As Jason told you, this past weekend was our annual pilgrimage to the Nashville Flea Market. For me, it is a great opportunity to do a little spring cleaning to make more space on my shelves for better items. And once in a while, a nice piece will sell. My goal was to come back home with empty totes, but I know that is stuff of fantasy.

We were very fortunate to have a gorgeous weekend. Crowds were very steady throughout most of the days. As Jason told you, my dad and I had to man the booth on Friday due to his bout of Montezuma’s Revenge. As you may have noticed already in the blogs, Jason has been dealing largely in tools from one man's collection. He had planned on tagging some of his items on the first day, but that didn't happen.  I know next to nothing about the value of old tools. Since my brother was looking greener and greener, I made quick notes of some of the prices for his items on the tables. Of course, I had no clue as to the value of most of what I sold of his. I kept telling the folks buying his tools that what he doesn't know won't hurt him. I'll just hand him the cash and say we sold a lot of “things.”

Thankfully, Jason was back to near 100% by opening time on Saturday morning. Crowds were very good and sales were rather brisk. The cool thing about working with my brother is that we can draw several types of people to our booth. Where Jason has a lot of tools catching the eyes of men, I have a lot of glass, silver and antique items to keep the misses busy too. Yet there were a lot of women going through his boxes of tools and tool parts. It is amazing how so many things can be used for decorating and the creative juices were definitely flowing as I eavesdropped from time to time.  And in all honesty, I probably sold more glass to men than women.  I knew I wasn't weird.

One of the “trade secrets” that we use is to have certain items out in front of our booth to catch the eye of someone passing by. It may only take a quick glance to bring someone into our booth. They may not buy the thing that catches their eye, but they may buy something else. We were constantly moving our inventory to best attract potential customers. One of those items was a Coca Cola cast iron sign base that was used for either a lollipop coke sign or for a crossing guard sign at a school zone. Even though it didn't sell all weekend, it definitely stopped a lot of people in their tracks. Another eye catcher was a couple of large amberina Blenko pieces. Thankfully our booth was mostly in the shade of the shed roof, except for our front tables. The sunlight hitting those large glass pieces brought people in from booths in other sheds even. Again, even though they didn't sell, they definitely served their purpose. One final item that was used to attract attention (much to the chagrin of Jason) was a battery operated yodeling old lady. The face gestures and that song that just sticks in your head all day really drew attention as well as keeping the kiddos occupied while parents shopped. Somehow Jason sold this item while I was helping another customer. Now that I think about it, I bet he bought it, stuffed it in one of his boxes and is now on its way to the dump. Either way, I made a sale and it drew some people to our booth.

Finally, even though we made some extra money, what I took away from the weekend was a better knowledge of the business. There are dealers that specialize in certain items such as vintage clothes or antique radios. I am what is called a generalist. While I presently know more about glass than other vintage or antique items, I am constantly reading and studying about all aspects of the trade. It was fascinating talking about a tool collection with an elderly gentlemen that brought pictures of his collection to share with anyone that was interested. It was awesome to talk intelligently with another dealer about the arts and crafts movement and learn about other artisans of that era. And it was eye-opening to find out about the collectibility of vintage magazine advertising – just using the cool ads in frames for decorating. So next time I see a box lot of 1930's magazines, I will know the value may be inside the magazine and not in the name on the cover.

We would love to hear about your favorite flea market finds.  I know there are many stories that could be shared, so feel free to share yours in the comments below or on our facebook page.

As many of you know, this past weekend, Jacob and I set up a booth at the Nashville Flea Market.  This was our first time selling together as Rust and Relics Revival.  Many hours of work and preparation came down to this three day monthly sale held at the Nashville Fair Grounds.  Jacob and I sold here last Memorial Day too, but as separate companies.  Here’s a little bit about the weekend…

On Thursday, my dad (who came in town to help us sell) and I loaded up our truck.  Jacob was driving in town that afternoon and we met to set up.  Around 2pm or so, we were in the fairgrounds unloading our trucks.  Set up was pretty easy.  There was some threat of rain so we didn’t want to put out too much and run the risk of getting everything soaked.  We knew with the threat of rain, it wouldn’t take a long time to get the booths ready for action.  As we were setting up, as is customary, many other dealers were already going through our boxes seeing what we may have that they would want to purchase.  You see, a lot of action is taking place before the show among all of the dealers.  It’s almost its own economy.  Matter of fact, we talked to one of the dealers who we’ve seen many times.  He sets up a really small booth every month just to get in early every day (including Thursday).  He uses this time to hunt for deals and items that he thinks he will have an easy time reselling.  He gets free parking every day (typically $5 a day).  Most days he isn’t even manning his booth.  He has a phone number on a table so if anyone is interested in an item, they can call him and he’ll be there in a minute or so.  For him, these flea market weekends are all about finding mispriced items from other dealers.  To him, his booth fee (probably around $50 for the weekend) is completely worth all of the perks…even if he doesn’t sale a thing.  I can say I’ve never done this….but it’s not a bad idea.  After looking around a little bit too, we headed to the house.  That evening, we worked on a sign to hang over our booth that Jacob had made.  We’ve had many comments about our business cards and sign….well they were all created by Jacob.  We’re very proud of them.

Friday morning the show was from 8am to 5pm.  To beat the rush hour traffic, we left the house at 6am.  After arriving, we finished setting everything up.  We were ready to go by 8.  Unfortunately, there was one issue…I was sick at my stomach all morning.  I felt really nauseous.  I didn’t know if it was food poisoning, vertigo, a virus, allergies, or what.  I know this….it sure wasn’t a fun morning.  Friday morning, Jacob and I were making lots of sales, but I don’t remember much.  Every little bit I had to head to the bathroom.  I was sure I was going to throw up but never did….until….. (Due to the graphic nature of the following, this portion of the blog may not be suitable for all readers…you can just jump to the next paragraph).  I exploded!  It was the most violent bout of throwing up that I’ve had in a long time.  I really wanted to die for a while.  We are talking the movie “Sandlot” where after eating chew for the first time, all of the boys are on a spinning ride and none of them can hold it in any longer.  Thank goodness no one was in the bathroom at the time to hear the exorcism of Satan’s child from my body.   Even while all of this was going on Jacob kept the booth running.

Back to the action in the booth….I felt quite a bit better after my little “bout”.  Sales were still brisk.  After a time though, I started to feel bad again.  I was thinking “here we go again”.  Luckily, Mysti (my wife), my son, mom, and dad showed up.  Dad was there to assist in the booth.  Mysti and mom were there to do some shopping (there go my profits).  My son was there because he had to be.  Like most 13 year olds, he’d rather be on X-Box or playing sports.   Unfortunately, after just a little bit, I had to have my wife, mom, and son take me home.  The rest of my day was spent in bed or on the couch.  So I don’t know much more about the sale, other than Jacob and I did alright for our first day together.  I’m going to let Jacob tell you about Saturday and Sunday in his next blog.  I’m going to leave you with a few observations from this weekend.

1.        If a potential buyer tells you that “I’ll be back in a little bit to buy that” it probably won’t happen.  After countless times of being told that, only one person came back to actually purchase the item they were interested in.  Unfortunately I had already sold it.  This brings me to the 2nd point.

2.       As Mike Wolfe says, the time to purchase something you want is when you see it.  If you see something you’ve never seen before, chances of finding it again are slim.  Don’t regret not purchasing something that in your gut you know you should have.  I did that one time when I first started out.  I had the opportunity to purchase an old Pepsi machine for what I thought seemed like a cheap price, but the owner didn’t know if it worked or not so I passed.  I ended up thinking about it for a while. 30 minutes later I drove back to buy it.  Too late….it was gone.  I got home that day and found out that if the machine didn’t work, I would have still made about $400.  If it worked….well it would go up exponentially from there.  I should have followed my gut.

3.       The early bird USUALLY (not always) gets the worm.  Some of the best stuff sells on Friday morning.  Most of your serious collectors and dealers are out shopping on Friday morning to get the best of the best….however; it’s at the steepest prices.  As the weekend goes on, prices will drop, but so will the selection.  There are exceptions.  A dealer found a great hand hammered copper pot from the 1800’s on Sunday that many people passed over.  He could tell it was old.  He looked and looked with his jewelers loop and finally found a maker’s mark.  His $15 purchase will probably net him $500.  Those items are out there…but it takes a lot of work and digging (and a little luck). 

4.       There are some people who just kick tires.  No matter what you price something at, you can tell they just aren’t interested in actually buying that piece.  They may have the same thing and want to see what it’s worth.  They may just want to get an idea of value.  Could be as soon as you tell them, they realize that no matter what the price, even $1, they really don’t want the item.  This is just part of the selling process.

I love selling this stuff and money is only one aspect of it.  I love to talk to other collectors.  I love to tell the stories of these pieces.  I love hearing the buyer’s own stories.  I especially love to learn from long time collectors.  There is so much to learn from people who’ve devoted parts of their life to their collection.  That’s why we do this blog and website.  Please feel free to ask questions below in the comments or just tell us about your collections.  You may be able to network with someone else on here that has your same interests.  We can all learn from each other.

Jason

As you read the previous blog, my brother described how he ended up in this crazy world of antiques and collectibles.  You also heard how he is much smarter than me.  I will give him that.  I’m just thankful I was born with all the good looks!

I have to be honest.  When I heard that Jason lost his job in Tennessee, I was nervous for him.  I knew he would land on his feet.  But how long would that take?  And what would he do in the mean time to pay the bills?  When I heard he was going to yard sales and storage auctions, my feelings of empathy turned to feelings of hilarity!  I even rubbed salt in the wound by emailing him a clip of the theme song to “Sanford and Son.”  All the laughing came to an abrupt end when he told me what he bought and how much he sold it for on eBay.  I told you he got all the brains!

Thing is, I’m no dummy either.  Not long after I heard about his endeavors, I decided to try my hand at it.  My wife and I decided to front $200.  If we lost our money on true junk, then we wouldn’t be broke.  However, if we made a profit, we would use that to buy more “product.”  And no, I’m not talking about the product that Lamont Sanford used for his afro.

Our first purchases came from a country auction not too far from our house.  Sadly, I still have the very first item that I purchased.  I bought two glass plates still in the box from Pilgrim Glass, a glass maker that had just closed its doors nearby.  I figured, since they were no longer in business, the plates may be worth good money.  Well, I was wrong.  However, I also bought a metal air tool of some sort.  The auctioneer had no clue what it was and no one in the crowd knew either.  He kept bringing the price down.  No bites.  I yelled, “$1”.  He immediately said “Sold!”  When I got home, I decided to do some research on vintage air tools.  Come to find out, it was an old rivet gun just like Rosie the Riveter used to make airplanes for WWII.  I listed it on eBay, and it immediately started getting bids.  At the end of the sale, it sold for $140!  I was instantly hooked!

Our second auction came a couple of weeks later at a different location.  This auction had a lot of nicer antiques.  I felt definitely out of my league.  However, I had done some research prior to the auction and had a good idea what some of the items were worth.  One item in particular was a mahjongg set.  I thought this was only a game of matching tiles on the computer.  Turns out, it is a very serious game with clubs and groups all through the world.  The set I purchased for $65 was in a cool black box with little draws that held the tiles.  I thought it may bring $120.  I spent a TON of time researching the set that I had.  After several hours, I found that it was a French Ivory set from the 1920’s and was imported from China.  Stuff imported nowadays from China is mostly true junk in my opinion.  However, this was before the plastic era and was actually a well made set.  I used all of that information in my eBay listing, and the price soon doubled my initial investment.  In the last few minutes of the auction, the price soared.  At the final virtual hammer, it sold for $430!  Yeah, I was in this thing hook, line and sinker.  Lock, stock and barrel!

I guess you could say the rest is history, but we are still looking for more ways to expand.  Most of all, I am still trying to learn as much as possible.  I think I could buy and sell vintage and antique items for 50 years and still not know half of what I would like to know.  So come back, share your stories about relics you come across, and join us in learning more about this great endeavor.

Jacob

Why?  I’m guessing that is the first thing that comes to most people’s mind.  In journalism classes in college, I was taught to always report the who, what, when, where, how, and why.  In such a crowded “blogosphere” on the web, why would we want to start another website/blog/podcast.  Why would anyone want to read/listen to another website/blog/podcast? 

The simple answer for me is because there aren’t enough great sites out there that I like to read on a regular basis.  There aren’t enough great podcasts that I subscribe too regarding antiques and collectibles.  There are a few sites that I go to that I cannot wait until new material is uploaded.  I hope that one day our little site will be the same way for you. 

We are Jason and Jacob White.  Brothers.  Friends. Comrades.  Cohorts.  Kissing Cousins (Not really…but we are from West Virginia and have heard ALL the jokes).  Lovers of all things vintage.  Compared to many, we are relatively new to this wonderful world of flea markets, auctions, yard sales, estate sales, eBay, and Craigslist.  I (Jason) have been buying and selling relics for a little over 3 years.  Only 6 months after moving back to Tennessee after a 6 year stint in Las Vegas, I found myself out of work.  I could only hit “refresh” on Monster or CareerBuilder so many times a day.  I had to find ways to make money that also allowed me to go to interviews.  I was tired of sitting on my butt waiting for the phone to ring.  So I tried my hand at a few storage auctions.  Luckily, I was able to turn a profit with every purchase made.  I also hit a couple of auction houses and estate auctions.  I was smart with my purchases and always turned a profit.  I was VERY conservative at that point.  Looking back…probably too conservative.  I couldn’t lose money in the position I was in.  I needed the money in a desperate way.  I kept branching out to yard sales, Craigslist, etc.  I would look everywhere I thought I could make a purchase and a profit.  During this time, I also started to fall in love with this hobby.  I fell in love with the research.  I fell in love with the history.   I started to tell my dad and brother about it.  And they both tried their hands in it.  You will hear Jacob’s story in the next blog. 

After 6 months without a “real” job, I was finally employed again.  But even though I had a 9-to-5 I couldn’t stop reading about antique and vintage items.  I kept looking for great relics that I could purchase and sell….treasures that spoke to me.  Items with a story.  And 3 years later….I still hunt. 

Now, let me say this….Jacob and I don’t know it all, though if you ask me, I know a lot more than my brother….sorry Jacob.  We are still learning.  Part of this site is telling OUR story.  Telling the story of the journey.  The ups and downs.  Our successes and our failures.  The stories of some of the great relics we find.  Telling others of some of the things we learn along the way.  We hope you’ll share your knowledge with us too.  As my church says, life is better together.  So please make this an interactive experience.  Give us your feedback.  Let’s make this a site that we all love and look forward to reading.  That is our hope for this site.  That is WHY we are doing this.  To breathe new life into yesterday’s treasures.  Let the hunt begin…

Jason