Buy what you like..
The past couple of weeks at our place have been a little crazy, in a good way mind you, busy and productive.
The main reason for our extreme busyness was the preparation of our first Canadian Antiques show and then the actual event which I am delighted to say was a huge success for us. Sure we made sales which is always great but so much more importantly we met so many wonderful people that weekend and rather excitingly a couple of those we met have already become very good clients.
Like the majority of antique dealers I am passionate about what I buy, what I mean by that is basically when at all possible I only buy what I like which to be honest is the majority of the time and luckily for me my tastes do change as styles come and go..
Not the best business logic I know, however my reasoning behind it has always been this.
When a client approaches me to buy something, I have to be absolutely confident and enthusiastic about the piece, then usually my enthusiasm spills over to the client.
If I'm not 100% happy with a something I will normally manage to undersell it or it will live with me for a while.
I was reminded of this during the antique show. A fabulously dressed older lady walked into my booth and headed directly to a wonderful oriental tea table I was showing. She and I both immediately knew she loved it and wanted it, later she told me that at this time she had no idea where in her amazingly decorated apartment (and that's a whole other story) she would put it. She sat in my booth for around half an hour contemplating where and if it would fit in.
Needless to say she purchased the table and I was fortunate enough to have the privilege of placing the table in it's new home and seeing it displayed how it should be.
This wonderful lady has very quickly become a valued client and each time we're in contact she mentions how much she loves the table.
That to me means so much more than just a sale and I'm sure there's moral in this story somewhere...
If you would like to see a small selection of our inventory please check out garycsharpe.com
The main reason for our extreme busyness was the preparation of our first Canadian Antiques show and then the actual event which I am delighted to say was a huge success for us. Sure we made sales which is always great but so much more importantly we met so many wonderful people that weekend and rather excitingly a couple of those we met have already become very good clients.
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| Preparation time |
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| Set up day at the show |
Like the majority of antique dealers I am passionate about what I buy, what I mean by that is basically when at all possible I only buy what I like which to be honest is the majority of the time and luckily for me my tastes do change as styles come and go..
Not the best business logic I know, however my reasoning behind it has always been this.
When a client approaches me to buy something, I have to be absolutely confident and enthusiastic about the piece, then usually my enthusiasm spills over to the client.
If I'm not 100% happy with a something I will normally manage to undersell it or it will live with me for a while.
I was reminded of this during the antique show. A fabulously dressed older lady walked into my booth and headed directly to a wonderful oriental tea table I was showing. She and I both immediately knew she loved it and wanted it, later she told me that at this time she had no idea where in her amazingly decorated apartment (and that's a whole other story) she would put it. She sat in my booth for around half an hour contemplating where and if it would fit in.
Needless to say she purchased the table and I was fortunate enough to have the privilege of placing the table in it's new home and seeing it displayed how it should be.
This wonderful lady has very quickly become a valued client and each time we're in contact she mentions how much she loves the table.
That to me means so much more than just a sale and I'm sure there's moral in this story somewhere...
If you would like to see a small selection of our inventory please check out garycsharpe.com
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