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When I first started out in the business, what antiques dealers<\/a> did was shrouded in mystery. My father was a signwriter and my grandfather was a bricklayer so I had no \u2018in\u2019 to their world. There really was only Lovejoy on TV<\/a> and I used to watch that even though it was pure fiction, of course! No one in the trade would tell you how the business worked, and they seemed to speak their own language.<\/p>\n When dealing is your only source of income, you have to learn on the job and learn fast. I remember being with some guys on a demolition site in Rhyl, North Wales, in my early twenties, trying to do a deal. When I asked about a piece, they said: \u2018Oh it\u2019s a marriage and it\u2019s been backed.\u2019 I had to keep the conversation going until I worked out what they meant.<\/p>\n You might also like<\/strong> antiques fairs and auctions around the UK this month<\/a><\/p>\n My lack of knowledge also led to moments of confusion. When I set up my first warehouse based in my parents\u2019 garden, a lad called Patrick, also in his early twenties, turned up in his van. \u2018I\u2019ve got all of these things for sale,\u2019 he said, showing me photographs of some stuff he had in the back of his van. \u2018OK, what do you do?\u2019 I asked. There he was, standing with a fag in his mouth, with a huge pot belly, food stains down his jumper and stinking of beer.<\/p>\n He looked me straight in the eye and answered simply. \u2018I\u2019m a runner,\u2019 he said. I was thinking \u2018a runner is the last thing you are, mate\u2019 so I said \u2018you\u2019re a runner?\u2019 He replied: \u2018Yes, I run all over the country.\u2019 \u2018Do you?\u2019 I said. \u2018Yes, I run to everyone,\u2019 he answered. \u2018That must take you ages,\u2019 I said to him. \u2018What do you mean?\u2019 he asked. \u2018Well, if you run everywhere, how do you do any business?\u2019 He looked at me blankly. \u2018And how do you fit in training if you\u2019re working?\u2019 I continued. \u2018I don\u2019t do any training!\u2019 he said. \u2018You must train if you do all of this running!\u2019 I protested, as I spotted the beer cans rolling around in the back of his van between the pieces he wanted to show me. I kept thinking, \u2018if this guy\u2019s a runner, he\u2019s going to drop dead!\u2019<\/p>\n You might also like<\/strong> behind the scenes at an antiques fair with Drew Pritchard<\/a><\/p>\n In actual fact \u2018runners\u2019 used to be the most important people in the antiques<\/a> business. A runner would go to 20 or 30 antiques shops a day, buying a piece to take to someone they knew would want it for a small profit, to make their employer money. For the antiques dealer, before the internet and mobile phones, a good runner was like gold dust. Patrick and I eventually made sense of it all and still work together almost on a daily basis, 25 years on.<\/p>\n Of course, I\u2019ve now unpicked the phrases that used to baffle me and have my theories on others. \u2018By appointment\u2019 can mean \u2018not today, I\u2019m hung-over\u2019 or \u2018I\u2019m only interested in dealing to you if you\u2019re definitely coming in to buy\u2019 or \u2018I\u2019m not really that keen on facing the public\u2019.<\/p>\n The one I really hate is POA \u2013 price on application. To me, it\u2019s saying \u2018I\u2019m weighing you up before I decide on a price\u2019 or \u2018I\u2019m so embarrassed about what I paid for this, I don\u2019t want the person I bought it from finding out how much I\u2019m hoping to sell it for\u2019! Below are some more examples to help you speak antique but they\u2019re really just the beginning\u2026<\/p>\n This is when an object is no longer original. For example, when you have the base of an 18th-century house cupboard with a 19th-century house cupboard on top.<\/p>\n A term for when a customer buys a piece from you, you deliver it to their house, you take payment, they seem happy with it\u2026 and then out of the blue you get a phone call asking to take it back. By then, you\u2019ve delivered it for free, spent the money they\u2019ve given you and by the time you\u2019ve returned the cash and collected the antique, you\u2019re skint.<\/p>\n A saying that is now so overused it\u2019s been taken away from the antiques world and today simply means \u2018what\u2019s the best you can do?\u2019 It used to be a term only used by the trade, and it was a way of saying I AM trade (without having to say so) and can I therefore have your best trade price?<\/p>\n This once referred to a high-quality antique from a country house of note, which was in good condition and showed beautiful signs of age. It\u2019s now so banded about it can be used to describe any piece that might be from a large house, possibly in the country, that is simply knackered.<\/p>\n Inside the home of Salvage Hunter Drew Pritchard<\/a><\/p>\n How I got into the antiques trade<\/a><\/p>\n Drew Pritchard\u2019s sofa collection with Barker and Stonehouse<\/a><\/p>\n Drew Pritchard on his book, favourite antiques and upcoming ventures<\/a><\/p>\n Why patina is king<\/a><\/p>\n How to create country house style<\/a><\/p>\n How to be a successful antiques dealer<\/a><\/p>\n Why I love industrial design<\/a><\/p>\n The antique that got away<\/a><\/p>\n The thrill of an unexpected find<\/a><\/p>\n Must-find garden antiques<\/a><\/p>\nAntiques dealer phrases to know<\/h2>\n
A marriage<\/h3>\n
It\u2019s backed<\/h3>\n
Phrases that were once dealer-only terms, and their meaning has now changed<\/h2>\n
\u2018What\u2019s your best?\u2019<\/h3>\n
\u2018Country House Condition\u2019<\/h3>\n
More from Drew Pritchard:<\/h2>\n