House Call For The Local Antique Dealer

I live in Hagerstown Md, a place that has always been nicknamed " The Hub ". Which actually for today, means in the center of things. I can search for fabulous antiques and collectibles in the tri state area easily in one day instead of traveling days to visit one antique mall. I am well known in the area, due to the fact that my husband founded Beaver Creek Antique Market, which at one time ( before he sold his share of the mall ) was one of the most visited antique malls on the East Coast. A house call is always a welcomed call. It means I am invited to go to the person's house and see what they want to sell. Sometimes, instead of buying, I give advice as to where to send their items to auction and so forth. You never know what you might find at a house call. Although I am always excited when going on a house call, 9 times out of 10 the call will end up with me just giving advice. But, with patience, and kindness ( it pays to listen ) , the house call sometimes is a call back, meaning they call me back to the home to sell me the items after all. Here's some advice to those of you that might someday be asked to go to a house to buy. Open your ears and listen...and talk to the people, not at them. And, if the item is a cherished family heirloom that they truly believe should be in a museum, and you know it is a common item, not rare...let them down gently...tell the good points of the item first...then be truthful. After all, families do cherish items because so and so declared this and that. There's always that phase, " I got this from my grandmother and she would be 100 years old now if she was alive..she lived to be 80 "...well, she could have brought the item when she was 79...which in most cases, the item declared to be so old, is actually later 1900's pre 2000. Sometimes I will make an offer on an item, and if the person hesitates, I tell them to write my offer down..I give them my business card..and they can call me back if they find no one will top my price..sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. So, there you have it. This blog is to help those of you that are thinking of having someone over to buy your things, and it is to help those of you that are in the antique busines too...what to say and when to say it. My next blog will be about one of my favorite house calls and what I found...be sure to watch for it.