I was at the Antique Society antique mall yesterday afternoon down here in Sebastopol, CA, and this is a multi-dealer mall that I have been coming to since moving to Sonoma County about a year ago. It is not uncommon for shoppers to have dealer’s contacted with questions or to negotiate on pricing. Well today, there were a couple of items in a booth that I have had my eye for the last year and had some questions about the items as well as I wanted to make the dealer an offer on several of the items that I have seen for the last year. I talked to the dealer manning the floor, she took up front to talk to the manager and all I got was “NO”. They refused to contact the dealer. They told me the dealer was 80 years old and didn’t want to be bothered. I came back with the fact that I was interested in multiples of her items and had questions and wanted to make an offer on these items that have been in her booth for over a year now but they refused, refused to call the dealer. Mean while, a group of young ladies standing in the line next to me just got a terrific deal on some furniture as they were able to talk directly to the dealer of another booth. I was really bummed. I mean, if a dealer has items for over a year in their space, wouldn’t they be interested in hearing from a buyer that was interested in many of their items? How can the mall stand in the way of that?
Are you a dealer? Do you have a booth in a antique mall? I would love to hear your thoughts on this? If you have items for over a year in your space, would you want a call from a interested buyer??
