posted 11-09-1999 10:20 PM            

1. A bunch of different spoons tied up in a bundle so you can't see what they are. Or, even worse, rubber banded or wired together.

2. Having to get someone to open a case just to convince yourself that the black silver-plate teapot isn't an early
   American treasure.

3. Having to apologize to the person with the keys when you don't buy anything.

4. Seeing pieces in your pattern turned into rings, mobiles, magnifying glasses, etc.

5. Fake salt spoons, to go with your reproduction salts.

6. Tenacious adhesive stickers

These are just a few of mine.

What turns you off?

posted 11-10-1999 12:33 PM            

1. Dealers who insist that the newly issued pieces of Art Nouveau patterns are "just like the old ones."

2. "The monogram can be easily removed" or "I can make it look just like new."

3. Dealers who explain that recasts have soft details because they've been polished off over the years.

4. Sellers on Ebay who can't be bothered to list sizes or describe/show the markings.

posted 11-17-1999 01:25 PM            

"It is marked $x but 'I can do better'."

Hey this means the asking price was never $x and has always been the 'ICDB' price to any warm body who walks in the door. This particularly irks me, especially, when we have never met, we have only said 'hello' and then apparently based on my appearance the dealer decides that I will (or will not) require a discount. Dealers/sellers please don't try to convince me that you are giving me "such a deal"; I know better and so should you. It is not such a special price if it is capricious.

Dealers, mark your merchandise fairly. You are entitled to make a fair profit. Make big profit because the item is priced fairly and you purchased it at such a low price. The buyer will pay only what they consider to be a fair price. So dealers/sellers, know what a fair price is and then mark the item with that fair price. The buyer only needs to hear/see the "real price;" anything else will cause the buyer to put the item down and move on.

Dealers/sellers, if the price is close but not close enough, trust that the buyer will let you know. And buyers, if it is fairly marked, then don't insist on a better price because that is what you have learned that dealers do. When you see a fair price and you want the item, then pay for it!

Dealers/sellers, you have created this unnecessary dance between the buyer and yourself. Sell what you know. If you don't know what you are selling then do your homework. And if you can't do the homework, then just put a reasonable markup on the item and get it out of your inventory as quickly as you can. When the item has a reasonable starting price, time won't be wasted on unnecessary negotiations, your inventory will turn over quickly, there will be a happy customer (who will return) and you will make money.

Remember, the 'marked' or first price quoted should be the real price and not an arbitrary starting point attached to a false negotiation.
Collectors need to spend their time searching, finding and paying for the stuff they collect.
Dealers need to spend their time searching, finding and paying for the stuff they can sell.
Any time spent by either of us on falsely inflated prices and empty ceremonious negotiations are a waste of our time and an unnecessary distraction from our separate but interlinked goals.

It takes time to do what each does. Time is limited for both of us. We need to mutually use our time better. I want what I collect at a fair price; you want to sell at profit; we are not dating, so lets skip the dance.

posted 06-17-2000 07:44 PM            

-It often seems as if people don't take enough time to research makers (for instance, I often see ebay sellers mistake the Webster Co. mark for Whiting M'f'g Co's mark).

-Cases in shops: every time I go into a shop, I feel like a pest because I'm always saying, "Could I see something in a case?" While I understand the threat of theft, it's a thorn in a jewelry/silver collector's side.

-Items in cases with the price tags "properly" turned upside-down. I guess this is in keeping with antique shop etiquette, but its another annoyance, as I often feel like a contortionist while twisting and bending to see a price so I don't have to pester the shopkeeps. Or, I repeatedly bump my glasses on the display case door.

-Dealers who drastically overprice their item; for instance, dealers who think (or claim) anything sterling is automatically valuable, whether it's a thin, unappealing teaspoon by a lower-quality maker or a some exotic serving piece.

-Dealers who hang on to their stuff for years and years and years without selling it, but also without bothering to change the price. I've many price tags which were clearly several years old, for the ink was hardly visible.

-People who evidently don't want to sell their stuff; they know what it is but yet it's priced way too high. I suspect they just want to show off their items and/or their knowledge; I see them there, proud as a peacock, looming over their items.

Some things I like...
-People who don't know the difference between an undesirable piece and a rare piece, but who price the rare items as cheap items.

-Dealers who underprice an item because they don't know what it is.

-A dealer with an American mixed metals piece who says, "Well, it says sterling, but that looks like copper there, so it must be plate," and proceeds to price it as a worn plated piece. (Note: I keep hoping this will happen to me, but it hasn't yet).

What do you like about silver shopping?