Antiquing Orgy, Part III: Avoiding Cat Fights

I'll assume that you already read Part I and Part II, correct? Don't make me do a recap, bitches.

I thought I'd dedicate a post to the touchy-feely part of the antiquing orgy weekend. No - it wasn't that kind of orgy. I know what you were thinking, Mom. God - she is such a perv. So embarrassing.

Anyway...the best part of the weekend (besides the friendship, camaraderie and post-junking happy hour on Saturday) was having instant feedback about potential purchases. A quick nod or shake of the head told me whether or not I should take the plunge. Then, we would quickly discuss what the price would be in our shops. Of course, we have different customers with different styles, so we all had our own opinions on how much to pay for something and subsequently, how to price it.

Whenever I shop with other dealers, particularly those with a similar style as mine, there is always the looming fear of getting into a tug-of-war match over something that we both want to buy. But that didn't happen. We all held to the general rule of antique dealers on the hunt:

Whoever sees it first gets dibs.

And if two people see it at the same time, they fight to the death using bakelite-handled butter knives.

There was one instance where Allison, Sue and I saw a $25 retro kitchen table at the same time in an antiques mall in Adamstown. It was shabby, but it was priced right. And we all wanted it (if it fit in our vehicles). But the more we looked at it, we all decided to pass. Cat fight averted.

Other highlights:

I met Steph from everythingvintagesteff at Renninger's in Kutztown. She was selling lots of cool stuff that was right up my alley (if you ever make it there, be sure to visit her inside the pavilion at booth #116). Her aunt sells PRISTINE vintage linens in the space next to her. She must have the patience of a saint to soak, iron and fold hundreds of tablecloths, napkins, runners and hankies. Bless her sweet soul.

We met up with Michelle from Perch Home and her friend Sandra from Find and Go Seek. It is funny, since the first time we ever met them was at that very same market in 2008 when my sisters and I were selling our vintage finds at Kutztown. Michelle and Sandra bought all of our best stuff that day! Such good taste, those ladies.

And here is the kicker - I knew that Michele & Sandra would be visiting Kutztown on Friday, so I emailed Michele on Thursday night to ask if she was shopping for anything special. Because I was sure that whatever she was looking for at Kutztown could easily be found in my looks-like-an-outtake-from-Hoarders garage. Michele frantically looked at my blog, picked out a few things and I loaded them in the car. I arrived at Kutztown on Friday morning, delivered the goods to her Find & Go Seek bus, and collected my dough. I was not planning to make money during my flea market weekend, but it goes to show you that never hurts to ask!

And so I started that first day of antiquing in the black instead of in the red for a change. Of course, that money was quickly squandered on everything that you saw in my last post.

And now I will leave you with one last tip...

Since there were several of us shopping together and we wanted to cover as many dealers as possible in a limited amount of time, it became increasingly necessary to have a means for bypassing certain dealers who were out of our price range.

We needed a key word that would notify everyone that it was time to move on to the next dealer. Like, now. What was the key word, you ask? It was "Rod", of course. Whenever one of us entered a dealer's space whose prices were too high for resellers like us, the first person to notice the outlandish prices would casually say a sentence with the name "Rod" in it. That would be the cue to immediately haul ass out of there and try to find a cheap-ass dealer who we could actually buy stuff from.

Some examples:

Hey look! I think Rod has one of these.

Rod would love this stuff. (Definitely the most popular among our group.)

Rod just called. He said to meet him at the sausage factory at 2:30.

Rod just texted me. He wants us to pick up some snoose.

I heard that Rod's insurance company just approved his penis reduction.

Thanks for following along with my three-part antiquing orgy posts. I hope that you are able to benefit from my sage advice.

Comments

[Michele O'Connor Dunn]

And once again, I come home from a very long and not so fun day, read your post and head off to bed with a huge smile on my face. Thank You!

[Deb @ Retreat]

OK, as if this wasn't funny enough, when I got to the 'snoose' part, I laughed. When we were at the Remnants of the Past show, we met a VERY nice gal who used to sell antiques in Orange {CA} whose business was called Snoose Boulevard. Or something similar. Had Snoose in it, and she had to explain WHAT that was and why she chose it. People are funny! And you, Coleen, are the QUEEN of funny. Can't wait to meet you in Yakima in August!

[Isabel ~ Maison Douce]

Love your tips, especially the code word one.... I may have to use that with my friends!!!!
Isabel

[deb]

Bernville has a nifty market on every wednesday - or it did many years ago. buildings have the standard farmers, the field has junk and yard salers. i got a terrific transferware platter from a gal for $4.
Bernville is not far west from Kutztown - you may need to go towards Reading and then head Northwest....

Long live Rod....

[pam]

You crack me up with the stories. Seriously, I'd love a trip through your garage, sadly, I live to far away.

[Jenny]

Good, cooperative junking partners are so great. I do not get people who can't share the wealth with the good scores! Sounds like you all had a blast. If you do make it out to Seattle this summer, you have to let Meghan and I know ... I have the feeling we'd all have a swell time making the yard sale rounds together!

[michelle]

Great shot of my armpit, Colleen! That really was a fun trip. My secret to avoiding catfights? Only buy things that no one else would even think of buying. Case in point - rusty-crusty thing in my fingers, which is now for sale in my space, labeled "rusty-crusty thing." I hope you have a great sale this weekend!