Just because it’s old

You hear it all the time.

‘Oh, your business is money for old rope. You get a load of old stuff, clean it up and sell it for big money, making huge profits.’

Oh yeah. If only…

We scramble around dark barns, unkempt houses, and dirty garages. We lift, lug and rupture for a day, moving items often heavier than is healthy for us. We then clean, repair, polish, advertise and insure said items.

We bring dirty old metalware and discarded ceramics back from the brink, so they shine and stand out in cabinets and on display shelves at fairs.

Along the way, we try to explain to potential sellers that just because they’ve ‘seen one like it on telly or selling online for silly money’ doesn’t mean their example is worth what they might think. (It hardly ever is, to be honest.)

Also, people seem to think that antique dealers should pay retail rather than trade/wholesale prices

for items. (We can’t think of another trade or industry that is expected to do that.)

And lastly, just because its old, it doesn’t mean it’s valuable.

OK, whinge over. Back to the job we love.