Don’t be afraid to ask “is there anything you can do on the price?”
Most dealers in the Salvage/Reclamation/Antiques & Vintage trade will buy and sell to other dealers and barter. It doesn’t hurt to ask and some even expect a barter, if a deal can be done it is better to ask rather than walk away. Sometimes the dealer will only have a small margin or know that the item will sell for that price so they will hang onto it rather than barter but it’s worth a try. Everyone loves a bargain!
The first time I had a stall at Hatfield House Antiques Fair, the lady next to me was selling all of her grandfathers belongings that had been in storage. She had some amazing pieces but there was a chair I kept looking at all day. I thought it would be a couple of hundred pounds and to be honest I didn’t need it and I was there to sell not to buy for myself! At the end of the day as her partner was loading the van we got chatting and I said “oh I have fallen in love with the chair your dog was sitting on earlier it is beautiful”, she said “why didn’t you say?” She then went on to tell me should would have taken £30 for it as she didn’t want to have to keep doing the fairs! Unfortunately it had been loaded onto the van first so I missed out when I could have had a barter (lesson learned)!
It isn’t uncommon in this trade to have pieces for a year or longer, due to the variety of objects we find, and differing tastes and styles of our clients we have to wait for that one buyer to come along and fall in love, see a piece they have been looking for or just see something that speaks to them and they have to have it! We love feedback it really helps the business and gives us insight into what our customers and potential customers are looking for.
So remember if you’re unsure about the price or whether to barter just ask – they can always say no.
Find out more about Leigh and her business, The Salvage Seller, here:
https://www.stalbansbusinesses.co.uk/find-a-st-albans-business/interiors/the-salvage-seller/