Parking Lot Sale Season Starts at the Antique Shop

We have started our parking lot sales at the shop. We have items from the store, furniture that needs some TLC as well as good usable furniture and much more.

Many of the dealer's and consignor's from the shop participate and it is also open to the community to bring their stuff and a table and set up shop. There is a $5 fee for setting up but it is well worth it. We get a lot of traffic and have a great time.

The June sale is on the 13th from 10 am to 4 pm. The sale is in the shop parking lot behind the building so you need to park across the street.

If you are interested please call and reserve a space or just come on down and find some great bargains.

You never know what you will find!

I still have room in the store for dealer booth rental. I am looking for antiques, collectibles and quality crafts.

We are in the process of opening up the basement where you can find bargains on items, mainly furniture that need a coat of paint or refinishing and other items that need small repairs or just don't meet my QC for wares in the shop.

Classes start this week at my antique shop in Lenexa, Kansas

This week we kick off our monthly classes at the antique shop.

Thursday January 22 at 7 pm. we will make an altered art valentines day card using vintage graphics that I have.

If you are interested in attending please call and let us know so that we know how many kits to make. The fee is $6.00 for supplies.

913-825-1938

All classes will be on the 4th Thursday of the month at 7 pm.

Next month we will make a memory pillow.

The antique shop address is 9230 Pflumm Road in Old Town Lenexa, Kansas. Parking is behind the store.

Happy Holidays To You All

Happy Holidays to all who take the time to visit and read my rambling blog.

May next year bring us jobs, a better economy, health and happiness.

From my family to yours,
Michelle

P.S. Starting tomorrow.... Dec. 22 all holidays items in the live antique shop are 10% off.

9230 Pflumm Rd. Lenexa, KS

We Have Been Open 5 Weeks and I Love the Feedback

The shop has been open for 5 weeks now and the feedback has been amazing.

"It looks like Grandma's house" and I guess it would since the house/shop was built in 1920 and still retains the original woodwork, pocket doors, inset glass front cabinets and hardwood floors. The kitchen, even though it has been redone in white formica still has the original pantry lined in bead board. I put shelves in the bead board lined broom closet and use it for display too.

We held our first free appraisal clinic last week and it was a huge success even though the weather was a bit nasty.

Our November class will be "How to sell online" I don't have date set as of yet but will get that decided on next week. Of course this is free to the public.

Yesterday I finished my candy counter with a few of the popular yummy candies and of course Double Bubble Bubble Gum. I will soon be adding a "fudge of the week" which will be a speciallty fudge made by a local candy maker. I will have only one pan of fudge and it will be available until sold out then you have to wait until the next week for a new flavor. I also have sunflower seeds, trail mix, chips and biscotti.

New inventory for last week includes Victorian antiques and English antiques. As soon as my new website is up I will be adding some of these items for purchase online.

Next week we will start bringing out the Christmas items and begin our holiday decorating. I can't wait to work on my windows for the holidays. The store will be amazing. We have a Dept. 56 Santa's Village which will be on display and also for sale. It will be stunning.

I promise to get photos of the shop uploaded next week, they are at the shop on the shop computer.

My Live Antique Shop is Now Open in Lenexa, Kansas

We are located at 9230 Pflumm Road in Lenexa, Kansas। I will post some photos soon, they are on my computer at the store. I still have dealer space available but it is going quickly, I accept consignments in the shop especially that of local artists, I would love to have some folk art pieces or handcrafted furniture pieces. Yet I am open to seeing what you have.

On Oct। 18 we are having a "community garage sale" in the shed behind the shop. Many people are bringing items to sell. We will also be recruiting members for FOOT or Friends of Old Town. On Oct. 23rd. I am doing a free appraisal clinic at the shop from 7-8:30 pm. Additional classes and community activities will be on a signboard in front of the store and here on my blog. We are working with a group of families who have kids and adult children with special needs and hopefully our first project will be creating beautiful Christmas ornaments that will be for sale in the shop.

I welcome any group who needs a place to meet in the evenings or Sunday to my shop। I want to give back to the community and this is just another way I can do that.

Oh my gosh what an adventure this has been। Many late nights getting inventory cleaned and priced. Obsessing over the way furniture and display fixtures were placed. Ironing aprons, doilies, table linens, cleaning windows, cleaning up from the road construction and the dust created from that, cleaning up from the leaking roof.... and on and on. I loved every moment of it and it has been very well worth the time spent.

I still have SO much more inventory to bring into the shop. My consignments have been wonderful from a Tom Seely sleigh bed to Bart the stuffed bear (he is pretty fabulous).
I kept somewhat of a journal about my experience of the month and a half it took for me to get to the point I was ready to open the doors and will work on getting that posted along with photos of the store।

My website is still being redesigned but I have found a terrific young man who is doing an amazing job and I hope to have the new site online in November with loads of new inventory.

We Are Opening A Live Store In the KC Metro Area

My Granny's Attic Antiques and Collectibles is going LIVE.... if you live in the Johnson County Kansas area and are looking to rent "booth" space please contact me.

This is not going to be your traditional antique mall with partitioned off sections, garage sale stuff and oodles of trashy crafts. Our shop will be set up much as a department store with your kitchen section, tableware, textiles, bathroom and vanity, etc.

I have a relatively new line of clothing Muze Clothes that we will carry as well as items from Funky People. Wonderful scented soaps and lotions and much more.

We will have a "recycle center" an area with used, not vintage, clothing, good used small electronics and furniture items.

There will be an antique resource library where you can come in and research you antiques and collectible using our resource books and once or twice a month we will hold classes on a particular topic relating to antiques and memorabilia.

I am also hoping that we will be able to lure unknown artist's in to sell their works especially outsider art or tramp art. I have always wanted an outsider art gallery.... this might be it.

I go into this with very mixed emotions. I am finally expanding my business and getting my inventory out of my home, I will be able to reclaim some of my space at home. But after working at home for 8 years it will be difficult to get up and go to work everyday.

The online shop will of course still be around.

If you are ever in this neck of the woods please drop by. The address will be here on the blog as well as the website.

Read an Interview That I Did....Interview With An Antique Dealer

Nancy has several great websites and blogs.

She recently interviewed me on what it is like being an antique dealer. As usual I tell it like it is and be sure to read some of the other interviews she has done.

I Will No Longer Make Referrals To Craigslist To Sell Items

The other day I was trying to post a few items to craigslist and as soon as I would get them posted they would get "flagged" taken off of the list. This continued, even after I changed wording, read all of the TOS, Terms of Use, etc.

I ran this through their forum and after being treated rather rudely, I started looking at some of the listing and noted that the same people tend to have numerous listings on the craisglist site.

There is no policing of who is flagged and who isn't. If your post is flagged it is removed... no questioned asked and it is the user's that do the flagging.

For many years I have recommended this as a site to sell your antiques, collectibles and memorabilia items but no longer. I do not recomment using this forum, it has a Gestapo feel and I think that the time has come for it to dissappear.

I am in the process of creating a venue for people to sell antiques, collectibles and memorabilia for a very small fee. I will be the only "monitor" and it will be a fair and respectable place to do business.

I expect to have it up and running in a couple of weeks.

My online antique shop site shoots craps during the holiday season

I am so upset over the fact that my website is not fully functioning at the busiest time of year.

It started out 5 months ago as a simple redesign of the website and has turned into a complete mess that I am being billed for.

My side menu is gone... where, I don't know but I cannot get it to reappear. I have not been able to add new inventory for all these months either.

So if you happen to need something for the holidays please email me and I will see if I have it in stock.

I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused any of my regular customers.

What Is Up With the Postal Rate Increase?

I realize that prices go up. I mean we are paying almost $4.00 for a gallon of gas. Thank goodness I work from home and a tank of gas will last me about a month.

But this Post Office rate increase is horrible if you ship packages. They are doing what UPS, Fed Ex and DHL have always done, charge by volume instead of weight. But they have gone overboard with it. A package that used to cost me $7.00 to ship through USPS now is double that amount plus insurance. At least with the other guys they cover you for $100 in insurance.

I raised the rates on my website when the postage rates went up but I think I am going to lower them back to the old rate and ship through DHL instead. I will also implement free shipping with a certain dollar amount purchase, I have not decided yet what that will be. It isn't fair to my customer's to have to pay such a HUGE shipping cost.

It will be interesting to see if the Post Office looses any shipping business or if they will increase their services.

Seven experts say objects not genuine antiquities - News

Seven experts say objects not genuine antiquities

This is in reference to the Tseng Family Collection of Chinese Antiquities in the Oviatt Library at California State University, Northridge.

What a shame, who got scammed was it the family who owned these items or the library? This just goes to show you must do your research before you make a large purchase.

What Is An Antique Dealer To Do?

Where does my responsibility as an online antique dealer end and the responsibility of the customer begin?

I have been selling through my own online shop for 7 years, prior to that I had an antique store and sold on eBay. I loved the customer interaction with the store life got in the way and we had to close it. Selling on eBay became a huge problem just because of the way eBay is going.

I have learned many lessons selling through my own website but for the most part the customer's have been amazing and I have had very few problems.

When I first started the website I automatically tacked on the cost for insurance, this was a carry-over from my eBay days, but I had quite a few complaints from customer's so I made purchasing insurance an option. On occasion if I was shipping something really fragile I would go ahead and pay for the insurance out of my pocket just to be on the safe side and there were a few times where this was a good thing.

UPS owes me a few hundred dollars for items I insured that got demolished in transit and they did not make good on the insurance I purchased but that is just their way.

But what do I do if someone makes a substantial purchase on a non-fragile item and then says it has not been delivered to them, yet the Post Office shows that the item was delivered? What is my responsibility in this situation? They opted to not purchase insurance on the item and I have proof of delivery.

If you live in a neighborhood where packages are apt to get stolen from your doorstep then I recommend you purchase insurance on purchases. As a seller I cannot know what your neighborhood is like. Or do like many of my customer's and have the packaged delivered to you at work.

I really need some help on this because I do not know what to do. Am I being scammed? It has happened to me before. I appreciate all input on this situation.

Create an inventory of your antiques, collectibles and memorabilia FREE

It is very important to catalog your antiques, collectibles and memorabilia. As well as anything that you own of value or items that, in the event of a disaster, you might be called upon to itemize.

Believe me, in the heat of the moment, it is difficult to remember what you owned much less how much you paid for it.

You can now use this free program on my antique shop site to catalog you items room by room. You can then either print it out or store it on your computer and as you acquire new items you can upload the list to this program and add to it.

This was provided by an insurance group who is no longer around and I have been looking for this software for quite sometime.

So please feel free to visit this page on my shop site and start getting your items listed.

There are no strings attached, I promise but feel free to shop after you get your goods listed.

Create an inventory of your antiques, collectibles and memorabilia FREE"

Good Auction Season is Here

There are auctions year-round but the warm weather brings out the terrific auctions. I'm talking about the all day, stand in the sun out in a field, pee behind a bush auction. NO BUYER'S PREMIUM auctions.

I find some of my best items at auctions that last all day, if it is raining the deals are even better.

We also take more buying trips during the warm weather and you never know what you are going to stumble upon when you are out and about.

You might consider just taking a short day trip to some town near you and pick up a local paper to see if there are any auctions or sales that sound promising. It might prove to be well worth you time and effort.

I always come back more relaxed and ready to tackle the chores that are waiting at home for me.

How the Find the Value of Your Antiques, Collectibles and Memorabilia

So you have decided which method you will use to sell your antiques and collectibles now you just need to determine the value of the pieces. I have quite a few resources on my website that you can use to find the value but I will also give you some tips below.

If you want the value to insure an item I recommend getting a written appraisal. This way if you do need to make a claim on this item you already have the appraisal in place. If you want to find the sale price of an item then you will need to do some research.

Get our and visit some antique shops and see what the same or similar items are selling for in your area. This is especially helpful if you are planning on selling through the local newspaper.

If you are going to sell your wares online you need to research what you have so that you can write a good description of the item. There are books on just about every type of antique and collectible so your first stop should be the local library or large chain bookstore.

Once you know what you have you can then look online and see what others are selling the same or similar items for. If you are going to sell your wares on eBay look and see what it is selling for there. Don’t look at what folks are asking for a particular item, look at the closed auctions and see what prices the item has brought in the recent past. Some of the large live auction houses will post their closed auction prices. These prices include the buyer’s premium which is a cost the auction house charges the buyer on top of the closing auction price. The buyer’s premiums have gotten out of control and some houses charge as much as 40%

You can always look in published price guides to get a “guide” on what something might bring but remember that price guides are simply that…. Guides to prices. This is often referred to as “book value.” I am a tad cynical about book values and feel that price guides are simply a means of running the price up on a particular line of antiques and collectibles.

How to Sell Your Antiques, Collectibles and Memorabilia

I get at least 20 requests a day from folks looking to sell their antiques, collectibles, memorabilia and assorted other items. They are usually asking me to purchase these items, and on a very rare occasion I have purchased from such solicited requests, but for the most part I do not.

Why, you may ask.

• The request is not accompanied with a selling price, including shipping. It is not my place to make an offer on these items. The seller needs to know how much they want.
  Those that do come with a selling price as asking me to pay the retail price for the item. This is not feasible. I pay wholesale otherwise I cannot make a profit. This is my business, how I pay bills, and if I cannot make a profit I might as well just hang it up. If I am selling an item for $12.00 I cannot pay $12.00 plus shipping for the same or similar items. This is not good business sense.
• The last time I made a purchase, sight unseen other than the submitted photos, when I received the set of dinnerware most of it was chipped and broken. I had repeatedly asked the seller about flaws and she adamantly claimed there were none. Therefore, most of the dinnerware was unsellable and I lost quite a bit of money on the deal.
• Finally, I love to go to auctions and sales to purchase wares for my online antique shop and buying blindly does not afford me this opportunity.

So, what is the best way to get the maximum for your antiques, collectibles and memorabilia?

Selling through your hometown newspaper is still the best place to start, run a classified ad. Place your ad so that it will run for at least one Sunday and I will almost guarantee that it will sell. You will still need to do your homework to find out what the best price is but this method will bring you the most money for your item. Cost – about $25.00 for a good ad running for one week.

Most areas have at least one consignment shop that sells a little bit of everything. Where I live we have several and I sell antique furniture through one with great success. They do charge 50% but I am able to set the price that I want to get and whether or not I will take less on the item. Most of the shops take in small items as well as large furniture pieces. Be sure to read the contract that you sign, and if they don’t have a contract ask for something in writing specifying the percentage that they take. Just look in the phone book for Consignment Stores or Shops. Cost – 40% - 50% of the sale price.

Live auction houses are a good way to sell items especially if you have something of significant value. Auction houses often hold auctions in one particular category of antique or collectible these are heavily advertised so that they bring in bidder’s that are interested in the collection. They also have auctions with a hodge podge of goodies. Some towns have local weekly auctions, these are fun to sell at as well as attend. Some will allow you to set a reserve but you then run the risk of the item not selling. There is no way of knowing what your item will bring at auction but if you are just looking to get rid of a houseful of items this is a great way to do just that. Cost – 10% - 40%.

eBay stores are a growing small business opportunity and most areas have someone who will sell your items on eBay. You simply drop the item off and they take care of writing the description, taking the photos, packing and shipping. When your item is sold they mail you a check. Once again, be sure that you understand the fees involved. Some places charge a per item fee as well as an end of sale percentage. Be sure that you have these fees in writing before you leave your items with the business. You can set a reserve price, this is the minimum amount that you will take for the item or you can just take your chances on the eBay Gods and let fate take control. eBay is a fickle selling venue and you can never be sure what an item will bring or even if it will sell. Costs – varies from business to business.

Sell the item yourself on one of the online auction sites. It is not difficult to do but you do need a digital camera to get photos of your item posted with your auction. You need to write a very detailed description, including all flaws and defects but highlight the wonderful characteristics of your wares. Take good quality photos. Remember, shoppers cannot touch the item you are selling so you need to allow them to “touch” it through your photos and words. Cost – about 12% of the selling price in auction fees.

You can sell your items through an online antiques and collectibles shop through consignment or direct posting. I offer an online consignment where for a small fee you send me photos and a description, I post the item to my website and you take care of customer relations and getting the item to the consumer. I have several regular sellers’ using this method on my antique shop site. I have been offering this service for 4 years and have noticed more and more online shops starting to offer the same service. Just be sure that the shop you pick is established and not going anywhere once you get your items online and have paid the fee. Cost - $5.00 - $10.00 per item.

Online classified ads such as Craig’s List. The service is free and you can advertise it in your local area. I am not sure how many people actually make purchases through this venue but it is similar to placing an ad in your newspaper. Live Deal is an online classified ad service with a small fee if your item sells.

As you can see there are a great number of methods to get rid of your items. Some require more effort on your part than others and some will bring you more money than others but choices abound.

I don’t recommend selling to a dealer unless they are actively soliciting for specific items and please always include a dollar amount when you do ask them to purchase your wares.

Next I will tell you how to find the value of your antiques, collectibles and memorabilia.

Antique Glassware

If you are looking for information on Antique American Glassware please go to the new extension of my online antique shop, the antique and information center.

I just added several articles on Antique American glassware companies and several types of glass ware made in America. I will be adding more as time permits.

Good Antique, Collectible and Memorabilia Shopping This Week

I have a great week of shopping for items for the shop. Over the next few days I have about 8 boxes and 5 or 6 bags filled with goodies to get ready to post online.

Also, when I went to the doctor on Wed. to make sure that my pneumonia was cleared up my Dr. of 15 years, gave me some antique and vintage medical books to sell for her. These books belonged to her grandmother and when Dr. F. started medical school she gave the books to her. They all pertain to sex. One of the books is dated in the late 1800s and the other two are from the 1940s. One is all about sex and the married couple.

She also included "Margaret Mays Twelfth Birthday", it is a little booklet from Kotex dated in the 1930s or 1940s (I don't have the books in here with me.) Girls, you know what this little book is about. It will not be for sale, I am going to frame it for her but only after I make a copy for myself.

I purchased several vintage composition dolls, one is a Madame Alexander Baby McGuffey. I also have Tubsey and Cheerful Tearful. I have quite a few pieces of vintage glassware from the 1950s such as large glass bowls for potato chips, I have a porcelain poker chip bucket, 8 Anchor Hocking Nautical themed drinking glasses and scads of other items.

I purchased some new reproduction colored aluminum drinking tumblers in a carrying basket, I have the pitchers and ice cream dishes that match. I love these.. I still have my Granny's vintage colored aluminum glasses that we use all the time. that is why I could not pass these up.

Be sure to check into the shop often, as I am always adding new items. Also the vintage hats will be posted this week. I finally got all of the photos and descriptions written. These are vintage hats that I have taken on consignment and I can't wait for you to see them.

I Survived Another Holdiay Season in the Antique Retail Business

I love the hustle and bustle of the holiday shopping season. It can get a tad hectic when you are the retail store and all of your seasonal help has grown up and have "real" jobs with "nicer" bosses. But we survived and I think that everyone got their gifts in time for Christmas.... I haven't heard otherwise.

The vast majority of folks are amazing to work with and my regular customer's know that I will do whatever it takes to get their orders to them as quickly as possible. 6 trips to the Post Office a day was the norm there for a few days and I even went looking for a few special gift items for some customer's.

Each year there seems to be at least one person that is just insane... there is no other way to put it. They are rude, crude, out of control, insane.

This year a family had me send a gift to a woman. They did not want to pay to have it gift wrapped just a little note that it was from them with love. It was a $12 copper colored aluminum mold.

I wrapped it first in white tissue (I do this on all items) bubble wrap and then I wrapped it in a festive decorative paper. I attached a pretty card with the requested text in it. Packed it carefully and mailed it to the recipient.

Well, the next week I checked my email and there was one of the nastiest emails I have ever seen from this gift recipient. The mold is cheap looking, the wrapping looks like I took it out of the trash and I am an idiot.

I am pretty heavily medicated on cough medicine and Benadryl due to some nasty bug I had picked up so I decided that I really didn't want to deal with this wacko. I contacted the folks that bought the item and sent them the email. I asked them what they wanted me to do about it.

Later in the day I have 5 more emails from angry lady and no response from the customer. I decided I had better say something to her and told her that I would refund the full price plus shipping - TO THE PEOPLE THAT PAID FOR IT, but I needed my mold back ... in the same condition as when it was mailed to her. She responds that she is not going to do anything for me and that includes send the mold back.

I just took another swig of cough medicine and went back to bed.

What do you do with people like this? Obviously her family bought her a token gift, I have some beautiful copper molds on my website and they picked the least expensive one for her. Also, I was taught that it is the thought and not the gift so just accept it graciously and either re-gift it later or donate it to a charity.

When I opened my email the next day, there were at least 15 more emails from this loony toon. She was making personal attacks on me at this point and I was angry. She is the kind of person that will say these things in an impersonal forum such as email but I bet you dollars to donuts she would not make statements such as this to my face. She is a bitter, angry, no self-esteem, rude person.

I contacted DHL to see if they could pick the package up and send it back to me, sure they would but the nasty lady would not cooperate, she would not even sit the mold on her front porch for them to pick-up.

The end result was, I refunded the buyer all of his money while his mother stole my mold. I did tell her son that he needs to ask her to donate it to a charity so that someone who would appreciate it could have it.

Later I began thinking... this might be a scam. Person #1 buys a gift for person #2, #2 hates it and goes through the above process until the seller just gives in (like I did) and lets them keep the item and they get their money back.

In this case we are not talking about anything worth much money but it is the principal and it could evolve into "keeping" wares that are valuable. Legally I did not have to refund the money until I had the item in my possession, I was just too sick to fight them on it but be aware of situations such as this especially if the recipient is in North Carolina.

I also believe in Karma, so what this woman did and said WILL come back to her threefold.

Watch for a redo of my online antique shop site

The new year will bring a new look for the antique shop site. Be sure to check in for all of the changes.