antique shopping - leaving things behind

A month (or so) ago I was antiquing out by my cottage and came across these two brass flamingos. My heart stopped and I got up close and fell in love. They were priced as a pair at $210.00 which the new owner of the shop assured me was a fair price and, worth that much as scrap metal. (my heart broke hearing that) Nothing pains me more when a shop in cottage country ups their prices to be city pricing or maybe knows the "retail" value of something.  I have a pretty good handle on pricing on furniture, but I was a little out of my comfort zone on whether this was priced fairly for being in cottage country. So I left them behind - and I'm hoping he doesn't sell them as scrap metal.

When I antique, 90% of the time I need to know where something will go in my own home, but 10% of the time I buy knowing I could resell it. This was one of the scenarios where it wouldn't have likely gone in my home, but I saw it going into a room for someone like Christine in one of her totally gorgeous rooms. Although some things are not to my taste (I'm much more of an all white person) sometimes you see something and know exactly who it was for. But at that price I couldn't afford to buy it and bring them home.

When I was at the Telus series, part of my talk was about my "luck" in finding items at great prices in thrift stores. Commonly I hear that I have luck and that I must have different spots close to me that are good. I won't argue that the locations close to me are good - but the luck for me is always going into a thrift store - even an antique store like above - is that I'm not looking for anything in particular. Going in with that 10% of if I see it, and I can't put it in my home, I know I can flip it to someone else. That 10% buffer gives me a creative freedom to look around. I think that is my trick - I look around and if the price is good on something I like, I grab it. Sometimes though, like the flamingos I walk away. I still think about them and how beautiful they are.

I also brought up at the Telus Inspiration series how much I do seriously adore Etsy - because if I leave something behind at a thrift store, or, am looking for a particular vintage piece that I can't find in my area - I quickly hop on Etsy and do a search. I know I talk a lot about Etsy - I have for years -  it's not only a hot bed for artists but it's also booming as a vintage sellers market. A few weeks after leaving these flamingos behind I found these two on Etsy. Although smaller than the two I found in person, these were each priced as a pair at under $70.00. Mind you - you have to factor in shipping.

Anyhow, really I just thought it was an interesting example of having to know what a fair price is in the back of your mind. I sometimes just show things I find while thrifting but don't always show the things I walk away from, and why.  Sometimes antique shopping in the city in thrift stores - or, even in small town Ontario doesn't mean you always get best pricing.

(So whip out that phone in the car, and do a Google search of Ebay or Etsy to find out!) ;)

Ps., I'm obsessed with the new show on HGTV "Buy it, Fix it, Sell it" and have it PVR'd. (They go to auctions and buy crazy things, fix it up and sell it) Tiffany Pratt is, by the way, the best part of the show - and her enthusiasm and potty mouth has me captivated.