Jan and John Maggs Antiques

Mark it up!

As many of you are aware, last month we offered special discounts on a few selected pieces, hoping to stimulate sales and to reduce our inventory at the end of the business year. It appears that this, our first "sale", was a great success. It's likely that we'll repeat it next December.

As we considered our sales figures for the month and how they came about, we were reminded of an evening a few years ago, when we were invited to dinner by two friends at the end of the first day of a show. Their home was nearby, and it seemed like a pleasant way to unwind at the end of a long day. It was a quiet gathering - the four of us and another couple, also dealers, rather more prominent than the two of us, and much more up-market. As the evening went on and glasses of wine were consumed, conversation moved to a topic of concern to us all, namely, what should a dealer do with items which have proven slow to sell. We admitted that we sometimes sold things at a loss, rather than tying up working capital in a poor investment.

"Oh, I never do that," the dealer said. "If I have a piece that hasn't sold after one or two showings, I raise the price - and I keep raising it until it sells."

This theme was echoed in another conversation, which occurred in our shop a few weeks ago. Two regular customers, who came to the area from New York and who had found us several years ago through our website, were talking with us about our website. "I want to buy everything on your site. Not only is everything great, it's so reasonably priced. It's obvious that you're not charging enough. You ought to be making more money."

This was a concept that seemed worth considering. We kept quiet and continued to listen.

"What you need is a second website. Keep your current site for people who know you, but launch a second site, where everything is priced much higher than the things in your shop. You'll attract a whole new group of customers."

"In New York," he continued, "people expect to pay a lot of money for things, and if they don't, they assume that they're no good. So, you should have a website just for those people. Raise the prices and I'll bet you sell."

When we recall this conversation, we look at each other and smile. Perhaps we're naïve, and perhaps were missing out on a fortune but, to tell the truth, we enjoy keeping our prices low, so that we can keep things moving, keep our shop and show booths looking fresh, and be able to buy more stuff. We love selling to retail customers, but we also enjoy selling to dealers, and our pricing is an important factor in this aspect of our business.

We thank you for being our customers - despite our humble outlook.

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