide. That was a downer!

Once out of the staging area, one can wait in another line for the feedback booth after signing a release. They even posted a sign board cueing people on what to say, keep it short and if you say the show name remember it is antiques with an s roadshow.

The sponsors had a small area behind the "stage" and a 1968 pristine subaru was quite a draw with an added chance to win a special edition Steiff bear or a Dale Tiffany lamp.

It's a long boring day for the most part and if you can manage your items and a chair, be sure to bring one!

Can't wait for the new season to air. The website has slide shows from each venue so it may be a sneak peek.

Surgery scheduled for this week and fingers crossed. No much business conducted these pass 7 weeks.

Break in posting

Due to a family medical emergency I will be taking a break in blogging, downsizing eBay listings and visits to antique mall.

Serious surgery needs to be scheduled and dealt with.

I hope the tickets for August Antiques Roadshow can be used. If it looks like we can't make I wonder if they can be passed on?

Keep surfing and buying your past.

We all need whatever business we can get. The economy is going bad throughout the USA not just here. Remember Rome was once the great empire and ruins are a big tourist attraction. Let's not get too greedy for our britches!

Think about it

Found this great little tagline on an email
---Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. it had a nice little pix of a tree, which obviously did not copy over

As an antiques business we certainly are msters or reuse and recycling and therefore reducing landfills. We are helping air pollution with less vocs from the older wood and fabrics etc.

We are probably packrats and savers ourselves so we keep more than we trash. I think about these issues when I see the mounds of trash bags etc out for curbside pickup. Of course I'm also scanning for any treasures.

make a million in antiques part 2

Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Continuing with ideas from "Cracking the millionaire code" is the idea of enlightened wealth. What a self esteem builder to think of ourselves already millionaires based on enlightened wealth.
Would you sell an eye for a million dollars? a child, your faith in god, your education etc?
Just by living in the United States and having at least a high school education we are so much better off than millions of people in other parts of the world.
Each of us is unique and we each have a wide variety of skill sets, knowledge, talents etc, that can bring millions to us. Rah Rah Rah!
Some of the discussion sounds like the pyramid scheme now called multi level marketing.
We all need to get multiple income streams and things that will bring in residuals like entertainers do.
---I think of eBay sales as another stream of income added to the monthly sales from the booth at the antique mall.
What other streams could I/we develop? Would it be worthwhile to sell from a website like RubyLane? Could I do a presentation on antiques that an organization would pay to hear?--not likely right now. Could I teach a class in selling/buying on eBay--maybe, but who would pay for this? a library, the Tuesday Study Club?
What could be discovered in the next 101 days to bring income flowing to me/us?
Maybe I should play the lottery, after all if you don't have a ticket you have zero chance of winning and that 1 in a million chance is higher than zero!
I want to focus on antiques and collectibles and not veer off into multiple small ventures that takes me away from the passion of antiques.
Working a regular 9-5 job that includes some weekends cramps ability to find other streams without a terrific drain on stamina and time.

Great yard sale

Now that the weather has gotten warm the sales are in full swing. Hit my 1st sale where nothing was priced, different items out each day. When I went back on the 3rd day and asked how much for this this and this, I got away with less than half of what I was going to offer for one item!
If I had more room I'd have a new set of patio furniture. Woman was selling off items from mother-in-law's house. Things she couldn't use, but too good to throw out. I got a Rock-Ola bar cabinet for $5 it has inserts for 2 size glasses, a hanging rack for stemware, storage in the bottom and storage behind the serving "board" just right for bottles or rum, vodka etc.
It wasn't even advertized in the paper just signs on a few corners. I happened down the street because of an advertized sale that was a dud. So I chalk it up to my 1 great yard sale of the year. So much schlock and so few good items at most sales. I wonder if clothes really sell other than for growing kids? How many canning jars does i person need, when you can buy new sets after the season at the Dollar stores for less than used.

Surf to save gas

Just surfing this afternoon and came upon an interesting site on antiques with a British perspective. Check out: http://www.writeantiques.com/why-not-start-to-collect-20th-century-ceramics/ and expand your possibilities.

I also tried antiques at Google Images and found great photos and many new shops.Take some time and explore the web--it saves gas and the environment. Once you've sussed out the treasures, hop in the car for a productive roadtrip. I just love roadtrips, side trips, detours and getting lost!
Just visit our road trip blog at roadamigos.blogspot.com

Home again, Home again, jiggedy jig!

Well the road trip of a lifetime is a fait complet.
Back to reality. Luckily April was pretty good at the mall and several pieces of furniture sold. Now yard sales are starting and I can hunt for those treasures and get a few pieces of furniture at auction. What a high visiting antique stores and malls along the way. Hit 2 Brass Armadillo stores--Kansas City and Denver. Both rate high above most other malls we visited.
If you are in Hays Kansas be sure to stop in at Northglen Antiques. Owner Susan McRae Bickle is delightful to talk with and her unique goods imported from her buying trips to Scotland are a rare treasure to find at good prices. You can visit her website at www.NorthglenAntiques.com

I was surprised I didn't find much Couroc and Calif Pottery in the shops in California.

Thank goodness for a laptop and wireless access at most motels. I was able to seek out some antique stops and the roadside billboards were great. Certainly an advertising expense well spent. Now if hours were on all signs that would be ideal. Stopped at a store in west Kansas--place where world's largest Van Gogh is--only to find store was closed on Sunday.

Millington Antiques in Albuquerque was a classy site and had a great conversation about shows and markets.

Gas was high everywhere--especially California, but it is as high at home as most places along the way. Don't put off a buying trip or vacation--economize on motels and meals. There are good buys out there. Spend that incentive check at antique stores!

Road Trip Blog

Check out
http://www.roadamigos.blogspot.com/ to hear about my April trip of a lifetime!

Acoma reservation New Mexico USA

certainly the Land of Enchantment!

Spring into ...

Spring is here somewhere besides on a calendar. We expect 1 to 3 inches of snow late today into Saturday. I was talking with a woman who has a sister in the "north of England" who told her she was out in the garden and it was so nice she didn't need a jacket! Weather is getting topsy turvy.

Hope in the next 4 weeks it clears up to a nice spring as we start our road trip west to Monterey.
I've thrown out any expectations of getting to a destination by a certain time or even day. Constraints now are when we leave and we get back. Luckily we all have 2 full weeks vacation time. I keep finding more and more scenic drives, bypasses, sites etc that I'd like to see and we have to stop in Vegas.

Despite the soaring gas prices we are GOING!. May cut into our motel budget and we downscale but, oh well. Carpe Diem!

EBay goes on hold as well as any other antiques business. I hope this could be a "busman's" holiday but I may not have time to shop--oh no, is that blasphemy?

When will it stop?

End of February and yet another 4" plus snow dump. I'm beginning to realize why many people just hate this month. The last several Februaries have been better weather and sunshine-- the lack of sunshine always another complaint I've heard about the month. I always associated lack of sun to November with cold rainy days.
Gee it's snowing even harder/heavier right now!
I've been able to track of sales at the antique mall with every snowstorm. Absolutely nothing on that day and also sometimes the next--depends on when the roads clear.
Thinking when should I call it quits with the delusion of an antique dealer? 2007 wound up with a loss of just under $500 not so bad, but total sales were under $5000.
What's a real business look like? yeah it's only part-time and I'm learning every week and getting perhaps a better eye to what might sell. I started ebay to sell off some of the lesser items. Jan and Feb have been better there. But then new fees and in spring increase in postage bites in. Anyone tried other online auction sites? or part of a group sales like Rubylane?
Can't wait til April 18. Perhaps Paul Reveve started his famous ride that night, well I get to knock off a lifetime goal of driving across country to CALIFORNIA. Getting my road trip cds in order and stocking up on junk food!

Road Trip Plans

My California road trip is scheduled for the last 2 weeks of April. Driving from chicago area to denver, down to santa Fe across to Az and Grand Canyon then up to Vegas and finally across to
Monterey CA. Any pros and cons about driving I-80, I-70 or the northern route?
What are some great free or low cost sites to visits? Any great diners or BBQ?
Most important ANTIQUE Malls or multi-dealer shops that are a must stop for great variety?
May try to drive a few remaining parts of Route 66
Any advice would be appreciated so I can plan for a variety or routes, stops or side diversions.
We're trying this on nearly a shoestring realizing gas will be a fortune but it has been a lifelong dream to drive across country. I've been south and east and now head West. Who knows maybe Alaska can be another long trip for retirement!