Have you considered liquidating collections or dealer stock lately?

[grasswire]

Does the downturn in the economy make you think about the possibility that your collections or dealer stock in collectibles/antiques/vintage might well be liquidated before their value goes south?

I just seriously started thinking about that today. Do I really want 12,000 pieces of sheet music in my basement and many thousands of post cards when food shortages are causing hoarding and rationing already?

Opinions?

[brer cat]

1. My sister and I are closing our antique/used book shop at the end of May.

We need to reduce our fixed-cost exposure. We don't sell ANYTHING that people MUST have, so we have no chance with prices of necessities going through the roof. All furniture, most smalls, and most books will go at bargain prices. We will keep some of our better smalls and my wonderful collection of vintage children's books for a while. We can do antique shows if we wish, sell some on-line if it seems worth the effort. We will keep no more than we can manage at home...no storage fees.

We have not begun to see the bottom of our economy...as long as energy prices rise, we face higher prices for everything we need. I don't know your situation, but we are going to spend far more time growing our own food, canning and freezing than trying to sell collectibles in a down market. And we would rather have space for storing that food than collectibles that we might not sell for years.

Good luck to you. It's very hard to make these decisions, especially since most of us have never lived through such a down-turn.

[grasswire]

2. thank you for your report

Of course, one man's sacrifice sale is another's score. That's the hard reality.

[yy4me]

3. We were in the Antiques business for 25 years and actually

earned a living that way. Specialized in Furniture. Now I doubt we could sell anything. All our regional shops are suffering, can't find anything, can't sell anything.

I feel sorry for the dealers. Gas prices through the roof, miles to travel and time spent looking for stock one place or another. I'm glad we closed our shop when we did. Although the decision then had nothing to do with the economy, we could not make it today.

I sold the scrap gold and silver I had accumulated through the years. Wasn't much but I felt that the jeweler to whom I sold may not have the money to buy in the not-to-distant future. Since they have to hold on to the scrap for 2 weeks before they can send it to a refiner, I can see the possibility of a refusal to buy.

Who knows what to do. If I had anything I wanted to sell, I'd start now, especially if the item had a very small and defined group of collectors.

[grasswire]

4. was talking today to a dealer...

...who has been in the same antique mall I'm in for ten years. He says that he and his partner have been doing pretty well at various table sales or flea markets, where ya rent a table for the day. Much better than the retail space at the antique mall, he says.

FWIW.